12 February 2014

Missed Masterpieces: The Place Beyond the Pines

by Kevin Powers

Of the many great movies I missed in 2012, I think this one could be the most interesting. It is big and long and grand and knows it. It features actors in roles that don't totally seem to fit at first until you realize that somehow they do. It works. In its grandiosity and ambition, it sometimes misses. It is not a perfect movie, but it is a perfect attempt at storytelling. It succeeds in its wish to tell a whole story as a work of good literature might, something novelists do easily but filmmakers rarely manage.





Directed by Derek Cianfrance


Story by Derek Cianfrance and Ben Coccio; Screenplay by Derek Cianfrance & Ben Coccio and Darius Marder


Starring Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, and Ray Liotta







The vocabulary word hovering over Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines is...ambition. It's just plain ballsy to make a movie like this. It was totally unexpected as I didn't read much about it knowing I would see it eventually. The tone is set immediately jumping right into the twisted lifestyle of Luke (Ryan Gosling) as the camera follows him in a long single close-up tracking shot from his trailer to the sphere where he does his death-defying dirt bike traveling carnival act. It is one of those first shots that makes a statement:  "This will be a unique movie." And it is. At first, I even found its rawness and realism overly-intense and a bit unsettling, yet I soon fell into its story and never looked back.


Luke is quiet, tattooed, smokes his Camels hard and long and often. He is another great character in the Ryan Gosling filmography. A nomad (or carny, if you will), Luke has no roots, a different home every couple weeks. During his stay in upstate New York (Schenectady, to be exact), he has a fling with Romina, or "Ro" (Eva Mendes). They part ways. A year later, he's back around again to find out he now has an infant son named Jason. He decides to stay, though Ro has gone on and found someone else. He begins to put his roots down. He has no skills. He is spotted racing through the pines one day by Robin (Ben Mendelsohn). Robin is a criminal, a former bank robber. To make money, Luke begins robbing banks. He tries to win Ro back. He gets arrested for an altercation with Ro's new man Kofi (Mahershala Ali). He robs more banks. This is all delivered in a very sure, deliberate pace.


The chain of events there puts Luke on a collision course with Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), an up-an-coming Schenectady police officer bent on working his way up the ranks in a force riddled with crooked cops, including Deluca (Ray Liotta). He is calm, caring, confident, a rookie police "hero." He also has a wife, Jennifer (Rose Byrne), an infant son named AJ, and a law degree. In a subsequent chain of events, Avery finds himself as a whistle-blower of sorts, sneaking his way into the DA's office. This, the second act of sorts moves more quickly, leaves more out. Each phase of this story matching it's lead character(s).


The parallels between the Gosling and Cooper characters are not accidental. This is storytelling at its finest. It almost reminded me of a twisted East of Eden-type story. Fathers and sons, past sins and present ones. Luke reminds us of "that guy" who becomes the long-lost father. There is a beautifully real and touching scene where Luke persuades Ro to come out with him and bring their baby along. They have a brief good time as a family, essentially one memory that the young Jason will never possibly remember. A photograph is taken, the only one. Luke is that father who left, disappeared, shaping his son's life forever. Avery is "that guy" on a fast track to everything right:  the right job, the right house, the right woman, the right kid. He is the father who is always there. His son will have no problems. Or will he?


In the third and final act of The Place Beyond the Pines, we find ourselves somewhere we probably didn't think we'd be. I don't want to spoil where it goes, but I will say that it doesn't quite work as well as the first two acts, especially the brilliant first hour of this movie. Regardless, this movie ends, again, as a whole story, and that's the beauty of it. It tries.


When The Place Beyond the Pines ended, I was sure I'd seen a masterpiece, albeit a flawed one. Again, it tries. And, to me, that's just as well. It has a grand scope to it. The kind usually reserved for a good novel. It explores time-tested themes like "what it is to be a man, a husband, a father," "how the past haunts us and our children," "the fine line between cop and criminal." It is ultimately and finally an ambitious story about ambition, misguided ambition...two guys of the same age on different paths who are really just trying to do what they think is right. Whether it is right or not, Derek Cianfrance and his crew of writers and actors lead you on a journey to find out. And that is what makes a great, epic (and human) story.

02 February 2014

Many Faces: Philip Seymour Hoffman - In Memoriam

by Kevin Powers

At about 1:20 P.M. today, I was browsing my Twitter feed when I saw a re-tweet from Paul Pabst citing a breaking news article from The Wall Street Journal. Headline: "Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead in Manhattan apartment". My heart sank.

Like any other iPhone user, I instantly googled for confirmation. It was early in the development. Only the one source reporting. I kept checking until finally it was confirmed. Devastation.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the greatest actors of the last twenty years. He seemed to still be going strong. In the past year, it had been reported that he had begun using drugs again after 23 years clean and sober. It is becoming apparent that his untimely death came as a result of a drug overdose. I am just totally saddened by this news.

Here is a retrospective of some of my favorite pieces of work from an astoundingly talented man:

 Twister (1996) - Dir. Jan de Bont

as Dustin Davis in Twister

In which he played the goofy one in a crew of Midwestern storm chasers. Any kid of my generation knows this one well. I remember seeing this movie at Downtown West with Jessica Valentine in the 6th grade. It was my first introduction to Philip Seymour Hoffman. And it's a good, entertaining movie. I might have to watch it again soon.




The Films of Paul Thomas Anderson
Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), The Master (2012)

as Dean Trumbell in Punch-Drunk Love
Philip Seymour Hoffman became well-known as a character actor with the help of auteur Paul Thomas Anderson. Through these films, Hoffman put himself on the map, especially in Boogie Nights as the odd, sort-of gay porn film boom operator, Scotty J. He went on to strong supporting work once again in Anderson's mosaic L.A. masterpiece Magnolia. His turn as a dirtbag mattress salesman in Punch-Drunk Love showed an angry side we hadn't seen before. And, finally, a starring role in 2012's The Master showcased Hoffman's ability to outright own the screen.

Almost Famous (1999) - Dir. Cameron Crowe

as Lester Bangs in Almost Famous
Hoffman offered some show-stealing moments early in Cameron Crowe's beautiful Almost Famous. He plays real-life Creem magazine rock critic Lester Bangs. He delivers some of the most memorable lines of my movie-watching life in this one, including "You'll meet them all again on their long journey to the middle," which passed through my brain just yesterday.



The Big Lebowski (1998) - Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

as Brandt in The Big Lebowski



A very small but surprisingly effective role as Brandt, The Big Lebowski's gopher, will always be in the hearts of both Hoffman and Coen fans. He is incredibly proper and uptight and incredibly satisfying in such a small role. "This is our concern, dude."






Happiness (1998) - Dir. Todd Solondz

as Allen in Happiness
If you think you can stomach a Todd Solondz freak show, then this is the one to see. In Happiness, Hoffman plays Allen, a nervous, overweight prank-call addict with a taste for making disturbing phone calls to his neighbor, Helen (Laura Flynn Boyle). This is character-acting at its finest. The movie itself was cause for controversy in its stark black comedy.




Love Liza (2002) - Dir. Todd Louiso/Owing Mahowny (2003) - Dir. Richard Kwietniowski

as Wilson Joel in Love Liza
The early 2000s took Hoffman on a journey from odd supporting character actor to leading man. In the two indies Love Liza and Owning Mahowny, Hoffman plays downtrodden men with powerful addictions. In Love Liza, he plays a man stricken with the grief of loss and finding solace in motorized model airplanes and the fuel that runs them. In Owning Mahowny, he is a Canadian bank manager, who defrauds his own clients to fuel an incredibly reckless gambling addiction. Both of these small films have stuck with me over the years and showcase Hoffman's incredible range.


25th Hour (2002) - Dir. Spike Lee

as Jacob Elinsky in 25th Hour
Spike Lee's beautiful and devastating love letter to New York City post-9/11 features Hoffman in a supporting role opposite Edward Norton and Barry Pepper. He plays the best friend of a man (Norton) sentenced to five years in prison for drug dealing. Hoffman excels here as a private school English teacher pining for one of his students (Anna Paquin). This is one of my favorite movies of all-time and Spike Lee's best after Do the Right Thing. 


Moneyball (2011) - Dir. Bennett Miller

as Art Howe in Moneyball
In a master-stroke of casting, Bennett Miller (who also directed Capote) chose Hoffman to play real-life Oakland A's manager Art Howe. Howe is a frustrated man feeling constantly undermined (and rightly-so) by A's GM Billy Beane (Brad Pitt). Their scenes together are quietly funny and well-acted. Moneyball is also a great movie with a large appeal to anyone, not just baseball fans like myself.



Synechdoche, New York (2008) - Dir. Charlie Kaufman

as Caden Cotard in Synechdoche, New York
Hoffman ages about forty years in this inside-the-male-psyche movie from brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). He plays a theater director who struggles to stage his cathartic masterpiece as the years roll on and on and on. He, eventually, builds a replica of New York inside a warehouse as life plays out on his stage with no audience to even see it.




Capote (2005) - Dir. Bennett Miller


as Truman Capote in Capote
Truman Capote is a dream role for many actors. Nobody could have done as good a job as Philip Seymour Hoffman. It is his most daring and transformative role (hence, The Best Actor Oscar), and he nails it. The voice, the mannerisms, and the longing for truth as he writes his masterpiece In Cold Blood. 


These, for me, are the defining roles for a great American actor. A man who most (so I've read today) seem to say was a warm, friendly man. I imagine him as such. I will miss him. We all will, even if we don't know it.

Actors like Philip Seymour Hoffman don't come along often. I look forward to cherishing his work for years to come and sharing with my own children one day.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Hoffman.

01 February 2014

Almost Royalty

by Kevin Powers

If there's one thing that stuck with me after watching the 2013 indie-ish Kings of Summer, it is the rekindling of my passion for MGMT's 2007 song "The Youth." I got to thinking earlier today about how I am best "turned on" to music. For me, I connect best with songs that are matched with certain images and experiences. As soon as I see a movie with a good soundtrack, I instantly begin seeking out the music from that movie. This movie has some great tunes on its soundtrack. That is for sure. 

If there's another thing that stuck with me, it is this:  Jordan Vogt-Roberts is a promising up-and-coming director. There are some great moments in this movie, some beautifully photographed moving imagery. It is also a quite funny movie. I literally LOL'd in some places. Yet, in the end, it doesn't come together as a totally believable story, though it could have. 






Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Written by Chris Galletta

Starring Nick Roberts, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, and Erin Moriarty









The Kings of Summer stars three young actors that are just really good. They are Nick Roberts (Joe), Gabriel Basso (Patrick), and the absolutely brilliant Moises Arias (Biaggio). The three leads are suffering at the hands of their annoying and/or overpowering parents. Joe, whose mother passed away, lives under the rules of a hard, authoritarian father played by Nick Offerman. This is a perfect role for Offerman, who is known as the deadpan, dry-witted Ron Swanson on the great NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation. Patrick is constantly annoyed at home by his overbearing and annoying mother and father (Megan Mullally and Marc Evan Jackson). And Biaggio, well, he just sort of shows up out of nowhere and steals the whole show. 


Having made it to the last days of school, Joe gets an idea. Let's move out into the wood and build a place of our own. Patrick reluctantly agrees to join in. Biaggio is already there, out of nowhere, like I said. The three build their own digs out in the woods and really just sort of Walden this thing out complete with indoor slide, mailbox, and freshly-roasted Boston Market chickens.


Some of the best, and funniest, scenes in the movie feature Joe's dad Frank (Offerman) and sister Heather (Alison Brie), who is newly married to Colin (Eugene Cordero). There is a bit about wontons that is just brilliant, and there's also a Monopoly game that goes to unheard of places that will have you rolling. There is also some great humor to be found in Biaggio, the McLovin of the picture, who spouts out one-liners from a sort of Judd Apatow-Woody Allen hybrid. Some land, some don't. However, the presence of this guy in the movie makes the whole thing worth watching. 


I also rather enjoyed the house-building sequence and the boys-running-wild-in-the-woods montages. These sequences show great promise from a new filmmaker in Jordan Vogt-Roberts. He is very good with natural light. Sun shining through the trees, etc. I look forward to seeing more films in this vein from a talented director. 


What I really didn't like about this movie was the girl-of-Joe's-dreams character. She is Kelly (Erin Moriarty). It's not that she's bad or anything. And I'm not even mad about the truths about life and love that she brings to Joe's table. I just don't feel like this movie deserved to do what it does with her arc, if you will. It is odd to me, though I've experience the exact sort of fickle girl stuff in my life. I won't be too specific, but I invite you to watch and see for yourself. 


The Kings of Summer is one of the Sundance movies that sits on the edge of indie and mainstream. I actually wish it had made up its mind. Much of the humor is reminiscent of Superbad, with its inept cop characters and party scenes. In fact, I was glad that the lake party was actually broken up. I hate it when movies allow teenage characters to have huge parties with no neighbor complaints or police bust-ups. At the end of this movie, I was happy I'd laughed so much and very happy that the soundtrack had so much to offer along with some well-directed sequences. I just didn't feel like the emotions it tried to convey came through like they could have. I wanted to go back and put in some more development, especially with the seemingly brotherly relationship between Joe and Patrick as well as with the Kelly character. What can I say? Dammit! I want my cake, and I want to eat it, too!