Movie Review: BLUE JASMINE

BLUE JASMINE
Writer/Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Andrew Dice Clay, Louis C.K., Bobby Cannavale, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg

Cate Blanchett. Cate Blanchett. Cate Blanchett. She has portrayed Elizabeth I, Katherine Hepburn, Bob Dylan, Galadriel the Elf, and was the object of Judi Dench's affection. All fantastic performances, yet one of the most riveting portrayals comes in Woody Allen's latest, Blue Jasmine. Jasmine (Blanchett) is trying to start a new life. She leaves New York and moves to San Francisco to live with her sister, Ginger (Hawkins). They are both adopted and could not be any more different. Ginger believes Jasmine was always the favorite daughter as she was the pretty one.

Jasmine's life has been turned upside down. Her husband Hal (Baldwin) was a wealthy businessman who was caught in embezzlement and fraud. Hal and Jasmine had more money than they knew what to do with, but it was dirty money that was not really theirs in the first place. Jasmine, of course, was oblivious to what was really going on. She was a socialite that had all of the designer clothes, numerous houses, and had all the time in the world for dinner parties, yoga, and pilates classes. It all came crashing down leaving Hal in jail and Jasmine left with “nothing” so she claims. Ginger quickly points out the fact that she still has her collection of Louis Vitton luggage and somehow flew first class to get to San Francisco.

Ginger lives a much simpler and cheaper life. She bags groceries for a living and has two sons from her ex-husband Augie (Dice Clay). Always one to be dating and flirting, she is now dating a younger brutish guy named Chili (Cannavale). It doesn't take long for Chili to come to Ginger's defense and question Jasmine's motives. She had practically ignored her sister and now that she is broke she swoops in to live with her and ask for her help. Jasmine needs all the help she can get as she has suffered a nervous breakdown and has begun talking to herself due to the fall of her marriage and lifestyle.

I would like to think of myself as a pretty big Woody Allen fan. I own a majority of his work and Annie Hall sits at #7 on my Top 10 list. Not many writer/directors, outside of say Tyler Perry, pop out a new film every year. I do admit that he does have his faults and some of his movies are not great. That’s what happens after fifty years in the business. Not all of them can be cinematic masterpieces. When you meet a Woody Allen fan, they will have their favorite decade or set of themes. I am more likely to pop in one of his more physical comedies of the ‘70s any day of the week before the majority of the ones that came in the 2000s era. Some love his more existential films of the ‘80s. Lately when his movies work, they really work like Midnight in Paris. If they flop, they really flop. Blue Jasmine really works on so many levels.

Allen’s script is one of the most well-rounded, dimensional, thought-proving pieces he has written in quite some time. There is no denying that there are parallels between this and “A Streetcar Named Desire” and the fall of Bernie Madoff. Many of his films lately have only seen the characters as they are in the short time frame of that story. We see the characters of Blue Jasmine throughout an extended period of time as the film shifts between Jasmine’s current life in San Francisco and the extravagant life she led in New York. It reminded me of Annie Hall in its non-linear approach. We get inside the turmoil and frustration that the fall of Hal had on all of our characters, not just Jasmine. How long can you stay happy in a delusional world? What happens when the truth is exposed and it all comes crashing down on you?

Allen has created some fantastic characters over the years leading to great material for many of his actors. Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Mira Sorvino, Diane Keaton, and Penelope Cruz have all won Oscars playing some of Woody's characters. Blue Jasmine is no exception. The whole cast is fantastic. I have heard that his direction is simple with very few takes, but he gets such rich performances out of his actors. Is that the writing, directing, or the actors giving it all their own on their own doing? I guess it is a mix of each. There is not one phoned in performance with each actor giving their A-game. Allen has given each one of them moments to shine. Andrew Dice Clay is known more for his stand-up routine, but I hope he is given more acting opportunities after this. He gives a very real and honest performance that is completely reigned in and far different than you would expect from his comedic persona. I am slightly embarrassed to say that I have not seen enough of Sally Hawkins' work before. Cate Blanchett may be getting all of the attention for her performance, but Hawkins is just as heartbreaking, genuine, and flawed. Can we start mentioning how great Hawkins is at the same time we talk about how great Blanchett is?

I would be highly surprised if Blanchett is not nominated for an Oscar for her work here. I've been throwing around the "O" word quite a bit lately in my reviews. I guess we are getting into that season. Every moment Blanchett is on screen, she is captivating. I could not stop watching every little move or vocal choice she made. I was enamored whenever Jasmine would talk out loud to herself or carry on conversations with full strangers. I have witnessed many people doing this throughout my years of working downtown. She makes so many specific and intricate choices to showcase the wide range of Jasmine between high socialite to post nervous breakdown to her trying to get better and make better choices. The film has another "A Streetcar Named Desire" connection as Blanchett has played Blanche DuBois on stage. You know how they always show a scene from a movie when they announce each nominee? There are plenty of scenes to choose from as the "Oscar telecast" scene to show off her brilliant performance.

There are plenty of people who have written off Woody Allen saying he is past his prime or they cannot put aside his personal life. I think the naysayers would be surprised and pleased with his latest. It is one of his strongest films in quite some time. It is not a straight up comedy with the typically Woody Allen neurotic banter, but the film is still funny at times at how shockingly delusional these characters can be. The humor is mixed in to off-set the sadness and uncomfortable moments that come with Jasmine's pain. Blue Jasmine has the depth that many Allen films of late have been missing.

RATING: **** 1/2 (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Movie Review: HITCHCOCK

HITCHCOCK
Director: Sacha Gervasi
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Michael Stuhlbarg, Danny Huston, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, James D'Arcy

We take Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho as an important part of film history. Many regard it as his best movie. Many people probably do not know the trouble that the master of suspense had while making the movie, let alone even getting Paramount interested in distributing it. After the release of North By Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock (Hopkins) was looking for his next big movie. Numerous industry insiders questioned if he could deliver another successful movie. Was he getting too old to keep making hit movies? Hitchcock started to feel some inspiration after reading a book called "Psycho" by Robert Bloch. The book was loosely based on the real life killings in Wisconsin by Ed Gein. Hitchcock wanted to bring back a good old fashioned horror picture. He was under contract with Paramount at the time, but they were less than impressed with the thought of Psycho being his next picture. Hitchcock was bound and determined to make the movie no matter what the costs were.

His wife, Alma (Mirren), was a vital part of his productions. She would often write revisions to the script and knew how to edit a movie to keep up the suspense. She was often Alfred's closest collaborator and voice of opinion for any movie he was making. Alma tried getting him to read a screenplay by her friend Whitfield Cook (Huston), but he was set in stone about the adaptation of "Psycho". Alma conceded and got on board with the production. They decided to fund the movie themselves putting much of their life in jeopardy just to get the movie made. It was Alma's idea to have the character of Marion Crane killed off within the first thirty minutes.

Hitchcock casts Janet Leigh (Johansson), Anthony Perkins (D'Arcy), and Vera Miles (Biel) as the stars of Psycho. Leigh is the latest addition to the line-up of women known as the "Hitchcock Blonde". Despite her constant professionalism on set, there is an underlining feeling that exists between her and Hitchcock. Alma cannot seem to shake her inner struggle with this and spends her time writing on the beach with Whitfield Cook. Her absence around their house and set does not go unnoticed by Hitch who begins to think she is having an affair.

There are two different stories being told in this behind-the-scenes look at the life of one of the greatest screen directors. The primary story centers around the marriage of Alfred Hitchcock and his devoted wife Alma Reville. The other focus of the movie is on the constant challenges he faced while making Psycho. The movie is based on the book "Alfred Hitchcock and The Making of Psycho" by Stephen Rebello. The movie history nut in me wanted more of the story to center around the making of the classic movie. I think it could have gone into far more detail. Instead, Hitchcock is more about his relationship with Alma. Both stories are fascinating and could easily have been made into their own movies. Here they are blended together and not given a very specific look into either one of them. Another jarring part of the movie deals with Ed Gein. The movie suggests that Hitchcock was haunted by the images of Gein and was seeing visions of the serial killer. I do not know if this was true in real life or just a cinematic concept that fell flat. Every scene with Hitchcock talking to Gein seems so out of place with the tone of the rest of the movie.

The strong performances save the movie and give it the depth that is missing from the screenplay. Scarlett Johansson and James D'Arcy bring some nice subtle choices to their real life counterparts that play well for the limited screen time they have been given. For the most part, Anthony Hopkins successfully hides behind the make-up and fat suit to bring out numerous sides of Hitchcock while still showcasing his obvious vocal qualities and posture. In what easily could have been a movie to show off the work of Anthony Hopkins, the best performance belongs to fellow Oscar winner Helen Mirren. I really began to wonder if the movie was about her character instead of Hopkins' character. There is humor, strength, and heart to her that showcases why she was a perfect match for Alfred but also makes you feel sorry for her. This is the second of two movies based on Alfred Hitchcock that were released this year. Toby Jones played Hitch in HBO's "The Girl" which followed his relationship with Tippi Hedren while filming The Birds. Which version has the more accurate portrayal of the master of suspense? I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Hitchcock is the better of the two movies by far. I just wish the movie would have decided to pick which story it wanted to tell and given more specificity to that story.

RATING: *** 1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)

Movie Review: MEN IN BLACK 3

MEN IN BLACK 3
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson

It has been fourteen years since the last time we saw Agent J (Smith) and Agent K (Jones) team up to battle some slimy snarly alien with an attitude problem. The notorious Boris the Animal (Clemente) has been imprisoned on the moon since 1969. With the help of a beautiful girlfriend (Nicole Scherzinger), Boris manages to escape in order to seek revenge on Agent K. Back in 1969, K cut off Boris' arm and installed the ArcNet shield around the planet to ward off an invasion of Boris' species, the Boglodites. Boris interrupts the time continuum and heads back to 1969 in order to kill K before all of this happens. After a trippy night, J wakes up to find that K is nowhere to be found. He is not living in his apartment and no one at the MIB headquarters seems to know where K is. Agent O (Thompson) informs J that K was killed back in 1969. J and O realize that Boris has interrupted the time continuum and has killed K.

J determines he must literally time jump back to 1969 in order to find K and kill Boris before Boris kills K. I do mean literally time jump. J must walk out onto the ledge of a New York building and jump off. While falling he must push the magic button at the precise time in order to successfully land back in 1969 on the day before Boris kills K. Hopefully all the time travel talk is making sense. J traces clues back to Coney Island where he is arrested by a young Agent K and taken back to MIB headquarters. After some hesitation, J reveals the truth of the future to K. They decide to team up and work with an alien named Griffin (Stuhlbarg) who possesses the ArcNet and can see into various outcomes of the future. Their back and forth struggles with Boris lead up to a climatic ending at Cape Canaveral during the Apollo 11 launch.

I will admit I was skeptical going into the third outing in this series. The second movie was nowhere near the caliber of the first, so I was hesitant on if this story was going to work again. Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are strong enough actors in these roles that they are able to successfully dust off the black suits and bring back the chemistry J and K have together. They work well together and their banter and demeanor is one of the key reasons this series works as a whole. Special attention needs to be focused on Josh Brolin. He does an uncanny impression of Tommy Lee Jones to play the younger version of K. He nails every vocal inflection and facial gesture that Jones is so known for doing. Emma Thompson appears too briefly as Agent O. I always feel she makes any movie better, so I wish she would have been given more screen time. I would not call this third outing the best in the series, but it is leagues better than Men in Black II. The heartfelt ending helps it feel like it is more than just a CGI alien comic book movie. The 3D version is not worth it, so save yourself a couple of dollars and see it in 2D. If you are a fan of the series, you will enjoy this one but I do not think it will be remembered as one of the better summer blockbusters of 2012.

RATING: *** (3 out of 5)