Two Line Reviews - #359

Movie: Fracture (2006)

Plot: An aeronautics expert turns into a meticulate murderer when he gets to know of his wife's affair with a SWAT agent. He defends himself on court and a lawyer who has impressively made his way up the ladder falls for the bait the murderer sets and loses a golden offer from a reputed firm. Is it the career of the lawyer or the meticulousness of the murderer that gets fractured? We get to see that. in the end.

Highlights:

• The director Gregory Hoblit has made a fine casting, supported by an intense screenplay by Daniel Pyne and the film's magic works well to an extent.
• Anothony Hopkins plays to perfection in a turf that he has made his own over the years!
• Ryan Gosling was the surprise package. This is the best I have seen of him - Stylish, charismatic and delivers nicely. Rosamund Pike is beautiful and is pleasing when on screen.
• The twists to the tale make this crime-thriller a worthwhile watch.

Hannibal Lecter, minus the psychological convolutions!

Two Line Reviews - #358

Movie: Margin Call (2011)

Plot: An analyst at an Investment Bank is part of the job-cut exercise. He lends his partial work to his subordinate to complete them. The revelations are shocking that the unit head is summoned, who summons his head and finally the CEO. How they burn the midnight oil to protect themselves from a devastation that is waiting on its wings come the next morning is what the film shows.

Highlights:

• One of the initial turmoils in the Economic Crisis of 2008 at Lehmann Brothers is brought into detail with considerable style and intrigue. Director & Writer Chandor deserves some praise there.
• Kevin Spacey in his role underplays the confusion and shock he's been made to get into & Demi Moore is all grace when she's made the scapegoat.
• The dialogues are well-written making the conversations and the meetings look interesting.

Gets into the intricacies of the colossal IB collapse of '08.

Two Line Reviews - #357

Movie: Hakuchi (or) The Idiot (Japanese, 1951)

Plot: A man who gets reprieve when he's at the cusp of capital punishment considers it a reincarnation decides to be as kind as he could be to everyone. His naivety and innocence make him get tagged as 'an idiot'. Only to two ladies does he seem the best. They love and loath him, one of his companions marries one of those ladies. It's complex trouble all the way in a triangular possessive game.

Highlights:

• This Kurosawa translation of the Dostoevsky novel is as complex a drama as I have seen; It's a cut version I gather and so the magic is not in full-flow.
• The guy who plays Kameda,the idiot has been aptly chosen for the role; Toshiro Mifune,as the thug, happily plays second-fiddle only to terrorise at the end!
• The contrast in the two lady characters who adore the idiot - Ayako & Nasu - has been explained brilliantly in the scene where they face each other - Classic scene!
• Background score, camerawork and editing departments impress making this another high-quality Kurosawa product.

A Complex cob-web of feelings!

Two Line Reviews - #356

Movie: Kaadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi (Thamizh, 2012)

Plot: The love affair of a B.E. studying duo literally breaks with a hit on the hero's forehead! That's when he gets into the retrospective mode offering pies of advice when his friend attempts to indulge in a love -trip.Simple things get blown out of proportion and big issues get solved before a wink and the mystery that shrouds around is let to stay the way it is.

Highlights:

• The film-debut of Balaji Mohan, the maker of the short with the same title shows he is quite intelligent; He has interspersed two of his short-film tales with a solid camera-facing narrative that makes him a welcome addition.
• Siddharth is casual and effortless and impresses with the way he carries himself and the role in the film; a solid run in Thamizh this guy deserves.
• With her pretty costumes and a nice hair-do, Amala Paul is a delightful eye-candy and more, thanks to a decent show with her action.
• Experimental shots, songs, boy-girl scenes, the curious friend who throws superb humour at places are positive factors too. 

• The negative that is to be pointed out comes in the form of a 'sodhappal' handling of the Suresh saga towards its end! Mockery..
• The SS music VJ who plays John & his Thamizh accent irritate to the core.

• Songs aren't impressive in an otherwise catchy film.

Breezy light-hearted entertainer!

Two Line Reviews - #355

Movie: The Tree of Life (2011)

Plot: The film shows how the formative years of 2 among 3 kids of a strict suppressive father can get influenced and when the suppression crosses a limit, the elder kid goes in search for the answer on what death is;who god is;why can't he stop being cruel and the likes. Years later, the younger brother seeks answers for the same.

Highlights:

• The positives first. The crazy camera angles and the abrupt cuts employed make this film a worthwhile watch! So does the premise that the film sets.
• The portions where the elder kid grows and the youngsters are born and how they grow together, how issues with the father's sadistic nature affect the family etc. are captured brilliantly by Terrence Malick.
• Brad Pitt, in scenes displaying his fury, and the elder kid act superbly. The background opera-type music provides an apt background.

• On the negative side, I couldn't understand anything on the 'evolution of earth' scenes. They made no sense to me as they did not seem to carry any scientific logic either.
• Ditto on the scenes involving Sean Penn.
• The climax reminded me of The Seventh Seal and 81/2 both of which I never liked much & both come in The Tree of Life's related films category at IMDb (No surprises there!)

Tiresome, Confusing but Worth a watch for the childhood sequences.

Two Line Reviews - #354

Movie: Hugo (2011)

Plot: A kid who works in the clock station presumes earth to be a machine and everybody on it exists with some purpose. With the partially fixed automaton his father had been working on before his death, he tries to find his purpose and ends up saving back a lost purpose.

Highlights:

• It is astounding to think that someone could conceive such a thought - Both the writer of the book and the film's director Scorsese deserve the plaudits for this scorcher of a film!
• Scorsese traverses a genre that, to me can't be named and the output is marvelous, and the tribute paid to the cinema of the past's past is artistic!
• Ben Kingsley provides the dramatic act the role seems to require and the kid who plays Hugo is brilliant in some scenes.
• The Station inspector,Isabelle & mama Jeanne characters earn the respect of the viewer; Inspector and Maximilian provide some fun.
• The sequences eulogising machines are terrific. The visual effects are of extremely good quality, the unwinding first scene is just one example.

Go,dream with Scorsese!

Two Line Reviews - #353

Movie: Yoidore tenshi (or) Drunken Angel (Japanese,1948)

Plot: A drunkard doctor who gives personal importance to his patients' health gets a hoodlum for a TB Patient. The doctor's frank ways embarrass the thug and he responds with reluctance to the treatment. When health gets to more worrisome levels, he realises the mirage that the thug world is about.

Highlights:

• Akira Kurosawa after quite some time but the admiration stays where it was. Another brilliant narration of contrasting but respectable characters.
• Veteran Takashi Shimura revels in the hyper role Kurosawa tailors for him and Toshiro Mifune impresses with his gradual make-over.
• Music of Fumio Hayasaka is grand as ever.
• AK's symbolisms with the stagnant pond, angel toy, candy seeking girl etc. are marks of true brilliance.

Ode to human willpower!

Two Line Reviews - #352

Movie: War Horse (2011)

Plot: A teenager raises the horse he had admired from its birth; When WWI begins, the family has no option other than to lease the horse out for war. After 4 years of transfers from the Brit to the Germans to the French, the brave stallion's unwavering grit and destiny take it back to its master who had warred just to trace back his horse!

Pluses:

• Steven Spielberg has it in him to make a massive Indian film! He makes a horse an idol in this film showering heroism and sentimental scenes (which work!) upon it and its master.
• In combination with the amazing orchestration of John Williams, extremely believable war sets ( cakewalk for Spielberg's team though!) and captivating visuals, he makes this sort of yet another epic.
• The soldier bonding scene where they free the horse from the barbed wires, unrealistic as it may be, is touchy and symbolic.

Minuses:

• There are plenty of predictable portions in this drama.
• The film carries the 'All's happy and all men are good' Vikraman effect

Spielberg has made heroes out of horses this time!

Two Line Reviews - #351

Movie: Dhoni (Thamizh,2012)

Plot: A lower middle-class widower works, works over time, makes and sells pickles to get what he wants for his two children - 'A good education'. But all that runs in his son's mind is cricket. When tempers fray beyond proportions one day, he accidentally injures and sends his son to a coma. The kid's period of recovery is when he realises the gaps in the education system and he goes social to do some reform for his son's cause.

Pluses:

• Prakashraj, in his tamil directorial debut, makes a mark with some nice touches in the first half; He also carries the subject interestingly till the half way point.
• The actor in Prakashraj revels; This is home turf for him and he scores handsomely ( voice modulation in some emotional scenes are brilliant)
• The supporting cast comprising Radhika Apte, Nasser, the kids do their job fine ( a better dubbing for the son would have made it good though).
• Ilaiyaraja's music is mesmerising at places and disturbs as it usually does (especially the interludes and stanzas in the Vilayatta padagotti song)

Minuses:

• Second-half is wayward (he takes an extreme move to education from his son's interest) and the '17x8' lines are absurd.
• The climax is a dramatised dampener; Was expecting something much much better.

Dhoni - 53*, Retired hurt!

Two Line Reviews - #350

Movie: Tinker,Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

Plot: A soviet-UK double agent is in the midst of UK's agency. When one attempt to get to him makes the agency lose one of their men, expertise of a retired officer is called for and he discovers the men code named Tinker, Tailor, Soldier and also the Spy.

Highlights:

• This film was quite a big surprise as the first few minutes suggested it might be a slow-mover. But the intensity with which it moves later is very high.
• Gary Oldman, for his fine performance as Mr.Smiley earns respect and is a rich contender (at least in my view) for the best actor academy award this year.
• The roles of Tom Hardy, Mark Strong and the aide to Oldman appeal.
• Twists (especially the Witchcraft one) are of good quality - Typical Espionage Novel stuff.

Gripping tale of spy-tracing!