It is Complicated Indeed

It's Complicated (2009) - dir. Nancy Meyers - 2,5 stars

I am a little confused with Meyers' latest. It's blessed with great acting from the leads, but the overall feeling is fake and almost irritating. Meyers has been very successful writing about the suburban American family, specifically focusing on the middle-aged participants, each film presenting a different dimension of their lives from marrying off kids to dealing with divorce. With each film since Father of the Bride (1991), she has perfected her scripts, finally culminating with the wonderful Something's Gotta Give (2003), which is her best film if you ask me. Following that trend and hinging on her own experiences, It's Complicated deals with falling in love once again after divorce, maybe even with the ex-husband. Even though the theme is worthwhile to explore, the execution feels unreal with characters that seem to have popped out of a toothpaste commercial - disingenuous, unreal, and constantly smiling.

After a nostalgic night on the eve of their son's graduation, the divorced-for-a-decade Jane and Jake, played by Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin respectively, end up in the same bed. Jane is unsettled to be the "other woman" while Jake seems all too happy to be "back home." Their affair uncovers unsettled questions in their relationship, which is complicated by another suitor for Jane, who is played by Steve Martin. The trio do their best with the material given, which results in a few good laughs, but unfortunately their acting can't change the fate of the film.

For one, the children in the film are extremely annoying. They neither understand their mother's sexual revival nor act like how children act in real life. They are the picture-perfect children with no issues of their own and a constant smile; they're practically angels! I really wonder if that's how children are like these days? Secondly, everything in the film is so pristine, from the houses to the interior decor, that something quite doesn't feel right. Everything feels too Hollywood, which means the film can only happen in Meyers' happy place. These shortcomings might seem minor, but considering that they make up the framework in which the three leads are placed, they detract from the film much more than one would think.

Overall, the acting from Streep and Baldwin is enjoyable and funny at times, but one can't get himself to watch this film and not feel some contempt too. I may not have explained it too well, but it is hard to explain. I guess it is complicated.

Quirky comedy with a suspiciously real edge

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) - dir. Grant Heslov - 4 stars

If someone told you that the US military had approved a special unit to train psychic soldiers in the 80s and tested their effectiveness on goats, would you believe them? Grant Heslov's feature cautions the viewer at first sight by warning that more of the film than what we think is real. This quirky comedy, which revolves around an emasculated reporter from small-town America, throws him in Iraq with an American army jedi (that's what the film calls them) looking for a target whose destination isn't known. The storyline is an obvious symbolism for the reporter Bob Wilton's life. Not only does he feel like he is going nowhere in life, but to add insult to injury, his wife leaves him for his manager, who happens to be an older man with a prosthetic arm to boot. In order to regain control of his life, his unknown destiny and of course his masculinity, he goes after the only goal he can come up with: to impress his wife and get her back. Hence he makes his way to Kuwait to become a war reporter as that's what he thinks will prove he's not frail or weak. His plan fails miserably as it has no effect on the wife, but the force calls for him, pun intended. A chance encounter with a jedi takes him into Iraq where he learns to respect the ways of the jedi in the American army, which results in his personal salvation.

The film follows a linear pattern of Wilton's adventures in Iraq with flashbacks to reveal the history of the jedi and the New Earth Army. The unconventional army is built upon hippie agenda where love and tolerance is expected to win over war and violence. As such, the training involves unorthodox measures and exercises. It's these scenes that really make the viewer think over and over again: how much of this is real? The army's history not only provides a backdrop for the characters that we are following, but also ties in nicely to the overall story at the end. It also acts as a springboard for the viewer's suspension of disbelief, which is hard to achieve for a film that deals with staring contests against goats.

Goats aside, the acting is superb and the writing polished. George Clooney does an incredible job as Lyn Cassady, the most talented jedi ever to train in the New Earth Army. His performance sits on the boundary of real and joking, where the character can really only exist. Impeccable writing complement the acting with some very witty voice-overs from Ewan McGregor. Kevin Spacey's antagonist is a worthy adversary in our capitalist world. For a film that's as quirky as this, it achieves a level of realism that most dramas can't, and as such, deserves to be seen.

Meryl Streep's Julia Child Steals the Show

Julie & Julia (2009) - dir. Nora Ephron - 3 stars

Book-to-screen adaptation of Julie Powell's blogging and cooking adventure leaves a sweet taste, but it isn't long-lasting. That isn't to say the film isn't good; it's thoroughly funny thanks to Meryl Streep's quirky yet loveable depiction of Julia Child, and it flows smoothly from chapter to chapter. However, the experience is more of a good night out rather than something memorable, mostly because Julie's expected transformation never really emerges from its cocoon. The film is still worth seeing as Julia Child's story to bring the art of French cooking to the American middle class is good enough of a ride filled with outrageous one-liners from Streep.

The film traces the lives of Julie, a social worker dealing with the backlash of 9/11, and Julia, the bored, travelling wife of an American diplomat. Julie is on the verge of depression as her life consists of dealing with upset, depressed relatives of 9/11 victims. On the other hand, Julia is left to entertain herself in foreign countries as her husband moves from country to country. The tie between them is the love of cooking and eating and how the craft of cooking saves them both from their routines.

In an attempt to regain control of her life, Julie decides to keep a blog about cooking through all 536 recipes from Julia Child's famous work, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in one year. On the other hand, Julia Child enrols in Le Cordon Bleu school of Paris to keep herself active while her husband's at work. Both projects bear fruit - one a famous blog that later turns into a book and the other a book that connects haute cuisine with the everyday American cook. I must say that Julia Child's story is far more entertaining and satisfying!

Unique Tale in a Unconventional Wrapper: the Stuff of Good Films

District 9 (2009) - dir. Neill Blomkamp - 5 stars

I am dumbfounded. Blomkamp's feature reveals the deepest shades of human nature in the most surprising format. Its allegorical backbone for South African politics and general racial profiling extends into the most meaningful and touching sci-fi that has yet been made. Its tight script and inverted story makes for one of the best dramatic trajectories of any film. I am simply dumbfounded.

The film follows MNU agent Wikus Van De Merwe as he is assigned to deliver 24 hour eviction notices to the aliens forced to live in slum-like conditions in Johannesburg. The slum, referred to as District 9, is a gated community for the aliens where they can live without disrupting human life. However, they need to be moved outside of the city as the human population is not happy of the creatures called 'prawns' to be living so close to them, hence the eviction. During the eviction visits, things go awry as one of the prawns resists. What follows is a unique story told in effective cinematography where we learn through Wikus what an alien really is.

Peter Jackson definitely uncovered a gem here by producing District 9. Everything from the script, the acting to the special effects are present in the right quantities. Nothing takes over for the sake of Hollywood, which means the film isn't sacrificed. The faux documentary style in the beginning especially stands out for the genre and immediately aids the suspension of disbelief. The viewer is quickly pulled in and convinced that the story is real.

Above all though, considering that this is a film about aliens, what is most striking is that the film reeks and oozes human, to the point where the boundaries of alien and human converge, when the alien saliva becomes natural, and us unnatural.

Humans are only defined by themselves. How so? The term 'alien' is subjunctive or unnecessary as it is a human creation, and by definition, it actually defines us humans more than the alien itself. Blomkamp's film just goes to show that it only takes one human to make an alien, no matter which universe, planet, country, city, race...we're from.

Carlos Cuarón's debut doesn't match the prowess of his brother

Rudo y Cursi (2008) - dir. Carlos Cuarón - 3 stars

As the Cuarón brothers took center stage at the BFI accompanied by Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna after the preview screening of Rudo y Cursi, it was obvious that this group was a "band of brothers" whose close ties and unselfish support for each other meant great, if not unique, films yet to come. However, Carlos' debut feature doesn't have the poignancy nor the mystery of Alfonso's films. This is not to say that Rudo y Cursi is a bad film; it's very entertaining and well-directed. It's just no Y Tu Mamá También or Children of Men.

The film revolves around two brothers, who have very different dreams, but are relentless and almost illogical at following them. Throughout their journey, they encounter a typical round of characters whose intentions are quite obvious to the viewer from the get-go. Needless to say, both Rudo and Cursi become victims of their own naiveté and end up with the reality of Mexico. This storyline feels a little bit like a soap opera however, and regardless of what the actors do, the film can't escape a soap opera feel.

It is curious that Carlos chose straight-forward story-telling for his debut feature with a narrator to boot. After all, he was the screenwriter of Y Tu Mamá También so has what it takes to write such a script where characters are relieved via actions and not narration. I guess he had a burning desire to tell the tale of what professional football means to Mexicans, but this has been brilliantly portrayed in other films from Latin America already. Interested parties need not look further than Linha de Passe.