Review: Entertaining "MaXXXine" is No Pearl

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 of 2024 (No. 1991) by Leroy Douresseaux

MaXXXine (2024)

Running time:  103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)

MPA – R for strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Ti West

PRODUCERS:  Mia Goth, Jacob Jaffke, Harrison Kreiss, Kevin Turen, and Ti West

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Eliot Rockett (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Ti West

COMPOSERS:  Tyler Bates

HORROR

Starring:  Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavole, Moses Sumney, Chloe Farnworth, Lily Collins, Halsey, Ned Vaughn, Simon Prast, and Giancarlo Esposito

MaXXXine is a 2024 horror drama from writer-director Ti West.  The film is the third entry in the X film series and is a direct sequel to X (2022).  MaXXXine focuses on an adult film star and aspiring mainstream actress who finally gets her big break, while a mysterious killer leaves a trail of bodies that threatens to reveal her troubled past.

MaXXXine is set in Los Angeles in the year 1985.  The city is in the middle of the hysteria concering “the Night Stalker” murders, but 32-year-old, porno actress, Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) really doesn't have time to pay attention.  She is making an attempt to transition from pornographic films and into mainstream movies.  Her big break comes via an audition for the horror movie sequel, “The Puritan II.”  Because she impresses the film's director, Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki), Maxine lands the role of the film's villain, “Veronica.”

However, the horrifying events that occurred on a farm estate in rural Texas six years earlier (as seen in X) threaten to expose Maxine's troubled past.  People connected to her are starting to be brutally murdered, and two homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department, Williams (Michelle Monaghan) and Torres (Bobby Cannavale), are tailing her.  Then, there is the sleazy private detective, John Labat (Kevin Bacon), who pops up – often with threats.  Can Maxine protect her big break, and what is she willing to do to protect it?

In the 2022 film, X, Mia Goth played both the potential victim, Maxine Mink, and also Pearl, one half of the elderly homicidal couple.  In X's prequel, Pearl (2022), Goth reprises the role of Pearl, as the films delves into the title character's early life and hardships.  Now, Goth is Maxine again in X's direct sequel, MaXXXine.

In Pearl, the film focuses on a young woman who is mentally troubled and socially outcast and who lashes out in violence after one too many betrayals.  In MaXXXine, I found myself waiting to see Maxine Mink lash out to protect what she has and is about to half.  There are those moments in MaXXXine, such as Maxine's brutal take down of a stalker.  Otherwise, MaXXXine seems like an attempt to tame Maxine Mink of her potential for ultra-violence.

The film's plot and narrative progress are uneven, and the narrative seems like an audiovisual and conceptual pastiche of events and culture related to L.A., circa 1985.  For instance, from 1984 to 1985, serial killer Richard Ramirez terrorized the Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area regions, assaulting, humiliating, and killing some of his victims, and he became known as the “Night Stalker.”  Ti West's screenplay offers tantalizing references to the killings, but the “Night Stalker” is merely a red herring in the film's narrative.

That pretty much summarizes the film.  There are tantalizing characters, subplots, and settings (many of them seeming sinister even in the middle of the day), but MaXXXine never really lets loose.  The Triple-X in the title suggests that the film is triple-strong or at least among the nastiest things around, but MaXXXine is more hard-R than X.  Even the references to Satanic murders and rituals end up like weak tea.

That's a shame because the movie starts off forcefully, and there are a lot of good ideas.  But … for a movie partially set in the world of adult entertainment, including pornographic films, peep shows, and coke-fueled sex parties, MaXXXine self-censors.  Not much is really exposed, and there is a bloody last act that is at once impressive and then, lame.  That's a shame, but MaXXXine really doesn't take it to the max... but man, it really could have.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Monday, November 4, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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"The Craft: Legacy" Hits PVOD Tonight at Midnight

Blumhouse’s and Columbia Pictures’ The Craft: Legacy from Writer/Director Zoe Lister-Jones, to Hit PVOD and EST in North America for Halloween, Starting Midnight October 28, 2020

Culver City, CA – Blumhouse Productions and Columbia Pictures announced today that The Craft: Legacy will be available widely on PVOD this Halloween with leading digital retailers for a 48-hour rental period at a suggested retail price of $19.99, and for premium digital purchase at a suggested retail price of $24.99. An international theatrical release is anticipated in several territories, with details to be solidified in the weeks ahead.

Zoe Lister-Jones’ film, from Blumhouse and Red Wagon Entertainment for Columbia Pictures, is a continuation of the cult hit The Craft (1996), in which an eclectic foursome of aspiring teenage witches get more than they bargained for as they lean into their newfound powers. Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, the film stars Cailee Spaeny (Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of Sex), Gideon Adlon (The Society, Blockers, The Mustang), Lovie Simone (Selah & the Spades, Greenleaf), Zoey Luna (Pose, Boundless), Nicholas Galitzine (Cinderella), with Michelle Monaghan and David Duchovny.

“I'm thrilled to be able to share The Craft: Legacy with audiences all over the world this Halloween," said the film’s writer and director, Zoe Lister-Jones. "It's been a true privilege to take on such an iconic title. I can't wait for the world to meet the incredible young women who make up our new coven.”

“Zoe Lister-Jones has put a bewitching twist on continuing The Craft franchise, and October is the perfect season for it,” said producer Jason Blum. “We’re thrilled that our partners at Sony Pictures are looking at the landscape opportunistically this Halloween, for audiences to watch at home in the U.S.”

Zoe Lister-Jones is writing, directing, and executive producing. Jason Blum is producing for Blumhouse. Academy Award®-winning producer Douglas Wick (who also produced the original film) and Lucy Fisher are producing for Red Wagon Entertainment. Executive producing are Andrew Fleming, who directed and co-wrote the original film; Lucas Wiesendanger, from Red Wagon Entertainment; Daniel Bekerman; Beatriz Sequeira, Jeanette Volturno, and Couper Samuelson for Blumhouse; and Natalia Anderson.
 

About Sony Pictures Entertainment:
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html.

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Columbia Pictures Announces "The Craft: Legacy" for Premium Video on Demand

Blumhouse’s and Columbia Pictures’ The Craft: Legacy from Writer/Director Zoe Lister-Jones, to Hit PVOD and EST in North America for Halloween, Starting Midnight October 28, 2020

Culver City, CA – Blumhouse Productions and Columbia Pictures announced that The Craft: Legacy will be available widely on PVOD this Halloween with leading digital retailers for a 48-hour rental period at a suggested retail price of $19.99, and for premium digital purchase at a suggested retail price of $24.99. An international theatrical release is anticipated in several territories, with details to be solidified in the weeks ahead.

Zoe Lister-Jones’ film, from Blumhouse and Red Wagon Entertainment for Columbia Pictures, is a continuation of the cult hit, The Craft (1996), in which an eclectic foursome of aspiring teenage witches get more than they bargained for as they lean into their newfound powers. Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, the film stars Cailee Spaeny (Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of Sex), Gideon Adlon (The Society, Blockers, The Mustang), Lovie Simone (Selah & the Spades, Greenleaf), Zoey Luna (Pose, Boundless), Nicholas Galitzine (Cinderella), with Michelle Monaghan and David Duchovny.

“I'm thrilled to be able to share The Craft: Legacy with audiences all over the world this Halloween," said the film’s writer and director, Zoe Lister-Jones. "It's been a true privilege to take on such an iconic title. I can't wait for the world to meet the incredible young women who make up our new coven.”

“Zoe Lister-Jones has put a bewitching twist on continuing The Craft franchise, and October is the perfect season for it,” said producer Jason Blum. “We’re thrilled that our partners at Sony Pictures are looking at the landscape opportunistically this Halloween, for audiences to watch at home in the U.S.”

Zoe Lister-Jones is writing, directing, and executive producing. Jason Blum is producing for Blumhouse. Academy Award®-winning producer Douglas Wick (who also produced the original film) and Lucy Fisher are producing for Red Wagon Entertainment. Executive producing are Andrew Fleming, who directed and co-wrote the original film; Lucas Wiesendanger, from Red Wagon Entertainment; Daniel Bekerman; Beatriz Sequeira, Jeanette Volturno, and Couper Samuelson for Blumhouse; and Natalia Anderson.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment:
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html.

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Review: "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" Goes All Out

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Running time: 147 minutes; MPAA – PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action, and for brief strong language
DIRECTOR:  Christopher McQuarrie
WRITERS:  Christopher McQuarrie (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, Christopher McQuarrie, and Jake Myers
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rob Hardy (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSER: Lorne Balfe
BAFTA nominee

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Vanessa Kirby Michelle Monaghan, Wes Bentley, Angela Bassett, and Alec Baldwin

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a 2018 action-thriller and espionage film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise.  It is the sixth film in the Mission: Impossible (M:I) film franchise, which is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a direct sequel to 2015's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.  Fallout finds the members of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) racing against time after a mission to obtain plutonium goes wrong.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout opens two years after the events depicted in Rogue Nation, which saw Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team take down Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), the anarchist mastermind who was the leader of the international criminal consortium, the Syndicate.  Now, the remnants of the Syndicate have reformed into the terrorist organization known as “the Apostles.”

Hunt and his two longest serving IMF teammates, technical field agent, Benjamin “Benji” Dunn (Simon Pegg), and IMF agent Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), are in Berlin, Germany to buy three plutonium cores from Eastern European gangsters before the Apostles do.  The mission goes awry, which forces Hunt to track the cores to whomever or whatever organization now has them.  The person who may know the cores' whereabouts or have them is the mysterious Alanna Mitsopolis a.k.a. “the White Widow” (Vanessa Kirby).

Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), the new Director of the CIA, is furious at Hunt and current Secretary of the IMF, Al Hunley (Alec Baldwin), for failing to secure the plutonium.  Director Sloane insists that one of her agents, August Walker (Henry Cavill), an assassin working for the CIA's Special Activities Division, accompany and Hunt and his IMF team to Paris to meet the Widow.  What Hunt doesn't know is that a recent ally, former MI6 agent, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), is also tracking Hunt, and her mission may or may not be a danger to Hunt's.

I divide the six Mission: Impossible movies into two trilogies.  Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible II (2000), and Mission: Impossible III (2006) make up the first trilogy.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011),  Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) form the second trilogy.  Each film in the first trilogy has a different director and a different tone or sensibility.  The second trilogy only has two different directors, Brad Bird for Ghost Protocol and Christopher McQuarrie for Rogue Nation and Fallout.  However, beginning with Ghost Protocol, the films depict IMF as being a team of outsiders fighting both to save the world and to justify its existence, if only for a moment of goodwill immediately after a successful mission.  Afterwards, the security state apparatus of the United States is back to mistrusting the motives of IMF or to being downright hostile to it.  This intensifies the recent films' sense of drama and also sets them apart from earlier M:I films.

The recent film, Fallout, is the best of this second trilogy or second lot of films.  It certainly lives up to both the words “mission” and “impossible” in its name.  Every thing upon which Ethan Hunt embarks is a mission; these can't be adventures or mere chases because every move has a purpose.  The “impossible” comes in because the missions always involve these impossible set pieces, and Fallout sets a new standard in M:I insane set pieces.

Tom Cruise may be Hollywood's most consistent action movie star and its most ambitious.  As of the release of Fallout, the M:I film franchise was 22-years-old, with the seventh and eighth installments already preparing for release in 2021 and 2022 respectively (as of this writing).  One can call M:I III a bit of a box office misstep (but not by much), but as of Ghost Protocol, the franchise has been bigger, better (in some ways) and tastier with each new film.  Fallout, to date, is Tom Cruise's most extravagant, deliriously fun film, blending mind-bending action set pieces with brutal, physical, man-to-man fights that are sometimes to the death.  Cruise is so hungry to blow our minds ever more with each film that he actually was hurt performing a crazy and dangerous stunt himself.

In Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise seems to have found the perfect director for his aspirations for this franchise.  McQuarrie began his Hollywood career as a screenwriter and won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects.  In the last decade, however, he has proved to be a director of imaginative and inventive macho films that balance high octane action and conspiratorial intrigue.  McQuarrie gives us meat-and-potatoes action films, but the meat is of a high quality and the potatoes are sustainable and artisanal.  It is no coincidence that this already-good franchise has found a way to improve since McQuarrie began directing it and writing its screenplays.

The supporting cast is also excellent, with Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg finding places to shine next to Cruise's supernova.  Angela Bassett chews up two of her scenes; it is easy to take this magnificent actress for granted.  Of course, you will regret it.  I have to admit Henry Cavill impressed me in a way he has never before, and I have to say that I loved every moment of Rebecca Ferguson.  And it is always good to see Alec Baldwin.

At the end of my review of Rogue Nation, I wrote, “Seriously, Tom Cruise is as glorious as ever as Ethan Hunt.”  That remains true, and Mission: Impossible is also as glorious as ever.  I love it so much that I will say even to people who are not fans of the franchise: see Mission: Impossible – Fallout.  For a moment while I was watching this film, I thought to myself, “M:I has replaced James Bond.”  Yikes!

9 of 10
A+

2019 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Sound” (Gilbert Lake, James Mather, Chris Munro, and Mike Prestwood Smith)

Saturday, May 30, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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New "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" Teaser Poster - Feb. 2nd, 2018

Mission: Impossible - Fallout
In Theatres: July 27, 2018

Synopsis: The best intentions often come back to haunt you.  MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong.  Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Wes Bentley, Frederick Schmidt.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 11th to 17th, 2017 - Updated #29

Support Leroy on Patreon.

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POLITICS - From RSN:  Russell Brand says "austerity" is brutality not frugality.

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SPORTS - From BET:  Boxer Floyd Mayweather will make between $200 to $300 million for his "super-fight" with MMA fighter Conor McGregor (who will make $100 million) on August 26th, 2017.

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TELEVISION - From THR:  Glenn Close to star in "Sea Oak," a half-hour zombie drama for Amazon.

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COMICS-FILM - From ThePlaylist:  Marvel Studios has no immediate plans for Marvel Comics' "Fantastic Four."

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OBIT - From THR:  Film editor Bill Butler died at the age of 83 of June 4, 2017.  He earned an Oscar nomination for his work on Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange."

From Variety:  Film director John G. Avildsen has died at the age of 81, Friday, June 16, 2017.  He won an Oscar for directing the original "Rocky" (1976).  He also directed the original "Karate Kid" films.

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TELEVISION - From YahooTV:  Aisha Tyler is leaving the CBS daytime talk show, "The Talk," after six seasons.

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MOVIES - From EW:  There is a new documentary, "Score," about film music which celebrates some of the greatest musical moments in film history.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  Danai Gurira, one of the stars of "The Walking Dead," will appear in both the "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War."

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COMICS-FILM - From Collider:  An R-rated Marvel Studios movie is not out of the questions says Marvel boss, Kevin Feige.  Jessica Chastain in talks to play a villain.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  Simon Kinberg set to direct "X-Men: Dark Phoenix," which will begin production soon.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  The new cinematic Spider-Man, Tom Holland, has revealed that the upcoming "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is the first film in a trilogy.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Actress and model, Anita Pallenberg, has died at the age of 73, Tuesday, June 13, 2017.  She appeared in the film "Barberella" and in "Performance" with the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger.  She also had three children with Jagger's band mate, Keith Richards.

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MOVIES - From Variety: Michelle Monaghan is returning for "Mission: Impossible 6."  She plays Dr. Julia Meade, the wife of Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt and was last seen in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (the fourth film).

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MOVIES - From EW:  Josh Brolin bulks up with muscle for his role as Cable in "Deadpool 2."

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TELEVISION - From THR:  Anthony and Joe Russo, the guys behind the two Captain America movies, "Winter Soldier" and "Civil War," will join Henry Selick, director of "A Nightmare Before Christmas," to bring the video game "Little Nightmares" to television.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Lionsgate is planning to dramatize the story of the controversial rap group, 2 Live Crew, in film.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Woody Allen's upcoming drama, "Wonder Wheels," will debut December 1, 2017.

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SPORTS:  From NYTimes:  The Golden State Warriors win the 2017 National Basketball Association (NBA) Championship, their second in three years.  They beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 129 to 120, to win the best of 7 series, 4 games to 1.

From AOLNews:  Championship teams visit the White House to celebrate with the President of the United States. The Golden State Warriors players voted unanimously not to visit President Trump after winning the 2017 NBA Championship.

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THEATRE - From Variety:  A complete list of 2017 Tony Award winners, including Bette Midler and "Dear Evan Hansen."

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:   The winner of the 6/9 to 6/11/2017 weekend box office is "Wonder Woman" with an estimated take of $57 million.

From Deadline:  With an estimated global box office debut of $169.3, "The Mummy" is delivering some of Tom Cruise's best box office numbers.

From Deadline:  Still, Wonder Woman is whipping Tom Cruise's ass at the domestic box office.

From Variety:  The global box office gross of Tom Cruise's "The Mummy" has pushed Universal Pictures past $3 billion in global box office for the calendar year, 3 days faster than last year.

From Variety:  "The Mummy" may be in trouble at the North American box office, but it make $52 million in China.

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CULTURE - From YahooNews:  Tomorrow, June 12th is "Loving Day,"  It is also the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision "Loving v. Virginia."  The AP is republishing its last interview with Mildred Loving.

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TELEVISION - From THR:  "The Hollywood Reporter" offers an appreciation of Adam West, who played Batman/Bruce Wayne in the campy 1960s "Batman" TV series for ABC.  West died on Friday, June 9, at the age of 88.

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SPORTS - From YahooSports:  Rafael Nadal won his 10th French Open men's singles title, the most by anyone, and a record he has held since he won his seventh French Open singles title in 2012.  With this victory, he becomes the first individual to win 10 singles championships in a single Grand Slam event, in this case the French Open.

From TheGuardian:  In the women's singles, Jelena Ostapenko won her first women's Grand Slam singles title with her victory in the French Open women's singles.  She is the first tennis player from the nation of Latvia, male or female, to win a Grand Slam singles title.

From YahooSports:  With their 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators tonight, the National Hockey League's (NHL) Pittsburgh Penguins win the 2017 Stanley Cup.  They also won the 2016 Stanley Cup, making them the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 19 years.

Open Road and Riverstone's Deal Begins with "Sleepless Night"

OPEN ROAD FILMS PARTNERS WITH RIVERSTONE PICTURES FOR MULTI-YEAR PRODUCTION FINANCING DEAL

Open Road Films and Riverstone Pictures today announced a multi-picture production financing pact for all of Open Road Films’ own productions over the coming years. The announcement was made by Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films and Deepak Nayar and Nik Bower, co-founders of Riverstone Pictures.

The first film under the agreement will be SLEEPLESS NIGHT, starring Jamie Foxx and Michelle Monaghan, directed by Baran bo Odar, which will shoot in Atlanta and Las Vegas this summer. Two to four films a year are expected to go through the deal, with each picture getting a wide domestic release via Open Road while foreign sales are handled by Open Road International and Film Nation.

Riverstone Pictures is a Reliance Entertainment company founded by Deepak Nayar and Nik Bower and is backed by Ingenious Media. It was formed in 2014 when it came on board to fund the John Logan-scripted drama “Genius” starring Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Laura Linney. Riverstone Pictures expects to finance eight to ten productions in the $10m to $50m budget range each year outside its deal with Open Road Films.

Deepak Nayar stated, “Open Road has quickly established itself as a major player in the domestic distribution market with excellent taste in material and a proven expertise in marketing and releasing their films. It was natural fit as a next step for Riverstone Pictures.”

“We are delighted to be in business with Riverstone Pictures,” added Tom Ortenberg, “A company that combines heavyweight financing from major backers with an agile, entrepreneurial approach resonant of our own.”

The deal was negotiated by Tom Ortenberg, CEO, and Elliott Kleinberg, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, on behalf of Open Road Films and by Deepak Nayar and Nik Bower for Riverstone Pictures.


ABOUT OPEN ROAD FILMS
Open Road Films is a leading, independent, theatrical motion picture company, releasing a diverse slate of star-driven films which has included multiple #1 releases. It was founded in 2011 by AMC Entertainment Inc. (AMC) and Regal Entertainment Group (Regal), the two largest theatrical exhibition companies in the United States. Open Road and its lenders recently extended the company's $100,000,000 credit facility through 2018.

Current and past releases include: Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which took the #1 spot at the box-office during its opening week and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Original Screenplay, along with a Golden Globe nomination – it was named one of the best films of 2014 by the AFI and National Board of Review and top critics nationwide; the hit film Chef, written by, directed by and starring Jon Favreau along with Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Oliver Platt, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Downey, Jr.; The Nut Job, which opened to over $25 million at the box office as the highest ever opening for an independent animated film; The Grey, directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson, which opened #1 at the box office; End Of Watch, directed by David Ayer and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, which opened #1 at the box office; Rosewater, written and directed by Jon Stewart; A Haunted House starring Marlon Wayans; and Side Effects, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum.

Upcoming releases include: Dope (6/19/15), a critical hit and audience favorite comedy out of the Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival, written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa; Triple Nine, a thriller directed by John Hillcoat starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Gal Gadot, Norman Reedus, Teresa Palmer and Clifton Collins, Jr. (9/11/15); Rock The Kasbah (10/23/2015), starring Bill Murray along with Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride and Scott Caan, directed by Barry Levinson; the Untitled Oliver Stone/Edward Snowden Project (12/25/15), written and directed by Oliver Stone starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley; Spotlight, directed by Thomas McCarthy, starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci; and Sleepless Night starring Jamie Foxx and Michelle Monaghan.

ABOUT RELIANCE ENTERTAINMENT
Reliance Entertainment is part of India's Reliance Group, and has a significant presence in filmed entertainment, radio and TV broadcasting, new media ventures and state-of-the-art integrated film and media services.

Internationally, Reliance Entertainment has partnered with legendary producer-director, Steven Spielberg, in the formation of DreamWorks Studios as a 50:50 Joint Venture to produce films for global audiences.

The Help, War Horse, Lincoln and Hundred Foot Journey are some of the recent films produced by DreamWorks Studios, receiving wide critical and popular acclaim.

The Reliance Group is led by Chairman Anil D. Ambani, and is amongst India's largest business houses, with interests in telecommunications, energy, defense, financial services, infrastructure, and media and entertainment.

ABOUT INGENIOUS
Ingenious is the leading independent investor in the UK’s creative industries, founded by Patrick McKenna in 1998.

Ingenious Investments is the manager of a wide range of businesses spanning the media & entertainment, clean energy and real estate sectors.

Ingenious Corporate Finance provides comprehensive advice on strategy across a wide range of transactions focusing particularly on the media and entertainment sectors.

Ingenious Asset Management provides discretionary investment management solutions to private investors.

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Review: "Ghost Protocol" the Best "Mission: Impossible" Since First M:I Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Running time: 133 minutes (2 hours, 13 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for scenes of intense action and violence
DIRECTOR: Brad Bird
WRITERS: Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Paul Hirsch
COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Samuli Edelmann, Ivan Shvedoff, Anil Kapoor, Léa Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Pavel Kriz, Miraj Grbic, and Ilia Volok, with Ving Rhames, Michelle Monaghan, and Tom Wilkinson

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a 2011 action thriller and espionage film directed by Brad Bird and starring Tom Cruise. It is the fourth film in the Mission: Impossible film franchise, which is based on the U.S. television series, Mission: Impossible, created by Bruce Geller and aired on CBS from 1966 to 1973 (and revived on ABC from 1988-90).

Ghost Protocol finds the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) accused of a terrorist act and its agents forced to go rogue to clear the organization’s name. Stylish, humorous, and fast-paced, Ghost Protocol is the best Mission: Impossible movie since the 1996 original.

Super spy/secret agent and IMF team leader, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is locked in a Moscow prison. IMF sends agents from another team, Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), to extract him. Hunt is then assigned to lead Carter and Dunn on a mission to infiltrate the Moscow Kremlin archives in order to learn the identity of Cobalt, a terrorist determined to start worldwide nuclear war. When the Kremlin is bombed, however, IMF is blamed, and the Russians call the attack an undeclared act of war.

The President of the United States activates “Ghost Protocol,” which effectively disavows IMF and disbands it. The IMF Secretary (Tom Wilkinson) allows Hunt and his team to escape government custody so that they can track down Cobalt. The Secretary’s chief analyst, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), who doesn’t seem to fit with the team, joins the mission. Without the vast resources of IMF, Ethan Hunt and his team are on their own as they try to stop Cobalt and restore IMF.

Simply put, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a terrific thriller. The filmmakers filled it with giant, action set pieces, which grabbed my attention and turned me into a pliant zombie. Despite the fact that many of these action scenes are just plain ludicrous, they are entertaining and thrilling. I used the rewind button to watch some of them a few more times. Perhaps, this movie thrives on the magic of Brad Bird, the Oscar-winning genius behind such Pixar Animation classics as The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Ghost Protocol certainly isn’t anywhere near reality, but Bird will not only make you suspend disbelief, but also hang it high just so that you can really enjoy this flick without thinking about all the ways it doesn’t make sense.

The cast is good, and Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner’s characters have more to do than the supporting characters in the earlier Mission: Impossible films. Still, as ever, this is a Tom Cruise movie, so the big scenes, especially the fantastical action set pieces focus on Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Cruise’s Mission: Impossible movies are not like the TV series, which was an ensemble espionage drama. If you find Ethan Hunt as annoying as other characters Cruise has played, you may not like this or like it as much as I do.

But I can’t complain. For 15 years, Cruise has delivered the crackerjack action movie that I expected each time I sat down to watch a Mission: Impossible installment. Cruise’s high-wire act over the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai is just one of the improbable parts that make Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol a thrilling thriller.

8 of 10
A

Thursday, April 19, 2012

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Review: A Tad Bit Too Much Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible III"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 96 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of frenetic violence and menace, disturbing images, and brief sensuality
DIRECTOR: J.J. Abrams
WRITERS: Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and J.J. Abrams (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Mindel
EDITORS: Mary Jo Markey A.C.E. and Maryann Brandon A.C.E.

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, and Laurence Fishburne

Super spy/secret agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has retired from active duty with the Impossible Mission Force and now trains new IMF agents. When one of them, Ethan’s star pupil Lindsey Ferris (Keri Russell), turns up missing, Ethan rejoins his crack IMF team: his old friend and super computer expert, Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames); transportation expert, Declan (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers); and background operative, Zhen (Maggie Q) to rescue her. However, Hunt and his team run into their toughest opponent yet, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an international weapons and information provider with no remorse and no conscience. Ethan later finds himself in the clutches of Davian’s employ when he kidnaps Julia (Michelle Monaghan), the love of Ethan’s life. Ethan must retrieve something called “the rabbit’s foot” for Davian if he is to save Julia from the ruthless villain.

The long-awaited Mission: Impossible III has the action movie chops to match the hype that lead up to its release. It’s full of high-octane action sequences that are more thrilling than they are over the top. MI3 is like the first film in the franchise, Mission: Impossible – an espionage thriller with intense thrills – more than it is like the second film, Mission: Impossible II, which was part secret agent adventure and part Hong Kong shoot ‘em up highball. In terms of action thrills, MI3 stands up with such classic 1990’s action flicks as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the Die Hard sequels, the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movies, The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off. Those movies were pure action pictures with heart stopping chases, riveting thrill rides, and die-hard heroes.

Mission: Impossible III is virtually a non-stop thrill ride, and much of the credit has to go to the imaginations of co-writer/director J.J. Abrams (co-creator of the TV series “Lost”) and the screenwriting team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci for coming up with the thrills. Kurtzman and Orci have collaborated with Abrams on his hit TV series, “Alias,” and MI3 resembles Alias’ smart thrills. Abrams, directing his first feature film, doesn’t stumble in his transition from the small screen to the big screen. MI3 is definitely a movie monster, the kind of wide-open adventure film that needs to be seen in theatres.

The flaw that does keep Mission: Impossible III from being a truly great film is that the movie focuses too much on Tom Cruise. Sure, he’s the star, but what is the point of having an actor with the chops of Philip Seymour Hoffman if all he’s going to do in the film is make threats, scowl, and generally look like a meanie. The press materials for MI3 say that Hoffman’s Owen Davian is supposed to be some remorseless bad ass, but we hardly get to see Hoffman really chew up the screen as a villain. Anyone who saw him in Capote, and wondered what he would be like if he played a major screen bad guy will leave MI3 wondering what could have been.

Even Ving Rhames’ Luther Strickell is just window dressing. The character got off to a great start in the first film, and although Rhames part is bigger here than it was in the second film, his potential hasn’t been scratched. The women especially are wasted. Michelle Monaghan and Maggie Q seem so underutilized, but so is everyone else. Only Laurence Fishburne in a small part gets to tear up some screen.

No, it’s all Cruise, just about all the time, and he’s pretty good. Mission: Impossible is his signature action franchise, and he can mine it for a long time. However, the films would be so much richer if Impossible Mission Force was really a team and not just Cruise and some other guys – pawns to be moved about in positions that simply maximize Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in his role of the secret agent as super hero. Still, Mission: Impossible III is more than worth the price of admission for those who remember when action movies were gritty, edge-of-your-seat thrill rides and not just a series of over the top stunts generated in a computer.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, May 8, 2006

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"Machine Gun Preacher" Now with Relativity Media

Relativity Acquires Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher

Studio to Release Biopic Starring Butler This Fall

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Relativity Media announced today that it has acquired North American rights from Lionsgate to theatrically market and distribute Machine Gun Preacher. Directed and produced by DGA and Golden Globe®-nominee Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball) and written by Jason Keller (Relativity’s Untitled Snow White Project), the film stars Gerard Butler (300) in a tour de force performance and will release in Los Angeles and New York on September 23, 2011. The film will expand markets in the weeks to follow. Lionsgate will continue to oversee international distribution on the film, working in partnership with Relativity.

The film also showcases powerful performances by an ensemble cast, including Michelle Monaghan (Due Date), Kathy Baker (Cold Mountain), Oscar®-nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), Madeline Carroll (The Spy Next Door) and breakout actor Souleymane Sy Savane (Goodbye Solo).

Machine Gun Preacher is based on the true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who finds faith leading him on a path to East Africa. Shocked by the mayhem in Sudan, Childers becomes a crusader for hundreds of refugee children. Inspired to create a safe haven for the multitudes fleeing enslavement by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army, he restores peace to their lives and eventually his own.

Producing are Relativity’s Robbie Brenner, Safady Entertainment’s Gary Safady and Craig Chapman, and GG Filmz’s Deborah Giarratana.

“This is a powerful story, and we feel strongly that it is one audiences need to see. Forster once again proves that he is among the best directors of our time and Butler delivers a career-defining performance bolstered by a rock solid supporting cast,” says Relativity’s President of Worldwide Production, Tucker Tooley.

“The film is blessed to have two passionate partners in Relativity and Lionsgate. I’m excited to be working with both companies to bring the incredible story of Sam Childers to the world. I’m really proud of my cast, and all of their hard work in making this movie that means so much to all of us personally,” said Forster.

“We have a longstanding relationship with Marc, and given that together we felt it was best for the film to be released domestically this year, we are very happy that Relativity is able to handle it,” says Mike Paseornek, Lionsgate’s President of Motion Picture Production and Development.

Looking ahead, Relativity will release David Ellis’ Shark Night 3D on September 2, 2011 and then the highly-anticipated Immortals on November 11, 2011, starring Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans and Kellan Lutz with John Hurt and Mickey Rourke. The studio is in production on its Untitled Snow White Project (in theatres March 16, 2012), starring Lily Collins as Snow White, Oscar®-winner Julia Roberts as the evil Queen, Armie Hammer as Prince Andrew Alcott, and Nathan Lane as the hapless and bungling servant to the Queen. Relativity’s expansive 2012 slate also includes Haywire (in theatres January 20, 2012), Act of Valor (in theatres February 17, 2012), Untitled Raven Project (in theatres March 9, 2012), Untitled Farrelly/Wessler Project (in theatres April 13, 2012), House at the End of the Street (in theatres April 20, 2012), Safe Haven (in theatres June 1, 2012) and Hunter Killer (in theatres December 21, 2012).


ABOUT RELATIVITY MEDIA, LLC
Relativity Media is a next-generation studio engaged in multiple aspects of entertainment including full-scale film and television production and distribution, the co-financing of major studio film slates, music publishing, sports management, and digital media. Additionally, the company makes strategic partnerships with, and investments in, media and entertainment-related companies and assets.

To date, Relativity has committed to, produced and/or financed more than 200 motion pictures. Released films have accumulated more than $15 billion in worldwide box office receipts. Relativity’s recent films include: Bridesmaids, Hop, Limitless, Battle: Los Angeles, Season of the Witch, Little Fockers, The Fighter, The Social Network, Salt, Despicable Me, Grown Ups, Dear John, It’s Complicated, Couples Retreat, and Zombieland. Upcoming films for Relativity include: Shark Night 3D, Immortals, Anonymous, and Cowboys & Aliens. Thirty-six of the company’s films have opened to No. 1 at the box office. Relativity films have earned 60 Oscar® nominations, including nods for The Fighter, The Social Network, The Wolfman, Nine, A Serious Man, Frost/Nixon, Atonement, American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma. Fifty-eight of Relativity’s films have each generated more than $100 million in worldwide box-office receipts.

Relativity also owns and operates Rogue Pictures, a company that specializes in films targeted to the 13-25 year old audience, and RogueLife, Relativity’s digital studio which is developing original content for the Web, and creating sustainable online platforms and communities. RelativityREAL, Relativity’s television arm, is currently producing 14 series and more than 20 pilots including Police Women for TLC, Coming Home for Lifetime, and The Great Food Truck Race for Food Network.

Review: "Due Date" is Good Product

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Due Date (2010)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R language, drug use and sexual content
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
WRITERS: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Adam Sztykiel, and Todd Phillips; from a story by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland
PRODUCERS: Daniel Goldberg and Todd Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lawrence Sher
EDITOR: Debra Neil-Fisher
COMPOSER: Christophe Beck

COMEDY

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride, and RZA

Due Date is a comedy and road movie from Todd Phillips, the director of The Hangover. It is the story of a high-strung father-to-be forced to hitch a ride with an oddball wannabe actor if he wants to make it to the birth of his first child on time. While it isn’t nearly as funny or as outrageous as The Hangover, Due Date is entertaining and offers some pretty hysterical moments of its own.

Architect Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is on his way home from Atlanta to Los Angeles when he has an unpleasant encounter with another flyer, aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), who is also going to L.A. Peter and Ethan’s meeting ends up with Peter being placed on the No Fly List. Desperate to get home for the impending birth of his child, Peter is forced to accept Ethan’s offer to hitch a ride with him and his dog, Sonny, cross-country. Thus begins a road trip to hell – the most agonizing, frustrating, terrifying, and physically painful journey of Peter’s life.

Due Date reminded me of another comedy road movie featuring a mismatched pair, Plains, Trains, and Automobiles (1987), the surprisingly poignant film starring Steve Martin and the late John Candy and directed by the late John Hughes. Due Date does have oddly touching moments, but the film really doesn’t deliver on the talents of the people involved, especially Downey, Galifianakis, and director Todd Phillips. It is a mixed bag. Sometimes, it is an action movie; other times, it is a raunchy comedy, and a few times, the film throws out some emotional moments. Due Date is funny, but for the most part, it just feels like big time Hollywood product. It entertains, delivering with the same reliability of an unspectacular Big Mac. Due Date is just average.

5 of 10
B-

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

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Review: "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is Really Good Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 141 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, violence, and sexuality/nudity
DIRECTOR: Shane Black
WRITER: Shane Black; from a screen story by Shane Black (based upon the novel, Bodies are Where You Find Them by Brett Halliday)
PRODUCER: Joel Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Barrett
EDITOR: Jim Page

COMEDY/MYSTERY/CRIME with elements of drama and thriller

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen, Dash Mihok, Larry Miller, Rockmond Dunbar, Shannyn Sossamon, and Angela Lindvall

New York City petty thief, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.) cons his way into an acting audition while running from the police. Before long he’s whisked away to Los Angeles for an even more important audition, this time for a part in a big movie. Harry finds an authentic acting coach in L.A. detective, Perry Van Shrike (Val Kilmer) or "Gay Perry," to help him prepare for his audition. The bright lights of Hollywood pale, however, when Harry, Perry, and Harry’s high school dream girl, Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), find themselves thrust into a murder mystery – one with an increasingly high body count.

Shane Black’s calling card is that he is the screenwriter who created Lethal Weapon, but his name may also be slightly notorious with his connection to Hollywood budget excesses, especially as he once received a then-record $1.75 million for The Last Boy Scout script. He didn’t create the buddy picture, an action sub-genre that remains popular but really ruled in the 1980’s and early 1990’s (one could say that the buddy-cop flick came to life with 48 Hours). Still, Black’s Lethal Weapon screenplay defined the buddy action flick, and Black became one of the most influential writers of action flicks.

Perhaps, we can view Black’s directorial debut, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as a send-up of the genre he, more than any other writer, helped send into the stratosphere of big-time movie making. Almost a movie within a movie, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang seems like a satire of the buddy flick. Self-referential to the point of being meta-fiction, the narrator, Robert Downey, Jr.’s Harry Lockhart, never breaks the fourth wall, but he knows he has an audience.

With all the twists, turns, deceptions, betrayal, and romance in its plot, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a clever P. I. (private investigator or private eye) farce set in the glamour weird side of Los Angeles – think rich people and Hollywood types. Many of the characters are on the edge of Tinseltown – on the outside looking in. This movie is like Get Shorty, but it’s filtered through Shane Black’s penchant for L.A. crime stories – cops and detectives working a sort of modern day Film-Noir City of Angels – a kind of neo-Noir. This is also like The Last Boy Scout, without the big budget action sequences, but more outlandish and eccentric.

Watching this film, one has to wonder why it works. Robert Downey, Jr. seems slightly miscast, but he’s such a fine actor that he makes this part his own. Val Kilmer is quite good in a part that seems a bit short for what both the character and actor can bring to the film. Michelle Monaghan also seems miscast, but she has excellent comic sensibilities and over the long haul of the picture makes a very good, if not perfect, fit.

For all the style and ambience Black and his cast bring to this movie, what ultimately makes Kiss Kiss Bang Bang an exceptional film is how shrewdly written it is. Black has astutely filled his script with the kind of off-the-wall dialogue, situations, and scenes that hooks an audience ever deeper into the film, very similar to what Quentin Tarantino did in Pulp Fiction. It’s a cunning move that both keeps an audience with a short attention span engaged while putting a nimble move on the detective genre that makes even the jaded sit up and take notice. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it is the droll comedy of 2005. It is also one of the most inventive comic turns on the detective flick (that doesn’t have to rely on parody) in decades.

8 of 10
A

Friday, June 30, 2006

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Review: "Gone Baby Gone" Superb Directorial Debut for Ben Affleck

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, drug content, and pervasive language
DIRECTOR: Ben Affleck
WRITERS: Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard (from the novel by Dennis Lehane)
PRODUCERS: Ben Affleck, Sean Bailey, Alan Ladd, Jr., and Danton Rissner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Toll (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: William Goldenburg
2008 Academy Award nominee

CRIME/DRAMA/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Amy Ryan, Amy Madigan, Titus Welliver, Michael K. Williams, Edi Gathegi, and Madeline O’Brien

Like Martin Scorsese did before him in 1973 with Mean Streets, Ben Affleck visits the tough streets of a city in which he’s familiar, Boston, for his film Gone Baby Gone, based upon a Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) novel. There Affleck tells a harrowing tale of shocking crime, brutal violence, and ultimate betrayal set in the seedy underbelly of a lower working class neighborhood.

Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), two young private detectives, are hired by grieving aunt, Beatrice “Bea” McCready (Amy Madigan), to take a closer look into the disappearance of her niece, a little girl named Amanda (Madeline O’Brien). Capt. Patrick Doyle (Morgan Freeman), the head of the investigation, and the two senior detectives, Det. Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Det. Nick Poole (John Ashton), aren’t happy about Bea and her husband, Lionel McCready (Titus Welliver), bringing in Kenzie and Gennaro, whose specialty is finding missing debtors.

Patrick and Angie take their investigations to the extra mean streets of the Boston neighborhood where the major players, including themselves, live. Patrick and Angie soon trace the child’s disappearance to some kind of deal gone bad involving her mother, a loud and vulgar drug addict/alcoholic named Helene McCready (Amy Ryan, in an Oscar nominated role). Ultimately, Kenzie finds himself risking everything, including his relationship with Gennaro, their sanity and lives, to find Amanda. Nothing is what it seems, and the case is vastly complicated.

If Ben Affleck was known as a pretty boy actor who made bad career choices, now he’s known as an up and coming director to watch. Gone Baby Gone, which Affleck also co-wrote with Aaron Stockard, is a sharp, edgy and morally ambiguous tale. The detective angle of the story is certainly a piece of pulp crackerjack that is as sweet and bitter as dark chocolate, but also as addictive as faerie food. Once you bite into Affleck’s beautiful/accursed confection, you will never leave it, and it won’t leave you.

That’s because the heart of Gone Baby Gone is so frighteningly familiar to viewers – the unsettling notion of a small child stolen by a monstrous human who savages, violates, and ultimately destroys a young life by murder or psychological ruin. However, novelist Dennis Lehane’s tale takes you to even darker regions below the surface of this familiar scenario, and Affleck doesn’t shy from visualizing the story into a film that goes for the vulnerable places on your body and in your mind. It’s the place where the self-righteous find that not only is the road to damnation paved with good intentions but that their justifications make them as bad as the worse people.

Ben Affleck also found his film gifted with a number of high quality performances, including some from Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Amy Madigan, among others. The stand outs are the director’s brother, Casey Affleck, and Amy Ryan. Affleck, playing the little tough guy, is a bubbling cauldron as he takes his Patrick Kenzie from the sweet guy who really cares to the tough guy/bad ass detective who can take on the most dangerous on mean street.

Amy Ryan is superb as Helene McCready. Simply put, the audience has no reason to believe that Helene is not a real-life breathing person with an ugly past, a pathetic present, and a loser future. Ryan makes you believe that Helene is both lost in an addictive personality and a totally lousy mother. This is the richness of Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2008 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Amy Ryan)

2008 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Amy Ryan)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

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