"Capitalism: A Love Story" Shows No Love for Greed

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 88 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPAA – R for some language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Michael Moore
PRODUCERS: Anne Moore and Michael Moore
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Daniel Marracino and Jayme Roy
EDITORS: Jessica Brunetto, Alex Meillier, Tanya Meillier, Conor O'Neill, Pablo Proenza, T. Woody Richman, and John Walter

DOCUMENTARY

Starring: Michael Moore, William Black, US Congressman Elijah Cummings, Sheriff Warren Evans, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Wallace Shawn, and Elizabeth Warren

Capitalism: A Love Story is a 2009 documentary film by author and director, Michael Moore. The film focuses on the financial crisis that began in 2007 (and continued into 2010) and indicts capitalism and the current economic order of the United States. Moore details how capitalism via corporations dominates the lives of Americans and the rest of the world (by default).

Moore’s film travels around the country, especially Middle America, detailing how the excesses of capitalism and corporate greed have damaged, even destroyed the lives of some Americans. Moore attempts to enter the halls of power in Washington D.C. and the global financial epicenter in Manhattan, specifically Wall Street, to discuss greed and government bailouts. Capitalism: A Love Story’s topics include corporate-owned life insurance (called “dead peasants insurance), for-profit prisons, home foreclosures and evictions, the influence of Goldman Sachs in Washington D.C., modern worker strikes, Wall Street’s “casino mentality,” and more. The film asks several questions, but the most prominent being, what is the price that America pays for its love of capitalism? The film also has a religious component in which Moore wonders if capitalism is a sin and if Jesus would have been a capitalist.

Obviously the title, Capitalism: A Love Story, is a misnomer, but this isn’t a hate story. Moore examines “unfettered and unregulated” capitalism and also how modern capitalism is defined by greed, an insatiable lust for money, and the tendency to view everything and everyone as a commodity – all subject to exploitation. Moore is more than just a documentary filmmaker; he is also a crusader. As such he presents evidence and information specifically designed to prove his point – in this case that capitalism is destructive and evil – and also to get his audience politically aware and socially active.

Sometimes, Moore’s own actions in his movies come across as stunts – like his antics on Wall Street and near Congress in this movie. In Capitalism: A Love Story, this only serves to hurt the movie’s credibility and also makes him look more like a prankster than a documentary filmmaker. Like Fahrenheit 9/11, Capitalism: A Love Story avoids perfection because of its creator’s tendency to clown.

Still, Moore dazzles with his ability to tell stories about the struggles and suffering of ordinary working Americans. He is also one of the best American filmmakers working today. Impressive storytelling and exceptional technical skills are the calling cards of this brilliant movie director. When such a director tackles our nation’s most pressing issues, we should pay attention because it matters.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2010 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Award Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical or Television)”

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Michael Moore's SiCKO Chronicles Real Death Panels

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sicko (2007)
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for brief strong language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Michael Moore
PRODUCERS: Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara
EDITOR: Geoffrey Richman, Christopher Seward, and Dan Swietlik
Academy Award nominee

DOCUMENTARY

Starring: Michael Moore, Tarsha Harris, and Larry and Donna Smith

In his most recent documentary, Sicko, Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) set his sights on the state of the American healthcare system, examining the plight of both the uninsured and the under-insured. Moore’s argument: in the world’s richest country, 45 million people have no health insurance, while HMO’s grow in size and wealth.

During his investigation, Moore uses his trademark humor and confrontational style and attempts to shed light on the complicated medical affairs and tragedies of a wide-range of Americans. Sticking to his tried-and-true one-man approach, Moore also visits Canada, Great Britain, France, and Cuba to compare how those countries provide basic health care coverage free for their citizens.

Michael Moore is clearly dismayed that so powerful and wealthy as nation as the United States should put so many of its citizens in the position of gambling their health will always be good. Sicko seems to reveal that Moore is equally surprised and perhaps angry that the system is such a mess that even people with health insurance are not always better off than the uninsured. Moore shows how the system got that way, and then relying on people rather than statistics, he introduces his audience to various Americans who’ve suffered as a result of a system that emphasizes profit over the well-being of its patients. Some sick people even get a death sentence – in the form of a refusal to pay for a lifesaving procedure – personally from their insurance provider.

The carnival atmosphere that hangs over Moore’s films (especially Fahrenheit 9/11) is still here, but Moore rarely loses focus in reminding us that American can do better for more of its citizens when it comes to healthcare. Though his surprise sometimes comes across as disingenuous, Moore uses droll humor and sly wit to ignite the fire in your belly and the rage in your heart. I must admit that there is some unintentional humor: some of the services that European governments provide for their citizens border on nanny state overkill, but who has the last laugh? Them or we Americans?

Sicko, Moore’s best film since Roger & Me, demands that American healthcare be reformed to help all citizens regardless of financial status. Moore also argues that only those with something to gain from the status quo will ignore the sobering realities.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2008 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Documentary, Features” (Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara)

2008 Image Awards: 1 nomination for “Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical or Television)

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Fahrenheit 9/11 a Tour de Force

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 146 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Running time: 122 minutes (2 hours, 2 minutes)
MPAA – R for some violent and disturbing images, and for language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Michael Moore
PRODUCERS: Jim Czarnecki, Kathleen Glynn, and Michael Moore
EDITORS: Kurt Engfehr, T. Woody Richman, and Christopher Seward

DOCUMENTARY/WAR

Starring: George W. Bush, Lila Lipscomb, and Michael Moore

His detractors have called documentary filmmaker Michael Moore everything from a polemist to a propagandist. The Oscar® winning director (Bowling for Columbine) is the best known American documentary movie maker, even better known than such acclaimed talents as Ken Burns and Errol Morris. In the late spring of 2004, Moore debuted is most controversial work to date, Fahrenheit 9/11, in which Moore aims his camera squarely at the administration and policies of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Fahrenheit 9/11 details the connections between the Bush family and various Saudi Arabian oil interests, especially the bin Laden family – ironic considering that Bush and the bin Laden family member who is the alleged architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America, Osama bin Laden, are now mortal enemies. The film also takes a look at what happened after 9/11/2001, and how the Bush administration used the tragic event to push its agenda. Moore’s claims include accusations that Bush family and business associates have greatly benefited monetarily from the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through government military and petrochemical contracts. Fahrenheit 9/11 later takes a look at the affects of combat in Iraq on the soldiers and Iraqi citizens, and Moore interviews Lila Lipscomb, a proud and patriotic mother whose son dies in Iraq.

Unlike Moore’s films, Roger & Me and the aforementioned Columbine, Moore, as a character, does not make many on-screen appearances in Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit 9/11 is more focused than the Academy Award-winning Columbine because Moore has to spend a great deal of the film detailing his arguments, especially in the film’s first half. The first hour or so of Fahrenheit 9/11 is where Moore makes his arguments that George Bush and his cronies and administration used the war to enact government and social policies that they wanted to force on Americans all along and that the terrorist attacks on the U.S. gave them the opening they needed. Moore claims that ultimately the war in Iraq was more about the Hand Puppet’s administration’s desire to make money than protecting the U.S. What makes Michael Moore’s argument convincing is that he culls so much archival news footage, photographs, and video from recent news conferences. Thus, the subjects of his film do the vast majority of the talking and inadvertently convict themselves and prove Moore’s points.

The first half of Fahrenheit 9/11, when it focuses on George Bush, is outrageous and hilarious. Michael Moore has the gift of being both subtle and blunt when it comes to humor. His satire has the precision of a scalpel, and he presents arguments with the blunt force of a fist; he is brutal and relentless. Considering how so many Hollywood directors of comedies now rely on childish gross out jokes to sell their “humor,” Moore is likely the smartest film director of humor in America. He uses President Bush and his associates like hapless sock puppets for his jokes, all the while he expertly delineates their follies.

The second half of Fahrenheit 9/11 is a bit of a downer, as Moore takes his camera to Iraq to interview soldiers. He also interviews a soldier’s mother from his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Although many critics have claimed that Michael Moore portrayed the American servicemen and servicewomen as villains, I found that to be otherwise. The little time the soldiers are on camera, Moore shows warts and all, but the soldiers come out looking like humans and not killing machines. They make mistakes and do ugly things, but Moore shows them as the heroes – guys and girls just doing their jobs. If the job is wrong, it’s not by their hands, but it’s on the people who sent them there.

The other segment of Fahrenheit 9/11 that’s really hard to watch is Moore’s time spent with Lila Lipscomb, the mother of a slain soldier. His camera takes such an intimate look at her life surrounding her son’s service in Iraq that when tragedy strikes, the viewer also feels the pain.

As good as Moore is at making documentaries, he also uses film to make commentary, and he uses film as if he were an essayist. He’s also part of that other group of journalists, reporters, storytellers, etc. who go beyond the safe borders where mainstream American media won’t go. Michael Moore just happens to be the loudest source of alternative information concerning politics and society, and Fahrenheit 9/11 may be his most accomplished work. Still, it’s by no means perfect; sometimes the film looses focus (as during his visit with two Oregon state troopers). However, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sign of even greater things to come from Moore, and it’s one of the best films of the year.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2004 Cannes Film Festival: 2 wins: “FIPRESCI Prize Competition” (Michael Moore) and Golden Palm or “Palme d’Or” (Michael Moore)

Summit's "Man on a Ledge" Begins Principal Photography with Sam Worthington

Press release:

MAN ON A LEDGE Begins Principal Photography

Directed by Asger Leth and Starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Anthony Mackie, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, and Edward Burns for Summit Entertainment

NEW YORK, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Principal photography has begun in New York City on the Summit Entertainment feature Man On A Ledge.

An ex-cop and now wanted fugitive (Sam Worthington) stands on the ledge of a high-rise building while a hard-living New York Police Department hostage negotiator (Elizabeth Banks) tries to talk him down. The longer they are on the ledge, the more she realizes that he might have an ulterior objective.

Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Elizabeth Banks (The Next Three Days) star among an ensemble cast including Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), who portrays Worthington's best friend and ally and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) who is Worthington's younger brother and ardent supporter. Also along for the ride is four-time Oscar® nominee, Ed Harris (Pollock) who plays a powerful businessman, while Edward Burns (27 Dresses) is a rival negotiator who tries to swoop in when he believes Banks has a conflict of interest. Newcomer Genesis Rodriguez (Casa di me Padre) plays Bell's girlfriend who along with Bell, tries to prove Worthington's innocence.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura stated, "MAN ON A LEDGE is an incredible suspense thriller with a powerhouse cast. I look forward to producing this project and once again working with Summit Entertainment with which we just released the action comedy RED."

Man on a Ledge is directed by Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cite Soleil), from an original screenplay written by Pablo F. Fenjves ("The Affair") and Erich Hoeber & Jon Hoeber, and is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian (Transformers & Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). Executive Producers are David Ready (Red) and Jake Myers (Red).

Paul Cameron (Man on Fire) is the Director of Photography and the Production Designer is Alec Hammond (Red). Kevin Stitt (X-Men) is the Editor and Susan Lyall (Red) serves as Costume Designer.


About Summit Entertainment LLC
Summit Entertainment is a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio. The studio handles all aspects of marketing and distribution for both its own internally developed motion pictures as well as acquired pictures. Summit Entertainment, LLC also represents international sales for both its own slate and third party product. Summit Entertainment, LLC releases 10 to 12 films on average annually.

Review: Braveheart + Gladiator = Russell Crowe's (Pre) Robin Hood

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 87 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Robin Hood (2010)
Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
WRITERS: Brian Helgeland; from a story by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris and Brian Helgeland
PRODUCERS: Russell Crowe, Brian Grazer, and Ridley Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Mathieson
EDITOR: Pietro Scalia

ACTION/DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Alan Doyle, Douglas Hodge, Lisa Seydoux, Jonathan Zaccai, and Jack Downham

Back in 2000, Ridley Scott unleashed his Roman costume drama/action movie, Gladiator. The film was a big box office hit and turned its lead, Russell Crowe, into a major movie star. Gladiator went on to win several Academy Awards, including “Best Picture” and a “Best Actor” Oscar for Crowe. Scott and Crowe have worked together since then, but those films have not been as successful as Gladiator.

Scott and Crowe distilled the manly man of honor essence of Gladiator and put it into their recent film, Robin Hood, but this movie is not like other Robin Hood movies. The Scott/Crowe Robin Hood isn’t a reinvention or re-imagining or anything like that. It is a kind of prequel, essentially asking the question of what would have turned a man into an outlaw like Robin Hood. This is the story of how, when, and why Robin Hood came to be, and the story goes like this…

It is 1199, and as the Third Crusade comes to an end, Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) continues his war against Philip II of France (Jonathan Zaccai). In the siege of Chalus Castle, Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) is a common archer. Following the death of Richard, Robin and two other common archers, Alan A’Dale (Alan Doyle) and Will Scarlet (Scott Grimes), and the soldier Little John (Kevin Durand) make an attempt to return home to England after 10 years away. The quartet arrives at the site of an ambush of the Royal guard. There, Robin makes a promise to a dying knight, Robert Loxley (Douglas Hodge), to return a sword to his father, Sir Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow), in Nottingham.

Impersonating Loxley, Robin returns to England to find the land beset by the ill rule of Richard’s brother, now King John (Oscar Isaac). Robin and his companions travel to Nottingham where he meets Loxley’s now-widowed wife, Lady Marian (Cate Blanchett), and Sir Walter, who is old and blind. Walter asks Robin to continue to impersonate his son in order to keep his family lands from being taken by the crown for taxes. In fact, Prince John sends his henchman, Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong), an English knight secretly aligned with the French, across England to collect taxes from everyone by any means necessary. Robin fights back, but soon discovers that England has bigger problems than out of control tax collectors. Now, Robin Longstride must lead the fight to save the country.

Robin Hood is a rousing adventure combat movie. It isn’t Ridley Scott’s best work (or anywhere near that), nor is it Crowe’s best work. Neither, however, seems on automatic. Crowe is a superb actor and consummate craftsman; it may seem as if he is in cruise control mode here. Crowe just makes it look easy, and perhaps, Scott does the same in this movie. The truth is Robin Hood is very well made and quite entertaining, except for a small dry spell in the second hour of the movie.

Perhaps, it is easy to take this film and the people behind it for granted. I marveled at the high-quality performances throughout. Cate Blanchett gives a strong turn and fashions a forceful character out of the well-worn, almost stock character, Maid Marian. Mark Strong is, as usual, strong as the villain – in this case, the conniving Godfrey, and Oscar Isaac is award nomination-worthy for his creation of the unashamedly jealous King John.

I thought of Gladiator and Braveheart while watching this new take on Robin Hood. I certainly like its depiction of how lowly, common men sacrifice their lives and spend years away from their families to fight wars started by a small circle of vain royalty. After expending so much blood and sweat, they get nothing in return and even have to fight to find a way home on their own. That much is relevant to our modern times. Scott, Crowe, and screenwriter Brian Helgeland get it right. That injustice is reason enough to turn a man into an outlaw, and reason enough for me to enjoy Robin Hood.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, October 29, 2010

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Robin Hood Makes Good with "Waiting for 'Superman'"

Press release:

ROBIN HOOD TEAMS UP WITH “SUPERMAN”

ROBIN HOOD JOINS PARTICIPANT MEDIA IN SOCIAL ACTION CAMPAIGN TO BRING WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” TO THOUSANDS OF NEW YORKERS FREE OF CHARGE

LOS ANGELES – October 28, 2010 – The Robin Hood Foundation has teamed up with Participant Media’s Social Action Campaign for WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” by underwriting a ticket giveaway program that is allowing a variety of New Yorkers from underserved neighborhoods in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn to see the film.

The landmark documentary has sparked a vital conversation on the current state of public education in the United States. The program’s goal is to spread awareness by providing 50,000 New Yorkers tickets to see WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” at no charge.

Robin Hood has distributed thousands of vouchers redeemable for admission to any performance of the film at select New York theaters over a three-week period starting Friday, October 22. There will be additional free screenings of the film to be shown throughout the five boroughs over the next several months.

“As a result of Robin Hood’s support, tens of thousands of New Yorkers from underserved neighborhoods will now have the chance to see WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” and be able to be part of the national conversation,” said Jim Berk, CEO Participant Media. “Their next step is to text ‘POSSIBLE TO 77177’ or visit waitingforsuperman.com/action, where they can find a variety of ways to get actively involved in changing the quality of education in their own communities.”

Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone, which is featured in the film, has distributed 10,000 of the free vouchers, valid from now through November 11, for admission to any performance of the film at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 theatre and the AMC Empire 25 theatre in Manhattan. 19,000 have been distributed by Robin Hood’s network of grantees, with 12,500 redeemable at the two AMC theatres from now through November 11, and 6,500 vouchers, valid from now through November 4 at the UA Court Street theatre in Brooklyn.


About WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN”
From An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim comes WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN”, a provocative and cogent examination of the crisis of public education in the United States told through multiple interlocking stories—from a handful of students and their families whose futures hang in the balance, to the educators and reformers trying to find real and lasting solutions within a dysfunctional system. Tackling such politically radioactive topics as the power of teachers’ unions and the entrenchment of school bureaucracies, Guggenheim reveals the invisible forces that have held true education reform back for decades.

The film is produced by Lesley Chilcott, with Participant Media’s Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann serving as executive producers. It is written by Davis Guggenheim & Billy Kimball.

About Participant Media
Participant Media (participantmedia.com) is a Los Angeles-based global entertainment company specializing in socially-relevant documentary and non-documentary feature films, television, publishing and digital media. Participant exists to tell compelling, entertaining stories that bring to the forefront real issues that shape our lives. For each of its projects, Participant creates extensive social action and advocacy programs, which provide ideas and tools to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Participant’s online Social Action Network is TakePart (takepart.com).

Participant Media is headed by CEO Jim Berk and was founded in 2004 by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who serves as Chairman. Ricky Strauss is President.

Participant's films include The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Darfur Now, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, The Visitor, The Soloist, Food, Inc., The Informant!, The Cove, The Crazies, Oceans, Countdown to Zero, WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN” and Fair Game.

About Robin Hood Foundation
Robin Hood holds steadfast to a single mission: fight poverty in New York City. Robin Hood is changing the fates and saving the lives of our neighbors in need by applying investment principles to charitable giving. We find, fund and create the most effective programs and schools serving families in New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. To ensure that every dollar is invested wisely, we rigorously assess each program using independent, third-party evaluators to hold each program accountable. Because Robin Hood’s board of directors pays all administrative, fundraising and evaluation costs, 100 percent of donations go directly to organizations helping impoverished New Yorkers build better lives. www.robinhood.org

About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

About Walden MediaWalden Media specializes in entertainment for the whole family. Past award-winning films include: “The Chronicles of Narnia” series, “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Nim’s Island” and “Charlotte’s Web.” Upcoming films include the third installment in the Narnia series “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”

Review: "Batman Begins" Still Thrills

TRASH IN MY EYES No. 96 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Batman Begins (2005)
Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense action violence, disturbing images, and some thematic elements
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan
WRITER: David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan; from a story by David S. Goyer (based upon the BATMAN characters published by DC Comics and created by Bob Kane)
PRODUCERS: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, and Larry Franco
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Wally Pfister, A.S.C.
EDITOR: Lee Smith, A.C.E.
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/ACTION/ADVENTURE/MYSTERY

Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, Morgan Freeman, Mark Boone Junior, Linus Roache, Sara Stewart, Gus Lewis, Gerald Murphy, and Christine Adams

In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is tormented by guilt and anger over the death of his parents, Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne (Linus Roache and Sara Stewart), killed one dark night by a common hood, when Bruce was a child (Gus Lewis). When he grew older, he became determined to fight injustice and fear and to also honor his parents’ altruistic legacy, so Bruce decides to educate himself in the ways of the criminal mind by traveling the world and mixing with criminals. Eventually, the mysterious Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) mentors him in the mastery of the physical and mental disciplines. Ducard also offers Bruce a place in the League of Shadows, a vigilante group to which Ducard belongs and that is headed by the enigmatic Ra’s al Ghul (Ken Watanabe).

Bruce eventually returns to the city that he called home before his seven-year odyssey, Gotham, and finds it devoured by rampant crime and corruption. Wayne Enterprises, the business that his family has owned for generations, is about to make a public stock offering at the behest of it’s CEO, Richard Earle (Rutger Hauer), a man not interested in Wayne Enterprises’ history of serving the public good. Bruce’s close childhood friend, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), is an Assistant District Attorney struggling to gain convictions against the city’s most notorious criminals and their scumbag crime boss, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). Her efforts are often thwarted by Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), a prominent Gotham psychiatrist who bolsters insanity defenses for Falcone’s thugs in return for his own favors.

But Bruce has a plan. He is developing a costumed alter ego, the Batman, based upon the things that frightened him most as a child, bats. With the help of the Wayne family’s long-time trusted butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), detective Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) – one of the few good cops on the Gotham police force – and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), his ally at Wayne Enterprises’ Applied Sciences division, Bruce unleashes the masked crusader Batman, who uses his strength, fighting skills, intellect, and an array of high tech weaponry to fight the sinister forces gathered to destroy Gotham.

In Batman Begins, the first film in the Batman movie franchise since the failed 1997 film, Batman and Robin and also a restart for the franchise, the acting is quite good. Christian Bale is superb as Bruce Wayne, a man who doesn’t yet have a thousand faces, but may eventually. Bale’s Bruce has grit and determination, but he suffers the imperfections and infallibilities of a man haunted by childhood fears and the deaths of his parents. He is a believable Bruce Wayne to whom we can attach our fortunes and through whom we can live vicariously as Bruce Wayne searches for the deeper answers to crime and punishment, justice, vigilance, and charity. Bale’s Bruce Wayne is Bruce played by an actor who takes the part of a comic book character and brings it to life through his art the way serious actors bring great literary characters to life.

Liam Neeson is magnetic and electric as the menacing, almost religious, leader Ducard. Neeson gives Ducard’s every word weight and gravity, which solidifies the character’s importance. Michael Caine is grandfatherly and matronly as Bruce’s loyal butler, Alfred, the best interpretation of the character in live action film to date. Morgan Freeman is sly and witty as Lucius Fox. Katie Holmes is scrappy, savvy, and smart as Rachel Dawes, a character who is too little in this film, but Ms. Holmes, like Neeson with Ducard, makes Rachel’s every word and scene count.

The directing by Christopher Nolan is good (but not as good as his debut Memento); the editing, photography, action sequences, costumes, art direction/set decorations, and locations are all tight-ass fine. However, the thing that makes Batman Begins good is the script by Nolan and co-writer David S. Goyer (the Blade franchise), from a story by Goyer. They treat the subject matter with seriousness that is tremendous, as if this comic book film should be adapted with all the somberness one would an acclaimed literary novel. Batman Begins is a summer film with meat on it; it’s eye candy that sticks in the mind and in the heart. The story is always engaging the thought process and appealing to the emotional side. Audiences probably won’t feel as if they just had a fluffy desert when they leave the theatre after seeing this. Batman Begins is a great romantic adventure, the kind that thrived in the 19th century and sadly died by the mid-20th century. Though Batman Begins drags on a few occasions, this enthralling film will remind some how good heroic tales can be and introduce others to the joys of romantic, heroic adventure.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Wally Pfister)

2006 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould, and Paul J. Franklin), “Best Production Design” (Nathan Crowley), and “Best Sound” (David Evans, Stefan Henrix, and Peter Lindsay)

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