Review: "The White Countess" Does Not Quite Capture Old Merchant Ivory Magic (Remembering Natasha Richardson)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 131 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The White Countess (2005)
Running time:  136 minutes (2 hours, 16 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some violent images and thematic elements
DIRECTOR:  James Ivory
WRITER:  Kazuo Ishiguro
PRODUCER:  Ismail Merchant
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Christopher Doyle (director of photography)
EDITOR:  John David Allen
COMPOSER:  Richard Robbins

DRAMA/HISTORICAL with elements of romance

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lynn Redgrave, Allan Corduner, Da Ying, and Madeleine Daly

The subject of this movie review is The White Countess, a 2005 period drama from director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant for their Merchant Ivory Productions.  This is the last film produced by Merchant, who died during production of the film.  Written by Kazuo Ishiguro, The White Countess is set in 1930s Shanghai and focuses on a blind American diplomat and a young Russian trying to support members of her dead husband’s aristocratic family.

A traumatic political event took the lives of both his wife and son, and a second one killed his daughter and blinded him.  Now, 40-something, disenchanted, ex-U.S. diplomat Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes) lives a lonely life amid the political turmoil of 1930’s Shanghai, and dreams of owning a gentleman’s club – the kind that he can still see in his mind and quite unlike the hotels and clubs in which he currently languishes.

However, his life changes when he crosses paths with Countess Sofia Belinskya (Natasha Richardson), a widowed Russian countess living in impoverished exile with her in-laws and her daughter.  Where once she lived the life of nobility, now, she accepts sordid jobs to support her family.  When fortune strikes and gives Jackson the means to open his bar, he names it The White Countess, and convinces Sofia to accept a job as the club’s hostess.  But will he have the strength to admit his love before a coming Japanese invasion of Shanghai separates them forever?

The team of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant are known to the film world as Merchant Ivory Productions and have produced such Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated films as A Room with a View, Howard’s End, and Remains of the Day.  The Indian born Merchant (who also directed films) died in May of 2005, and The White Countess was his final collaboration with James Ivory.  The film is quiet and lacks the grandeur of the better-known Merchant Ivory Production like Howard’s End.  It’s very low key, and dialogue moves the narrative.  It’s almost as if The White Countess is more a historical epic made for television than it is a work for the cinema.

Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson give strange, quiet performances.  Fiennes is as usual quite good, and Richardson is mysterious and detached.  One would think that the two couldn’t have any chemistry, but their facial expressions and subtle physical movements give their characters and their relationship a deeply evocative tone.  They essentially define this slow moving, but classy period piece, as all the other actors seem to follow their tranquil acting.

In fact, there are a number of fine supporting performances including a rare appearance in the same film by famous acting sisters, Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave (real life mother and aunt respectively of Natasha Richardson), in small but well-done roles.  Hiroyuki Sanada gives an excellent turn as the mysterious Mr. Matsuda, who establishes the film’s exotic, but politically volatile setting, 1930’s Shanghai.  The White Countess may seem overly serene at times, but the impeccable cast makes it a good choice for fans of fine acting and Merchant Ivory films.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Updated:  Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Marvel-Netflix Deal a Landmark for New York and NYC

GOVERNOR CUOMO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, MARVEL AND NETFLIX ANNOUNCE LANDMARK LIVE-ACTION TV SERIES BASED ON MARVEL CHARACTERS TO FILM IN NEW YORK

NYC To Serve As Principal Filming Location For Four Series Epic and One Mini-Series, Representing The Biggest Production Commitment in NYS History

Productions Will Result in Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Investments and Lead to Creation of At Least 3,000 Industry Jobs

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, The Walt Disney Company, Marvel and Netflix Inc. today announced that Marvel’s landmark live-action television series, which will bring Marvel’s ‘flawed heroes of Hell’s Kitchen’ characters to Netflix, the world’s leading Internet TV network, will principally film in New York State. Produced by Marvel Television, in association with ABC Studios, this groundbreaking series is Marvel’s most ambitious foray yet into live-action television storytelling and represents the largest film or television production project commitment in New York State history.

Filming is set to begin in the Summer 2014 and will create at least three thousand jobs in New York State including up to 400 full time jobs. The project will include nearly 60 one-hour episodes focused on the 4 Defenders characters: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.

“New York is where the entertainment industry started, and this unprecedented commitment from Disney and Marvel is further evidence that we’re bringing it back bigger and better than ever before,” said Governor Cuomo. “And when the entertainment industry thrives, it fuels dozens of other industries and businesses. The competition for these projects is fierce and Disney could have chosen to film these shows anywhere, but they knew that shooting in New York means getting to work with the best in world.  These shows bring New York’s superheroes home where they belong – along with hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in new business.”

“Since 2008 Disney has directly contributed almost half a billion dollars to New York’s economy through television and film production, along with approximately 9,000 jobs for New Yorkers,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “The Governor’s policies make this great state a more affordable and attractive location, opening the door for even greater economic investment and job creation for New Yorkers. Our Marvel series for Netflix will inject millions directly into the local economy and create hundreds of new jobs.”

“We thank the Governor and the great state of New York for helping us create the ultimate backdrop to this epic series. Setting our production in New York City truly underscores the authenticity and excitement we plan to bring to The Defenders and their ‘flawed heroes of Hell’s Kitchen’ stories,” said Alan Fine, President, Marvel Entertainment.

Last November, Disney and Netflix announced an unprecedented deal for Marvel TV to bring multiple original series of live-action adventures of four of Marvel's most popular characters exclusively to the world's leading Internet TV Network beginning in 2015. This pioneering agreement calls for Marvel to develop four serialized programs totaling 52 one-hour episodes culminating in a four to eight episode mini-series programming event. Led by a series focused on "Daredevil," followed by "Jessica Jones," "Iron Fist" and "Luke Cage," the epic will unfold over multiple years of original programming, taking viewers deep into the gritty world of heroes and villains of Hell's Kitchen, New York. Netflix has committed to a minimum of four, thirteen episodes series and a mini-series event in which the Marvel characters from the first four series team up as "The Defenders," much like “The Avengers.”

This new original TV deal follows last year's landmark movie distribution deal through which, beginning with 2016 theatrically released feature films, Netflix will be the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run, live-action and animated movies from the Walt Disney Studios, including titles from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Disneynature and Lucasfilm.

"The Defenders are classic New York characters; smart, resourceful and tough enough to always stand up for what's right," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer. "We're delighted they're coming to life on their home turf thanks to Governor Cuomo and his team."

When Governor Cuomo took office in 2011, he made the attraction of the film and television production and post-production industries, and jobs and the economic impact they bring with them, a key part of his overall strategy to grow New York State’s economy. Since that time, he has signed into law several important changes to both programs to make New York more competitive in this global marketplace, and the results have been significant. Both programs enjoyed record-breaking years in 2013, bringing billions of dollars in new spending and thousands of jobs into the Empire State. The stability provided by multiyear funding has particularly encouraged the development of television series production work, like the new Marvel series, as well as long term investments in infrastructure, all of which creates thousands of jobs directly and indirectly related to the actual productions themselves.

During calendar year 2013, applications for 183 film productions were submitted that included 124 films, 33 television programs and 26 pilots. These projects will:

•Generate a direct spend of $2.11 billion in NYS;

•Collect a projected $477 million in credits; and

•Hire an estimated 128,165 actors and crew for the 183 projects submitted.

John Ford, President, International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 52 said, “The men and women of the IATSE look forward to participating in this ground breaking endeavor. Thanks to the vision of Governor Cuomo and the Legislature, the long term funding of the production incentives gives employers the comfort they need to invest in these new avenues of entertainment, which will provide thousands of new jobs with good wages and benefits.”

Thomas J. O'Donnell, President Teamsters Local 817 said, “Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 is thrilled that Marvel's newest television series will be filmed in New York. This long-term commitment is an incredible accomplishment that will bring not just jobs, but also stability to our members work and family lives.”

Review: Kurt Russell is the Soul of "Soldier" (Happy B'day, Kurt Russell)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux

Soldier (1998)
Running time:  99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and brief language
DIRECTOR:  Paul Anderson
WRITER:  David Webb Peoples
PRODUCER:  Jerry Weintraub
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  David Tattersall (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Martin Hunter
COMPOSER:  Joel McNeely

SCI-FI/ACTION with elements of a thriller

Starring:  Kurt Russell, Jason Scott Lee, Jason Isaacs, Connie Nielsen, Sean Pertwee, Jared Thorne, Taylor Thorne, Mark Bringleson, and Gary Busey

The subject of this movie review is Soldier, a 1998 science fiction and action film from director Paul W.S. Anderson.  The film focuses on a discarded soldier who defends crash survivors on a waste disposal planet from the genetically-engineered soldiers ordered to eliminate them.

At the beginning of director Paul Anderson and writer David Webb Peoples’s sci-fi action film, Soldier, the military industrial complex chooses it soldiers from the cradle, from where they are taken and turned into barely human killing machines.  The best of the lot is Todd 3465 (Kurt Russell).  Todd 3465 or Sergeant Todd is an efficient, effective soldier who does nothing but follow orders to the letter.  [This is funny now, but at the time of this film’s release, I thought that Russell seemed to be one of a relatively small number of Hollywood actors who could convincingly play a heterosexual man a/k/a “a real man.”)

After one of his genetically engineered replacements defeats him and leaves him for dead, the military dumps Todd’s body on a remote planetoid, Arcadia 234.  There, Todd encounters a peaceful community of castaways who teach him about a life without the destruction of war.  Later, Todd’s super-soldier replacements arrive on the planet for military exercises.  Now, Todd must take up the colonists’ defense, after the soldiers are ordered to kill the settlers.

While Peoples’s script hints at multiple layers and subtexts, Anderson’s direction is too busy to bother with stories and ideas.  Peoples, the writer of Blade Runner and Unforgiven, is an excellent screenwriter, but his vision is often supplanted by the director’s goals.  Ridley Scott unleashed a visual feast with Blade Runner, while delivering Peoples’s ideas through pictures rather than spoken words.  Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven was a kind of apology to his gunfighter pictures, but he managed to deliver his sermon by mostly keeping Peoples’s work intact.

Anderson (Mortal Kombat and Event Horizon), at the precipice of being a hack or a halfway decent director-for-hire, looses Peoples in a series of standard action film clichés and direction-by-numbers staging.  Still, Peoples basic story is so strong that it shines through even the bad shots like those that have Russell standing in the foreground while explosions in the background tear the world apart.  Russell, however, doesn’t get the directorial shaft like his co-stars do.

Caine 607 (Jason Scott Lee, Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story), Todd’s genetically engineered opposite, is ripe for metaphoric play as Todd’s counterpart.  His screen time barely registers; our only solace for how good the Todd/Caine dynamic might have been is their end battle.  Sandra (Connie Nielsen, Gladiator), a beautiful colonist who draws Todd’s stares, is lost in the haze of soft lens shots.  She is certainly beautiful, and Anderson never lets us forget that.  He traps Sandra in a snow globe; he softly lights every close-up of her and turns her into a porcelain doll.  She seems like a good character, but this is an action movie and we can’t be bothered with girls’ stories.

What really carries the movie is the mostly silently relationship between Todd and Sandra’s small son, Nathan (Jared Thorne).  Todd rarely speaks, and when he does, it’s mostly “yes’s” and “sir’s.”  It was the way he was both reared and trained, an unquestioning soldier who silently went about his brutal duty.  Nathan cannot speak because of a serpent’s bite.  His placid face is silent, and the only thing one can read from his piercing gaze is need.  Nathan needs Todd to protect him, and Todd needs Nathan to help him to gain some measure of being a human.  Todd can learn to defend Nathan both as a soldier and as a father, while Nathan can learn to defend himself, yet remain a peaceful human.

Russell is boyish as Todd, and he never lets Todd lose the boy that learned to be a killing machine; watching Russell’s stone face is also like watching the boy Todd through the shadows that linger on Todd’s face.  Russell’s cinematic presence speaks loud volumes of his character; the story is in him, and the audience must ever watch him to learn it.  Russell built his body solidly and strongly, eschewing the artificiality of bodybuilding.  It gives him an earthy ruggedness that hints at a man of base origins.  His facial expressions mirror the youthfulness of Nathan’s face and makes them counterparts.  Nathan is Todd, a blank slate ready to mold as Todd was, and perhaps it is Todd who will mold him, but not with the brutality with which the military molded him.

There is much to the Todd/Nathan relationship, as there is to this entire movie.  However, Anderson, like the serpent that stole Nathan’s speech and like the military machines strangled Todd’s voice, silences this movie with a heavy handiness that reveals someone determined bring a product to the market and not a story to the audience.

It is a testament to Russell’s star presence and acting ability that this movie is still worth watching.

6 of 10
B

Updated:  Monday, March 17, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Videodrome" Still Dazzles (Happy B'day, David Cronenberg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Videodrome (1983)
Running time:  87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  David Cronenberg
PRODUCER:  Claude Héroux
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mark Irwin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Ronald Sanders
COMPOSER:  Howard Shore

SCI-FI/HORROR/THRILLER with elements of fantasy

Starring:   James Wood, Sonja Smits, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky, Les Carlson, Jack Creley, and Lynne Gorman

The subject of this movie review is Videodrome, a 1983 Canadian science fiction and horror film from writer-director, David Cronenberg.  Possessing elements of the “body horror” genre, this film focuses on a sleazy cable television programmer who acquires a new kind of programming for his station then, watches as everything, including his life, spins out of control.  The film received eight Genie Award nominations (once Canada’s top film award), and won four, including a best director honor for Cronenberg (who shared the win with Bob Clark of A Christmas Story).

Although the term “visionary director” is bandied about so often (even more so now with so many movie reviewers and film critics crowding information space via the Internet, print, and televised media), Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg is truly a visionary as displayed in his film Videodrome.

Max Renn (James Woods) is a low-level cable TV operator who runs a television station and is looking for new material when he stumbles upon a kind of “snuff film” and porno TV broadcast called Videodrome.  Max wants to acquire the rights to Videodrome, but has a hard time finding out who owns the rights or from where exactly the program’s signal originates.  He finally discovers the creator of Videodrome, only to learn there is a larger conspiracy involved, and that watching Videodrome also causes the viewer to experience strange hallucinations.

The film has the usual characteristics of a Cronenberg production:  bodily invasion and penetration, body alteration, hallucinations, rape paranoia, and altered realities.  While certainly heavy with sci-fi and horror themes, Videodrome is firmly rooted in everyday reality.  The film deals with how television and video images can physically, as well as mentally, alter and affect the human body.  Cronenberg’s most successful experiment in this film is to make the viewer as totally lost and confused as Max Renn is.  We truly don’t know anymore than he does, and he holds no clues secretly in head from the viewer.

The film’s third act is one of the most brilliant film portrayals of altered perception, as it becomes almost impossible to say what is the real world and what is imagination and hallucination.  Even more brilliant, Cronenberg creates this sense of detachment from reality without loosing the viewer.  We may never know what is meant to be “real,” as this film draws to its shocking finale, but we can’t look away.

Videodrome does drag a little in the first act, but Cronenberg is a smart filmmaker of smart films that unveil slowly and intelligently before our eyes.  It is a dazzling examination of how TV has and is changing humanity – truly a movie masterpiece of the late 20th Century.

9 of 10
A+

Updated:  Saturday, March 15, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Superman: Unbound" is Quite Unsound

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Superman: Unbound (2013) – straight-to-video
Running minutes: 75 minutes (1 hour, 15 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and a rude gesture
DIRECTOR:  James Tucker
WRITER:  Bob Goodman (based on the story “Superman: Brainiac” by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank; and characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster; and Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummet)
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Kevin Kliesch
ANIMATION STUDIO:  MOI Animation Studios

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION

Starring:  (voices) Matt Bomer, Stana Katic, John Noble, Molly Quinn, Diedrich Bader, Frances Conroy, Melissa Disney, Alexander Gould, Sirena Irwin, Stephen Root, Wade Williams, and Michael Leon Wooley

Superman: Unbound is a 2013 direct-to-video superhero animated film from Warner Bros. Animation.  Starring DC Comics’ most famous superhero, Superman, this is also the 16th feature in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line.

Superman: Unbound is an adaptation of the comic book story arc, “Superman: Braniac,” which was published in Action Comics #866-870 (cover date: August 2008 to December 2008).  The story was written by Geoff Johns and drawn by artist Gary Frank.  In Superman: Unbound, Superman and Supergirl take on a powerful cyborg that collects cities and destroys worlds

Superman: Unbound finds Kara Zor-El AKA Supergirl (Molly Quinn) trying to find her place on Earth.  Like her cousin, Clark Kent AKA Superman (Matt Bomer), she is from the planet Krypton, but she has more traumatic memories involving the destroyed world than her cousin does.  She remembers how a space-faring cyborg, called Brainiac (John Noble), attacked Krypton and stole the city of Kandor.  Now, Brainiac has set his sights on Earth.  Superman is ready to battle the monster, but can Supergirl overcome her trauma in order to fight a villain she very much fears?

Superman: Unbound is not a tie-in to The Man of Steel, the 2013 live-action reboot of the Superman film franchise.  However, both films depict Superman’s home world of Krypton in distress.  Both are also mediocre action movies that feature overly long sequences of destruction and battles.  The Man of Steel was a tedious excursion into the Superman mythos.  Superman: Unbound uses the Superman mythos as window-dressing for a story that is just an excuse for super-powered beings to bash and thrash.

It is pointless to even go into detail about the subplot concerning Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s (Stana Katic) relationship dysfunction.  It’s lame.  I hate that I wasted time watching this.  I can’t even explain why I thought that I should watch it.  Well, I am a longtime comic book fan, and I have watched the other DC Universe Animated Original Movies released prior to this one.  Superman: Unbound:  it’s hard to find moments in it that I liked.

3 of 10
D+

Thursday, March 13, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

"Tiger and Bunny: The Rising" Hits U.S. Theatres

VIZ MEDIA AND ELEVEN ARTS ANNOUNCE THEATRICAL PREMIERE OF TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: THE RISING IN MAJOR U.S. CITIES IN MARCH

Catch Japan’s Favorite Corporately Sponsored Superheroes On The Big Screen With A New Look, New Heroes, And An Intense Battle Against A New Cast Of Powerful Villains

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, teams with Los Angeles-based film distribution company ELEVEN ARTS to bring the riveting anime action of TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: THE RISING to a host of major U.S. cities for series of special theatrical screenings beginning Saturday, March 15th.

TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: THE RISING is the second and latest feature film in the popular Japanese superhero action franchise. The film is scheduled to premiere in Japan in February prior to the theatrical premieres in 20 cities throughout the U.S. including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and more. Tickets will be available for $15 each, and attendees will receive a free 12” x 18” premium cardstock movie poster and while supplies last, an exclusive movie clear file. A complete list of screenings and theatre locations is available at: http://www.elevenarts.net/th_gallery/tigerandbunny-therising/

A special screening scheduled for March 22nd brings the hero-inspired big screen action of the smash hit anime property home to the Bay Area for a very special theatrical event to be held at the NEW PEOPLE Cinema, located inside the dynamic Japanese pop culture entertainment venue in San Francisco’s Japantown at 1746 Post St. Details for this screening will be announced soon on the TIGER & BUNNY Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TigerAndBunny.

In TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: THE RISING, the heroes are back in an all-new feature-length film! Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, a.k.a. Wild Tiger, and Barnaby Brooks Jr.’s partnership comes to a sudden end when Apollon Media’s new owner Mark Schneider fires Kotetsu and moves Barnaby back into the First League, pairing him up with Golden Ryan, a new hero with awesome powers and a huge ego to match. When the heroes are sent to investigate a string of strange incidents tied closely to the city’s Goddess Legend, they discover three superpowered NEXTs plotting to bring terror and destruction to Stern Bild.

“TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: THE RISING is the all-new feature film in the smash hit series, and this time the tables are turned as it becomes Barnaby Brooks Jr., aka Bunny, who now has to work with a young and arrogant upstart,” says Charlene Ingram, Senior Marketing Manager, Animation. “Barnaby is more mature now, honoring and passing on the values he learned from his former partner. And though the beloved Wild Tiger is no longer partnered with Barnaby, he’ll also get his fair share of action. Don’t miss the big screen superhero action and drama as TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: THE RISING premieres in North America!”

VIZ Media is the also distributor of the TIGER & BUNNY manga series (rated ‘T’ for Teens), which features artwork by Mizuki Sakakibara and is based on the smash hit animated series, created by the famed Tokyo-based anime studio Sunrise. VIZ Media also licenses and distributes the popular TIGER & BUNNY feature film and anime series that are available on DVD/Blu-ray as well as on the company’s Neon Alley 24/7 anime channel.

More information on the TIGER & BUNNY anime is available at: www.facebook.com/TigerAndBunny and VIZAnime.com/tiger-and-bunny/

For more information on manga titles available from VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

About ELEVEN ARTS:
ELEVEN ARTS is the Los Angeles based film distribution company that has brought many acclaimed Japanese films, live-action and animated features, to North American audiences. ELEVEN ARTS’s major live-action titles include Japan Academy Awards winner Memories of Tomorrow (starring Ken Watanabe) and Oscar nominated director (with The Twilight Samurai in 2004) Yoji Yamada’s samurai film Love and Honor. ELEVEN ARTS is also a respected distributor of popular animation titles such as the Evangelion franchise, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part 1: Beginnings/ Part 2: Eternal/ Part 3: Rebellion. For additional information, go to www.elevenarts.net.

About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.  Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

Review: "Thank You for Smoking" is Too Glib (Happy B'day, Aaron Eckhart)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 229 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Thank You for Smoking (2005)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR:  Jason Reitman
WRITERS:  Jason Reitman (based upon the novel by Christopher Buckley)
PRODUCER:  David O. Sacks
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  James Whitaker (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Dana E. Glauberman
COMPOSER:  Rolfe Kent
Golden Globes nominee

COMEDY with elements of drama

Starring:  Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Sam Elliot, Katie Holmes, David Koechner, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons, and Robert Duvall, Kim Dickens, Adam Brody, and Todd Louiso

The subject of this movie review is Thank You for Smoking, a 2005 satirical comedy written for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman.  The film is based on the 1994 novel, Thank You for Smoking, by author Christopher Buckley.  Thank You for Smoking the movie follows the tobacco industry’s chief spokesman as he spins and disseminates information on behalf of cigarettes, while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son.

As Vice-President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the main lobbyist and primary spin doctor for Big Tobacco.  Naylor is on a mission to make the country forget the dangers and health risks of smoking cigarettes.  However, his mission gets tougher with health advocates and the opportunistic Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre (William H. Macy) determined to put a new poison label (in the form of an image of the skull & bones) on cigarette packs.  Naylor goes on the PR offensive with a strategy to get big Hollywood actors to smoke on screen, as the movie stars of yesteryear did in the Golden Age of Hollywood movies.  Nick enlists, Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe), a Hollywood super-agent, to help him get smoking on screen again.

However, Nicky’s newfound notoriety does not go unnoticed by Big Tobacco’s head honcho, The Captain (Robert Duvall), who gives his blessing to Nick’s Hollywood plan.  Nick’s activities also get the attention of a beautiful, young investigative reporter, Heather Halloway (Katie Holmes), who is willing to use her body to get Nick to tell her his secrets.  Even with a busy schedule, Nick still finds time to hold forth with two comrades – two other lobbyists for industries also facing public backlash: Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) of the alcohol industry and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) of the gun industry.  Together, the three of them are the Merchants of Death or M.O.D. Squad.  Nick’s also a father, and he’s trying to remain a role model to his young, impressionable son, Joey Naylor (Cameron Bright), who thinks his dad is a god, but Nick’s ex-wife, Jill Naylor (Kim Dickens), isn’t sure a tobacco lobbyist is the best dad material.

Jason Reitman, the son of famed comedy director, Ivan Reitman (Animal House, Ghostbusters), has a more cerebral approach to film comedy than his father, and that’s clearly evident in the clever, offhand satire, Thank You for Smoking, which Reitman adapted from the novel by Christopher Buckley.  The film comes across as a savage satire of the tobacco industry, but Reitman directs the film with such elegance that Thank You for Smoking sometimes comes across as glib and soulless.  In his attempt to impale Big Tobacco, and also throw sand in the face of shallow Hollywood, opportunistic big media, and shameless Congress, Reitman’s movie ends up gabby and has no real villains.  This is a satire that comes across as if it’s teasing its targets rather than criticizing them.

While Thank You for Smoking holds up the characters and subject matter for detached scrutiny, the cast isn’t afraid to get down and dirty.  The actors take delight in revealing the characters for all their oily selfishness.  They’re all out for their own interests, and what little guilt they feel merely adds a light pungent flavor to the characters.  The best performance is delivered, of course, by Aaron Eckhart as the film’s protagonist/quasi-villain, Nick Naylor.  A character actor who can play an amazing range of lead characters, Eckhart gives Thank You for Smoking its gift of gab.  Eckhart’s screen chemistry with Cameron Bright, the young actor who plays Nick’s son, Joey, is supernaturally real.  It’s like a real father and son duo.

Eckhart humanizes Naylor, and makes the viewer like him and want to engage him.  Thank You for Smoking is well-written and well-directed (considering the inexperience of the director), and the technical aspects are pretty good.  But it’s Aaron Eckhart who makes Thank You for Smoking something more than just another satirical film essay.  He makes it memorable.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, November 06, 2006

NOTES:
2007 Golden Globes:  2 nominations:  “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Aaron Eckhart)

Updated:  Wednesday, March 12, 2014


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