Movie Review: Murder By Decree (1979)

Genre: Crime Mystery  

Director: Bob Clark  

Starring: Christopher Plummer, James Mason, Donald Sutherland, Genevieve Bujold  
Running Time: 124 minutes  

Synopsis: In London of the 1880s, prostitutes are being murdered in the working class Whitechapel district by a killer known as Jack the Ripper. With the police unable to stop the murders, famous detective Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer) and his assistant Dr. Watson (James Mason) agree to get involved. They consult with visionary Robert James Lees (Donald Sutherland), then connect with prostitute-in-hiding Mary Kelly (Susan Clark) and the mysterious Annie Cook (Genevieve Bujold), who is being held in an insane asylum. Gradually, the threads of a far-reaching conspiracy are revealed.

What Works Well: The fog-filled cobblestoned narrow alleys of 19th century London provide a rich backdrop for the intriguing premise of unleashing Sherlock Holmes' brilliance to tackle England's most infamous serial killing spree. The classy cast also includes David Hemmings, Anthony Quayle, and John Gielgud, ensuring quality in every role.

What Does Not Works As Well: The plot unravels into fragmented mass confusion in a hurry, ensnaring Freemasons, politicians, a Royal Family scandal, an unscrupulous doctor, a seditionist police investigator, underground revolutionaries, and many faceless villains. For long stretches the entire Jack the Ripper context is forgotten, and Sherlock's attempt to tie all the pieces together in the final scene disintegrates into a puddle of fantastical logic jumps, phony outrage, and magically assembled evidence.

Key Quote:

Sherlock Holmes: When people are frightened, they turn to God, and when they have no help from him, they look to the Devil.



All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Last Full Measure (2019)

A biographical drama retroactively examining battlefield heroics, The Last Full Measure is earnest but veers towards persistent reverence.

In 1999, Vietnam War veteran Tom Tulley (William Hurt) advocates for reopening the case of Air Force Pararescueman William H. Pitsenbarger (Jeremy Irvine) to determine if he posthumously deserves the Medal of Honor. Ambitious Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan) is tasked with conducting the necessary research.

In April of 1966, a US Army platoon is caught in a Vietnam jungle ambush and suffers heavy casualties. Pitsenbarger rappels onto the battlefield from the safety of his helicopter to help evacuate the wounded. He saves many lives before succumbing to enemy fire, but is then awarded the Air Force Cross rather than the coveted Medal of Honor. 

Scott is initially uninterested in the entire file, but is soon drawn into the case as he tracks down survivors and hears the stories of the men involved in the fateful battle, including Billy Takoda (Samuel L. Jackson), Ray Mott (Ed Harris), and Jimmy Burr (Peter Fonda). Pitsenbarger's parents Frank and Alice (Christopher Plummer and Diane Ladd) support Scott's investigation, with Frank's ill health adding a sense of urgency.

Written and directed by Todd Robinson, The Last Full Measure is inspired by real events. The film sets out to salute the heroes of a war gone bad, and achieves this objective with ardent respect. The screenplay carries a nervous yearning for a final polish, but the production values are slick, and the tone is serious, inquisitive, and always searching for the positive instinct within the human spirit. 

As bureaucrat Scott delves into the case, frequent flashbacks from multiple perspectives recreate the ambush at the centre of Pitsenbarger's story. The combat scenes are suitably chaotic, the on-the-ground soldiers trapped by intense enemy fire and gripped by confusion and fear. Into this arena drops Pitsenbarger to help save the wounded, and The Last Full Measure never holds back on representing the medal winner as a mythical saviour. Soaring emotive music augments the square-jawed fearless warrior image, actor Jeremy Irvine encouraged to rise above the mayhem of mere mortals.

The surrounding modern day men-of-war stories enhance the drama. Scott's investigation reopens old wounds, rekindling memories of battlefield mistakes that still haunt surviving soldiers tortured by the belief they should have done better. Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, and Peter Fonda embody veterans living with waking nightmares populated by death, gore, and disillusion. In an elegant gesture, John Savage appears as a sage and healing presence in the post-war Vietnam jungle, 41 years after his seminal ordeal in The Deer Hunter. 

Less effective is a bit of villainy in the form of Scott's boss Carlton Stanton (Bradley Whitford), who pulls on levers of careerism to protect his bosses as the investigation reveals military missteps.

Steering away from wit, cynicism, or broader questions about war, The Last Full Measure succeeds in saluting valour within sacrifice.



All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Silent Partner (1978)

A suspense thriller with dollops of hardened violence, The Silent Partner is a clever and twisty story with two very different thieves engaging in an unforgiving duel.

In Toronto, bachelor Miles Cullen (Elliot Gould) is a senior cashier at a bank located within a large mall. A collector of exotic fish, Miles is quiet and appears boring, but he is also observant. His married boss Packard (Michael Kirby) is having an affair with floor manager Julie (Susannah York), who is interested in Miles but can't quite figure him out. 

With Christmas approaching, Miles outsmarts Santa Clause-disguised bank robber Harry Reikle (Christopher Plummer), who gets away with little money while Miles pockets the best part of $50,000 without anyone noticing. As a bonus, Miles also becomes a media celebrity for his heroics in thwarting the crime.

Miles hides the stolen money in a safe deposit box, but Reikle is a vicious criminal who will stop at nothing to recover what he perceives as his take. He starts intimidating Miles, triggering a dangerous battle of wits between the two men. Meanwhile Miles' romantic prospects brighten when sprightly nurse Elaine (Celine Lomez) enters his life.

A Canadian production, The Silent Partner adapts the novel by Danish writer Anders Bodelsen with unrepentant deviousness. The Curtis Hanson script succeeds in creating a protagonist out of an almost accidental thief, and director Daryl Duke delivers a Hitchcockian chess match between two men simply unwilling to yield, all played against an Oscar Peterson music score with a wicked undercurrent of humour and malevolence holding hands.

Miles is easy to underestimate, a trait he uses to his advantage. His theft is surprisingly simple, trading on honest demeanour to pin the entire blame on Reikle. But a man willing to dress up as Santa Clause to rob a bank will not just accept his humiliation. In one of his scariest screen roles, Christopher Plummer creates a ruthless villain. His early assault on a sex partner appears vicious, but fades into insignificance when Reikle later reveals the true depths of his barbarism, providing The Silent Partner with a memorable and shocking jagged edge.

Accompanying the criminality are two romantic stories to provide a breather from impropriety. Julie knows she is wasting her time having an affair with the sleazy Packard. But unaware of what Miles is up to, she cannot get him to focus. Enter Elaine, who is quickly more successful worming her way into Miles' heart and bed and helping him with an awkward predicament, while carrying secrets of her own. 

The Silent Partner teases with the premise that crime maybe could pay when the victim is a criminal, and demonstrates with delightfully perilous convolutions.



All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Movie Review: Somewhere In Time (1980)

A romantic drama and fantasy, Somewhere In Time aims for old fashioned passion but bungles both the pacing and the central romance.

In 1972, budding playwright Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) has a surreal encounter with an old woman, who thrusts a pocket watch into his hands and whispers "come back to me".

In 1980, Collier checks into the Grand Hotel to try and overcome a case of writer's block. He is mesmerized by a displayed photo of theatrical actress Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour), who was a rising star of the stage in the early 1900s. He visits Elise's former housekeeper Laura Roberts (Teresa Wright), and learns Elise's career was managed by the Svengali-like William Robinson (Christopher Plummer), and she performed at the Grand for one night in 1912.

Hopelessly in love with a picture, Collier uses a hypnosis technique and transports himself back to 1912 and the day of the performance. Despite Robinson's interference, he meets Elise and they fall in love, but sustaining a romance across time will prove a challenge.

Richard Matheson adapts his own book Bid Time Return into a screenplay, but unfortunately, and in the hands of director Jeannot Szwarc, Somewhere In Time is both languid and lacking. 

With a hackneyed time-travel-through-hypnosis premise providing a rickety foundation, the only hope for salvation resides in igniting the flame of romance between the attractive couple of Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. But somehow Szwarc contrives to keep them apart for more than an hour, the groundwork to transport Richard from the present to the past and then into the arms of Elise ballooning into a laborious odyssey with numerous irrelevant side quests.

And once the lovers are near each other, Christopher Plummer's blocking becomes the most prominent theme, again robbing the movie of any momentum. Which may be all to camouflage Matheson's inability to transform Elise from a mythical image into a real person. Jane Seymour is barely provided the opportunity to say any meaningful lines, her mere visage supposed to suffice as an object of entrancement.

The period settings and costumes are charming, the Grand Hotel exudes vintage class, and Reeve brings a welcome vulnerability mixed with nothing-to-lose determination. But with Rachmaninoff's 18th variation of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini endlessly occupying the soundtrack, Somewhere In Time is a dull loop.



All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Movie Review: Battle Of Britain (1969)

A World War Two historical drama, Battle Of Britain recreates epic dogfights and bombing raids, but fails to generate any sense of narrative engagement.

It's 1940, and with France's capitulation to the advancing armies of Nazi Germany looking assured, Britain's Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (Laurence Olivier) concludes all air force resources should be consolidated at home for the upcoming defence effort. After the Allies are defeated and evacuated from Dunkirk, the United Kingdom stands alone and braces for an invasion.

Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring (Hein Riess) is confident an air force bombing campaign can quickly gain command of the skies. But the British rally, aided by the superior maneuverability of the Spitfire compared to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. In months of aerial combat including the bombing of cities, both sides endure heavy losses.

A Harry Saltzman production directed by Guy Hamilton, Battle Of Britain features numerous sequences of painstakingly staged combat in the skies. Most of the budget was invested in authentic scenes of Spitfires intercepting German bombers and engaging with Messeschmitts, as the Luftwaffe attempts to knock out radar installations and airfields before targeting London in retaliation for the British bombing of Berlin. In return the Royal Air Force musters every available fighter plane and pilot to mount a spirited defence, taking advantage of German hubris and strategic mistakes to inflict heavy losses on the attackers and Göring's pride.

Unsurprisingly the combat scenes grow quite repetitive. Scenes of planes catching fire, exploding in mid-air or hurtling to the ground become tiresome with incessant recurrence, as do the visuals of pilots killed in cockpits or air crews attempting to bail out of flaming bombers.

And outside the combat scenes, Battle Of Britain stutters and stalls. Despite an overlong running time of 132 minutes, the strategic, tactical and personal contexts are either sketched at rudimentary levels or missing altogether. The on-the-ground interludes are haphazardly assembled with no regard for flow. In a case of quantity over quality, a cast featuring a who's who of British acting talent fails to create a single memorable character or worthwhile storyline. Michael Caine, Robert Shaw, Christopher Plummer, Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews, Michael Redgrave, Patrick Wymark and Ralph Richardson (among many others) get a few glib lines each in poorly defined roles as airmen, squadron leaders or commanders, all to no effect. And as pilots masked and belted into their cramped cockpits, all the actors are essentially undifferentiated.

Some of the attempts to create human stories are laughably inept, including a clunky marital tiff between Plummer and Susannah York. Ian McShane receives what should have been the one good moment involving family sacrifice, but his chapter drops in and out with no meaningful setup or follow-through, losing all impact.

Battle Of Britain is all about flying hardware, hearts and souls forgotten on the ground.



All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Exception (2016)

A World War Two spy story and romance, The Exception offers good ingredients for a wartime thriller but the mix is lumpy.

In 1940, the Nazi war machine rolls into Holland. Captain Stefan Brandt (Jai Courtney) is assigned to protect Germany's former Kaiser Wilhelm II (Christopher Plummer), who has been living in exile in Utrecht since the humiliating defeat of the Great War. Brandt, who has a chequered military career history, immediately starts a steamy affair with the Kaiser's Dutch housemaid Mieke de Jong (Lily James).

Dietrich (Mark Dexter) of the SS is looking for a British spy in the area and warns Brandt there may be a plot to assassinate the Kaiser. Meanwhile, the Kaiser's wife Princess Hermine (Janet McTeer) still dreams of a return to the throne, and her hopes are elevated when Heinrich Himmler (Eddie Marsan) plans a visit.

Filled with sharp uniforms, the cockiness of a victorious army on the march, high-level intrigue, cross-generational tension, and slick styling, The Exception provides swirling chicanery on many fronts. It is never less than engaging, but also lacks narrative focus. The Simon Burke script, adapting the book by Alan Judd, creates plenty of overlapping characters, events and competing agendas. But director David Leveaux struggles to find a focused thrust, and the film divides its energy among multiple protagonists.

At various times The Exception wears the coat of different movies. Mieke is a spy on a mission, Brandt is charged with protecting the Kaiser, and their urgent love affair creates a potential collision course, even before she reveals another secret. But not satisfied with the story of dangerous lust, the film invests plenty of time on the parallel story of the Kaiser and his wife.

Wilhelm is still re-living the agony of defeat and exile, refusing to accept his role in the subsequent humiliation of his people. The nakedly ambitious Hermine believes redemption is close at hand and insists on plotting a return to the glory of the throne. Caught between them is Colonel Sigurd von Ilsemann (Ben Daniels), the Kaiser's loyal attendant, who understands that Wilhelm's open disdain of everything the Nazis stand for is unlikely to endear him to the likes of Himmler.

And so The Exception often forgets the spy story in favour of grandiose scenes of Christopher Plummer holding court with suspect proclamations about the past and the present, then shifts again to an appropriately nervous Janet McTeer betting everything on a return to Berlin. Meanwhile Dietrich and Brandt circle each other like two wolves about to engage in battle, while the scenes between Jai Courtney and Lily James alternate between hot sexuality and cold spy games.

Despite the absence of a singular purpose, director Leveaux adds a gloss of quality to all the mini plots, the Kaiser's grand mansion and surrounding estate providing a rich visual setting for the multiple dramas. The Exception may not quite know which plot to chase, but looks quite good testing them all out.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: Remember (2015)

A Holocaust personal revenge drama, Remember is an intellectual thriller set in the world of old men settling old scores.

Zev Guttman (Christopher Plummer) survived World War Two and is now in his 90s, suffering from dementia and unable to process the recent loss of his wife Ruth. Auschwitz survivor Max Rosenbaum (Martin Landau) is a wheelchair-bound patient at the New York City care home where Ruth passed away. Max supplies Zev with detailed written instructions to help Zev fulfil a promise to track down and kill a former Auschwitz headguard named Otto Wallisch.

Otto is known to have assumed the name Rudy Kurlander to escape from Germany to North America at the end of the war, and Max has identified four men with that name in the United States and Canada. Struggling with a frequently failing memory, Zev follows Max's meticulous instructions and starts his cross-country journey to sequentially find and interrogate every Rudy Kurlander.

The long shadows cast by the horrors of the Holocaust are the inspiration for an intriguing story conjured up by scriptwriter Benjamin August and brought to the screen by director Atom Egoyan. With an emphasis on life drawing to a close for a generation of men who survived the war, Remember explores the stress imposed by failing physical and mental health, and the unrelenting thirst for human vengeance, even when nature is close to achieving the same ultimate objective.

At a running time of 94 minutes, the film's pacing is efficient and measured. The fairly complex premise is presented in an admirably streamlined format, Egoyan quickly launching Zev off onto his quest and then gradually revealing the context at appropriate intervals. The individual interactions that follow are all well staged, but an exquisitely tense encounter with an Idaho State Trooper, an angry dog, and a roomful of memorabilia at an isolated farmhouse deserves special praise. 

As with all good road movies, Zev's trip is as much about self-discovery as it is about finding the right man. Along the way he learns about his fears, tolerances, the fortitude within, and unwelcome truths. The climax features a good although foreseeable twist, but is also relatively rushed.

Christopher Plummer carries the weight of the film and is an exemplary presence in a performance filled with the anguish of failing mental capacity and the unyielding strain of physical and emotional exertion. In addition to Landau, the supporting cast also includes stalwarts Bruno Ganz and Jürgen Prochnow.

Cerebral and engrossing, Remember asks how long is too long in the pursuit of war criminals, and whether appropriating justice into the hands of individuals bent on revenge by any means is ever justified. Because while memories slip away, for some old men the trauma never fades.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: Beginners (2010)

A whimsical drama, Beginners explores themes of sadness, loss and finding romance against the odds, all with a light touch.

Cartoonist Oliver Fields (Ewan McGregor) is a thirtysomething man coping with the recent death of his 75 year old father Hal (Christopher Plummer). Five years prior, Oliver's mother Georgia (Mary Page Keller) passed away, and immediately afterwards Hal declared that throughout the 40 plus years of marriage he has always been gay, and now wants to express his real sexuality.

In the present, Oliver meets and starts dating French actress Anna (Mélanie Laurent), but despite the ever present companionship of his cute terrier Arthur, he struggles to overcome overwhelming sadness and a tendency to sabotage his relationships. In flashback, he recalls his father's final years as a sick man intent on living a full life and enjoying the company of his much younger gay lover Andy (Goran Višnjić). In other flashbacks, Oliver recalls childhood interactions with his often lonely mother.

Directed and written by Mike Mills and inspired by his own life, Beginners maintains an understated and just slightly playful tone. Best exemplified by Oliver's drowning-in-sorrow cartoon drawings and the dog Arthur occasionally expressing his dog-like thoughts through subtitles, this is a film where voices are low, emotions are expressed calmly, and arguments are characterized by strained silence and quiet tears.

The flashbacks to different times in Oliver's life reveal the structure of his parents' marriage. His scenes as a boy with his mother Georgia barely ever include her husband Hal, as the adult Oliver comes to terms with the cold love that permeated his childhood.

With Christopher Plummer in sparkling form, Hal comes into his own in the flashbacks dedicated to his short but intense life as a proudly gay elderly man, throwing himself into the lifestyle and volunteering for causes despite creeping ill health. Oliver has to reconcile his joy at his father's late-life blossoming with the charade that his mother must have lived through during a long marriage.

The present-day relationship between Oliver and Anna enjoys some moments, with a meet-cute highlight caused by her laryngitis. But gradually Oliver drowns in a sea of sadness and sucks the life out of both the movie and the relationship, as Mills surrenders to a long stretch of bleakness bordering on oppressive.

Beginners has the courage to gently press against the tender scars of familial upheaval, the muted expressions serving as both a perk and a constraint.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: National Treasure (2004)

A modern-day treasure-hunt adventure, National Treasure offers slick escapism in a glossy production package.

Mesmerized by stories he heard as a child from from his grandfather (Christopher Plummer), Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) has dedicated his life to finding the fabled treasure of the Knights Templar, despite the cynicism of his father Patrick (Jon Voight). The treasure may now be in the United States shrouded in the mythology of the founding fathers and the secretive Masons. To track down a key clue Ben and his friend Riley (Justin Bartha) obtain funding from the shady Ian Howe (Sean Bean) and uncover the wreck of the ancient ship Charlotte under the North Pole ice.

On board they find clues pointing to an invisible treasure map on the back of the original Declaration of Independence. Ben and Ian disagree on how to proceed, causing a major falling out. Ben connects with Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) of the National Archives, but cannot convince anyone that the Declaration is at risk. Ben and Ian concoct separate plans to steal the highly protected document, setting off a massive chase and the attention of FBI Agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel).

An unlikely collaboration between family-friendly Disney Studios and action-loving producer Jerry Bruckheimer, National Treasure is a respectable urban take-off on Indiana Jones-style adventurism. Directed and co-produced by Jon Turteltaub, the film carries the singular objective of providing treasure-hunt style thrills. Logic, physics and common sense mostly stay out of the way, yielding to fun, a well-executed dual heist sequence, energetic chases and descents into impressive cavernous spaces.

Arriving at the perfect time about 18 month after the release of the sensational bestseller The Da Vinci Code, National Treasure borrows many of Dan Brown's better points. The pacing is fast enough to glide over the inherent absurdities, the clues often hide in plain sight and within historically famous artifacts, Ben is an extraordinary on-the-fly puzzle solver, a smart and capable woman joins the chase, and as the end draws near the dangers and close calls amplify. With a strained father-son relationship coming into play between Ben and Patrick, the film also colours in a decent background for its reluctant hero.

Although he lands on the side of marginally colourless, Nicolas Cage maintains control and brings Ben to life as a man fully aware that his life may have been frittered away chasing a myth. Cage is surrounded by a good cast, Sean Bean in particular heartily sinking his teeth into another villainous role.

Lighthearted yet genuine in its intentions, National Treasure never threatens to astound but does follow the right map.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: All The Money In The World (2017)

A kidnapping drama inspired by real events, All The Money In The World is a cerebral thriller set in the surreal world of the very rich.

Rome, 1973. Teenager Paul Getty (Charlie Plummer), an heir to one of the world's largest fortunes, is kidnapped by a gang of thugs, including Cinquanta (Romain Duris). The abductors hold Paul at a countryside farmhouse and demand a $17 million ransom. Paul's father (Andrew Buchan) is a good for nothing drug addict, and his mother Gail Harris (Michelle Williams) is broke and has no access to any of the family's money. Paul's grandfather is John Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), the richest man on earth, but he has no interest in paying for his grandson's release.

With an international media circus erupting around the kidnapping case and Gail determined to rescue her son, Getty dispatches fixer and ex-CIA agent Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg) to resolve the crisis. Chase and Gail form an uneasy working relationship, while Cinquanta and the captive Paul develop a mutual empathy. Soon a break in the case allows the Italian police to make their move, only for young Paul's ordeal to get much more complicated.

Written by David Scarpa and directed by Ridley Scott, All The Money In The World is a smart and character-rich crime thriller. More remarkable for being based on a true story, All The Money In The World combines the story of a physical kidnapping with the drama of multiple emotional confinements, and emerges with a layered and complex narrative. Bouncing between San Francisco, the Italian countryside, Getty's English estate and with brief sojourns to Middle East locations, Scott maintains an energetic pace and a firm grip on a story involving just a few people but carrying global implications.

All The Money In The World ventures into the warped psyche of John Paul Getty, a man obsessed with wealth creation but also mentally trapped by the title of the world's richest man - ever. John Paul views everything through the singular prism of negotiated dealmaking for the purpose of asset collection, and his essential need to emerge as the winner in every transaction. Parting with $17 million to rescue one grandson while placing all his other grandchildren at potential risk of copycat kidnappings simply does not begin to compute. John Paul is not only not interested in the deal, he is not interested in spending any mental effort on what is clearly a losing transaction.

The grandfather's intransigence leaves the mother in dire straits, and Gail Harris becomes the sole advocate and agitator to save her son's life. Caught between brutal and faceless kidnappers on one side and Getty's aloofness on the other, Gail fights a lonely battle against seemingly impossible odds. Neither rich nor greedy, Gail is the most normal person in the story and Scott places her in the middle of the film, forced to make increasingly desperate appeals for Getty's intervention as she negotiates for her son's life but possessing nothing of value to bargain with, other than her wits.

Scott further enriches All The Money In The World by spending time with young Paul in captivity, and sketching in the character of Cinquanta. The two men are essentially occupants of the same prison, and Scarpa's script gives the kidnappers a human face if not too much definition. Fletcher Chase as John Paul's go-to fixer becomes Gail's one ally. His role is the film's most uneven thread, as Scott never settles on a convincing tone for the bond between mother and troubleshooter.

Christopher Plummer was a late casting replacement brought into the film as John Paul Getty, and he delivers a dark and brooding performance as a man already transformed into a haunting presence while still alive. Michelle Williams is forceful, conveying a mother trading emotional anguish for pragmatism to deal with a crisis that no one else cares about.

All The Money In The World is a fascinating examination of confinement in all its forms, permanent and temporary, imposed and self-inflicted, behind bars and within walls adorned with masterpieces.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Sound Of Music (1965)

An epic musical drama and romance, The Sound Of Music is a flawlessly executed old-fashioned celebration of love and hope blossoming in the most unexpected places.

It's the 1930s and free-spirited music-loving Maria (Julie Andrews) is struggling to fit in as a nun-in-training at an abbey on the outskirts of Salzburg. The Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) asks Maria to try life as a governess instead, helping the family of widower and distinguished navy veteran Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) and his seven children.

A staunch Austrian nationalist living in an impressively grand mansion, the Captain is a strict disciplinarian who fires governesses for fun. Maria has to work hard to introduce affection and joy through music to the lives of his children. They vary in age from 16 to five, with the eldest Liesl (Charmian Carr) starting an amorous relationship with telegram delivery boy Rolfe (Daniel Truhitte).

The Captain comes back from a trip to Vienna with his wife-to-be, the very rich Baroness Elsa von Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), as well as family friend and musical talent spotter Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn). Despite frequent verbal sparring the Captain and Maria start to fall in love, much to the consternation of the Baroness. But then the dark shadow of Nazi Germany, as represented by local collaborator Herr Zeller (Ben Wright), starts to descend on Austria, threatening the family's new-found happiness.

An adaptation of the 1959 Broadway show with music by Richard Rogers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, the film is directed by Robert Wise with an eye to perfect framing and glossy postcard-style visuals. The story is loosely based on the adventures of the real-life von Trapp family as recounted in a book written by one of the daughters, and carries enough stranger-than-fiction drama to propel the film's 174 minutes. Despite musical repetition creeping into the last hour, The Sound Of Music never drags and effortlessly breezes by.

With a voice carrying immense range and crystalline beauty, Julie Andrews unleashes inexhaustible energy as Maria. Her wide-eyed, pragmatic and stand-your-ground portrayal of a young woman venturing into a new world of marble columns and grand estate rooms is a large part of the film's appeal. Maria cannot help but speak her mind, a trait she is keenly aware of, and as it turns out her outspokenness is exactly what is needed to puncture Captain von Trapp's aloofness. Christopher Plummer has a lot less to do as the Captain, but creates the cold canvass on which Andrews pours her warmth.

Despite the story, the acting, the sweet children and the menacing Nazis, The Sound Of Music is first and foremost all about the music, and the soundtrack is one of the all-time classics in the history of cinema. Yes, the tunes and lyrics are simplistic, cutesy, hummable and laser-targeted at parents and their younger children. But songs like Do-Re-Me, Sixteen Going On Seventeen and My Favorite Things are undeniably catchy and adorable, and immediately evoke Wise's lush visuals of the breathtaking Austrian countryside and Salzberg's idyllic appeal. And Wise does find some exquisite emotional highlights through the music. The Captain's rendition of Edelweiss to his family is an affecting moment, while the Something Good duet is a pure expression of mutual love.

The Sound Of Music casts a family-friendly magic spell, and the film's sense of pure enchantment is easy to love.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Movie Review: Danny Collins (2015)

A dramatic comedy with some music, Danny Collins is about better-late-than-never priority adjustments. The film succeeds by staying within itself despite falling into some melodramatic traps.

Danny Collins (Al Pacino) is a singer in the twilight of his career, milking his hit songs from decades past in front of an antiquated audience. He is frequently high on coke, and superficially enjoys the trappings of fame including a huge mansion and trophy girlfriend Sophie (Katarina Čas). When his long-time manager and friend Frank (Christopher Plummer) unearths a letter to Danny written by John Lennon in the early 1970s but never delivered, the performer is shaken out of his stupor.

Recognizing he may have wasted away a career, Danny abandons his latest tour, ditches Sophie, cleans up, and relocates to a modest Hilton in New Jersey to reach out to his long estranged son Tom (Bobby Cannavale). He finds Tom, his wife Samantha (Jennifer Garner) and daughter Hope living a modest middle class life. Danny also meets and try to woo the hotel's resistant manager Mary (Annette Bening). Although at first Tom wants nothing to do with his father, Hope's ADHD and a family sickness provide the now persistent Danny an opportunity to reset some relationships.

Written and directed by Dan Fogelman, Danny Collins is a low-key character study brought to life by an irrepressible Al Pacino performance. Despite his late career crisis, Collins is written to stay true to his rascal tendencies, allowing Pacino to ride the wave of a consummate entertainer intent on making some changes but never straying far from who he is. Even as he sets up in a nondescript New Jersey suburb, Danny enjoys his fame and fortune, is not hesitant to flaunt his wealth and influence, and is happy to dole out advice and pursue Mary with minimal subtlety.

The scenes with Danny getting to know Tom and his family benefit most from this focus on realistic human behaviour, with both father, son and daughter-in-law reacting with laudable maturity within the field of awkwardness. Danny is too old to worry about his own feelings, so he just niggles his way through the initial barriers to find the openings where he can make some amends to a life of neglect. Tom and Samantha are pragmatic enough to appreciate effort and good fortune when it smiles on them.

The film's weaknesses reside with the eye rolling introduction of a serious disease, layered on top of young Hope's ADHD. It almost makes Danny's restitution mission too easy, fast forwarding the familial bonding opportunities to tidily fit into the under two hours of running time. Danny's romantic pursuit of Mary fares better, her wariness of the celebrity at her modest hotel providing a sturdy defence against his frontal advances.

Danny Collins may lack boldness and any sort of cutting edge, but it's a well-rounded effort delivered with a veteran's sure touch.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The Hollywood adaptation of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is filled with ambiance but otherwise cannot fully justify its existence.

In Stockholm, Millennium magazine investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is found guilty of libel for wrongfully accusing wealthy industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström of fraud. Mikael is carrying on an affair with his editor-in-chief Erika Berger (Robin Wright), but leaves her behind to accept an assignment from elderly business tycoon Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), living in the remote northern island community of Hedeby.

Mikael in unaware that his background had been thoroughly checked by young hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) on behalf of Henrik and his lawyer Dirch Frode (Steven Berkoff). Lisbeth is an extremely intelligent but deeply troubled ward of the state, waging a battle for survival against Nils Bjurman, her horrifically abusive state-appointed guardian.

Henrik wants Mikael to investigate the disappearance 40 years prior of his great niece Harriet. In return, Henrik promises to reveal the real dirt on Wennerström. Henrik also warns Mikael that the extended Vanger family includes plenty of squabbling relatives, long-held grudges, vendettas and a sprinkling of Nazi sympathizers. The Vanger clan includes Henrik's deceased brother Gottfried (Harriet's father) and Gottfried's son Martin (Stellan Skarsgaard), who now runs the business, while Henrik's other brother Harald is ailing but still clinging to his fascist views.

Mikael sets up shop in a cold cabin and starts delving into family archives, police records and old newspaper reports. He finds a cryptic code in Harriet's Bible, and Frode connects him with Lisbeth to help advance the research. Mikael and Lisbeth join forces, start a passionate affair, and gradually uncover a horrific trail of crime much more complex than they ever expected.

Directed by David Fincher and arriving two years after the Swedish version, this Girl With The Dragon Tattoo exists in the name of avoiding subtitles. It's otherwise difficult to understand the artistic logic of imposing Swedish accents onto Anglo actors and recreating the same movie. Michael Nyqvist as Blomqvist, Noomi Rapace as Salander and director Niels Arden Oplev did a terrific job the first time around. Fincher adds a bit more style, subtracts some heart and plot comprehension, and lands in the same place with less authenticity.

Nevertheless, plenty of impressive visuals are on display. From the Bond-inspired opening credit sequence to the stark, frigid landscape of Sweden's remote north, Fincher creates an environment where things happen at the speed of creeping ice, and secrets lurk beneath a family's dominant blanket of power and wealth. Back in Stockholm Lisbeth dances on the edge of madness, her survival instincts kicking into overdrive in her morbid battle of excessive brutality with Bjurman. The material is strong, and Fincher extracts a stunning punk performance from Mara, Lisbeth Salander a brilliant source of coiled and angry energy.

Fincher does however bungle the central mystery of Harriet's disappearance. Too many names and locations are thrown at the screen far too quickly, and Fincher moves on to capture the next frozen pond instead of allowing the plot and supporting characters to breathe and mature.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo does convey the layered impact of individuals victimized by power brokers, personal tragedies covered up by a veneer of civility. But despite the professional treatment, this remains a wholly unnecessary remake.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

An epic adventure story, The Man Who Would Be King is a romp through British-ruled southeastern Asia with two rogues seeking to define their destiny.

It's 1885, and a bedraggled Peachy Carnehan (Michael Caine) visits the office of author and newspaperman Rudyard Kipling (Christopher Plummer) in India. The rest of the story is told in one long flashback. Peachy, a retired infantryman in the British army, met Kipling three years prior, with Peachy stealing Kipling's pocket watch but conspiring to return it when he realized that Kipling was a fellow Freemason. With Kipling's help Peachy reconnects with his old army buddy Daniel Dravot (Sean Connery), and together the two former soldiers set off on an unlikely adventure to the nether reaches of the British Empire.

Packing a cache of rifles, the pair travel to the remote and backward territory of Kafiristan (in modern day Afghanistan) where foreigners are not welcome but where Peachy and Daniel anyway hope to become kings. They traverse harsh terrain, survive unforgiving weather, and after connecting with fellow ex-soldier Billy Fish (Saeed Jaffrey), use their military training to help a local warlord. Soon the two Brits are leading a large army across the land with a combination of strategy, audacity and hogwash. When news of their military exploits spreads, the locals start to believe that Daniel is a long-promised returning conqueror, and the seemingly ridiculous goal of attaining a kingdom suddenly seems real.

Perhaps the last truly great film from legendary director John Huston, The Man Who Would Be King winds back the years and delivers an old-fashioned adventure story for the ages. Based on a Kipling novella, the movie is an engrossing two hours driven by two memorable characters with nothing to lose, who set their sights on a remarkable prize and find a way to actually get within reach of the impossible.

The film is a visual feast courtesy of magnificent Oswald Morris cinematography and an evocative recreation of India and neighbouring untamed territories of the late 1800s. The prevailing aesthetics are the yellows and browns of a hot dusty desert protected by impossible mountain passes, where civilization lags, locals wage wars for centuries and outsiders are summarily dealt with.

But at the heart of the grand spectacle is a story of two men, and the film works because despite the bazaars, the battles and the bastions, Huston (who co-wrote the script with Gladys Hill) keeps the focus on his two main characters. Peachy and Daniel carry the British Imperial attitude of subjugate with charm or die trying, married to an indefatigable belief in their ability to get out of trouble by fair means or foul as needed. They are rascals on the loose with unexplored terrain as their playground, and their dream big philosophy is infectious.

The story explores themes of absolute power corrupting absolutely, and hubris as a force even more powerful than adventurism. When Peachy and Daniel do come face to face with their destiny, it is more intoxicating than they ever believed possible. What could have been a get-rich-quick opportunity instead becomes the fulfillment of ancient mythology in a world awaiting saviors. Two quick thinking British soldiers can get out of many jams, but resisting the intoxicating sensation of being worshipped is an altogether different challenge.

Michael Caine and Sean Connery make for an appealing pair, Caine as Peachy more scrappy and cerebral, Connery as Daniel perhaps not as sharp but capable of conveying impressive gravitas. The two carry the movie with ease, sharing exploits and prodding each other on when the going gets tough, which is often.

The Man Who Would Be King is filmmaking at its most expansive, an unconstrained scope unfolding in parallel with the unlimited ambition of two tenacious adventurers.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: Wolf (1994)

The story of an American werewolf in corporate New York, Wolf shows promise as a metaphor for adults, but then loses its edge by insisting on following the childish werewolves-on-the-loose path.

Respected book editor-in-chief Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) is bitten by a wolf after a car accident in the snowy Vermont mountains. Back in New York, Will finds himself a victim of a corporate shuffle. Tycoon Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) is the new publishing house owner, and he demotes Will and assigns young and hungry marketing executive Stewart Swinton (James Spader) into his position. Will's life hits rock bottom when he discovers his wife Charlotte (Kate Nelligan) having an affair with Stewart.

But Will also starts to feel the after-effects of the wolf bite: his senses are amplified, he feels younger, more vigorous, and more aggressive. He meets Alden's daughter Laura (Michelle Pfeiffer), an aloof heiress, and starts to plot his revenge to reclaim his job and make Stewart and Charlotte suffer. But then Will starts to lose control of what is happening to him at night, when the werewolf within him emerges and goes hunting for blood and adventure. A brutal murder is then committed, and Will emerges as a suspect.

Directed by Mike Nichols, Wolf tries to appeal to two distinct audiences and by doing so fails them both. The first half displays promise as an analogy of the need for an emotional rebirth to survive middle age trauma, as Nichols explores the symbolism of Will discovering and then adopting wolf-like tactics to fight for his patch of the corporate and relationship jungle.

But once the film transitions in its second half to actual werewolf adventures, howlings in the night, wolves hunting deer and eventually murder and mayhem in Central Park, it veers sharply away from its intellectual premise. With this heavyweight cast there is nothing to be gained chasing special effects, blood, gore and werewolves battling each other, complete with incompetent detectives attempting to solve murder-by-wolf.

Mayhem caused by werewolves has of course been done before many times, and with much better horror and special effects, including in 1981's An American Werewolf In London. By insisting on chasing the thrill-seeking audience Wolf loses its purpose and surrenders the cerebral advantage.

Casting Jack Nicholson as a wolf is almost too easy, but he does a fine job adopting a more-is-less philosophy. Nicholson keeps Will sharp but low-key, and remains remarkably calm even when the werewolf transformations start. Laura Alden is an interesting but underwritten role, and Pfeiffer can't do much with it. More effective is Spader as the power-hungry Stewart Swinton, a shrewd natural wolf in man's clothing.

Wolf ends up being not scary enough, not gory enough, and not smart enough, as it howls at the moon of confused objectives.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: Syriana (2005)

An intellectual tour-de-force delving into the morass of Middle East geo-politics, Syriana launches a thrilling multi-pronged probe of its subject, and emerges with a realistic portrait of a depressing impasse.

The film tackles several interlinked sub-stories. Weary CIA Agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) tangles with arms dealers in Tehran, and in the process loses control of a sophisticated anti-tank missile. His next assignment is to travel to Beirut and assassinate Prince Nassir (Alexander Siddig), the progressive heir to an oil-rich Arab country. Once in Beirut, Barnes crosses paths with the militant group Hezbollah, particularly the brutal Mussawi (Mark Strong).

Big oil companies in the US want Nassir out of the way because he threatens to upset the status quo. Idealistic energy consultant Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) overcomes the tragic loss of his young son to become Nassir's trusted advisor, and together they plan Nassir's modernization of his country.

A large merger of oil companies Connex and Killen is unfolding in the United States. The consolidated company will control vast oil and gas reserves in the Middle East and Asia, and is most interested in stability. Attorney Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is hired to investigate the proposed merger, which appears to be a fait accompli. Bennet's boss is political power broker Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer), working behind the scenes to ensure that the more compliant Prince Meshal (Akbar Kurtha) ascends to the throne instead of Nassir.

The merger of Connex and Killen results in mass layoffs in the oil fields of the Middle East. One of the casualties is Pakistani migrant worker Wasim (Mazhar Munir) and once unemployed he drifts under the Islamist influence of charismatic recruiter Muhammad Sheikh Agiza (Amr Waked). Wasim is radicalized and prepared for a terrorist suicide mission, using the anti-tank missile seized in Tehran.

Delving into the world of Middle East politics is a daunting task, and Syriana succeeds with aplomb. The fast paced episodic structure preferred by director Stephen Gaghan (adapting the book See No Evil by Robert Baer) is a perfect fit with the fragmented yet labyrinthine relationships that define the region. And other than ignoring the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, Gaghan expertly assembles the pieces of the puzzle and tightly packs the 128 minutes of running time with multiple stories of ever increasing tension.

While Syriana's structure works in its favour, it also allows Gaghan to get away with some short-hand. The various stories hold enormous impact thanks to the short sharp jabs style of delivery, but this also leaves plenty that is unsaid and unexplained. The need to fill in the blanks serves the film's intellectual credentials but also gives it a free pass to gloss over what could have been interesting details.

There are few happy emotions in Syriana. The film mimics the Middle East's pathetic entrapment into a cycle of pessimism driven by greed and the crushing imperatives of oil, which flows along with espionage, arms trading, corruption, corporotocracy, torture, extremes of wealth and poverty, militant Islam and terrorism. The polluted streams of evil feed off each other and accelerate the downward spiral of violence and subjugation, sucking entire societies into the vortex. Progressive voices are trampled because the system is dependent on maintaining the existing structure among the entrenched power brokers, and change represents an unacceptable risk to the production of oil and profits.

The ensemble cast members are all appropriately dour or conniving. Clooney won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Bob Barnes (effectively Baer's character), a disillusioned agent who has seen too many battles and too many betrayals in the back alleys of the Middle East, but knows of no other life. Christopher Plummer is at his oily best as a literal backroom kingmaker. Matt Damon and Akbar Kurtha represent the earnest but naive attitude of optimism that occasionally sprouts in the region, and their characters predictably hurtle towards the impenetrable brick wall of international rules set by others. Also in the cast are Chris Cooper as a Killen executive, Amanda Peet as Bryan Woodman's wife, and William Hurt as one of Barnes' few trusted allies at the CIA.

By the time Gaghan wraps up his stories, all his key characters have been profoundly impacted, and of course absolutely no meaningful positive change has been achieved. In the Middle East potential saviours are swallowed by the desert, drowned in oil, and quickly forgotten as the tide of oil-fuelled violence marches on abated.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: Inside Man (2006)

A multilayered bank heist drama, Inside Man is a slick thriller with an intricate plot, plenty of twists and a clutch of interesting characters.

Disguised as painters, a heavily armed gang led by Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) take control of a bank in Manhattan. All customers and staff are held as hostages and forced to wear painters' overalls, making it difficult to differentiate between hostages and criminals. Police captain John Darius (Willem Dafoe) and his men secure the area and set up a command post, while detectives Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) and Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) arrive to take control of the negotiations. Eventually Frazier establishes contact with Russell, who first demands food and then a plane, and threatens to kill one hostage per hour if there are any delays.

Respected businessman Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) owns the bank, and quickly contacts exclusive "fixer" Madeleine White (Jodie Foster) for help. Case wants Madeleine to secure the contents of his personal safety deposit box at the bank before it falls into the wrong hands. Madeleine uses her connections with the Mayor and forces Frazier to cooperate with her. With Russell seemingly in no rush to end the ordeal and always several steps ahead of any police action, Frazier begins to realize that this is not a typical bank robbery. A much bigger game is being played, and none of the normal rules apply.

Perhaps Spike Lee's most traditional outing as director, Inside Man is an excellent film about an exceptionally perfect bank robbery. This is glossy, star-propelled entertainment, mixing bursts of action with mounting tension and an unfolding creative mystery that reaches back to shady bank dealings during Europe's darkest hours.

Inside Man starts off with a chaotic Dog Day Afternoon vibe but quickly moves in a much more cerebral direction, Russell proving to be the antithesis of Sonny. Against the aggressive backdrop of a mass hostage taking by a seemingly brutal gang, the movie settles down to a triangular battle of wits and willpower between Russell, Frazier and White acting on behalf of Case.

Lee ever so gradually peels away the layers of the story to reveal the complex hidden agendas, dropping hints to the emerging puzzle by intercutting the action at the bank with frequent flash forwards, the frustrated detectives Frazier and Mitchell interrogating the mixed-up witnesses and suspects at the end of the ordeal. This is no ordinary robbery, and it's even difficult to separate the victims from the perpetrators. In the context of Case's history and Russell's real objectives, the blurring of the line between aggressor and casualty emerges as a central theme.

Despite the high intellectual content of Russell Gewirtz's script, Inside Man leaves a few key questions unanswered. The relationship between Russell and Case is never explained: how Russell came to know about Case's dark secret, and his motivation for exposing Case, remain unresolved mysteries. The gang members supporting Russell are also ill-defined, and never properly emerge as people from behind the painter overalls and face masks.

The sterling cast lends authority to all the key roles, with Washington and Owen perfectly cast as the detective under a cloud facing up to the criminal holding all the cards with attitude. Foster is appropriately frosty as a high powered puppet master, although the role of Madeleine White is perhaps the most forced aspect of the film.

The film starts with Dalton Russell talking to the camera inside a cell, in what proves to be an unusual confinement. It's the first clue that Inside Man has the inside track towards an astute enigma.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.