Movie Review: Thirteen Lives (2022)

A survival and rescue drama, Thirteen Lives recreates the extraordinary international effort to find and save youth footballers trapped in grim circumstances.

The setting is 2018 in northern Thailand. Members of a youth soccer team and their coach visit the Tham Luang cave, consisting of a complex series of tunnels and chambers deep beneath a mountain. An early monsoon causes flooding and traps the boys. After their parents raise the alarm, the local governor arrives and a Navy SEAL team conducts a search but is forced to turn back. To ease the flood levels, a government worker organizes volunteers to start diverting water away from the mountain's sinkholes.

Within a few days, British expert cave divers Richard Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell) arrive to help. After a difficult hours-long dive they locate the boys alive in a chamber more than 2.5 kilometres into the cave. But it's impossible for the trapped kids to navigate the dangerous flooded tunnels back to safety. With days ticking by, oxygen levels dropping, and more rain forthcoming, Richard proposed a dangerous solution involving Dr. Richard Harris (Joel Edgerton), an expert Australian cave diver who also happens to be an anaesthetist.

Based on real events that earned international headlines, Thirteen Lives recreates the barely organized chaos of experts coming together for a humanitarian cause. The event's recency and the well-known outcomes rob some tension out of the movie, but this is a nevertheless well-constructed, high-quality production. The William Nicholson screenplay covers the events of June and July 2018 from several angles, with director Ron Howard taking a deep 147 minute breath and wisely using the time to sidestep white saviour clichés.

Plenty of scenes feature only Thai dialogue with subtitles, and prominent local figures include the region's governor, the SEAL team leader, the government worker diverting water away from the caves, the mother of one player, and the team coach. They all play a role in ensuring all efforts are expended in the face of an unprecedented heart-aching drama. Howard also excels in recreating the bustle of the mud-drenched tent city which springs up outside the cave to house parents, the media, rescue workers, and support volunteers.

John Volanthen and Richard Stanton are highlighted from among the expert international cave divers who arrive to help. Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen provide both men the gritty tranquility necessary for a dangerous hobby, but also distinct personalities. Farrell's Volanthen is the optimistic peacemaker, while Mortensen's Stanton is the realist innovator.

Howard spends a lot of time underwater, and Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom conveys the dark, murky, and potentially deadly claustrophobia and disorientation of water-filled twisty passageways barely wide enough for one diver. The exhaustion is palpable, and any climactic euphoria will be both well earned and subdued by extreme fatigue.

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Movie Review: Captain Fantastic (2016)

A drama about alternative fatherhood, Captain Fantastic enjoys moments of familial grit and humour, but backs away from challenging discourse.

Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) is the middle-aged father of six children, living off the grid in a forest, home schooling the kids while teaching them wilderness survival skills and espousing a left-wing, anti-establishment life philosophy. The gangly and socially awkward eldest son Bodevan (George MacKay) is accepted to top colleges but hesitant to broach the topic with his dad.

Ben's wife Leslie is bipolar and commits suicide in the hospital. Another son, Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton) blames his father for her death and is least convinced by his parents' lifestyle choice. Leslie's parents (Frank Langella and Ann Dowd) do not want Ben at the funeral, but he decides to crash the event anyway, setting out on an epic road trip with the kids on the family bus.

Carrying an echo from 1986's Mosquito Coast, Captain Fantastic explores the value of disassociating with what society has to offer and reverting back to an organic, waste-free, close-to-nature upbringing. Director and writer Matt Ross explores the fragility of fatherhood and creates an intriguing dynamic featuring a mostly close-knit family, a sensitive and ironically modern approach to parenting in rough surroundings, and children arriving at crossroads and forced to start making independent choices.

For the most part, Ross plays fair. This is neither a celebration nor condemnation of Ben's approach to life. In so much as his kids are better educated, physically fit and able to live off the land, they are also social misfits and deprived of interaction with friends. The eldest Bo is tongue-tied in front of girls, and in a funny sequence, disintegrates when an attractive girl flirts with him at an RV park during the road trip.

Along the way to the funeral Ross draws stark contrasts with a more traditional family as Ben makes a stop at the house of his sister Harper (Kathryn Hahn), her husband Dave (Steve Zahn) and their two kids. The two families may as well be from different planets, as neither the adults nor the children are able to communicate and function as an extended family.

The clash of cultures reaches a zenith with the deceased Leslie's parents, her wealthy father Jack in particular representing everything Ben stands against. The grieving father now wants his revenge by banishing the widowed husband, but Ben's peacefully rebellious psyche means he will not back down easily.

For all the good work created in establishing the premise, Captain Fantastic takes the wrong turn in its final act. Just when Ross appears to have built a sturdy foundation for a soul-searching conclusion, he takes the easy way out, completely jettisons two characters, and goes looking for a pat feel-good finale that avoids all difficult conversations.

Viggo Mortensen holds the film together in an understate performance, conveying the quiet anguish of loss and the creeping self-doubt as seemingly for the first time, Ben starts to witness the potential negative ramifications of his core beliefs. As he walks a fine line between hero and villain to his kids, Captain Fantastic is different in his approach but grappling with conflicts familiar to most dads.

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Movie Review: The Two Faces Of January (2014)

An on-the-run thriller, The Two Faces Of January aims for a mysterious and steamy premise but stumbles on a lack of smarts and sophistication.

Athens, 1962. Rydal (Oscar Isaac) is an American tour guide and small time hustler. He is estranged from his family and recently skipped his father's funeral. Rydal spots American couple Chester and Colette MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst) enjoying their vacation, and is captivated by Colette's beauty. He befriends the pair, and learns that Chester is a wealthy investment banker.

A private detective catches up with Chester and attempts to shake him down to recover money Chester lost on behalf of dubious investors. Rydal stumbles upon the violent struggle between detective and banker, and helps Chester and Colette escape to Crete and also arranges for fake passports to allow them to flee the country. As the authorities start to catch up, tensions increase between the hard drinking Chester and the resourceful Rydal, with Colette caught between the two.

Author Patricia Highsmith is best known for writing Strangers On A Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. The Two Faces Of January was published in 1964, and is here brought to the screen by Hossein Amini, who also penned the screenplay. The title refers to the two faces of the Roman god Janus, an appropriately obscure reference to the unsatisfying plot. While the first half of the film holds plenty of promise, unfortunately the back end fades away into an uninspiring battle of wits.

The introduction of the sun-drenched Grecian settings and the intriguing characters create rich possibilities for story development. Rydal's shifty street smarts, Chester's shady background, the festering psychological wounds of Rydal's anger at his deceased dad, and the classic romantic triangle build up a sturdy narrative foundation.

But is all goes to nought. Chester starts to drink heavily, stupid decisions layer on top of each other, the trio push deeper into the Crete countryscape, and the film starts to resemble a wilderness adventure. A midnight sojourn into cavernous Greek ruins provides a backdrop for more bad judgment on all sides, necessitated by the plot but far from convincing. The final 45 minutes are consumed by a tired and rather inane game of cat and mouse that miserably fails to build up any tension.

A late and desperate lunge to bolster the surrogate father theme is unconvincing, Amini having failed to nurture the human connections necessary to earn the payoff.

The cast deserved better. Although Mortensen, Dunst and Isaac never stretch, they appear committed to the material and offer enough intensity to hint at what could have been a better movie. As it is, neither of January's faces offers the requisite allure.

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Movie Review: Green Book (2018)

A road trip buddy movie, Green Book travels through wide open America where the terrain is beautiful and expansive, but many minds remain captive to deep-seated prejudice.

It's the early 1960s in New York City, and Tony "Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) supports his Brooklyn-based family, including loving wife Dolores (Linda Cardellini), by working as a bouncer at the Copacabana nightclub. When the club closes for renovations, Tony lands a job as the driver for celebrated black pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), who is embarking on a tour of the midwest and deep south.

As the long road trip starts, the blue collar rough and tumble Tony and the suave and educated Shirley find little in common, and the brusque bouncer also develops a distaste for the cellist and bassist who make up the rest of the trio. But gradually, Tony and Shirley warm up to each other, with Tony gaining an appreciation for a black man gathering up the courage to tour the south, and "Doc" helping Tony with his letters back to Dolores. A friendship develops, as both men learn how misleading first impressions can be.

Inspired by real events, Green Book is co-written by actor Nick Vallelonga, the son of the real-life Tony Lip. Directed by Peter Farrelly, this is a classic road trip movie and a warm hearted story of an unlikely friendship blossoming against a backdrop of racial tension. The film softly mixes plenty of humour with wit, heartache and genuine human affection

Inside the car, Green Book is about two men forced to spend long hours together and slowly bonding over topics as mundane as fried chicken, diction, and littering. Shirley's sophisticated mannerisms are an eye-opener for Tony, while the bouncer's big-hearted embrace of life's every moment breaks through the pianist's iciness.

Gradually, the two men find commonalities. Tony's lower-middle class experience, confined to a single neighbourhood, scraping by on odd jobs and with few prospects for advancement, is not dissimilar to the broader black experience in America. And Shirley's quiet courage in insisting on penetrating the deep south to demonstrate what a black man is capable of in front of hypocritical white audiences is no less brave than Tony's daily dealings with dressed-up scum at the club.

The film's title refers to a traveller's guide directing Negroes to welcoming establishments in the south. Dr. Shirley quietly accepts all the racist indignities hurled his way, as his is a greater mission to rise above and for a couple of hours every evening, command the stage with a virtuoso performance. His fight against social injustice runs through upscale concert halls, toney country clubs, and fashionable hotel banquet rooms, although before and after his concerts he is confined to rundown motels and broom closets thinly disguised as dressing rooms.

Regardless, Shirley's public life as a celebrated and wealthy pianist places him outside the common experience of his own black culture, and through the road trip Tony discovers how a life of privilege can disguise a sense of severe displacement and loneliness.

Viggo Mortensen transforms into an overweight, larger-than-life yet honest and resourceful family man. His performance fills the screen, Mortensen portraying Tony as a blunt instrument ready to be chiseled through exposure to a broader America. Mahershala Ali provides a counterpoint of refinement hiding deep personal agonies, and the two actors create a compelling on-screen duo.

Green Book seeks the delicate yet profound thread of personal and societal transformations, and finds all the elegant notes.

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Movie Review: Eastern Promises (2007)

A gangland drama, Eastern Promises delves into the shady and ultra-violent world of Russian mobsters overseas.

In London, Russian mobster Soyka's throat is slit in a barber shop chair. Around the same time, young prostitute Tatiana dies in hospital, but gives birth to a baby girl. Nurse Anna Ivanovna (Naomi Watts), who is of Russian heritage but does know the language, is intrigued by Tatiana's diary, written in Russian, and containing a card for the Trans Siberian club in London. At the club Anna meets Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), who appears to be an elderly restaurateur and food aficionado, but is really the London head of the Russian mafia.

Semyon takes an exceptional interest in Tatiana's diary, and offers to translate it. His erratic son Kirill (Vincent Cassel) had ordered the Soyka hit, and Kirill's loyal driver Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) does plenty of dirty work and is working his way into the family's trust. Anna soon realizes that she has unintentionally tangled with the dangerous underworld of cut-throat Russian criminals, Tatiana was one of their victims, and now Anna's family may be in grave danger.

Directed by David Cronenberg and written by Steve Knight, Eastern Promises is a dark and moody crime thriller. Featuring abundant amounts of Cronenberg's signature gore, the film creates a foreboding corner of London where Russian mobsters run their own affairs according to old world rules, and the hierarchy of enforcers is denoted by elaborate symbolic tattoos stemming from the homeland prison system.

Anna stumbles into this gutter and before she knows it Semyon, Kirill and Nikolai are circling her with various degrees of menace, smarm and lechery. Tatiana's diary contains information damaging to Semyon's enterprise, and Anna is thrust into the position of defending a cry for justice from the grave, as well as the future of an orphaned baby.

Despite the intensity, Eastern Promises suffers from a lack of a central anchor. Most of the plot elements are instigated by a combination of Semyon, Kirill and Nikolai, and all three are presented as despicable gangsters. Anna is the one sympathetic character and most of the story unfolds through her eyes, but she is mostly an observer and a victim. The film features one plot twist, but it is not difficult to predict. More punchy is a memorable three-way knife fight to the death at a steam bath compound, Cronenberg in his element combining brutality, carnage and a refusal to greet death with anything except extreme resistance.

Mortensen re-teams with Cronenberg after 2005's A History Of Violence, and but has less to do in Eastern Promises, grim determination replacing simmering secrets. Naomi Watts echoes Maria Bello as the woman uncovering unwelcome mysteries. Vincent Cassel is suitably unsettling as the out-of-control and useless scion, while Armin Mueller-Stahl oozes unspoken intimidation from the smallest gestures.

Eastern Promises is a bleak and gruesome story of cruelty festering in the corners of what appears to be civil society. Tatiana's diary reveals a young girl excited by hope for a better life. London is full of promise and opportunity, and old-school death.

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Movie Review: Crimson Tide (1995)

A post-Cold War submarine thriller, Crimson Tide expertly explores a tense scenario involving a high-stakes conflict among commanders.

Hunter (Denzel Washington) is the new Executive Officer (XO) on the USS Alabama, a submarine armed with nuclear missiles and commanded by Captain Ramsey (Gene Hackman). Ramsey is a cigar-chomping old school leader who creates his own rules but is respected by his men. Hunter is younger, more cerebral and willing to think through situations before pulling the trigger. When a rebel faction of the Russian army takes control of a nuclear facility and threatens to launch nukes at the United States, the Alabama sets sail in readiness for a potential war. The boat's officers include Zimmer (Matt Craven), Cob (George Dzundza), Weps (Viggo Mortensen) and Dougherty (James Gandolfini).

Hunter and Ramsey clash frequently as the sub approaches waters off Asia. Then an enemy sub is spotted, and at the same time orders are received to prepare for the launch of nuclear weapons against Russian targets. But after the Alabama sustains damage, including a breakdown of the communications system, another incomplete message is received, potentially canceling the missile launch orders. Ramsey insists on pressing ahead with the potentially world-altering launch of nukes, but Hunter demands a delay to verify the orders. A tense stand-off ensues, testing the loyalty of the the men on board.

Directed by Tony Scott and produced by the Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer power duo, Crimson Tide is a better example of what the glitzy 1990s could deliver in terms of cerebral-oriented thrillers. Mostly aiming for tension, mental strain and building drama instead of cheap thrillers and explosions, Scott makes good use of an original Michael Schiffer screenplay, and Crimson Tide is a fine example of the submarine war drama sub-genre, carrying echoes of classic command conflict dramas such as Run Silent, Run Deep and The Caine Mutiny.

The film's premise worms its way into a real but unlikely scenario. United States nuclear submarine commanders used to have a certain level of autonomy to launch nukes independent of final confirmation from the President. And the on-board situation conjured up by Schiffer was theoretically possible: both Hunter and Ramsey were correct in their opposing positions. With communications lost Ramsey was justified in following the last received orders and unleashing a holocaust. Hunter had enough reason to refuse to second that command. It's a compelling set-up and cleverly exploits the generational gap between the scar-tested Ramsey and the more circumspect Hunter.

But this is a Tony Scott film, and after a careful build-up the balance occasionally tips towards contrived thrills. Opposing forces are formed, guns are drawn, threats are made, there is a frantic race to fix damaged equipment and of course an artificial countdown clock provides a backdrop to a just-in-time climax.

The weaker moments are more than tolerable thanks to the fine form of the two leading stars. Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman are perfectly cast and expertly play off each other, Hackman comfortable as the seen-it-all crusty veteran confident in his own judgement, and Washington nailing the newcomer who has to tiptoe his way into a pre-established delicate dynamic between Captain and crew. When the two clash head to head, the screen positively sizzles. The supporting cast is disciplined, and Jason Robards makes an uncredited late appearance back on shore.

Crimson Tide streaks through the ocean on a mission to deliver taut entertainment, and the torpedoes mostly register satisfying hits.

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Movie Review: Carlito's Way (1993)

A familiar crime drama with a good cast and quality execution, Carlito's Way suffers from an inability to break away from overexposed genre elements.

New York City, the late 1970s. Puerto Rican mobster Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is shot at close range at a train station. As he lies between life and death, he remembers his most recent adventures in crime. His lawyer and good friend David Kleinfeld (Sean Penn) helped to release Carlito from prison on a technicality after serving just 5 years of a 30 years sentence on narcotics charges. Carlito vows to go straight, but at every turn, his former associates and reputation drag him back towards a life of crime. He finds himself inadvertently involved in a shootout at a drug deal gone bad, before Kleinfeld helps him settle down to manage Club Paradise, a hangout where assorted criminals and wannabe mobsters flash their money.

Carlito reconnects with former girlfriend and dancer Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), but she is not sure that she wants to restart a relationship despite his dreams of relocating to a quiet life on a Caribbean island. At the club, Carlito is disgusted by a new generation of cocky gangsters, including Benny Blanco (John Leguizamo). Meanwhile District Attorney Bill Norwalk (James Rebhorn) is doing all he can to put Carlito back behind bars, while Kleinfeld develops a bad cocaine addiction and tangles with incarcerated mobster Tony T, sucking Carlito into further trouble.

Directed by Brian De Palma and based on books by Edwin Torres, there is not much wrong with Carlito's Way, but equally, not much that is new or original. This is a standard fare crime drama, delivered with an emphasis on quality and solid-enough performances. It is also several notches below what De Palma and Pacino offered in 1983's Scarface, and on the heels of excellent gangster films like De Palma's Untouchables and Scorsese's Goodfellas, Carlito's Way drops into a no-man's land where predictability meets retreads.

The narration adds little to the narrative, and continuously spoon-feeds Carlito's repeatedly stated desire to steer away from crime. But perhaps the film's weakest element is lack of character depth. Beyond many references to Carlito's "street" upbringing shaping his code of conduct, all the other characters remain flat representations of the girlfriend, the associates and the hoodlums. Even the supposedly central character of Kleinfeld is represented as a coked-up lawyer getting in over his head; the script offers nothing in the way of background for Sean Penn to sink his teeth into.

The action scenes are adequate without ever threatening to raise the pulse. De Palma frequently deploys pleasingly fluid long takes to capture high energy motion, giving the quicker scenes a sense of calm rationality. The main highlight comes early when Carlito stumbles into a seedy barber shop back room and contributes to a bloodbath. Otherwise, a prolonged subway chase teeters on the edge of comic overkill. The climax at Grand Central Station is good, but the film starts with Carlito gunned down, so much of the sting is removed from the tail.

Al Pacino does enough to maintain interest, staying away from excesses but ensuring sufficient intensity when needed. Penelope Ann Miller sticks to an almost spectral representation of the ideal girlfriend for a hoodlum, the dancer unable to find a break away from strip clubs much in the same way Carlito can't escape his destiny as a criminal. Viggo Mortensen appears in one scene as a formerly smooth criminal who has fallen onto hard times.

With a music score filled with mid to late 1970s disco tunes, Carlito's Way recreates an era of decadence and the thugs looking for a shortcut to riches. It's an unremarkable if competent reiteration of an often-told story.

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Movie Review: The Road (2009)

A post-apocalyptic drama, The Road is a grim examination of the human condition when survival is all that matters. The film is dour, grey, and frequently hypnotic.

In the near future, an undefined disaster has effectively destroyed the planet and most of its inhabitants. A Man (Viggo Mortensen) and his Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) have survived for years, travelling along a road, heading south towards the coast line where there is a vague promise of better conditions. The Boy was born soon after the world-ending cataclysm, and his Mother (Charlize Theron) is seen only in flashback. The family had survived for a few years in their home, but with food running out, she gradually gave up hope.

Now on the road, the Man is armed with a pistol but only two bullets, and has to fend off armed marauders and other survivors, some of whom have resorted to cannibalism. Nature continues the process of destroying itself, with entire forests self-combusting, adding to the grim, burnt-out, ash-laden terrain. Life is a daily struggle for food and shelter, and the man's singular obsession is protecting the boy from capture by bad people, at any cost.

An adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel and directed by John Hillcoat, The Road is a meandering pathway through pessimism. With an episodic structure and limited reasons to celebrate anyone or anything, this is not an easy film to take. Rather, Hillcoat presents a hellish vision of the worst that can happen, a planet destroyed, humans reduced to bedraggled travelers turning on each other, and men and woman embracing their most base instincts to find food, shelter, and kill whatever needs to be killed to remain alive for one more day. With all vestiges of civilization destroyed, there is little that separates men and women from animals. The stunning cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe paints the screen grey and black, nature's dance of death reflected in the gloomy souls of the few remaining survivors.

And unlike other cinematic representations of a post-apocalyptic future, The Road is a film devoid of heroes. There is no Mad Max and no John Connor providing hope for a better tomorrow. The Man is tired, flawed, obsessed, and beginning to lose perspective on the difference between good and evil. Hillcoat and screenwriter Joe Penhall chart his gradual descent into moral murkiness, as the need to protect the Boy brings the Man dangerously close to the same behaviours he is supposed to be guarding against.

The pervasive sense of despair is highlighted with a series of questionable choices. The Boy is frequently left puzzled by the actions of his father, and he is right to be. The Man has many answers, but the years of traveling on the road are clearly taking their toll. He decides to leave a shelter that appears to be safe, and his treatment of an old man (Robert Duvall) and a thief (Michael Kenneth Williams) present a less than ideal role model for the Boy to grapple with.

Despite being an unrelentingly bleak film, The Road can also metaphorically represent life, with a sometimes inexplicable urge to continue down the path despite not knowing what lies ahead, and consequences to both stopping on the road and stepping off it. The one sure thing the Boy will learn is that the only thing he can control is the legacy he leaves for others to remember.

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Movie Review: G.I. Jane (1997)

A military training action drama, G.I. Jane tackles the issue of gender equality in the armed forces but more often than not heads straight towards the most obvious clichés.

Veteran Texas Senator Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) strikes a sleazy deal with Department of Defence officials. The Navy will allow women to prove their combat capabilities by participating in a training program, in exchange for DeHaven facilitating the confirmation hearings for the incoming Secretary of the Navy. Navy analyst Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore) is selected to be the first woman trainee, and she is thrust into the Navy SEAL-like Combined Reconnaissance Team program, considered the most arduous training regime offered by the military.

Command Master Chief Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen) runs the brutal training program, and with Jordan the only woman in a class full of male recruits, she is not expected to survive even the first week. Initially Jordan is provided with special treatment to help her compete, but she rejects the privileges and insists on being treated exactly like the men. With a determined Jordan making surprising progress through the physically punishing and mentally draining program, her success starts to make waves in Washington DC, where DeHaven is facing another crisis that will require more deal making.

Whenever G.I. Jane tries to expand its horizons beyond the training course, it stumbles awkwardly. The scenes in Washington featuring Senator DeHaven and a large group of faceless defence department suits never move beyond the most obvious theatre. Jordan's home life and romantic relationship is hard boiled in scenes so brief that next to nothing is known about her as a person. And the film ends with the ever so tiresome bromide of a class full of trainees suddenly thrust into a poorly defined actual combat mission. Hello undefined bad guys running around in the Libyan desert.

The film therefore lives and dies in the training program that Jordan and her fellow recruits are subjected to, and here director Ridley Scott does shine. The exercises designed to harden the trainees into well-honed fighting machines capable of withstanding whatever nature and enemies throw at them are long, detailed and almost physically exhausting to watch. Scott deploys his usual expertise in shadows and back-lighting, and along with cinematographer Hugh Johnson the film is bathed in spectral blue-green representing the nighttime home of special forces.

G.I. Jane is at its best when there is little dialogue and plenty of physical effort on display. Whenever the film moves towards humanizing the tension between Jordan, Urgayle and the many interchangeable men surrounding her it becomes obvious that the script (by David Twohy and Danielle Alexandra) is firmly stuck in first gear, and none of the characters can say anything or display any emotions beyond basic "women don't belong here / yes they do" clipped exchanges.

Demi Moore deserves a lot of credit for undergoing an intense physical training program to get in shape for the role of Jordan O'Neil. She shaves her head on-screen, performs all her own stunts and enjoys plenty of scenes showing off her buff body being put through the exhaustive training grind. Her acting is admirably intense, but that is all. G.I. Jane never succeeds in revealing much about Jordan except that she starts out resolute and gets ever more tenacious, in proportion to the number of people who want her to fail, and Moore is stuck in that box. Viggo Mortensen provides an interesting angle on the traditional ruthless training instructor persona, but the script cannot deliver an evolution to his poetry-loving ferocity.

G.I. Jane succeeds as an inside look at what it takes to be an elite soldier, but otherwise misfires when it comes to creating people and a story worth caring about.

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Movie Review: Appaloosa (2008)

An  old-fashioned western, Appaloosa enjoys many good moments thanks to a strong partnership between the two lead actors, but otherwise overreaches and sprawls towards an unconvincing romance and unnecessary prolongation.

It's 1882 in New Mexico. The marshal of the town of Appaloosa and all his deputies are killed by ruthless rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons). The town's elders recruit legendary gunman Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his gunshot-toting partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) to become the new law. Virgil quickly restores order and checks the aggressive behaviour of Bragg's men.

Widow Allie French (Renée Zellweger) arrives in town, and Virgil is immediately smitten. They start a romance and make plans to settle down together, although Everett notices that Allie's commitment to Virgil may be suspect. Meanwhile Virgil catches a big break when a ranch hand steps forward to testify against Bragg, allowing Virgil and Everett to arrest Bragg and hold him until a judge arrives to hold a trial. But Bragg has allies in unlikely places, and the arrival of gunman Ring Shelton (Lance Henriksen) and his brother Mackie signals the start of a new, violent chapter in Appaloosa.

The second feature film to be directed by Ed Harris (who also co-wrote the script), Appaloosa is a traditional western that treats the genre with the utmost respect. This is both a strength and a weakness. The measured tone and sturdy foundations of the film generate undeniable appeal and set the movie on a sound footing. But there is also little that is new here, and the film serves as a reminder that most of the stories of the west have been told before, and much more than once.

The main crisp element offered by Appaloosa is the relaxed, deep relationship between Virgil and Everett. This is a buddy movie in all the good, rich meanings of the world, and without the contrived tension that is so often added to the mix. Virgil and Everett are simply good together, creating a classic team, with Virgil more comfortable in a leadership role and Everett providing a natural support. Just a touch of humour is added by allowing Everett to carry not only the supportive shotgun but the stronger vocabulary. When Virgil stumbles on complex words, Everett invariably steps in to rescue his friend's sentences.

The film leans heavily on this core friendship, and never succumbs to the cheap thrill of testing it. The few times when Virgil and Everett have a reason to question each other, they quickly don't, emphasizing a bond of quiet trust forged over many years. Harris and Mortensen bring the two men to life with minimum fuss, and both are excellent.

Much less successful is Zellweger as Allie. A replacement for Diane Lane, Zellweger never clicks into a role that requires vulnerability, seduction and manipulation. Zellweger is not able to offer any of the required emotions, and is reduced to following the script along rather than leading with any conviction. Jeremy Irons is adequate as the villain, but he is hampered by the absence of any meaningful backstory to explain his motives.

The film also suffers from some prolongation that starts to get tiresome. A couple of the final chapters could have been shortened, as the mind games and confrontations between Virgil and Bragg drag on and the film meanders in search of a definitive climax. When it arrives, it is good, but the satisfying conclusion can't reverse the damage caused by all the detours to get there.

Neither a genre rejuvenation nor a waste, Appaloosa is a middling effort, a dependable riding partner who neither thrills nor disappoints.

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The Movies Of Viggo Mortensen

All movies starring Viggo Mortensen and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Witness (1985)

Carlito's Way (1993)

Crimson Tide (1995)

Daylight (1996)

G.I. Jane (1997)

A Perfect Murder (1998)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Eastern Promises (2007)

Appaloosa (2008)

The Road (2009)

A Dangerous Method (2011)

The Two Faces Of January (2014)

Captain Fantastic (2016)

Green Book (2018)

Thirteen Lives (2022)

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Movie Review: A Perfect Murder (1998)

A rich businessman plots to kill his cheating wife in A Perfect Murder, a contemporary re-imagining of Hitchcock's 1954 Dial M For Murder.

In New York City, married and independently wealthy socialite Emily Taylor (Gwyneth Paltrow) is having a hot affair with artist David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen). Emily's husband Steven (Michael Douglas), a businessman facing huge losses due to bad bets in the currency markets, knows about the affair and exposes David as a con man with a record of fleecing rich women. Steven confronts David and offers him $500,000 to kill Emily, with the murder to be staged as a botched home invasion.

David agrees, and Steven leaves Emily home alone for one evening, and arranges for David to enter via the servants' door. However, the struggle between Emily and the intruder does not go as planned, leaving Steven with new and unexpected problems: a dead body in his kitchen, detective Mohamed Karaman (David Suchet) on his tail, and blackmail on his growing list of problems to contend with.

A Perfect Murder maintains tension at an enjoyably elevated level, and the Patrick Smith Kelly script generates a steady current of mistrust and betrayal to build up the thriller elements. The pacing is brisk, and the film packs plenty of incident into its relatively compact 108 minutes of running time.

However, A Perfect Murder modernizes Dial M For Murder without coming close to matching it. The exquisite wit and joviality of Hitchcock's original is lost, replaced by pervasive glumness. Steven and Emily are an unhappy, stressed couple, David is a con man pretending to be a hot adulterer, and none of them emerge as sympathetic characters worth caring about. Even detective Karaman is morose, although giving him an Arab ethnicity is a welcome touch.

The plan for the murder is superficial rather than thoughtful, and the cascading subsequent events move away from a cerebral battle to crass blackmail, scratchy tape recordings and hissing threats. The film ends with an explosion of messy violence far removed from the original intent of a finely crafted crime.

Director Andrew Davis does give the movie an impressive shine, and A Perfect Murder is visually appealing. The settings are glitzy, the Taylors living in a luxurious apartment and circulating among New York's elite. Emily works at the United Nations, Steven works in a high-tech office filled with monitors displaying impressive data, and they attend the poshest parties. Paltrow's short and very blonde hairdo lights up any room she enters, in a nod to Hitchcock's love of blonde bombshells.

The performances are adequate, the trio of Douglas, Paltrow and Mortensen going about their business with commendable efficiency, although there is little character depth for them to explore. Douglas is all angry businessman putting on a good face, Paltrow is the abandoned wife oozing demure sexuality, and Mortensen is the fake passionate artist having perfected his schtick to attract bored rich women.

A Perfect Murder is far from the perfect film, but rather a passable foray into the murderous minds of the rich and desperate.

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