Showing posts with label Jacki Weaver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacki Weaver. Show all posts

Saturday, February 02, 2013

Review of the Week: Silver Linings Playbook

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM


Silver Linings Playbook (M)
MENTAL illness in film is usually of the serious kind; characters without a grip on their complete sense of self are ones that need help and find it hard to come by as they face day-to-day life. It’s a common part of life that has at least an indirect effect on most people, but to put it with comedy is rare. No doubt the likeability of difference against other films on the subject is something the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters have taken note of.

Bipolar disorder is a wide-reaching mental illness and the drive behind Matthew Quick’s novel. David O Russell acts as director and screenwriter in the adaptation where Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental health institution to his happy parents Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and Pat Sr (Robert De Niro). It’s been a long eight months where he hasn’t played by all the rules, but he’s home.
As the reasons behind his time become known, Pat is shown as a straight shooter on top of his ability to bluff his way through a lot of situations. He very much knows what is wrong with his situation and believes he has the willpower to push past it and succeed. However, his prolonged refusal to take medication is reflective of the views of many mental illness sufferers who feel stifled by taking it.
Pat meets one of those by chance. Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) is a mess, retreating to defensive conversation and other antisocial behaviour in the time following her husband’s death. But a mutual attraction from the two sparks an unlikely friendship centred on looking out for their own wellbeing.

It’s the opposite to most boy-girl stories in that sense, rejecting the notion of devoting yourself to someone else. There is no love lost between Pat and Tiffany as they try to find their silver lining through a warped understanding of each other and the neighbourhood they find themselves in.


The people Pat and Tiffany are surrounded by add to the story. Pat Sr is a bookmaker convinced his son’s return home has sparked a Philadelphia Eagles winning streak in the NFL; his friend Randy (Paul Herman) the dodgy friend always looking for the better bet. Then there’s Danny (Chris Tucker), Pat’s friend from the institution with his misguided positivity.

It’s a man’s world, spearheaded by the inclusion of a NFL rivalry sub-plot. The film feels very North American as a result, their pride for gridiron unlike those from any other sport’s fans, but Tiffany taps into that zone and bring it to its knees in a pivotal moment.

The screenplay displays the shouting ability of most of the cast as much of the story centres around arguments. Pat, Tiffany and those around them are fraught with confusion as they are all forced to consider what defines importance and happiness. Russell’s cast is excellent, Jennifer Lawrence mesmerising as a very troubled young lady.

Russell, an executive producer on Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, injects potentially flirtatious moments with deadpan sarcasm. It’s less risky than what it should seem, and the effect is paramount as laughs that should feel awkward don’t. This latest award season favourite mixes the young and old in presenting some of the best performers Hollywood has to offer.

Rating: 4/5
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 2/2/2013

***
Chinatown (1974)

Roman Polanski didn’t make many films on US soil, but the ones he did, Rosemary’s Baby and this film, were the stepping stone to a strong Hollywood career. While that was not to be after a conviction, jail time and then fleeing to Europe in exile where he remains to this day, it hasn’t hurt fans that still revere his stories.
 
Chinatown is about a web of lies and hurt, a reflection of the years following the death of his actress wife Sharon Tate. The Polish director was extremely tense on set, arguing with almost everyone, and it mirrored the content of the story being filmed. It’s an uncomfortable film where a situation arises completely different to expectations.
 
Detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired to determine whether water and power department employee Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling) is having an affair. But after Hollis’ wife Evelyn (Faye Dunaway) says it was a set-up and Hollis is then found dead, a set of connected occurrences have Gittes and his team delving deeper into the mystery.
 
Corruption surrounding councils and water is still a touchy topic today in some places, Polanski using that theme to his advantage by adding dark characters that don’t want to give much away. Nicholson is a straight shooter as Gittes, prying for answers that he sometimes cant get, and adds gravitas to an unnerving tale.

*Published in the Mailbox Shopper (Dubbo) on Wednesday 30/1/2013.

MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS? See what I thought of Django Unchained and Good Morning, Vietnam.

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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Gritty cinema

0 comments Posted by Katina at 7:00 PM

One thing I promised I would do when moving to Dubbo was make more time to relax and do things I wouldn't normally give myself time to do. Like lazing around for an entire day. Safe to say I don't feel AS bad about doing that now...

Also gives me a chance to start seeing some of the films on my 'I need to really get onto that' list.

So this week I rented The Godfather and Animal Kingdom. Finally, I know.

Watching The Godfather made me draw immediate comparisons to Luchino Visconti's epic Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). Now, I know some of my readers will have never heard of that film - basically the Cannes winner is perhaps one of Italy's most significant films, a three-hour-plus epic about Sicilian nobles in the aftermath of the Risorgimento movement in the 1860.

That film is amazing and Coppola no doubt drew from Visconti's grandeur, particularly in the scenes where Michael (Al Pacino) hides out in Italy. Stunning.

As good as The Godfather is (and I do understand why a lot of the world loves it so much, it's crafted very well), half the time my mind wandered because I just couldn't help but marvel at how good-looking Pacino was in his early years. Don't judge me! But he really was good in this film. They all were.

Animal Kingdom also deserved every accolade it got. That film was frickin' intense. Gutsy, gritty and just magnificent. Go Australian cinema!

I was on the edge of my seat for a large part of this, not knowing where it was heading and enjoying the freaky ride. Ben Mendelsohn was incredibly creepy, but all were brilliant. Wondered exactly how the Academy considered Jacki Weaver's role to be so special for a nomination - then with what, 20 minutes of the film to go, I got it. What a star turn. Wow.

Two 'about time' films off the list, one a classic and the other with potential to be so, at least within Australian cinema history. Good to have made progress in this department.

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