Oh, brother

10/20/07

There are have been a lot of brothers at the movies lately. Three brothers, played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman, try to reconnect in Wes Anderson's new film, The Darjeeling Limited. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg play brothers on different tracks in We Own the Night. Meanwhile, Ben Affleck directs his real-life brother Casey in Gone Baby Gone. All this brother stuff probably means something, but TVOR won't go there. She also can't help but notice that there's not much in the way of interesting sister movies out there (other than the occasional treacly chick-flick) but she REALLY won't go there. Now, down to business.


Gone Baby Gone
Directed by Ben Affleck

It's not unreasonable to approach a film made by an actor (and particularly one who has had a tabloid-worthy private life) with some fear and trepidation. Well, you can relax, at least this time. Ben Affleck proves in his directorial debut that he can actually direct. Gone Baby Gone is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Mystic River, which Clint Eastwood turned into an excellent film. Gone Baby Gone isn't quite of that caliber, but it's definitely worth seeing. Based on the genesis of the material, you might get the idea that the film is not exactly happy-go-lucky. That idea is correct. People are complicated and flawed, and sometimes it's not clear what is right or wrong. There is also a real, and dark, mood, and sense of place--the film is set in Boston, but it's not the Boston of Back Bay, the Old North Church, and Faneuil Hall. In Gone Baby Gone, Casey Affleck plays a kind of low-rent private detective who, along with his partner/girlfriend, gets pulled in to help look for a four-year-old girl who has disappeared. The cast (including heavyweights like Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman) is excellent. There is also an award-worthy performance by Amy Ryan as the child's mother.


The Darjeeling Limited
Directed by Wes Anderson

The Darjeeling Limited isn't Wes Anderson at his best, but it is Wes Anderson, so the film has something going for it. Nice pictures, deadpan performances, a quirky wit...isn't that enough? Well, it depends on what you want. Wilson, Brody, and Schwartzman all do good work, but ultimately TVOR just wanted to give these man/boys a good shake and tell them to grow up. On the other hand, the visuals were great. The brothers travel by train through India, an India which TVOR believes may exist in a parallel universe, due to its remakable cleanliness and lack of plastic bags littering the landscape. The shot of Adrien Brody running to catch the train may alone be worth the price of admission. This film is fun if you're a Wes Anderson fan, but that's about it.

Something you should definitely take a look at, however is Hotel Chevalier, a short (13 minute) prequel to The Darjeeling Limited, which gives us some back story on the Jason Schwartzman character. Schwartzman is joined by Natalie Portman in this film, which is much better the than the feature showing in theaters. The word is that sometimes the short will be shown with the feature film, but you can get it on iTunes for free.


We Own the Night
Written and directed by James Gray

We Own the Night is a well-done genre film, a crime drama that's pretty predictable, yet a little bit subversive. Sort of obvious and sort of not. If this is confusing, don't worry about it. It just makes the film more interesting. Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix play the two sons of retired high-ranking police officer Robert Duvall in late 1980's New York City. Mark is the good son, also a cop who's rising in the ranks, and Joaquin is the bad boy son, who runs a nightclub, lives the high life (literally) and uses his mother's maiden name. Things happen and Joaquin goes under cover to help find some drug baddies. The writing is good, and the performances are good to excellent. This is really Joaquin Phoenix's movie, and he does a fabulous job. Just as an aside, TVOR wonders whether the title is ironic. Not only do these people not seem to own the night, they can't even rent it.

Video notes:

Early Wes Anderson tends to be more fun than later Wes Anderson. Definitely check out Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is also worth a look, but it's not as good as the earlier two.

And since TVOR is such a Joaquin Phoenix fan, she recommends a few earlier performances of his. He does good supporting work in Gus van Sant's To Die For, an earlier TVOR video pick because of Nicole Kidman's performance. Casey Affleck is in that one too. Phoenix was also excellent in Gladiator, as the creepy Commodus, alongside the virtuous Russell Crowe. And of course, he played Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.