gilroy-2 Reviews

View from the Top (2003)

Not deep but -- gasp! -- not awful

[21 March 2003]

"A View From the Top" is admittedly fluff, but I think it's good fluff. The comments I've read so far indicate that the reviewers were looking for some nice post-ironic cutting study in human drama. This film is not that. It's a warm, sweet film whose message is twofold: You cannot succeed without believing in yourself. But you cannot succeed without others believing in you, either.

I think Paltrow carries her role well in the transition from weak indecisive trailer trash to self-confident professional. The other players fill out the film nicely. I particularly enjoyed Joshua Malina, whose character is much different from his roles on "Sports Night" and "The West Wing" but which he handles deftly. I generally find Mike Myers uneven but I thought his part here was extremely well-done. His jokes fall a little flat, but if you're paying attention, you see that that's intentional. Anyone who's suffered through an in-service training day will recognize his character immediately, and he fleshes out the admittedly thin motivation pretty well.

It's not going to nab anyone an Oscar but the movie is harmless and diverting. It requires you to enter its world, where the ancient art of flight attending stands among the epic sagas of history. But it's a comfortable and entertaining world, and the film does get you home alright.

Signs (2002)

Excellent if understated edge-of-your-seat thriller

[6 August 2002]

I went in to this movie expecting it to fall short of its hype. But I actually found it quite good. The trailers are misleading, but deliberately so and -- if this makes sense -- "honestly" so. This is really more a movie about a widowed father struggling with his dying faith after a car accident leaves his wife dead. The crop signs and other sci fi trappings are all in service of this plot. M. Night Shyamalan takes a relatively mundane bogeyman story and turns it into a thoughtful, character-driven exploration of faith and destiny.

A lot of people will be disappointed because there are no lasers, no Ramboesque heroics, and no explosions. There ARE plenty of twists and surprises and at least one jump-from-your-chair shock. The effects, like the movie, are subtle and understated ... just as in a good Hitchcock film. Gibson gives an excellent performance and the children are amazingly genuine. IMHO, _Signs_ recaptures much of the feel and skill that made _The Sixth Sense_ such an astounding film.

Sneakers (1992)

A truly remarkable, and sadly underrated, film

[10/10 · 21 August 2000]

This film from 1992 didn't make nearly as large a splash as it should have. It's witty and intelligent, where brains prove more important than muscle and where integrity means something after all. I am not usually a Redford fan but he is brilliantly understated as Martin Bishop. His supporting cast is made of winners all, and each actor makes his/her character come to life. Despite dividing screen time among about ten principals, each character is fully fleshed out. Small throw-away lines give us insight into the minds of the people in this movie.

A special word must be said about Ben Kingsley's Cosmo. Here, at last, is a villain who's believable and nearly admirable, and who possesses more than one dimension. Competent without being omnipotent, almost gentle yet capable of decision and violence, fierce yet oddly vulnerable, Cosmo is the perfect foil to Bishop. Kingsley gives flashes of insight into the mind of a man whose ideals have twisted around themselves into evil and perhaps madness. It is entirely believable that Cosmo be the one to set up the central conflict of the movie, and it is entirely believable that he fall in the manner he does.

And of course, the message of the movie becomes ever more relevant as time marches forward. In 1992, when it was released, the Internet revolution was little more than a distant peal of thunder on the horizon. Most people hadn't heard of networking, encryption, digital manipulation. Now, as we close in on the 10th anniversay of the film, an air of prophecy gathers around Cosmo's final, plaintive attempt to recruit Bishop: "There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!"

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (1999 Video Game)

The Man in the Hat is Back ... and it even rings true.

[10/10 · 14 June 2000]

I am not usually one to gush over a video game, but Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine is a neat bit of work. Much like Tomb Raider in feel, it takes full advantage of the mystique and mythology of the Raiders of the Lost Ark series. The plot involves Indy's globe-spanning quest to beat the Russians to the secrets of an ancient Babylonian device of awesome power. The sixteen levels are interspersed with set pieces that really have the flavor of an Indy movie, with the wit and humor associated with Harrison Ford's portrayal of the character. (Ford did not do the game, though.)

The programmers keep their tongues firmly in cheek, making Indiana in-jokes that show they recognize the mythical stature of Indiana Jones as American hero without taking it all too seriosuly. This is perhaps most conclusively demonstrated by the bonus level "Return to Peru", wherein you, as Indy, get to return to the Peruvian temple at the beginning of Raiders.

For anyone who has enjoyed the Indiana Jones series of movies, and who likes first-person games, this is a must.