jimmythegeek Reviews

School for Scoundrels (2006)

Runs out of gas and subversive humor

[5/10 · 15 November 2006]

I really wanted to like this movie. I usually find Billy Bob Thorton fun to watch when he's in reprobate mode. I like "Ice Harvest", "Bad Santa", and the "Bad News Bears" remake. He was good in this as the aggressive dude teaching wimps how to be alpha males.

The script could have used some work. The first half, the interesting half, had kind of a "Fight Club" theme. It was concerned with manhood, being a winner, and shooting your classmates in the nuts with a paintball gun. That's comedy! (I dig slapstick - sue me.) Then, as Joe Bob Briggs used to say, the plot gets in the way of the story. It runs out of gas and interest as it morphs into a boy-gets-girl thing. The actions and choices of the two antagonists aren't especially interesting in the second half until maybe at the very end.

I think part of the problem is the casting. I don't think Jon Heder is the right guy for the sympathetic loser. He's great as an over-the-top dork. But he didn't engage my sympathy or interest in this role. A lot of the characterization was external, so he didn't have a lot to work with. Lame job, OK. Pajamas. OK. Needs a little...more. This is a mean-spirited comedy: let's see some mean-spirited stuff!

Down in the Valley (2005)

Great performances, so-so story

[7/10 · 31 May 2006]

I really like Ed Norton, and I was interested to see if he could pull off the cowboy role. He really did. He didn't need any latitude from the truth behind his character, he would have fit in with Clint Eastwood in the 1970s. Ms. Wood is luminous - she's pretty much the focus of the cinematography, and for good reason. The romance between the two leads is sweet and powerful. David Morse is really, really good as the step dad.

There are some production glitches - Norton's facial hair changes from full goatee to clean shaven to stubble and back overnight. There's a low-budget feel, and I didn't buy the sequence in the middle of a film shoot. It felt contrived.

So, is there room in Southern California for a real, rootin' tootin' cowboy? Of course not. So what do you do about it? I didn't get any real answers. If the point is the delusion, "King of Comedy" presented the deluded in a compelling way. In this one, the delusion isn't enough by itself. If the point is the doomed outlaw romance, "Badlands" really dominates. I thought Malick had more budget to work with, but that's not the case, even inflation adjusted. Malick just had more story to work with.

I give it points for having a theme, but it's not really well done. But the performances are amazing.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

interesting structure, lovely romance that feels true

[10/10 · 3 May 2004]

This movie has a complex structure and an interesting plot gimmick. That's good in and of itself, but they serve a larger purpose as well. The movie isn't really about the gimmick, but what people feel about each other, and why they get together and come apart, and the value that remains when a relationship breaks up. I also really admired how the bits I thought strained actually made perfect sense once they showed me the rest of the information.

This is the first movie where I recognized the authorial voice. Only Kaufman could have done this, and I would have known it even if I hadn't read about it. Carrey does a perfectly good job as a partial loser, and Winslet is captivating as what one critic called an "annoying flake". This couple isn't Romeo and Juliet - they're just folks. And they don't always appreciate what they have. I find it interesting that they seem to have a character arc of the sort that Kaufman lampooned in "Adaptation" - only this arc is rooted in human nature. It made perfect sense.

It's a good reminder that love is hard work. Complacency is a sure way to lose it. Thanks to all involved.

Young Adam (2003)

Pretty pointless, really

[4/10 · 3 May 2004]

A fair amount of unmotivated, unappetizing and joyless sex, and much squalor. Not especially interesting squalor, either. We don't gain much insight into the lead character, other than that women can't resist him and he's single-handedly sustaining the share price for tobacco firms. Why does he do what he does? Why doesn't he do what he doesn't? Who the hell knows. It's difficult to make a passive character interesting. They didn't succeed here.

Maybe the editing left out some crucial connective tissue.

Some major lessons: the industrial revolution did not succeed in bringing Scotland out of the middle ages.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Great production values, story not so hot

[5/10 · 28 February 2004]

The movie looks amazing- vast crowds of extras in period costumes on streets that just scream, "bygone era." It has an epic scope, but when it comes down to it, the end is kind of lame. I just didn't buy it. For all the running time, it felt a bit under-developed. The incidents that drive the story are a mixed bag; some clever, some funny, some silly. The vast scope and production values are in the service of a story that can't justify them.

I'm not much of a fan of James Woods, but he was good here.

I find "Once Upon a Time in the West" a completely satisfying experience, so I think I get the Leone thing. This just seems like an honorable misfire, more so than "Heaven's Gate."

Down by Law (1986)

Tom Waits is my role model!!!!

[9/10 · 17 December 2003]

His introvert to the point of autism is pure genius. "Not the shoes!" This is a great movie. Three losers, two of which have contempt for the only one of them that has anything going for him. Its portrayal of human nature rings so true and so sad, it's funny.

Not a lot of action, very oddball/offbeat.

Hurlyburly (1998)

Adapted from a play - so it'll be a bit talky

[7/10 · 5 November 2003]

I think it's a strong ensemble cast. Sean Penn was pretty good as a total cokehead weasel. Much of the surprise is in just how depraved and empty they really are. It's not strongly plotted, but it does have strong characters.

Probably more appreciated by folks into acting than folks into the possibilities of film.

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Ohhhhh it's good

[9/10 · 4 November 2003]

You have to like offbeat stuff, but this is great. It's intentionally goofy, of course, but it's not like the folks who made it were satisfied with intentional camp. The writing and acting are strongly committed to this insane world. And it's surprisingly moving- it really sucks to be old and forgotten.