Heartbreaking and Prescious

The new film "Prescious" accomplishes its emotional power by speaking louder than anything else and making itself heard. It is a movie whose central protaganist encounters nothing but horrible circumstances at every turn. She's obese, poor, sexually abused, pregnant with her second child by her father, and with a verbally abusive and physically abusive mother who thinks nothing of telling her daughter she's a big fat dummy, and that she should have aborted her when she had the chance.

The movie may be emotionally manipulative, but its sure effective. Hell, even the sight of Mariah Carey as a welfare worker can't break its hold over the audience. The film is almost relentless as it throws all this misery and heartbreak at the audience. And Mo'Nique is truly terrifying as her welfare queen mother who encourages her daughter to just live off the government's teat just like her.

It's no friday night date movie, and not exactly an uplifting story.
But the images and performances in Precious will make quite an impression that will be tough to shake.

"Precious:" B+

Is That All There Is?

The hype surrounding the Michael Jackson concert documentary "This Is It" has been deafening for months. So it's almost impossible to live up to the expectations.
But is it worth seeing?

The movie is more of a historical curiosity than anything. The film is culled from extensive rehearsals for Jackson's comeback shows in London. Jackson is in all but about 15 minutes of the movie. And when he's on stage there's a workman like quality to his performances. It's like he's desperately trying to regain his old magic but doesn't quite know how to do it.

He only seems to truly be having fun during a couple of sequences working with dancers and musicians behind the scenes. During these scenes Michael Jackson flashes a genuine smile, and seems to enjoy helping the musicians and dancers tap into the soundtrack he hears in his head.

But when he's on the stage, the smile is strained and the moves seem strangely out of sync with the rest of the music on the show. He seems a shadow of his former self. Jackson misses cues, has a hard time adjusting to his earpiece and offers vague commentary about how he's got to just feel the cues, and the need to let things "sizzle" on stage.

It's interesting because it was his last performance. But his albums are a far better representation of the man's musical talents.

All in all this is for only the most diehard fans.

"Michael Jackson's This Is It:" C

You can watch my review online here...
http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=64072@wbbm.dayport.com

So Bad It's Good

In the long line of loopy Nicolas Cage movies, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans has to be one of the loopiest. Cage is a lieutenant with the new orleans police who hurts is back rescuing a prisoner from a cell after hurricane katrina. That leaves him with constant back pain and addiction to vicodin. Soon he's doing cocaine in his squad car and running around crime scenes with that crazy glint in his eye. The film establishes Cage's loopy behavior almost from the get-go when he pulls up to a crime scene and parks his squad car almost in the front door of a building instead of the street.

Ostensibly Cage is trying to track down the drug dealers who killed a family of illegal immigrants who just happened to be selling drugs on the wrong guys turf. But director werner Herzog shows little to no interest in the procedurals of the case. He's much more interested in Cage's loony descent into near madness, along with drugs, hookers, italian hoods, crooked cops, and his bookie.
This leads up to what can only be called lizard cam- where for reasons unbeknownst to me we get a montage of footage as seen from the eyes of the lizards who keep popping up around louisiana.

Cage hasn't been this unhinged since he donned a bear suit and went around punching women in the face in "The Wicker Man." After a while I found myself willing to suspend disbelief and just enjoying the ride. Cage won't win any awards for this role, but dammit if it wasn't entertaining.

The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans- B

Amelia Crash Lands

"Amelia" is a film with dreams of soaring to the heights of Oscar Glory. But its clunky script sends it crashing back to earth.

Hillary Swank plays the plucky aviator like she's channeling Katherine Hepburn. That's fine if you're starring in the Katherine Hepburn story, but the affectations of her speech make her sound like she's seen one too many 1930's gangster movies.
Richard Gere is agreeable as her promoter, book publisher and later husband George Putnam. But he talks like he's in a 1930's movie too, not the 1930's. The two leads' affected speech paterns are all the more noticable because no one else in the film talks that way.

The film ignores Earhart's early life almost completely, and we first see her as she's about to embark on her fateful round the world flight. The major events of her adult life, such as her first transatlantic flight, are told in flashback. There's also a standard issue love triangle between Earhart, Putnam, and a charming flight teacher played by Ewan McGregor.

The film's visuals are striking. But just as it seems to take off, the script gets in the way. The love story is supposed to pull the heart strings, but it never generates any heat. And the filmmakers actually expect the audience to swallow it's pithy platitudes like "don't let anyone turn you around" as though they were deep philisophical nuggets of wisdom.

It's a shame such a strong spirited woman who dreamed of being totally free wound up encaged by a run of the mill biopic.

"Amelia:" D+

The Vampire's Assistant

On my way to the theater to see "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" I first saw a group of kids practicing what looked like the "Thriller" dance in Lincoln Park, and then I saw a hapless assistant knock over an entire display in the front window of the Crate and Barrel on Michigan Avenue. Both of those vignettes contained more pure entertainment than anything I saw on screen that night.

The bland teen protagonist Darren is played by newcomer Chris Massoglia.
He delivers every line in a sort of frozen monotone unsure of exactly what he's supposed to feel and why. It's like David Schwimmer trying to do Dostoevsky.
He and his equally bland best friend attend a traveling freak show full of weirdos, creepy crawly critters, and a 200 year old vampire masquerading as a harmless vaudevillian played by John C. Reilly. He has the scripts only good lines and they are few and far between.

When Darren makes off with the vampire's pet spider, it sets in motion a chain of events that lead to Darren becoming a half vampire and joining the circus to save the life of his best bud.

The film is based on a popular series of books, and it seems intended to be the first of a series.
But based on what I saw this is likely to be the last installment for a long long time. One of the chief problems here is that it seems to spend all of its time setting up what will happen later, but it never gives us much reason to be interested now.

Director Chris Weitz doesn't seem to have a clue how to handle the material. He's not sure if its supposed to be scary, or funny. And at times he seems to be hoping that a well placed pop song will communicate what he seems to be fumbling for.
Willem Dafoe, and Salma Hayek turn up briefly but are wasted in tiny roles that have nothing for them to offer. And none of the freaks make much of an impression beyond their (by now) run of the mill cgi wizardry.

For every Twilight that inexplicably strikes a chord, there are a hundred freaks that just fall flat and leave their fans with nothing but disappointment.

"Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant:" C-

Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen is a fast moving action picture that kept me interested, but left a really bad taste in my mouth afterwards.
It starts out looking like your garden variety revenge picture where Gerard Butler vows to get justice after two hoods who murdered his family. Because of a deal with a slick d.a. played by Jamie Foxx, one hoodlum got a minor sentence, the other got the death penalty.
Then it turns into an uncomfortable "Saw" tale about a psycho killer with a conscience.
Butler seems to be able to kill anyone anywhere at will while behind bars as he seeks to bring down the entire criminal justice system.
The movie is totally preposterous the second you apply one iota of thought to it.
It's main goal seems to be to keep moving fast enough to not let anyone think about what just happened.
One of the problems here is there is no one really to root for. But the film actually seems to be on Butler's side for most of it. And you'll be hard pressed to remember anything about this movie afterwards. It seems to evaporate before you even hit the aisle.

"Law Abiding Citizen:" C-

Vaughn Retreats To Old Schtick

Because of his excellent work in "Swingers" and "Wedding Crashers" I tend to have a high tolerance for Vince Vaughn's motormouth schtick. Yes, it could be said he plays pretty much the same character in every movie now, but I don't mind spending a little of my day with him.

That said, Vaughn's persona is becoming a little too familiar. Where once he elicted belly laughs, now he gets a knowing chuckle or two. Watching his latest project "Couples Retreat," which he produced, co-wrote, and stars in with old pals Jon Favreu and Jason Bateman, I couldn't help thinking it was about time for Vaughn to do something else for a change.

The story itself about three couples that go to an island paradise for a little sun and group therapy is genial, but never laugh out loud funny. It's the kind of movie that if you saw it on cable, you'd probably put it on, but then go do other things and not really pay too much attention. Along the way, they go to counseling, survive a shark attack, and encounter a scantily clad yoga teacher with no concept of personal space. And it all builds up to a fairly ridiculous formulaic finale that includes (of all things) a guitar hero face off that only goes to prove that it's virtually impossible to look cool playing guitar hero.

I like all the actors on screen. Vaughn and Favreu have a great onscreen chemistry, and Bateman continues to perfect another version of his Michael Bluth Character from "Arrested Development." But the movie is lazy even by the low standards of a high concept comedy. And first time director Peter Billingsly (A Vaughn pal for years, and Ralphie from a Christmas Story) doesn't show much inspiration behind the camera.

So in short, if you've gotta find someplace to get out of the house for a couple of hours, or your spouse or significant other wants to see this movie- don't put up too much of a fight. But don't go out of your way.

Couples Retreat: C+

An Argument Against Procreation

There is much to be said about mothers. They are the everyday heroes whose work is never recognized quite enough. I'm sure there is also a good comedy to be made about the struggles that moms face and how they get through the day juggling work, family, and a million errands. There might even be a way to make mommy bloggers interesting.
But sadly "Motherhood" is not that movie.

Watching it is a bit like reading a second rate mommy blog. It's the difference between listing a sequence of events and telling a story. "Motherhood" simply rushes mother Uma Thurman through a day where she's shuttling kids to school, planning a birthday party, going to the play land, and dealing with byzantine parking restrictions in new york city. But there's no story arc, no character development. Just a list of annoyances. And it doesn't even have anything interesting to say about those annoyances.

Uma Thurman is not believable as a harried mom. She's a little too haughty, and it's obvious we're watching a movie star slumming. The movie reaches its cringe inducing nadir when Thurman invites up a bike messenger to her apartment for a little impromptu dance party that seems to go on forever.

Satre wrote that Hell is other people. But he never saw "Motherhood."

"Motherhood:" F

Lie To Me

When I see Ricky Gervais on talk shows, or an Awards show like the Emmys or the Golden Globes he's the highlight. A dose of unpredictable, brutally honest, dry British wit. But when his humor is shoehorned into other projects he himself did not write it's an uncomfortable fit.

I wasn't a fan of his last big screen effort "Ghost Town," and the best that can be said for his appearances in the "Night at the Museum" films is that at least he emerged relatively unscathed.

His new project "The Invention of Lying" (which he co-directed and co-wrote) is the first film to really bring out the best in his particular brand of humor. Gervais has created a world where everyone tells the absolute truth all the time. This leads to lots of great jokes about relationships, advertising on television, and even nursing homes. Gervais plays a screenwriter at what looks like the world's dullest movie studio. They produce films of historical record that would make a botany lecture look lively by comparison.

A blind date with Anna (Jennifer Garner) uncovers a vast well of self depricating humor that's a real joy to watch. But she's not a bad person. She's just concerned about his snub nose and the fact they won't be a good genetic match to make a baby.

But then purely by accident he comes up with the world's first lie. And the film has the courage and wit to take that to wonderful, subversive extremes not normally seen in a studio film. It's essentially a one joke movie, but it's a really really good joke. There's some standard issue romantic comedy stuff thrown in too. But those can be forgiven in a film that'll keep you chuckling long after you've left the theater.

"Invention of Lying" Grade: B