Gone Baby Gone

Synopsis

On the surface, Gone Baby Gone, is a crime thriller about a child kidnapped from a cocaine addicted mother and the private investigator recruited to find her. Beyond that though, the plot only continues to get thicker every step of the way through the film.

Opinion

Upon hearing of this movie I was slightly intrigued, mostly because of the Oscar nomination attached to Amy Ryan who I had never heard of. After watching it though, I was very pleasantly surprised. The movie was considerably well made, a great start for Ben Affleck’s directorial career. Based on a novel by Dennis Lehan and adapted by Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone starts out with a deceivingly simple plot and expands and grows with great intensity. Simply put, the story is wonderfully written.
There is an impressive mix of character dynamics in the movie. In other words, certain characters relations to each other greatly facilitate a complex and interesting story. Along with its fine plot, Gone Baby Gone has a phenomenal cast and they help to display these dynamics excellently. On top of Amy Ryan’s Oscar nominated role (which is quite deserved I think), Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, and Morgan freeman deliver splendid performances as well. While the performances are what we should expect of actors with the experience of the latter two, Casey Affleck is deservedly building an impressive resume too.
In keeping with a good plot, deeper messages in the story very thought provoking. In some senses, it displays the traditional dilemma of “do the ends justify the means” but does so in a way that makes it too hard to simply take one side or the other.

Overall

An outstanding debut for Ben Affleck: the director. Thanks to an extremely well written book and Ben Affleck’s directorial talent Gone Baby Gone is a great movie and I definitely recommend it to those looking for a deep, edgy drama.

9 out of 10

Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Synopsis

Sweeny Todd tells the legendary tale of a man who loses his wife and daughter to a corrupt judge, is sent to prison unjustly, and comes back to exact revenge. The whole history of the story is rather convoluted but apparently it might have started as a true story and was converted from a legend, to novels, to a Broadway musical, to several movie adaptations. The most recent of which, directed by Tim Burton, is musical film drawing mostly from the Broadway play.

Opinion

Sweeny Todd is probably my favorite movie of the year next to There Will Be Blood. The movie is the combined effort of regular collaborators Tim Burton, Jonny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter. The film has Tim Burton’s signature style all over it with its dark macabre look, its dark macabre romance, and its dark macabre everything else. But that’s okay because it works.
Probably the first thing people will notice about the movie is that it’s a musical. Though you don’t usually think of serial killers and musicals at the same time, Sweeny Todd really makes it work and the music, credited to Stephen Sondheim, is excellently written. The performances in Sweeny Todd are very good as well. Jonny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter work wonderfully together while Alan Rickman and young newcomer Ed Sanders do extremely well also.

Overall

This is a great movie and I highly recommend it. The level of violence may get to some people (not many these days) but if that doesn’t bother you then by all means, see it. I didn’t really like musicals as a kid so if I can enjoy this as much as I did than I’m sure you can too.

9 out of 10

Juno

Synopsis

Juno is a movie about a sixteen year old who gets pregnant. No, it’s not an episode of Maury, it’s the story of a young girl who gets pregnant and tries to find a couple to adopt while, as she puts it, deals with “things way beyond my maturity level.”

Opinion

Juno is a very good, unique story and one of my favorite movies of the year. If you ask me (and in a sense you are.) the real star of this film is the script. Written by first time screenwriter Diablo Cody, Juno really is as they say “this year’s little miss sunshine” It’s refreshingly original, quirky and funny. It is also very heartwarming…but only towards the end. Through the majority of the film, like little miss sunshine, things pretty much get worse for the protagonists as time goes on but it is certainly not without laughs throughout. Besides, that is what makes the ending all the more powerful.
The thing that struck me the most was the honesty in the dialogue. It certainly isn’t completely realistic and Juno and her friend have more witty things to say then is probably natural but nonetheless, the dialogue in the film is probably more realistic than most. The film’s acting is also something of note. Ellen Page, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role, delivers a great performance. In addition, the other actors in the film, such as Michael Cera and Jason Bateman also give good performances. Like his other roles, Michael Cera who plays Juno’s love interest (more or less), plays awkward better than any actor I have seen. If you’ve seen Superbad or any episode of Arrested Development than you know what I’m talking about.

Overall

Juno is defiantly a movie worth seeing. Juno defiantly isn’t a laugh-out-loud kind of comedy but I don’t think that’s what they’re going for. With a good cast, simple humor, and a believable script, you can’t really go wrong and I don’t think they did.

8.5 out of 10

1408

Synopsis

Adapted from a Steven King short story, 1408, like every Steven King story ever, concerns a struggling writer. Mike Enlsin makes a living visiting “haunted” hotels and writing about them. After receiving an anonymous tip of room 1408, Mike heads to the hotel to stay in the room. Upon arriving, he meets the hotel manager, played by Samuel Jackson, who begs him to not stay in the room. Naturally Mike insists and gets the key to the room. If you’ve heard anything of this movie at all then you know this is where things start going horribly wrong. If not then, well, this is where things start going horrible wrong.
The rest of the movie follows Mike Enslin as he tries to combat the evil of the room and make an escape. 1408 takes the viewer through the vast array of horrors that Mike endures ranging from psychotic and suicidal ghosts to pictures coming alive. Also, John Cusack’s character has a strong back-story involving his ex-wife and their dying daughter that plays a large role in the movie.

Opinion

Steven King has long been a favorite author of mine and 1408 is just another basic example of his work. I quite liked this movie adaptation but I have yet to read the original story. While the movie is not particularly scary, it certainly has a creepiness all its own. There a few twists and turns including one very big and…shall I say, misleading, one in the latter half of the film. My main concern with this movie on the other hand, is that it includes a lot of back-story and other plot elements that don’t seem to flesh out or get explained at all by the end of the film
1408’s acting isn’t really much to talk about but it is quite good nonetheless. John Cusack’s character is a rather typical caricature of the cynical man who “believes in nothing but himself” and has a dry sarcastic comment for everything. The movie spends the largest amount of its time around Mike Enslin for obvious reasons. I haven’t really seen him act in much else but he certainly does a good job in this movie especially since he was forced to act by himself and respond terrified to nothing. Samuel Jackson acts pretty much the same as he does in most of his movies but with significantly less yelling. The first exchange between the two characters in particular is a fine display of their acting talent.

Overall

All together, 1408 is entertaining enough that a second view can be just as enjoyable as the first even after all the twists have been exposed. Eventually I’d like to see more Steven King adaptations but for now this is one of my favorites (second to Secret Window). If you enjoy a creepy but fun film or are a big Steven King fan than I certainly recommend this film.

7 out of 10