Last Night

In the span of one night in which a young married couple spend apart, each contemplates love, loyalty and adultery in Massy Tadjedin's "Last Night." Michael, played by Sam Worthington, is tempted by an attractive coworker who relentlessly makes passes at him. Joanna, played by Keira Knightley, runs into an ex-lover who was never really forgotten.

The film begins at a poshy party for really hot people which, to my surprise, turns out to be a friend's wake. There, Joanna watches jealously as Michael interacts with his attractive coworker. After having realized this is the woman Michael has been traveling with on business, she accuses Michael being attracted to her. Michael assures her she has nothing to worry about. Then, the film cuts back and forth between Joanna and Michael in a match up of whose actions are most sinful, and we wait two hours to see if one or both will cheat.

At the hotel, Michael attempts to call Joanna a couple times, but cant reach her. Is he hoping for her to answer and give him strength against temptation, or is he looking for an excuse to have a nightcap with his sexy coworker? Back home in New York, Joanna is seemingly innocent when she has dinner with an ex-boyfriend, Alex, and his friends. As they spend the night pet sitting, party hopping, and discussing resentments about their past, Joanna discovers it was never really over for Alex. She quickly realizes there's no question about what's left between them, but that the real question is what she will feel about the choice she makes.

I'm a little on the fence with this film. It brought up some really good questions about relationships and commitment. However, while the dialogue was passionate, it was not without it's flaws. Dialogue in a drama that discusses real issues like this one should share secrets, open doors and develop it's characters. Instead, the viewer can only make assumptions based on the characters' present choices and actions... and some very obvious body language. Take this film for what it is, a sexy, almost romantic chick flick, and enjoy!

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things

In the 2004 indie drama, "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things," written, directed and acted by Asia Argento, a young boy, Jeremiah, is removed from his happy foster home to live with his young unstable biological mother, Sarah. Together they move from place to place, as his mother enjoys a life of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. As years pass, Jeremiah is verbally, physically and sexually abused by whomever his mother is sleeping with at the time, and we begin to see the damage this does to the young boy's psyche.

This story reaches a new level of dysfunction in the family. The disturbing images will replay in your head. The unconventional visual style and perhaps scattered and unique plotline were matched perfectly with an experimental, indie, semi-punk soundtrack that made the film so artistic, though some may find difficult to watch, especially considering the dark subject matter.

A strong preformance by Jimmy Bennett as young Jeremiah kept my eyes glued to the screen. In one scene, Jeremiah wears a blonde wig as Sarah applies make-up on both their faces, and they pose pinup-doll-style in front of the mirror. Moments later, young Jeremiah goes in the other room in his girly get-up to seduce his mother's boyfriend. The scene used mixed shots of mother and son, perhaps because the scene was too risque to be preformed by such a young actor. But it was implied that Jeremiah was the one seducing the grown man. When the man attempts to have sex with Jeremiah, Sarah walks in and, in a raging fit, kicks the boyfriend out and attacks her son. She is both jealous and angry and has no resources nor the mature intellect to handle the situation. Yet, the film allows us to feel the love Jeremiah feels for his mother, Sarah.

How will you feel about watching a mother's desperate need to be with her son one moment, and watching her place him in danger the next? It is this controversy that made it a difficult film for respectful critics to review. Fortunately, I am not a respectful critic, but a film lover, and I loved this film very much.

Blue Valentine

  I'm so glad that all these indie movies are playing at the bigger theaters. I know its because of the Oscar hype, but it gives a lot of my friends a chance to see movies they normally wouldn't. I guess the opportunity is always there with at least five independent movie theaters in the Boston area. But for some it wouldn't even occur to them that any of these movies are worth seeing. And to be honest, I enjoy the comfy seats, and large screens at the bigger cinemaplex.

"Blue Valentine" is a dark drama about a couple who have come to a point in their relationship where they are broken-hearted, empty shells going through the motions of life, doing what they must to survive in the same house. While Dean and Cindy go about their day, looking for their dog, fixing breakfast for their daughter, Frankie, and going to work, it seems they are living in separate worlds. Dean, hoping to go back to the time where he and his wife were still connected, makes plans for the two of them to spend the night at a sleazy theme hotel. It is there that the couple's exhausted emotions surface into a cold abyss of hurt feelings and resentment.

Throughout the night, as Dean tries to break away his wife's surface and force some type of intimacy between them and Cindy tries avoid Dean's touch, we are shown flashbacks of when the couple first met. The scenes are so beautiful and romantic that it makes the flash-forward that much more painful. How could they have lost so much in just a few years? It's like looking at a wedding photo album right after a divorce, which is exactly why I don't recommend seeing this film on a first date or if you're recovering from a break-up or divorce.

"Blue Valentine" is really amazing. It was real - not over dramatized. I loved their night in the "The Future Room."  It was so cold, like the inside of one of those 50's movie space crafts... everything tinted blue. The lighting reminded me of when the lights are turned on in a club.  After a night of drinking and sweating, things don't look so good anymore.  Well, there were no exceptions for these two beautiful young actors. It's nice to know they were willing to sacrifice vanity for good art. But this was just a small factor in the magnitude of the performances by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. I can't imagine how difficult some of these scenes would have been to film. They were difficult to watch.

I believe Michelle Williams and the writer/director, Derek Cianfrance, are both very worthy of Oscar nominations. However, I think there were bits of the dialogue that made me feel like it wasn't original enough to win for best screenplay.  As far as best actress and best director, well, I think the competition was just too tough this year. I don't think there have ever been so many best picture nominees in one year before. It should be an exciting show!

Winter's Bone

A young girl in search of her meth cooking deadbeat father is faced with some pretty tough obstacles at a pretty young age. Seventeen year old Ree must figure out how to save her home from foreclosure, feed her young siblings and track down her father in this dramatic mystery nior which takes place in the seedy sticks of the Ozark Mountain country in winter. When she discovers she'll lose her home if her father doesn't appear in court on drug distribution charges, Ree begins asking folks around town where she can find him. But things get tough when no one wants to talk. For a girl who feels so strongly about deserving the help she seeks, she sure doesn't get very far. And along the journey she learns that the obligations which have been handed to her by fait will mean a long term commitment. Winter's Bone is a sad story of social circumstance filled with wild characters true to the setting. These people continue to rely on hunting and fishing as its earliest settlers did. Country music, family and survival are all they live for. And they are surrounded by miles of dark, thick, invading woods. And out of these cold bitter woods are born cold-hearted bitter people.

I wasn't as crazy about this film as I was told I should be. Everything leading up to the climax was a little scary, however I felt the climax itself was intended for shock value. Have I just seen too many movies that I have been desensitized to the gruesome challenges of the hero? To be truthful, I think I simply didn't like the lead character. She was tough because of her situation, but not strong the way I would have liked her to be. She showed no real vulnerability, only demanding expectations. Ree was angry with her friend when she wouldn't lend her her husband's truck, but when the friend changed her mind, she replied something to the effect of, “I knew I could count on you, Sweetpea.” I suppose it was important to show how she learned to do what she needed to in order to survive. But that type of personality doesn't ask for a whole lot of sympathy, if you know what I mean. Overall, this was a pretty good movie, but not necessarily worth paying to see it in the theater.