Cinema Alliance Movie Reviews

Where to begin your Pulitzer Prize-winning final love sonnet to your beautiful America, eh? In a weepy dream filled with Disneyesque animatronic unicorns and CGI sea otters that talk like Ernest Borgnine? I think not. Why not begin at the end, the end of everything you hold dear? Why not gracefully narrate in an elegiac (as in elegy: a mournful poem, a lament for the dead) fashion a book about the collapse of the very thing you hold closest to your heart? Why not envision the end as a death march for survival during which you shepherd your own sole heir, your son, into a most uncertain future? This is what Cormac McCarthy, author of  The Road has done. The movie was released in 2009, and director John Hillencoat and screenwriter Joe Penhall  have ably adapted this tale and crafted a near defining moment in the genre of the Apocalypse movie.

Yes, of course there is a genre. Independence Day, I am Legend, 2112, On the Beach, The Road Warrior, Fail Safe, Dr. Strangelove, Cloverfield, War of the Worlds, The Stand, The Book of Eli, etc. My nickname for this genre is Toast: The Movie. Because we’re doomed, of course.

When I say that this movie defines the genre, I say so with respect for its achievements. It is fearsomely, brutally honest about the likely effects of a societal breakdown caused by a nuclear war. You will see scenes of summary execution and cannibalism that, in my opinion, are far more terrifying than the usual horror movie treatment of the subject for their jarring realism. You will see a decision made over and over that is seldom presented honestly in Horriblewood’s Big Book of Plot Devices, the decision to let some other innocent suffer and die at the hands of savages so that we may live another day. Nope, we’re not ever going to try to save ‘em. No chance, no way.

The story takes us on a final tour, a final quest, where Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as father and son (archetypes, I daresay) push their little cart to the Gulf coast in order to find out if life is any better there. They see all manner of horror and danger and just a little bit of good. They fight and mostly run away in a gray landscape of burned trees to a battered shoreline covered in busted bridges, stranded ships and rusted , broken cars. (Brilliantly shot at Mt. St. Helens and post flood NOLA, apparently). Look for Robert Duvall in a great cameo involving canned peaches.

The main issue in the story is this: how can you possibly teach your son to have a sense of right and wrong in the face of such misery and disaster? How can you convince him that he has to be a good guy, to keep his inner torch burning? Are there any other good people left at all? As you watch two of the toughest characters you have ever seen scrabble like rats, pick through abandoned houses, and eat bugs, you will wonder what you ever had to complain about, ever. Arguably, it even has a happy ending. I rate this movie five one megaton warheads, and I command you to watch it on DVD with a couple of whiny teenagers. Though exquisitely crafted, it was overlooked at the box office. Don’t miss it, especially if you like horrific  speculative fiction.

Kevin Bolshaw

Set in London back before the London bridge was finished being built, we find ourselves in the midst of the world of Sherlock Holmes along with his faithful partner Watson already established as crime solvers aiding the London police. The film opens with Holmes and Watson at the end of their latest case and moving into a time between cases where their partnership is starting to dissolve in favor of Watson getting married and trying to live a normal life. Alas, they find their latest case is not quite solved and forces stronger than them pull them back together for another round.

The writing is a classic installation in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes stories, well told, clever dialog and an intriguing storyline that leaves you guessing at times with some pleasent twists and turns. Included are some of the classic Holmes characters along with some new additions that really don’t influence things a whole lot. Suffice it to say that overall it’s a good detective story that’s fun to watch.

Speaking of watching the film – the scenery is very well done as this is a period piece with some impressive CG filling in the landscape and providing an impressive backdrop set with the gritty feel of early London. The design of the clothing and gadgets of the time all blend in seemlessly while still keeping your interest with the technology of the day such as it was. Guy Ritchie and his team do a great job here. Then, there’s also Guy Ritchie’s rewind-and-move-forward style that lends itself nicely to the way Holmes likes to plot things out as he’s executing his master plan to bring the bad guy down and solve the mystery.

The acting is excellent with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law leading the way as Holmes and Watson, both of whom seem born to play these roles. Mark Strong puts in a strong performance as the bad guy as does Rachel McAdams in the role of Holmes on-again-off-again love interest. But the banter between Holmes and Watson is one of the more entertaining aspects of the film as the dialog is cleverly written as I mentioned and very well executed.

I saw this in the theater and while it’s not necessary to do so, the visual appeal of the film is a bit more evident on the big screen so you might want to catch this one out in the theater if you can. If not, definitely check it out when it’s released on PPV or DVD.

reviewed by Sean McKnight