Drugs are big business

TRAFFIC (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Is it me or does director Steven Soderbergh have something akin to a great track record? From "Sex, Lies and Videotape" to "Schizopolis" to "The Limey" to two fairly good Hollywood productions, "Erin Brockovich" and now "Traffic," the latter two released the same year. And "Traffic" is not merely good, serviceable Hollywood entertainment, it is damn near great.

Soderbergh's "Traffic" is concerned with drug trafficking in America and in Mexico, and how the war on drugs from the top has outlived its purpose. Michael Douglas is Robert Wakefield, a Supreme Court justice becoming the newly appointed drug czar of America (an unfilled position in Mexico), who is taking steps to prevent this drug war from continuing. His ideas, however, are met with a cool reception from his staff. Why? Because the war on drugs is a fruitless one accompanied by far too many dangerous parameters - economic is one such factor. Wakefield eventually meets with General Salazar (Tomas Milian), who resides in Tijuana and appoints a clever border cop, Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro), to raise ire among the cocaine cartels. The questions is: does Salazar have something else in mind or does he really want to bust them and torture them? Is he as concerned about the manufacturing and exporting of cocaine as Del Toro is, or for that matter, the righteous Wakefield?

"Traffic" shifts from different characters and locales throughout, and gradually we see how others are affected by this chain of command in the U.S. and Tijuana. There is the drug lord, Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer), who is arrested and sent to jail, leaving his pregnant wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to fend for his illegitimate business, something she was not aware of. We also see Caroline (Erika Christensen), a top-notch high school student who innocently becomes a sleepy-eyed cocaine addict - she also turns out to be Wakefield's daughter. Then there are the undercover DEA agents (Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman) who bicker and joke, even when arresting a mid-level trafficker, Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer) - the job of the dual agents is to protect Ruiz who is likely to be rubbed out. This, of course, would allow the release of Ayala from jail.

"Traffic" is at its most tantalizing when dealing with Del Toro's moral conflict of speaking out on the corruption in his own country, or of keeping his mouth shut in the face of inevitable tragedy. The Tijuana scenes are the most powerful, evoking the futility of drug warfare where no end is seen in sight. Del Toro realizes this, thus being a rat or staying loyal essentially makes no difference. He can only save his own skin. This is also true of Wakefield's own job, which is put into question when he discovers his daughter's addiction. Wakefield himself is not a happy man, living a life of boredom as he calls it with his family and seeking an exit with alcohol. This upsets his wife (Amy Irving), but their relationship is really put to the test with their daughter's problems and the fact that their daughter becomes a runaway. How can Wakefield save the country from drug warfare if he can't even save his own daughter?

Speaking of aesthetics for the time being, "Traffic" temporarily annoyed me with its visual look. As shot by Soderbergh himself, he uses filters for the sepia-drenched scenes in Tijuana and the cool blue colors of Washington, D.C. but these scenes stand out at first for being far too obvious. Just remember what notable cinematographer Nestor Almendros once said about filters: "Any movie that I see that uses filters, I shut off after five minutes because it is too easy." He may have had a point, but admittedly, once the film is on course and speeds along its multi-based narrative, I found the filtering less and less annoying. I still feel I should not have to be reminded where I am - Tijuana, by all accounts, is certainly different from Washington, D.C. A minor quibble.

Soderbergh's real strengths are with actors, and he has quite a stupendous cast on hand to work with. Del Toro is at his most blazingly understated ever, challenging us and keeping us guessing at every moment as to what his thoughts are in contrast with his actions. He is so unpredictable, funny, tense, dramatic, and emotional that it remains the most dynamic role I've seen in all of 2000. Major kudos also go to Zeta-Jones playing a charming housewife, also challenged by the lies from her husband and his business, and it is alarming to see the shift in her character from paranoid to ruthless (still, there is a missing transitional scene or two showing this transformation). Michael Douglas (who shares no scenes with his real-life wife, Zeta-Jones) does his damnedest playing a man pressured by everyone from up above yet showing a tender, sympathetic side when confronted with familial problems.

Also noteworthy are Cheadle and Guzman performing their bickering byplay as if leftovers from a Paul Thomas Anderson flick, and they are so engaging and entertaining that it is hard to forget them. They seem to come from a mediocre action picture but their personalities infuse their characters with humor and sublime restraint. I love the scenes they share with Ferrer, who sees himself as an average businessman and reminds Cheadle that the DEA's job is not only fruitless but it also helps the drug trade. After all, if Ferrer has to pack up and go to jail, someone else can always take over.

"Traffic," based on a 1989 British miniseries of the same title, is not an original crime epic but its treatment of an ongoing problem in America is breathlessly and magnificently executed by the wondrous Steven Soderbergh. Despite a lack of real insight into some of the characters, the film will leave you with a knowledge of how drugs are big business in this country and how many would like to keep it that way. All we can do is protect and nurture our own families from this increasingly hopeless and, yes, fruitless problem.

Sasquatch in the woods with Jack Black

TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY  (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Getting stoned might make "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny" more enjoyable for some, but it is not essential. Just like "Fear and Loathing" was essentially a movie on drugs and about drugs, "Tenacious D" is a movie high on pot (though not exclusively about pot). I mean, it is baked and edged with stoner ruminations on rock music and rock band yet it will leave you with a merry, high-pitched glaze over your eyes, reeling from some of the numerous, pardon the pun, pot-belly laughs.

Jack Black and Kyle Gass are guitarists on the rise, or so they think, who find each other accidentally. Black's goal as a kid was to rock the earth with his ear-shattering music and, as foretold by his bedroom wall poster of Dio, JB ventures to Hollywood (not a very bright kid since he ventures to different cities named Hollywood before arriving in L.A.) It is there, on presumably Venice Beach, that he meets long-haired Kyle Gass, who is rocking hard on the streets, playing his favorite tunes from his own alleged band, and a real dude (he turns out to be bald, can barely make the rent, and is not actually famous nor is he in a band). Black still senses a connection between himself and Kyle, so they move in together and the name of their band is formed from their prospective tattoos on their bottoms! Hence, Tenacious D is born!

"Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny" is not the kind of movie where I should spill too many details. There are various rock music in-jokes here; a few homages to movies like "Mission: Impossible"; LSD or mushroom-influenced dreamlike trances; a rockin' Devil (Dave Grohl), who looks like Tim Curry from "Legend," who can rock and beat those drums better than anyone on earth; an embarrassing moment for Kyle where he has to perform solo for teenagers; a legendary guitar pick carved from Satan's tooth, no less; Amy Poehler as a rude truck stop waitress who has one of the cleverest lines in the movie; Meat Loaf as a stern, religious father; and a Sasquatch cavorting in the woods with Jack Black!

All I can say is that if you can stick with the hysteria and an animalistic Jack Black and you love rock music, "Tenacious D" is the movie for you. If you find Mr. Black and rock music, especially the band's own satirical music, acquired tastes and you need a plot to move things forward, then this movie is not part of your destiny.

Kevin Smith's Sex Comedy

ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO (2008)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Kevin Smith had me at Zack and Miri. Those two names seem so distinct, so unusual for a romantic comedy. Then Smith really had me at hello with "porno." Kevin Smith may not be one of the gods of cinema but of the funny, outrageous bone, he's got me in sidesplitting mode. "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" is possibly his raunchiest and tightest comedy yet, containing more laughs than "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and the last Clerks movie combined. It is also an emotionally well-rounded flick, never losing sight of its characters or their motives and never with a judgmental eye.

Zack (Seth Rogen) is a barista at a local coffee shop, buying useless junk online and never saving enough to pay for rent or utility bills. Miri (Elizabeth Banks) is Zack's roomate, and they have known each other since first grade. Speaking of utility bills, their water and electric is unexpectedly turned off. All this happens before they embark on their high school reunion where Miri's longtime crush turns out to be gay and Zack is merely interested in handjobs. Since there is lack of funds to turn their utilities back on, Zack and Miri decide to make a porno movie! With the help of Zack's fellow barista-turned- producer, Delaney (Craig Robinson), they decide on a porno version of "Star Wars" called "Star Whores," complete with amateurs (Jason Mewes is at his non-Jay best as a sex maniac) and strippers (the latter includes Traci Lords who has a scene with a bubble that is tastefully done in the old John Waters fashion). When the flatulence hits the fan and the crew lose their mock soundstage at an abandoned building, Zack comes up with the idea of shooting a different movie in the coffee shop!

Kevin Smith is just making an old-fashioned romantic comedy at heart, but the outrageousness of making porn in a coffee shop after hours really cranks up the laughs. And the scene of Zack and Miri having sex in their big sex scene together is not clumsily handled by Smith - he shoots it with sensitivity and in facial close-up. It is enormously aided by the casting of Seth Rogen and the spirited Elizabeth Banks who have such undeniably sweet chemistry and imbue such genuine emotion that they are the most charming couple since Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck in Smith's "Chasing Amy."

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" has so many fast and furiously paced scatological gags (all of them hilarious) that it ranks as vintage Kevin Smith all the way. Nobody can write foul-mouthed laced fart jokes, sexual jokes and many other below-the-belt jokes with so much sincerity to make you wince and laugh at the same time. But what really hits below the belt (pardon the pun) is Rogen and Banks in a top-flight romantic comedy that is equal parts profane and touching. Yeah, you'll see the ending coming for miles but never has the inevitable feel-good ending in this genre felt so good.

Pool-playing as a live-wire act

THE COLOR OF 
MONEY (1986)

Reviewed by 
Jerry Saravia

Robert Rossen's "The Hustler" was one of the moodiest films of the 1960's, a deeply morose film about a hustler named Fast Eddie Felson who wants to make his mark in the pool-playing world. As deeply upsetting and troubling film as it was, it had powerful performances and a seemingly downbeat ending. Martin Scorsese, in stark contrast, made the flashy, elegantly entertaining sequel "The Color of Money" which is not a reprise or a rehash of "The Hustler" - it is story of aging in a world dominated by young hustlers who are always scheming in the background.

Setting the story 25 years after the original film's events, Paul Newman's Fast Eddie Felson is no longer a pool hustler, he's a successful liquor salesman driving a spankingly clean Cadillac. One night at a bar, as he discusses the kegs with his bartender/girlfriend (a stunning Helen Shaver, previously appearing under Scorsese's direction in the "Amazing Stories" episode, "Mirror, Mirror"), Fast Eddie takes notice of Vincent (Tom Cruise), an energetic wind-up toy of a man-child, a hell of a good pool player who lets his ego get in the way. Eddie wants to take Vincent on the road, thinking that a "flake" like Vince is all he needs to get himself and Vince on the road to Atlantic City to play with the majors. With the help of former thief and Vince's girlfriend, Carmen (an electrifying Mary Elizabeth Manstrantonio), Eddie wants to help Vince, to tutor him but not necessarily to win at all the pool halls and clubs they come against - to occasionally "lose like a professional." Getting a loose cannon like Vince to control his ego is like asking Scorsese to dial down his camera moves - it ain't happening.

Most of the "Color of Money" takes the trio on the road as Vince learns that losing is sometimes winning, and that "character" is what it takes to define one as a pool player. With Scorsese at the helm, the film has several elegant camera moves as we enter every pool hall and club with glee - we want to see what pool player will take on Vince and Eddie next - it is all dynamic and punched-up with Scorsese showing pool-playing in ways that are more three-dimensional than 3-D. It doesn't carry the charge of brutality in a sport like boxing did in "Raging Bull" - the charge given off here is electric, dazzling and spirited. In many ways, thanks to lensing by Michael Ballhaus, this "Color of Money" was the precursor to the dynamic, punched-up camera moves of "GoodFellas" (also lensed by Ballhaus). The whole film has the appearance of a jazzed-up concert movie - life itself.

Two intriguing scenes in particular in "The Color of Money" stand out: Fast Eddie telling Carmen to disappear from the bar while Vince plays, and Fast Eddie's own outrage at being hustled without realizing it (Forest Whitaker plays the hustler who feigns his pool-playing technique and possibly feigns stories of medical experiments at a college). It is fascinating to witness the details and backroom intrigue of something as basic as pool-playing. Most of the time Fast Eddie and his young cohorts are acting, playing some traditional games of hustling though Vince is not always quick to catch on.

The performances match the direction of the film. Tom Cruise is a live-wire act who seems to be hypercaffeinated - he has not been this lively again until 1999's "Magnolia." Mary Elizabeth Manstrantonio (Oscar-nominated) is also lively yet her occasional dour expressions show someone who is becoming tired of Vince's act (Fast Eddie notices this early on). And there is nothing like watching Paul Newman who is the very embodiment of aging like fine wine - a class act.

Some critics have confused "The Color of Money" as some sort of adult version of "Rocky" but it is not - Newman's Fast Eddie ultimately drives the film forward since the kid has reinvigorated Eddie. Though there is no payoff at the end (and the film overall is not one of Scorsese's greatest), the film is not exclusively about Eddie and Vince playing pool without hashing out money or turning up the heat on the next hustle. Fast Eddie really wants Vince's best game and it turns out, by the end of the film, he is still the ultimate hustler with a twinkle in his eye.

Super Kid with Blinding Eyes on the run

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Any time there is the glorified spectacle of a sci-fi story about a kid with magical powers or kid robots or what-have-you, I get skeptical. Firstly, aside from Netflix's own amazingly entertaining and spookily exciting "Stranger Things" (which was itself a hodgepodge of every sci-fi film from the 1980's, including its own self-referential respect towards "E.T.") that focused on a girl with extraordinary powers, I am not fond of kids who might be aliens or have sensory powers beyond any human's control. Dating back to 1985's own empty-headed if still diverting "D.A.R.Y.L" up until Steven Spielberg's own adaptation of Kubrick's ideas with the fabulous "A.I.," there have been few exceptions to the rule. "Midnight Special" is occasionally riveting in the beginning, has some exceptional performances but after it is all over, it is pretty much rampant silliness with a foreboding gloom. It holds your attention but it still needs an injection of extra substance.

A religious cult in Texas, known as the Ranch, is suddenly barricaded by the arrival of FBI agents everywhere. No, it has nothing to do with the cult not paying their fair share of taxes. Apparently, the FBI is on a manhunt for two fugitives harboring a kid with special powers. The kid wears goggles which enables him to keep his destructive eyes that emit penetrating white light in check, unless he sees weather satellites booming above him that he can destroy. Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher) is the special kid who needs to reunite with his own kind, light beings as it were, at some rendezvous (not unlike the finale of "E.T."). Michael Shannon is Roy, the kid's dad, whom we surmise came from the Ranch. Also in tow is Roy's childhood friend, a state trooper (Joel Edgerton), who can drive at night with the headlights off thanks to night vision headgear. Roy and his friend are, of course, the fugitives. We eventually get to meet Alton's mother (Kirsten Dunst), formerly of the Ranch, who really cares for the tyke.

Written and directed by Jeff Nichols ("Loving"), most of "Midnight Special" is an elongated chase picture occasionally punctuated with specks of emotion. The Ranch wants the kid, sending an Amber Alert and some armed goons to locate him (the preacher of the Ranch is played by a far-too-brief appearance by Sam Shepard). The FBI and NSA are also on the kid's tail, in addition to  an NSA analyst (Adam Driver) who demonstrates an acute sense of intuition of the kid's meeting place with alien beings (it's got something to do with numbers). Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Kirsten Dunst rise above the refried beans of a plot - they are fully charged presences on screen although all three could have cracked a smile at least once. It is clear they are always on the run but "Midnight Special" takes itself far too seriously, imbuing much-needed pathos to the proceedings minus some sense of humor. Shannon has such penetrating eyes that suggest someone who has seen it all - he is the heart of the film and it is clear that he's only a dad who wants the best for his son. Edgerton's state trooper is the tough guy who is mesmerized by Alton's gifts. Ditto Kirsten Dunst who sees phosphorescent beauty in her son and in his otherworldly planet. Still, though I understand this takes an emotional toll on the principal characters, they were far too morose for my tastes.

The film is far from a miss (and how could it be with these actors) but it could've used more intimacy overall. After all the endless chases and shootouts are over followed by Shannon's almost otherworldly eyes filled with emotion and weakness, one wonders why this silly sci-fi tale still feels so undernourished.

Brad Pitt almost bares all in Iliad rendition

TROY (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally viewed on May 15th, 2004)

"Troy" is like a modern sword-and-sandal epic where it is enough for the women to swoon when Brad Pitt appears barechested, and enough for the men to enjoy the fighting (especially if any scantily-clad women are in view). "Troy" has Brad Pitt in more scenes of nudity than any other time in his career, and plenty of sword fighting and armies of warriors fighting ad nauseam. Some of it is mildly enjoyable but the rest is as laughable as "One Million Years B.C."

Based rather loosely on Homer's "The Iliad," the story is set in Ancient Greece where the men and women of Troy wear tie-dye clothing and the rest of the denizens of Sparta wear heavy armor. Orlando Bloom (fresh from his Legolas role in "Lord of the Rings") is Paris, the prince of Sparta who has an illicit affair with Queen Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger). Unfortunately, Helen is married to Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), the brother of King Agamemnon (Brian Cox), the latter who wants a war just to have possession of nearby lands. Troy would be a nice addition. Shortly thereafter, Paris whisks Helen away and now, Menelaus and the King have waged a war against Troy. Of course, none of the King's vast army of soldiers are any match against the formidable Achilles (Brad Pitt), the stubborn, reluctant hero who despises the king.

Most of "Troy" is one sprawling battle sequence after another. Occasionally, we get scenes of Brad Pitt baring all for the camera in numerous sex scenes (Bloom is not that lucky). There is also much ado with funeral pyres, dozens of overhead shots of CGI armies running across the landscape against the other armies, masts of ships across the sea, sword fights galore, women with shocked faces as the virile men fight, and so on. If you have seen "Gladiator" and "The Lord of the Rings" then nothing that transpires in this humdrum epic will come as a surprise. What is most surprising is that it is hardly engaging. None of these characters come alive beyond being animatronic wax figures. Only Eric Bana ("Hulk") as Paris's brother, Hector, instills some gravity into his character. And the grandly marvelous face that launched a thousand deserts, Peter O'Toole, shows some inner life and sparkle as King Priam of Troy. Diane Kruger as Helen, the actress who may launch a thousand Vanity Fair magazine covers, has a beautiful face that mostly cowers in tears - certainly Helen of Troy was more than just a sobbing queen.

The screening I attended for "Troy" was met with applause so I guess audiences will love it despite any criticism. But it is like watching "Clash of the Titans" without the magic, the suspense or the adventure (not to mention the angry gods like Apollo or Zeus). Coming from the director of "Das Boot," it is surprising that there is nothing to feast on in this nearly three-hour opus, and there is no real urgent sense of conflict. It may make better sense to read the Homer tales that launched a thousand fans than to watch this overlong wanna-be epic.

Are you not entertained? NO!

GLADIATOR (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Originally seen in 2000

"Gladiator" is the bloodiest, nauseating, dullest and most old-fashioned gladiator flick in ages - a big thud in director Ridley Scott's career. It is beautifully shot and appropriately murky but also hopelessly, terminally monotonous.

The indefatigable Russell Crowe stars as the stoic Spanish-born Maximus, general of a Roman army, who in the film's brutal opening sequence, lavishes an attack against multitudes of barbarians - his command is "Unleash hell." That phrase sums up the film in a nutshell. Later, Maximus is praised by Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris - looking more haggard and drunk than ever) for vanquishing the enemy. The dying Emperor also wants Maximus to succeed him, which causes dissent from the Emperor's devious son, Commodus (Joaquim Phoenix). It is no surprise that Commodus, a weakling who has never seen the gruesome reality of war, kills his father and almost has Maximus killed and guess who becomes the new Emperor?

After Maximus escapes, he is sold as a slave and prepared for death as a gladiator by Proximo (Oliver Reed), a supplier and instructor of gladiators who has seen all kinds of savagery in his heyday. Maximus survives several battles to the death, enough to go to the paramount level - the Colosseum where Commodus is often seen in attendance. Dispensing one of the few clever notions in the screenplay, the Colosseum recreates famous battles yet Maximus ends up beating the odds, to the enormous applause from the audiences who love this kind of spectacle.

"Gladiator" is at heart a revenge story since Maximus wants to kill Commodus for having killed his family and all his friends. But Maximus embodies lots of grunts and excessive moroseness - none of this merits much in the way of empathy or sympathy. His Maximus is a study in complete stoicism from beginning to end but there is not much beyond that - Crowe, an excellent actor, offers no hints of humanity, only vigor. I may be bold for saying this but even Schwarzenegger's Conan had a sense of humor in between his vicious sword-wielding moments.

The action scenes are another problem. In this age of super MTV-split-second edits, the battle scenes in the Colosseum and in the opening sequence are cut so frantically and with such headache-inducing movement that it is difficult to tell what is happening on screen. I suppose director Ridley Scott considers this an experimental approach post-"Saving Private Ryan" but at least in "Ryan," you had some clue as to what was occurring from one shot to the next (both films are from the company Dreamworks). The similarly old-fashioned, silly "Spartacus" was also cohesively shot and edited so that you never lost sight of who was killing whom. Here it is all a jumbled collage of rapid movements causing headaches more than excitement.

"Gladiator" has some decent performances, the best of which is the intense presence of the late Oliver Reed, but the film meanders at such a languid pace that it is often to difficult to stay awake while watching it. Its joyless, somber tone and thin characters makes it a chore to sit through especially at 2 1/2 hours. This may be the first summer blockbuster for the year 2000 but the outlook is not too promising.