Honest Abe striving for the 13th amendment

LINCOLN (2012)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Note: This review is reprinted with permission by Steel Notes Magazine, who have just given me my own movie review column. Review at this marvelous magazine can be found here.

There are profound moments in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" that make the hairs in the back of your neck stand on end, that demonstrate an insatiable need to correct an unethical dilemma. These moments happen so frequently that they illustrate, perhaps for the first time in a long while in cinema, the significance of Congress and the House of Representatives and their roles in changing history. If the film had simply been about the House debates and decisions with regards to slavery, it would be simply remarkable. The fact that it also illustrates President Abraham Lincoln's own categorical persuasiveness and depth of understanding about slavery makes it masterful.

In the opening moments of "Lincoln," the Civil War is being fought with the soldiers drenched in rain and muddy waters, echoing Orson Welles' own "Chimes at Midnight" that showed the rough and clumsy nature of war. President Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) is first seen talking to the troops, listening to their half-remembered memories of the President's Gettysburg Address. The black soldiers are hoping for equality and respect in fighting the war, and Lincoln talks to them with humorous asides about his barber. What is especially wonderful about these opening scenes is that it shows Lincoln's human side and his penchant for telling jokes and stories from the past - he is not simply a stoic statue that we look up to in wonder. As the film progresses, we see a Lincoln arguing with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln (a fierce and unrelenting Sally Field that we haven't seen since "Norma Rae"), over the heartbreak over their young son's death and the issue of their eldest son's wish to fight in the war. Abe Lincoln even threatens to throw Mary back in the madhouse if she expresses more grief, particularly over their eldest and his chances of survival in the brutal war.

The film truly delves into the efforts by Lincoln and his reluctant cabinet to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, a piece of legislation designed to end slavery. Varied opinions and points-of-view are expressed, notably by Lincoln's own Secretary of State Seward (David Strathairn) who sees the end of war as the only way to end slavery. Most of Lincoln's other rivals and constituents see the President as a dictator, a conqueror of questionable moral repute when it comes to his assertion that black people are equal to whites. How dare he? The sharp and acid-tongued Pennsylvania abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens (a force-of-nature performance by Tommy Lee Jones) has worked on this amendment all his life, and finds that equality under the law as opposed to equality without it merits hopeful unanimous votes. Stevens' rousing speech delivers in ways that only Spielberg and the thunderous score by John Williams can help amplify, to make the audience see the value of equality.
If that isn't enough, we get more backroom intrigue with a quietly assured performance by Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander Stephens, the leader of the Confederate delegation who worries about the future of the South; James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson and John Hawkes as lobbyists who pressure opponents to the amendment to vote for it; Lt. Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) who notices that Lincoln has aged at least a decade within a couple of years; Hal Holbrook as the Republican founder Preston Blair who opposes slavery and is weary of Radical Republicans; Gloria Reuben as former slave Elizabeth Keckley who was Mary Lincoln's confidante and seamstress, and lastly Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln, Lincoln's eldest son who insists on joining the war effort despite witnessing severed limbs carted away to a landfill.

"Lincoln" is not an expansive film biography of the 16th President - those have been done on TV and in the early days of Henry Fonda - but rather it focuses on the minutiae of passing a historic piece of legislation (based on a fraction of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, "Team of Rivals," the film focuses on the last four months of the President's life). The film doesn't shy away from the naysayers of this amendment (most memorable and most thrillingly alive opponent is Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, a Democratic Congressman in verbal duels with Thaddeus) and it doesn't shy away from the emotional toll placed on the Great Emancipator. It shows the hardships involved with getting votes to right a moral wrong that festered in the United States for far too long. Daniel Day-Lewis, pitch perfect in every regard, towers above all to delineate that political struggle. Spielberg's "Lincoln" is mandatory viewing - a sensational American classic. 

Righteous Swill

RIGHTEOUS KILL (2008)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Once upon a time, there was a tremendous thrill in seeing either Robert De Niro or Al Pacino on screen. Now, for the first time, they are paired in the same movie and share scenes together (unlike "Heat," save for one scene, and "The Godfather Part II"). Alas, the exciting novelty of seeing these two iconic actors wears thin and is superfluous to decent storytelling, so much so that "Righteous Kill" feels and acts like an average crime thriller that went straight to DVD.

Detectives Turk and Rooster (respectively and respectably played by Robert De Niro and Al Pacino) are veteran cops who have seen it all. They also don't follow the rules since they plant evidence to get the bad guys of their choice. Anyway, a serial killer is on the loose, apparently killing violent offenders who get off on technicalities. The assumption is that the killer is a cop, someone with access and a grudge. Evidence seems to point at the righteous Turk. Other cops played rather respectably by John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg also believe that it must be Turk.

Turk does have a grudge and he is shown to play against the rules, hence planting evidence (funny how a scene like that used to be considered so shocking, and now this movie treats it as if he was drinking a cup of coffee). Turk also has vigorous sex with a forensics expert (Carla Gugino), though there is not much of a relationship. She does care about him but De Niro plays Turk like an unhinged animal ready to burst. Any measure of empathy, let alone sympathy, is thrown out of the cinematic window.

"Righteous Kill" is an anonymous and bloodily thin thriller with no real story whatsoever (I love "Law and Order" and its spinoffs and there is more meat in their weekly stories overall than in this movie). De Niro merely frets and does his trademark mugging so frequently, you'd think he was priming himself up for a "Meet the Parents" sequel. Al Pacino is far more subtle yet he also grows annoying as well. Critics often lambast Pacino for ratcheting up his hollering-at-the-top-of-his-lungs routine but here, his whispers and soft inflections can also grate the nerves. That leaves Leguizamo and Wahlberg who give the film a little lift out of its doldrums - it may be sacrilege but they should've been cast in the lead roles. As for Gugino, her character is so severely underwritten that she may as well be the killer.

"Righteous Kill" is not quite disposable junk but close. De Niro and Pacino have played cops before in far superior films. Here, they are treading so much water you're almost afraid they'll drown.

Stallone and Arnie deliver the goods

ESCAPE PLAN (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Back in the 1980's, the pairing of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone in a movie would have been exciting news - they were both brawny superstars of various action flicks. Sadly, in 2013, nobody gave a damn. Granted, both of them have appeared in "The Expendables" films but "Escape Plan" gives them both full-bodied leads. "Escape Plan" is also one of the best films to ever come out of either actor in a long time, an exciting, lean, thoroughly enjoyable and, dare I say, original action picture dependent on smarts, not explosions and copious CGI.

Ray Breslin (Stallone) is a master at breaking out of maximum security prisons, only he is no criminal. Ray co-owns a security firm that tests the reliability of supposedly impenetrable prisons, and proves how easily someone may escape from them (He has also written a book on how he does it). Breslin studies the ins and outs of a prison, the prison guard shifts, and unseen weaknesses with the engineering of the facility. Breslin is offered a job by the CIA to penetrate a top secret prison that exists in a place that nobody knows...nor can Breslin be tracked by his associates. When he discovers why the prison is not easy to locate, it is a shocker, at least to me, and it gives the movie a shot of adrenaline and manic urgency. Meanwhile, Ray finds an ally in his efforts to break out, a high-profile prisoner named Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger), and both feign animosity resulting in fistfights that lands both of them in solitary confinement (their actual jails have glass walls). To top it all off, the vicious warden (James Caviezel, in an atypically villainous role) wants to keep Breslin (code named "Portos") in prison forever.

Part of the fun of "Escape Plan" is watching Breslin deconstruct the prison's design in his mind. When in solitary confinement, he discovers that the intense floodlights that fill the cell can be used to burn off the steel rivets of the aluminum floors thanks to, well, MacGyver would love what Breslin uses. His observance of the armed guards and their stringent shifts, where they stand in relation to the cells, all helps Breslin figure out his escape. Only problem is where the prison is located, and I would not dream of giving that away.

Stallone's wayward career of more misses than hits is not a reason to scoff at this often ridiculed actor. I saw more nuance in his recent "Bullet to the Head" and "Rocky Balboa" than almost anything else he has done a generation ago. His deep gravelly voice demonstrates a man who has been toiling around for a while, and he is far more magnetic on screen than he has been. Ditto Schwarzenegger who has always shown ample humor and personality in droves - I favor Arnie overall but he has a compatibility with Stallone that works wonders on screen. Why this union did not happen sooner is hard to fathom (I am leaving out their few shared scenes in "The Expendables" since explosions and generic fistfights rule the day in those pictures).

For pure excitement and for some clever banter and crisp dialogue between Stallone and Schwarzenegger, "Escape Plan" is a dazzling junk-food movie treat. The extra on this supernova action-movie pairing of two titans is Vincent D'Onofrio as the co-owner of the security firm - he has a few cards up his sleeve, which is tainted with sanitizer (I'll never understand the fascination with that substance). 50 Cent, Sam Neill, Amy Ryan and Vinnie Jones make small impressions but they do not add up to much. For me, watching Stallone and Schwarzenegger plot and discuss strategies kept me riveted. That and the usual explosive ending with the attached one-liners. What else would you expect from these guys?

The Elaine Benes Story, sort of

ENOUGH SAID (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

If "Enough Said" had been retitled the "Elaine Benes Story," I would not think differently of the film. Elaine Benes is undoubtedly Julia Louis-Dreyfus's most famous role from the TV sitcom, "Seinfeld." The surprise is seeing Julia Louis-Dreyfus show far more nuance than ever before, proving there are good roles for women in films after all, few they may be.

A masseuse by trade, Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a single mom raising a smart, thoughtful daughter who is ready to go to college. Eva has her friends, including Sarah (Toni Collette), who has issues with her Hispanic maid, and Will (Ben Falcone) who seems to question every phrase uttered by Sarah. When Eva meets the gregarious Albert (James Gandolfini) at a party (he works at a cultural museum of TV history), he also questions every phrase uttered by Eva after they start dating. The difference is that Albert has ample charm and a big heart, despite being divorced with a teenager who is also going away to college. At the party, Eva also meets a self-absorbed poet (Catherine Keener) who happens to know Joni Mitchell and hardly anybody else. Eva agrees to massage Marianne and, in a strange coincidence, discovers that Marianne was married to Albert - the clue has to do with Albert's need to remove onions from guacamole (which are essential to its divine taste, but never mind). So Eva has a dilemma since she chooses not to reveal to Marianne that she knows her ex, and does not reveal to Albert that she knows his ex.

Some viewers may scoff and poo-poo this sophisticated and sly romantic comedy, mainly because it deals with people who have jobs, drive hybrid cars, have money to send their daughters off to college and are mostly concerned with having a significant other. This is an L.A story about the middle class though I think it is not intended to be a liberal film from La-La Land. "Enough Said" is a sweet film with a sweet roster of actors, and in no great hurry to tell its simple story. It is about love for others, despite creating complications that could hinder relationships.  Eva is the one who creates the unneeded complications but without them, the movie would not work as well. In a subtle way that slowly reveals itself in short strokes of brilliance thanks to Dreyfus's performance and the humanistic and witty script by writer-director Nicole Holofcener, we discover that Eva may be a little unhappy and uncertain of a life where she lives alone. It threatens her existence, especially her daughter leaving for the East Coast and we see why she warms up to her daughter's best friend. Without spelling it out in exclamation marks, Eva also needs Albert for his kindness and his humor - they are a perfect fit as a couple despite her remarks about his weight.

Between Gandolfini's change-of-pace role as a man as huggable as a teddy bear (shame it is one of his last two roles before his passing) and Dreyfus's wily demeanor, "Enough Said" is an understated emotional experience. I'd give Dreyfus a big hug and an Oscar alone for the cliched airport scene where her daughter departs - Dreyfus brings such warmth and pathos to it, including the other actors, that it feels new again. "Enough Said" is not a movie enamored with itself. It is a movie enamored with being enamored. Nuff said.

Keep Your Eyes Wide Shut

EYE SEE YOU aka D-TOX (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Sylvester Stallone has had his ups and downs in his career but "Eye See You" (originally titled "D-TOX") is a cringe-inducing, slapdash affair that looks like it was cobbled together out of other superior serial-killer movies. It is generic and fairly inconsequential.

Stallone is FBI agent Jake Malloy, who is on the hunt for a serial killer who targets cops. The latest victim is Malloy's partner, killed brutally with a drill to the eyes (hmmm, the title of the film is becoming clearer). Next victim is Malloy's wife who is killed the same way and strung up in their living room. As a result of two tragedies, Malloy becomes an alcoholic and is eventually recruited to a rehab clinic that looks like an impenetrable prison in the middle of a bad winter in Wyoming! All cops who have battled their inner demons go to this clinic but something is askew in this place - the killer might also be there and that means he is a cop!

The set-up for a slightly different take on the FBI-chasing-clever-serial-killers plot is actually well-handled in the first half-hour. Always watchable Robert Patrick appears as a brash, uncouth SWAT officer who laughs at other cops' misfortunes and past traumas, and he makes the movie come alive in brief spurts. There is also Polly Walker as the psychiatrist/nurse who shows a sympathetic eye for these beaten-down cops. Most of the actors that appear are favorites of mine, especially Robert Prosky, Sean Patrick Flanery, Charles S. Dutton, and they all shine when they appear, adding a little chrome to this clunky vehicle. Stallone also fares well, exuding a little more nuance than in the overrated "Cop Land."

What could have been a fairly psychological thriller ends up looking like the snowy climax of John Carpenter's "The Thing." The characters run up and down the halls of this most unsettling clinic, and run outside in the snow and warn each other and yell at each other. Lots of yelling but not much suspense. Once we discover who the killer is and that the movie is another mediocre template for the inevitable, "Eye See You" loses much in the way of potency or any vested interest in Malloy's inner demons. The only demon exposed is Hollywood mediocrity.

I am lost in this timewarp

TIMECOP (1994)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

An average Jean Claude Van Damme picture doesn't make it his best, it just means it is average. I have seen Van Damme in other action pictures, some reasonable and some are forgettable, but this "Timecop" is far too diluted from the usual Van Damme picture and has no ambition to fulfill its neat premise. I am not sure we should question time-travel logic but this movie has far too many inconsistencies and tumbles over itself one too many times.

Van Damme is Max Walker, a timecop, literally a cop who travels through time to prevent greedy people from his future (the year 2004) from tampering with the past. Max is saddled with a greedy partner of his, Atwood (Jason Schombing), who travels to the 1920's to make stock deals that he knows will go through the roof in the future. Atwood meets his comeuppance rather quickly. The corporatist Senator McComb (Ron Silver, disarmingly evil) oversees a commission to regulate time-travel after an opening sequence shows someone else from the future stealing gold bullion from Confederates to buy arms in the future! You follow? Let's just say that McComb has designs on his future where the 10% get to control everything and the other 90% can go to Mexico and live more comfortably. You know, I never saw "Timecop" in 1994 but I would say that McComb definitely had a good idea of the future of America in 2014 - his only flaw is that actually the richest 1% own everything, not 10. Did he not see 1987's "Wall Street"?

"Timecop" faces far too many contrivances in its narrative which jumps around a little too frenetically. It wants to be a love story between Max and his wife (Mia Sara - defining thanklessness) who face an uncertain future - both Van Damme and Sara are about as convincing a couple as C3P0 and Lisa Simpson, if they ever got it on. Then there is the introduction of Gloria Reuben as Max's new partner that almost develops into a buddy-buddy action picture but then becomes a case of betrayal. Then we get Van Damme in some of the most elongated fight scenes I've ever seen, mostly edited with a sledgehammer. It is not enough to deliver a kick in a master shot, it has to be seen in close-up as well, and it just got on my nerves to see such herky-jerky fighting. The rain-soaked finale has endless fight scenes as well. We expect Van Damme to kick and punch his enemies but it grows weary after a while.

"Timecop" also lost me with its time-travel technology (thanks to Roger Ebert who brought this up in his review) - McComb and his minions use a gadget that allows them to materialize from a wormhole of sorts to another like plasma. The timecops use a rocket car that takes much longer to travel than the gadget. Huh? Overall, the movie has a fascinating premise - a government-funded Time Enforcement Commission to battle greedy evildoers from changing the past - but it is actually a Van Damme martial-arts picture where he has to save his wife from killers. In other words, average.

James Whale's real-life monsters were not his creations

GODS AND MONSTERS (1998)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 1998)

I know very little about the late James Whale except that he was a fine director and he was very open about his homosexuality. His films also reflected his way of life, and his need for companionship. These ideas about Whale come through in the well-acted if disjointed "Gods and Monsters," a fictional story of Whale's last days before mysteriously dying in a swimming pool in 1967.

The exceptional Ian McKellen plays the silver-haired, colorfully attired James Whale, living in luxury at his house with his harsh housekeeper (played by an unrecognizable Lynn Redgrave). He's a forgotten movie director who revels in the glorious Hollywood days of the past, and is immersed in painting and in the painful memories of serving in the war. One day, a new gardener named Clayton (Brendan Fraser) begins working on Whale's lawn, and Whale immediately becomes transfixed by his physique. He offers his pool as a welcome respite from work and asks Clayton to pose for his drawings. Clayton is a dim-witted but kind man who is a little slow to understand Whale's advances and intentions, even when asked to remove his shirt.

"Gods and Monsters" is a smooth piece of entertainment, yet it is unimaginatively directed by writer-director Bill Condon. Whale's nightmares are filmed in Gothic blue tones that undermine any sense of real drama or tension in his own life. There are the silhouetted figures against a night sky (shades of Whale's own Frankenstein pictures) that say little if anything about the man.  The rest of the picture is too stilted and dry; moments that require some sense of movement are too inert. I admire restraint but Condon could have framed certain scenes in more interesting ways. The dinner party is especially awkward, where Whale reunites with his old-time friends, Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester. The actors who portray these horror legends are convincing, yet we barely see enough of them.

Though the filmmaking lacks pizzaz, the performances do not. Ian McKellen is a remarkable actor and brings such an uncommon blend of sensitivity, wryness, wit, and nobility to James Whale, thereby evoking the man's own personal demons. He also brings a delicacy to the man (his looks, gestures, etc.) that makes us want to watch his every move. At the very least, Condon had the good sense to feature this titanic actor in nearly every scene. Brendan Fraser can't compete with McKellen, but he does bring something to Clayton that makes us sympathize with him. Still, it is difficult to believe Fraser as a dumb, hulking man who doesn't catch on to Whale's charms and subtleties. And Clayton's brief relationship with a waitress (thanklessly played by Lolita Davidovich) drags the narrative and becomes unnecessary in context.

Lynn Redgrave is nutty and uproarious as the housekeeper - a servant to Whale for almost twenty years. She sees through Whale and resents his routine advances towards young males. Her reactions to a nearly nude male reporter in one scene is hilarious to watch, and I liked her comments about "Bride of Frankenstein": "Your film is not my cup of tea".

"Gods and Monsters" wants to be a celebration of life and art. This theme, however, doesn't resonate with the richness or importance of the similar "Love and Death on Long Island" or "Ed Wood." What one does take away from this movie is McKellen's delicately sublime, incredibly understated portrayal of the emotionally ailing James Whale. He shows us that his own monsters were not his creations.