Recently in Drama pg.16 Category

Starring: Mark Whalberg, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Jack McGee, Mickey O'Keefe, Drama/Sports/Biographical. Directed by David O.Russell.

Synopsis: The true story of professional fighter Mickey Ward and his journey to the champoionship with both the help and hindrance of his drug addicted older brother, a former fighter, and his manager mother and extended family. 

The first thing I'd like to say is that, in my humble opinion, The Fighter both is and is not, a sports movie. And, I mean that as a high compliment. Sure, there is nothing wrong in watching a flick about sports, hell I love sports and I love flicks so I'm with you there.

It's just that The Fighter is so much more because it taps into family and close personal relationships at so many levels. The fact that it's based on a true story, of course, makes it all the more powerful.

Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg The Departed) is a fighter who has championship aspirations but is nearing the end of the line as he is well into his 30s, not old for anything in the world except trying to win a championship belt.

He is, in a manner of speaking, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale Public Enemies),- same Mom, different Dads-who was a talented welterweight who went the distance with Sugar Ray Leonard and even knocked him down (or not, maybe the great Leonard actually slipped, this is a key point of  contention throughout the story).

Dicky is his trainer, Mom Alice (Melissa Leo Righteous Kill) is his manager,his six sisters are close by to cheer him on, and his Dad (Jack McGee The Man Who Wasn't There) is firmly behind him, too. On top of that, he has just met a woman (Amy Adams Doubt) and she could be the one. 

Everything should be hunky-dory, right? Well, not so fast. Big bro Dicky is a crackhead who is often AWOL when it comes time to train Mickey , and manager Mom means well, but may not have the contacts or in depth knowledge necessary to land him a championship bout. And, as if that's not enough, suffice it to say that Mom and Mickey's sisters aren't the biggest fans of Mickey's new squeeze, who is also adamant about Mickey getting a new trainer (Mickey O'Keefe playing himself and doing a nice job) and a new manager if he is going to grab that brass ring.

And where is Mickey in all of this? Well, he loves his Mom, his bro, his girlfriend, Mickey O'Keefe, and everyone else. Hence, we have conflict and, as you might think, a movie.

A very good movie, made all the moreso because it is a true story. This is, if you will, a sports movie, but like all great sports movies, it is really about deeper things with sports as the backdrop. The boxing scenes are legit (with footage of the real Dicky spliced in perfectly) and those of you who are familiar with the sport can buy Walhberg as a fighter.  The story is powerful and, even if you're not familiar with the real story, you will pull wholeheartedly for Mickey, but it's not as if the other characters are 'bad guys', I predict you'll like them, too. 

The acting is wonderful, Bale and Leo certainly deserved the accolades they received   for their performances,(Bale is solidly making his case for being a truly great actor and one of the best) but its important to note how strong I thought Wahlberg and Adams-who is really the crux of the flick-do in their roles.  

Listen, this flick got a lot of hype and rightfully so. You've heard about it and most of the good things you have heard are true. Now, go see it for yourself.

Starring: Howard Rollins, Aldoph Caesar, Art Evans, Denzel Washington, Larry Riley, Trey Wilson, Robert Townsend, David Alan Grier, Wings Hauser, William Allen Young, John Hancock,  Dennis Liscomb, David Harris, Scott Paulin. Directed by Norman Jewison. Drama/Military/Historical Synopsis: An African American officer/lawyer is sent to an Army base in 1944 Louisiana to investigate the unsolved murder of antagonistic African American sergeant.

Seeing this one on DVD recently brought back some good memories of seeing it in the theater back in the day and I remember thinking that this Washington guy might have a chance to do some more movies, he seemed pretty good. But, truthfully, I remember thinking that this was just a hell of a good story, and it still is 25 years later.

Set against the backdrop of World War II in the segregated South with the segregated Army of the time, the story is told primarily in flashback, but starts with an obviously intoxicated Sergeant Waters (Aldophy Caesar The Color Purple) walking from a saloon back to base.

Notwithstanding the uniform he has on his drunken state  and, more importantly, the color of his skin make him less than impressive to the locals. In the next frame he is on his knees on a lonely road, bleeding and laughing at his (unseen) tormentor before he is shot in the chest.

And, from there, we have our movie. An army lawyer, who is also an officer (Howard Rollins Ragtime) is sent to investigate the crime and, boy, if you think an African American officer acting with authority raises some eyebrows nin 1944 Louisiana well, you're quite right, as we see from the moment the pleasantly surprised Corporal Ellis (Robert Townsend Hollywood Shuffle) picks him up until the time he meets the commanding officer of the all black company (Dennis Lipscomb Under Siege) and his questioning of all of the members of the company who knew the sergeant and also who might have wanted him dead.

The ensemble cast is excellent, with soldiers in the company being played by Art Evans (Fright Night), Larry Riley (Crackers), David Alan Grier (The Poker House), William Allen Young (District 9 Fear X), David Harris (Brubaker), and, of course Denzel Washington (The Book Of Eli). Also look for notable character actors John Hancock (Bonfire Of The Vanities),Trey Wilson (Rasing Arizona), and Wings Hauser (Tales From The Hood)

The story is well told, in flashback like I mentioned earlier, but we see who the killer of Sergeant Waters is as it's figured out/revealed to our protagonist, Captain Davenport (Rollins). I especially like how the story is nuanced, and told at several different levels. When doing a flick with old time segregationist/racist underlying theme, it would be easy to do it in a one-dimensional way, but that's not done here.

One thing that I really liked about the story is that it is told-completely-from the perspective of the African American characters and, as I indicated, its nuanced and multi-dimensional. If you really think about it, that makes this flick relatively rare when it comes to films dealing largely with some aspect of the African-American experience. Usually, the African American characters are regulated to window dressing status, if not outright buffonery. (See Mississippi Burning)

In this flick, you have the dual pleasure of a pretty good 'whodunnit?' along with a story about the social mores of the time and how much has changed since then. I think the flow of the story and its crisp telling onscreen has to be credited largely to director Jewison (In The Heat Of The Night), understanding he had an extremely talented cast of actors to work with.

One of my faves and, in my humble opinion, one of the best World War II themed American movies ever made.

Check it out and see if you agree.   

Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring: Christopher Waltz, Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Diane Kuger, Jacky Ido, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Martin Wuttke. Synopsis: In WWII France, a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers are choosen specifically to terrorize the occupying Nazis with their brutal methods. Drama/War.  

I'm a big Tarantino fan, but Inglourious Basterds just didn't work for me...not even a little bit. Don't get me wrong, there are some compelling scenes, the trademark parallel story telling, violence, and dark humor of Tarantino, as well some fine acting, but the flick as a whole didn't do it for me and, I would suspect, not for more than few Taratino, Pitt, or war movie fans.

The first thing you might notice is that I don't categorize this movie as "historical", despite the subject matter, because its not even a little bit factual nor does it make a very serious attempt to be legitimate historical fiction. Another thing you should realize when you're getting ready to see this one is that, like many Tarantino movies, the story is heavy on dialogue, but understand that much of it is in French or German, and, in my view, at times the subittiles moved too quickly and/or were hard to read against background.

The story itself, as I alluded to, is fantastical. We have a very powerful and well done opening scene between an eloquently evil Nazi officer, Hans Landa (Christopher Waltz) and a nervous French dairy farmer who is secretly hiding a Jewish family named Dreyfus from the occupying Germans. This scene is, by far, in my opinion, the best of the flick and Walz is superb throughout.  In classic Tarantino fashion, we have another story going on at the same time and we just know the two will meet at some point.

Cut to a group of American soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt Seven, Burn After Reading) is a fast talking, blood and guts, good ole' boy type who tells his assortment of troops that they have been assembled for two reasons 1) they're Jewish 2) they are going to spread unprecedented fear among the Germans by being incredibly barbaric. In fact, Lt. Raine tells his group of recruits that each of them owes him "100 scalps, or die tryin'". Let me make this clear right now: you will see some scalps being cut off in the film, sometimes when casual dialogue is going on.

Mpw, you might think this film will be a story of this group of men (which include Eli Roth Hostel, Daniel Bruhl, and Til Schweiger) -given the title of the flick-along with their feelings of revenge, justification due to their religion and the crime the Nazis had committed upon their people, but its not. In fact, the "inglourious basterds", other than Pitt, are merely secondary/backgound characters in the story, one dimensional and no real attempt to develop them.

On the other hand, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) is really the effective protagonist of the story, a theater owner who has a dedicated business associate (Jacky Ido) and who is developing an intricate plan to wreak some havoc on the Nazis who will be viewing a film in her theater, including Goebbels and Hitler ( Martin Wuttke) himself.

Look, I never want to be a spoiler and I already told you the plot was fantastical, but I just have to say again, it was a little too over the top for me and, worse, just didn't fit together as a good story. I will say that Tarantino fans should check this one out, no matter what, and I predict some will like it very much as it does have his distinctive flavor, but for me the one key ingredient to a good flick is a good story and this one doesn't get there. The dark humor mixed with violence  that works so well in most of Tarantino's films falls flat here, but in fairness, its hard to find any humor with Nazis and the war as your backdrop and, other than Hogan's Heroes, its probably better not to try.

Like I said, Waltz is excellent and Laurent is not far behind, but not enough to save this one. I was disappointed in Pitt. I know his character is supposed to be over the top, but to me it was to the point of being cartoonish, and this is beneath him a bit, in my view. Not a terrible performance, good for some laughs, and the character as written is over the top, but I just expected more from Pitt in terms of carrying the movie. He really doesn't. That might be unfair of me to expect great things from him in any film, but I do think he has that type of talent-I'm not talking about being a star-where its reasonable to expect more than I would from most actors.

I will also mention Wuttke's performance as Hitler, he has the look nailed and the histrionics are what many of us would associate with one of the most despicable men who ever lived. 

Overall, the good acting from some of the cast, trademark directorial florusihes, and a few interesting scenes just can't save a story that is too far fetched and contains events that just plain did not happen, e.g. the murder of Hitler along with hundreds of Nazis in a theater. I know the whole point was to paint a 'fantasy' revenge type of movie, but against the real life historical backdrop and people, it falls flat. 

But, you might think differently. Try it for yourself and find out, don't take my word for it. Hell, even I don't do that unless I've got no other alternative.