Add another “L” to the campaign of sadness that is The Year of Movies: 2016 Edition. Once again, a film has been released in an attempt o revive and further a long-dormant franchise, and like every cheap cash-in of this year, Jason Bourne fails to elicit any emotion beyond longing for the original property. This isn’t to say that there are not stirring sequences or solid performances in the film, but there is not a single aspect of this film that was not accomplished better by a previous Bourne film. Paul Greengrass and company certainly do not need to re-invent the wheel, but they should at least drive the car somewhere new.
Thriller
“Jack Strong” – A Nearly Perfect Cold War Spy Film
Quietly and without fanfare, Polish writer/director Wladyslaw Pasikowski has crafted an historical spy film for the ages. Jack Strong rivals the very best spy films of the decade – from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to Skyfall. The film dramatizes the life and actions of one of the most high-impact spies during the Cold War, the polish colonel Ryszard Kuklinski, who over the course of a decade provided over 35,000 pages of sensitive Soviet information to the Americans. Impressively, Jack Strong isn’t simply a circuitous celebration of tradecraft and cloak-and-dagger, either. It delves further into the emotional and personal costs of the spy life than almost any spy film I have ever seen, detailing the damage that Kuklinski’s actions have on his family, friends, and colleagues. The end product is a three-dimensional spy film that doesn’t resort to action set pieces or large explosions to capture the attention of the audience. Thus, despite being relatively unknown, Jack Strong is an unequivocal example of the perfect Cold War spy film.
“The Neon Demon” and the Violent Pursuit of Corporate Beauty
Nicholas Winding Refn’s latest film, The Neon Demon, is a parable about the allure and danger of beauty. The film examines the dog-eat-dog nature of the modeling industry and displays the depravity that the pursuit of beauty encourages. Using the standard “fresh face in the Big City” story as a jumping off point, Refn also invokes some interesting naiveté and maturation-based themes by focusing on the character 16-year old Jesse (Elle Fanning). Sexuality exists in this film, but is mostly depraved, violent, and feminine. The infamous and ethereal “It Factor” is touched upon as well, as well as the artifice of beauty, and how it is instantly noticeable. Though very much an “art house” film, Refn weaves a disturbing and edgy story in between his bizarre non-narrative light shows. I would not fault viewers who balk at this method of storytelling, but the film is sufficiently interesting from a cinematic standpoint to at least generate some great discussion.
“The Silence of the Lambs” Script Analysis: Scene-by-Scene Breakdown
Over the last week, GoIntoTheStory.com has been walking through a script analysis of The Silence of the Lambs based on a scene-by-scene breakdown that I wrote. I have decided to re-produce that breakdown in its entirety here, and provide a link to the rest of the script analysis near the end of this piece. The goal here is to summarize the entire script scene by scene, which will make further analyses easier. Enjoy!
“Green Room”: The Punk Band vs. Neo-Nazi Slasher
Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room takes advantage of two primal human fears to fill its audience with a profound sense of unease: the fear of confinement, and the fear of being outnumbered in a fight. The film establishes an omnipresent feeling of dread by casting the members of a punk rock band into the deep end of a hinterland Neo-Nazi club. Though the set itself is fine, one of the members witnesses something he shouldn’t, and the film becomes a hyper-realistic slasher thriller set in this single, remote location. Though the story essentially recreates the “Ten Little Indians” trope, there is a subtlety and direction to the plot and a dimensionality to the characters that raises Green Room above the common slasher.
“The Hateful Eight” Toys with Truth and Race, but Ends Up Less than the Sum of Its Parts
The eighth film from Quentin Tarantino is not his best, but it might be his most political. The Hateful Eight was born from the TV Westerns of the 1960s where a group of outlaws would kidnap the main character in a sort of bottle episode. Well, Tarantino pondered, what if the audience didn’t know who was the “good guy” once we got to the bottle? As the back stories unfolds, various clues indicate that perhaps we shouldn’t be so trusting of what we are being told – by anyone. From there, Tarantino’s brand of pithy dialogue and penchant for violence takes over as percolating racial tensions begin to boil over.
Though “Bridge of Spies” is Lesser Spielberg, Hanks, and Coen Bros – There’s Still Plenty To Enjoy
Steven Spielberg’s Cold War historical drama Bridge of Spies feels like it may get lost in the 2015 spy film shuffle. It has neither the name recognition of the franchise films released this year (Mission: Impossible and Spectre), nor the comedic leanings or freshness of something like The Kingsman. This would be a shame, as Bridge of Spies proves to be a mature and nuanced investigation of loyalty and integrity. At the same time, it offers a reminder that in fighting demons, we must always make sure not to become one.
The Derivative “Spectre” Wastes Performances and Spins Wheels
How has James Bond become a poor-man’s Ethan Hunt?
Spectre, the twenty-fourth film of the James Bond franchise, meanders through action set pieces but doesn’t really have anywhere to go. Directed by Sam Mendes, who had much more success with his previous foray in to the world of Bond with Skyfall, the film wastes a potentially great villain by providing no motivation and a cookie-cutter surveillance plot which was done better by both Mission Impossible and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Sadly, the latest Bond film offers nothing new to the franchise and feels like spinning the wheels in anticipation of the next reboot.
Classic Review Friday – Tony Scott’s “Man on Fire” (2004)
A slick, stylized violence permeates Tony Scott’s Man on Fire, which is as much a story about rebirth as it is about revenge. The critics balked at the vigilantism of Denzel Washington’s John Creasy as he tears through a Mexican kidnapping cartel responsible for the death of a young girl, but this film is much more about a man’s abortive redemption than pleasure-seeking violence. Far from glorifying Creasy’s rampage, Scott imbues the narrative with a decidedly blunt and tragic trajectory. Man on Fire is less about retribution, and more about a damaged man falling apart one last time in service of his highest value.
“Sicario” is a Tense and Grim Look at the Futility of the Drug War
Last week on Plot and Theme we had an entire week devoted to the feature films of Denis Villeneuve, and now we get a nice cherry on top: Sicario. Villeneuve’s seventh feature film stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro, and tells the story of a FBI SWAT agent Kate Macer (Blunt) who is whisked away on a special task force dedicated to hunting down the head of a Mexican drug cartel. The film is comfortable exploring gray areas and dwelling in the nooks and crannies of the legal justice system, but ultimately cannot find any effective answers.