I love a great drama, but I can be pretty skeptical. Some are shameless attempts to earn an Oscar nomination while others are bad adaptions of great/successful books. And usually ones released in the first half of a calendar year are not going to be that great. The good ones are, more often than not, released at the end of the year for a better shot at awards glory. So, let’s say I’m surprised that I have anything good to say about a drama I’ve seen before August is over.
I am generally left unimpressed by a lot of contemporary dramatic films, feeling like I’ve seen a lot of it before. I’m always looking for something new or different. That doesn’t mean something has to be either new or different for me to like it, but I’m more likely to watch a film if it seems like something I’ve never seen before. For example:
I wasn’t so impressed by The Fighter last year because it was yet another boxing film with yet another drug addict turning his life around. Another guy with no way out of his situation than to follow his dreams of boxing. Another inner city setting where there’s little chance of amounting to anything. I couldn’t find one thing in this film to latch onto as something different.
Now, there’s a film out now called Warrior that I’m actually interested to see. It concerns MMA fighting, which could be considered similar to boxing. I’m sure MMA purists will hate me for saying that, but to a casual viewer, they seem similar - like baseball and softball. You know why I want to see this one? It’s two brothers that are competing against each other, not with each other. I don’t know the ending going into the film. In The Fighter, I knew going in that Mark Wahlberg was going to be the underdog and end up successful. But in Warrior, I have no idea which brother will win. I want to see what happens.
Give me a story where I want to see what happens and I’ll be there.
Here are the Dramatic films I have seen this year:
Water for Elephants - I read this book last fall and absolutely fell in love with it. So much so that I have now started fostering an orphaned elephant in Kenya through a wonderful organization called the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. (Please look into this organization. It does great work.) From the get-go, I knew I wasn’t going to like the movie all that much. While I think Reese Witherspoon and Christophe Waltz did great justice to their characters, Robert Pattenson wasn’t really my cup of tea. The elephant beatings were hard to handle as I wanted to jump through the screen and throttle Waltz’s character. It was a beautiful film which was all I really wanted out of it. Hal Holbrook brought great life to the older version of Pattenson’s character. He was perfectly cast and I wish there was more of him through the movie. It was my favorite part of the adaptation. But as is usually the case, the movie isn’t not as good as the book. (6/10)
The Lincoln Lawyer - Holy cow did this ever surprise me. I used to be a big Matthew McConaughey fan in high school. Then he kind of became a parody of himself, always playing the same guy. I lost interest and therefore didn’t think much about this film when I heard about it. Reviews came out and said that it was surprisingly good. There were comparisons to his mid-nineties film A Time to Kill, a Grisham adaptation, Grisham being another one of my high school phases. I’m a sucker for legal thrillers so was encouraged to hear this was was good. I waited too long and missed it’s run. I got it almost as soon as it came to Red Box and absolutely loved it. I really wish more films were made like this. And I think McConaughey could be really good again if he found scripts like this one and ignored what he has done for the past five years or so. (8/10)
The Help - (This might also be considered a Women’s Film.) I tried the read the book. I made it about four chapters in and gave up. People were telling me to give it more time, and I don’t feel I should have to give a book that long to grab me. Anyway, I was excited to see the film. Allison Janney is a favorite of mine and I’ll watch anything with her in it. I’m also a blooming Emma Stone fan and loved Viola Davis in Doubt. Plus, it’s about incredible women so what’s not to love. And I did love it. I’m glad I didn’t read the book because I’m sure I’d have felt the same as I did about Water for Elephants. I’m grateful I got to enjoy this as a film as a film and not an adaptation. I can understand where the complaints are coming from - about a central white character in a film that’s supposed to be about black characters. Maybe it’s because I’m white, but I didn’t see race in this as much as I saw gender. It was about women taking care of women and that’s something I can really get behind.
I laughed. I cried. And it takes a special movie to get me to do both. I don’t laugh easy in movies. It’s easier to get me to cry than laugh. I loved the characters and their quirky traits. I loved the line Davis’ character Aibileen said to the little girl she was in charge of, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” I really think all children should be told these exact words, both girls and boys. Kids need to believe in themselves and the connection between the maids and the children they raised was my favorite part of the story. I really loved it. (9/10)
Last Night - There is one reason that I wanted to see this film, and his name is Guillaume Canet. He is a French actor and director that I have come to know and love over the past few years. This is one of his very few English speaking roles and I was very excited to see it. It’s about a married couple, Joanna (Keira Knightly) and Michael (Sam Worthington), who are each tempted to cheat on the same night. Joanna with her former flame Alex (Canet) and Michael with a coworker (Eva Mendes). I liked half of the film. The Michael storyline didn’t interest me. I didn’t think it was really anything new. But the Joanna and Alex storyline, I really loved.
(SPOILER WARNING: I can't say what I want to say without ruining the end.) The chemistry between Knightly and Canet was incredible. I think they should do more work together. When her husband is out of town, Joanna runs into Alex who is in town on business. They agree to go to dinner and their honest conversations completely enthralled me. I love dialogue movies, where nothing more really happens but the words mean everything. Joanna didn’t end up physically cheating on Michael (Michael did, however) but her emotional cheating was far more intense. You could tell she still loved Alex, and the expression on his face and how brokenhearted he was when Joanna told him she couldn't leave Michael, made the film for me. Keira Knightly is actually becoming a favorite of mine. (8/10 - averaged from 10/10 for Joanna half and 6/10 for Michael half)
I am generally left unimpressed by a lot of contemporary dramatic films, feeling like I’ve seen a lot of it before. I’m always looking for something new or different. That doesn’t mean something has to be either new or different for me to like it, but I’m more likely to watch a film if it seems like something I’ve never seen before. For example:
I wasn’t so impressed by The Fighter last year because it was yet another boxing film with yet another drug addict turning his life around. Another guy with no way out of his situation than to follow his dreams of boxing. Another inner city setting where there’s little chance of amounting to anything. I couldn’t find one thing in this film to latch onto as something different.
Now, there’s a film out now called Warrior that I’m actually interested to see. It concerns MMA fighting, which could be considered similar to boxing. I’m sure MMA purists will hate me for saying that, but to a casual viewer, they seem similar - like baseball and softball. You know why I want to see this one? It’s two brothers that are competing against each other, not with each other. I don’t know the ending going into the film. In The Fighter, I knew going in that Mark Wahlberg was going to be the underdog and end up successful. But in Warrior, I have no idea which brother will win. I want to see what happens.
Give me a story where I want to see what happens and I’ll be there.
Here are the Dramatic films I have seen this year:
Water for Elephants - I read this book last fall and absolutely fell in love with it. So much so that I have now started fostering an orphaned elephant in Kenya through a wonderful organization called the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. (Please look into this organization. It does great work.) From the get-go, I knew I wasn’t going to like the movie all that much. While I think Reese Witherspoon and Christophe Waltz did great justice to their characters, Robert Pattenson wasn’t really my cup of tea. The elephant beatings were hard to handle as I wanted to jump through the screen and throttle Waltz’s character. It was a beautiful film which was all I really wanted out of it. Hal Holbrook brought great life to the older version of Pattenson’s character. He was perfectly cast and I wish there was more of him through the movie. It was my favorite part of the adaptation. But as is usually the case, the movie isn’t not as good as the book. (6/10)
The Lincoln Lawyer - Holy cow did this ever surprise me. I used to be a big Matthew McConaughey fan in high school. Then he kind of became a parody of himself, always playing the same guy. I lost interest and therefore didn’t think much about this film when I heard about it. Reviews came out and said that it was surprisingly good. There were comparisons to his mid-nineties film A Time to Kill, a Grisham adaptation, Grisham being another one of my high school phases. I’m a sucker for legal thrillers so was encouraged to hear this was was good. I waited too long and missed it’s run. I got it almost as soon as it came to Red Box and absolutely loved it. I really wish more films were made like this. And I think McConaughey could be really good again if he found scripts like this one and ignored what he has done for the past five years or so. (8/10)
The Help - (This might also be considered a Women’s Film.) I tried the read the book. I made it about four chapters in and gave up. People were telling me to give it more time, and I don’t feel I should have to give a book that long to grab me. Anyway, I was excited to see the film. Allison Janney is a favorite of mine and I’ll watch anything with her in it. I’m also a blooming Emma Stone fan and loved Viola Davis in Doubt. Plus, it’s about incredible women so what’s not to love. And I did love it. I’m glad I didn’t read the book because I’m sure I’d have felt the same as I did about Water for Elephants. I’m grateful I got to enjoy this as a film as a film and not an adaptation. I can understand where the complaints are coming from - about a central white character in a film that’s supposed to be about black characters. Maybe it’s because I’m white, but I didn’t see race in this as much as I saw gender. It was about women taking care of women and that’s something I can really get behind.
I laughed. I cried. And it takes a special movie to get me to do both. I don’t laugh easy in movies. It’s easier to get me to cry than laugh. I loved the characters and their quirky traits. I loved the line Davis’ character Aibileen said to the little girl she was in charge of, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” I really think all children should be told these exact words, both girls and boys. Kids need to believe in themselves and the connection between the maids and the children they raised was my favorite part of the story. I really loved it. (9/10)
Last Night - There is one reason that I wanted to see this film, and his name is Guillaume Canet. He is a French actor and director that I have come to know and love over the past few years. This is one of his very few English speaking roles and I was very excited to see it. It’s about a married couple, Joanna (Keira Knightly) and Michael (Sam Worthington), who are each tempted to cheat on the same night. Joanna with her former flame Alex (Canet) and Michael with a coworker (Eva Mendes). I liked half of the film. The Michael storyline didn’t interest me. I didn’t think it was really anything new. But the Joanna and Alex storyline, I really loved.
(SPOILER WARNING: I can't say what I want to say without ruining the end.) The chemistry between Knightly and Canet was incredible. I think they should do more work together. When her husband is out of town, Joanna runs into Alex who is in town on business. They agree to go to dinner and their honest conversations completely enthralled me. I love dialogue movies, where nothing more really happens but the words mean everything. Joanna didn’t end up physically cheating on Michael (Michael did, however) but her emotional cheating was far more intense. You could tell she still loved Alex, and the expression on his face and how brokenhearted he was when Joanna told him she couldn't leave Michael, made the film for me. Keira Knightly is actually becoming a favorite of mine. (8/10 - averaged from 10/10 for Joanna half and 6/10 for Michael half)
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