Riddle Me This
June 18, 2015
Another Gillian Flynn novel has been adapted and this time its her second novel, Dark Places. Check out the new trailer starring Charlize Theron, our in cinemas in the US August 7 and catch up on my Gone Girl review.
Dark Places
Second Portion Disappointment
March 26, 2015
Insurgent (2015).
D: Robert Schwentke. DP: Florian Ballhaus. W: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman & Mark Bomback. Starring: Shailene Woodley/Theo James/Miles Teller/Ansel Elgort/Kate Winslet/Naomi Watts/Jai Courtney/Mekhi Phifer/Zoe Kravitz/Octavia Spencer/Ashley Judd/Maggie Q/Daniel Dae Kim. (Based on Veronica Roth’s novel of the same name)
In a market saturated with young adult adaptations, it is difficult to standout and stand alone within your series of films. The Divergent Series, written by 20-something Veronica Roth, chronicles Beatrice/Tris Pryor (Shailene Woodley) as she lives in a city built around factions defined by personality traits. Last year’s Divergent covered Tris leaving Abnegation (selflessness) to join the Dauntless (fearless) when she came of age. This year’s adaption of the second novel, Insurgent, picks the story up again with Tris on the run as the Erudite faction leader Joanna (Kate Winslet) continues to seek out and destroy anyone classified as divergent. Yes, that’s a lot of names. And no they aren’t all necessary.
Insurgent is the weaker of the two films, but for a variety of reasons that also have to do with the strength of Roth’s series to begin with. Now out of the faction training world, Insurgent must cover massive amounts of ground as Tris and her group of Dauntless go into hiding and then on the run. A beautiful overhead tracking shot opens the film, but is sadly used again and again. Joseph Trapanese’s score pulsates way too frequently, actually detracting from the drama and action onscreen. This simply is the more difficult book to tackle well.
What is probably the saving grace of the series is Woodley. Sporting her cropped hair needed for last year’s The Fault In Our Stars, Woodley does provide some realism and access to the heaviness of the choices Tris must make. However, unlike the previous film the audience gets so sense about the progression of her personal life. Not to gripe, but the decision to have sex with her boyfriend Four (Theo James) is a weighty and complex one. Here it is brushed past like it’s just plausibly acceptable, like the three male screenwriters simply did not know how to handle writing that scene. James is still all beef cake thunder as Four and the couple do have chemistry even if the age discrepancy from what Roth wrote gives me the giggles.
Insurgent certainly moves at a clip as it spatially must cover lots of ground and no one is given many chances to breathe. Sadly this means that certain characters are removed and plot beats changed. If the film were better this wouldn’t be a bother. What surprisingly doesn’t elevate the series is Winslet as the baddie, despite her best efforts. Her cold is just not cold enough. But she’s better off that Naomi Watts who appears as the factionless leader who doesn’t look powerful enough to have ever been in Dauntless, no matter how much metallic eye shadow is slathered on her face. I think it’s a diservice to audience by Summit to have us try to believe this dystopian reality is crumbling, but the potential new leader has time for a full face of make up? While they live in a warehouse…
Ultimately, Insurgent is able to handle its violence realistically with the tole, like in the novels, weighing heavy on its characters. Yet the end seems surprisingly upbeat, which makes me wonder what else might be changed down the road. The special effects during the simulations are also beautiful, but did not warrant a 3D release. Lastly, what can be taken away from the film is the humor and charm of Miles Teller. An actor not to miss from last year’s Whiplash, watch out for him and go back to see his film The Spectacular Now with Woodley, just might change your viewing of this series.
Shining Through a Hazy Fog
March 11, 2015
Still Alice (2014).
D/W: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland. DP: Denis Lenoir. Starring: Julianne Moore/Alec Baldwin/Kristen Stewart/Kate Bosworth/Hunter Parrish/Shane McRae. (based on Lisa Genova’s novel of the same name)
Many a time a performance has stood out against the backdrop of a weaker film. Still Alice joins that group of films which arguably includes many an Oscar winning bunch. Indeed, what ultimately is spellbinding is the acting talents of Julianne Moore.
The co-directed and co-written film follows renowned Columbia University psychologist Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) who has just turned fifty and started to have moments of memory lapses. The film drops us into her experience right away and uses clever close ups of her communicating her symptoms to her doctor, who is kept off-screen for a short while. Alice eventually reveals her situation to her husband John (Alec Baldwin) and begins her early onset Alzheimer’s journey. This of course includes sharing this painful news with her three children.
Still Alice is somewhat faithful to its source novel by Lisa Genova, but misses a few important beats. In the novel Alice feels so isolated by her husband’s and co-workers reactions to the disease that she seeks out her own community. She creates a social group at her home for other early on-set Alzheimer’s patients. By removing this important plot line Alice is not given much agency in her care taking. Other plot points, like her visit to an Alzheimer’s home, feel marooned without a thread to film’s narrative. Also some parts of the script are glaringly weaker than others or appear disingenuous, which is never at fault in the novel which is memorably told in first person.
The film is thankfully able to root itself in Moore’s performance, specifically in her eyes. Moore is able to give Alice an intelligent transparency that thread lines throughout the film despite her character not being very established before things fall apart. One almost wanted more screen time from her despite the miscasting of Baldwin as her husband, does anyone buy him as a scientist? Kristen Stewart is decent as her youngest daughter Lydia, though she lacks the fire to match Moore. The film’s editing and pacing make some transitions slightly jarring and unfortunately it is simply a testament to Moore’s abilities that one is moved in the end. One cannot help see this film in tandem with Sarah Polley’s 2006 excellent film, Away From Her, based on an Alice Munro short story. Away From Her sees a childless couple go through the same harrowing experience and is the better film overall.
On a final side note, although completely dissimilar in content, Still Alice shares a birth plan with Fifty Shades of Grey. Genova self-published her novel in 2009 before it was picked up a few years later by publishers, like E.L. James. As trends continue in the publishing acquisitions realm it shall be fascinating to see what else is scooped up from writers still trying to get the attention of editors, let alone film producers.