"The Damned United"

“The Damned United” is a film based on the novel by David Peace and the true life story of Brian Clough, one of the best known British football (soccer) managers and, more specifically, his 44 days as head of the championship Leeds United team. Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Tom Hooper, the main character is portrayed by actor Michael Sheen (“Frost/Nixon”, “The Queen”) who shares not only the same initials as Meryl Streep but also the uncanny and wonderful ability to step into a part and, without mimicry, become the character he or she plays. With all that being said about Mr. Sheen, the movie is lacking for one obvious reason… hardly any U.S. viewer will know or have any identification with the real life Mr. Clough as opposed to those in Great Britain who consider him almost a household name. I would analogize this to the making of a film about the life of Babe Ruth and then exhibiting it to an audience in a foreign country who had never heard of the “bambino”. Here I believe Mr. Morgan has failed the non-British viewer for he limits his story to the 44 days of Leeds management with flashbacks only over the prior 5 years under the assumption that the world audience will know the rest of Mr. Clough’s story and his amazing accomplishments, many of which occurred subsequent to the time period covered by the film. As indicated in a post-screening seminar that I attended, Mr. Clo ugh was a once rising soccer star himself who became a manager solely as a result of his experiencing a career ending injury as an aspiring young player. This information never makes its way to the screenplay and, in my opinion, would have given the audience much more insight and understanding into and about this complicated and unique sports figure. All that being said, the saving grace for this film is the superb acting of Mr. Sheen whose effort helps it achieve the 2 and ½ star rating I give it.

The Burning Plain

“The Burning Plain” was written by Guillarmo Arriaga (“Babel”, “21 Grams”) and represents his directorial debut. It stars Charlene Theron, Kim Basinger and an amazing young Mexican actress, Tessa Ia. As with most story lines with flashbacks and current scenes significantly intermingled, the film would have better told its story in a more chronologically satisfying manner. The editing alone cannot be blamed for the confusion. For me, at least, the biggest problem in the film is that the adult characters portrayed in their teens by younger actors bear very little physical resemblance to their older generational counterparts. That, coupled with complicated plot and time lines (sometimes difficult to follow), made the experience more of a challenge than an enjoyable theatrical experience. In addition to all of this, there is very little dimension or depth to most of the main characters with more questions asked about them than are answered. Tessa Ia, the young Mexican actress, is a wonderful performer and is able to communicate feelings and emotions by way of expression and body language better than many seasoned veterans do with paragraphs of dialogue. I give this film 2 and ½ stars with a suggestion that you eat lots of blueberries and other brain nourishing foods so that you will be on top of what is happening during this 2 hour movie exam. What is so interesting about the reactions to this film is that many respected critics literally loved it while others didn’t like it at all.
How one experiences a film can be affected by many things so, as with everything, the individual viewer will be the best judge of all. What is clear, however, is that this is not a universally great piece of cinema art.

The Informant

“The Informant” stars Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey and Joel McHale in this docudrama based on the life and escapades of Mark Whitacre, a one time rising star at Archer Daniels Midland who turns informant. Although touted and advertised as a comedy, this is far from a humorous picture and, instead, presents an amazing study into the life and mind of the principal character. Written by Scott Burns and directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film, in an effort to be true to the facts as they occurred, takes a long time in telling the story but, like life, contains surprises and goes in directions the viewer never contemplates. Surrounded by the infectious music of Marvin Hamlisch,
this film represents a stylized effort by Mr. Soderbergh to capture the essence of its “hero” and to communicate the complexities that exist amonst those who do good, those who do evil and those who cannot differentiate the difference. I give the film 2 and ½ stars with special acknowledgment to Mr. Damon who, with an extra 30 pounds, carries the picture.

Paris

“Paris” is director/writer Cedric Klapisch’ ode to the city of Paris as he films the lives of various sets of siblings and lovers in a tangled series of tales involving all of them, directly or indirectly. Starring Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris and a host of other well-known French actors, the film stands out only because of Mademoiselle Binoche. Bringing depth, beauty and meaning to every word she utters and every movement she makes, this is clearly her film. Unfortunately one such star alone cannot carry this 125 minute movie and so the audience follows the lives of the others in the movie without really getting to know any of them well. This is the great defect in the film for it is wide but not deep and superficial instead of searching as the filmgoer wonders a lot about each character but learns very little about any one of them. I give this film 2 and ½ stars.

Baader Meinhof Complex

“Baader Meinhof Complex” is an interesting and deeply engrossing film written by Bernd Eichenger and directed by Uli Edel. Its actors are unknown to American audiences except for Bruno Ganz who played Adolph Hitler in the critically acclaimed “Downfall” (also directed by Mr. Edel). More like a documentary than a fictional drama it is based on the story of three members of the German radical group, the RAF, and the terrorist activities they engaged in during the 1970’s. The German police chief is played by Mr. Ganz and all actors render engaging and excellent performances. Mr. Edel is obviously a stickler for detail and in reciting the story of this group of individuals engaged in their terrorist activities, he makes no editorial judgment as to any of them or their causes but, instead, examines them as individuals and how and why they pursue this idealistic and ill-fated course. It’s hard to call this a “foreign film” even though it contains English titles and the characters speak in German because there is a great deal of English dialogue when the principals go to other countries and use English as the basic language of communication. Action scenes that look more real than created and in depth analyses as to what makes these people think and act the way they do make this film well worth seeing. Extended violence (though not gratuitous but necessary) and an annoying long length (2 hours and 24 minutes) make the last part of the film somewhat tedious to watch. However, with all of that being said, I give the film 3 stars with a recommendation that it be seen and its message attempted to be understood.