The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

3/5

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a fairly predictable feel-good movie about a group of exceptionally uninspired characters who, for various personal reasons, all end up at the titular Indian resort for the elderly. One is looking for his long-lost love (Wilkinson), one is recovering from the loss of a loved one (Dench), one couple is examining possible retirement homes (Nighy, Wilton), one Lothario (Pickup) and one gold-digger (Imrie) are looking for partners. Oh, and of course, one is a racist who actually has a heart of gold (Smith), shuttled off to a foreign country for reasons well beyond her control.

All in all, the movie is entertaining and enjoyable. It has its moments of laughter and bittersweet tenderness. And it ends with a particularly stirring image. But for all the tearjerking, it's a rather simple exercise in plotting and characterization. It feels more like a postcard of India filled with caricatures than a believable story. The characters simply don't feel realistic; they change the whole course of their life based on a few days in a foreign country. But unlike this movie, people don't actually change so dramatically after going on a vacation and being exposed to new and different ideas. Even people who realize that something needs to change in order for them to be happy don't do it willy-nilly. (And I still can't for the life of me figure out why the racist lady all of a sudden becomes un-racist.) It's fine as far as entertainment goes, but it doesn't feel like it holds much substance in the end.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1412386/

The Debt (2010)

4/5

The Debt is a compelling mystery thriller about missed opportunities and making up for past mistakes. The plot follows three Mossad agents 30 years after killing the Nazi war criminal known as the "Surgeon of Birkenau" (Christensen). Rachel (Mirren), Stephan (Wilkinson), and David (Hinds) have been continually venerated for their contributions, giving talks to the military and television show hosts for years. The movie starts at a release party for a new book, written by Stephan and Rachel's daughter Sarah (Aboulafia), based on their perspective. It then backtracks several times to the events that transpired 30 years ago, and we get to witness the almost-romance between Rachel (Chastain) and David (Worthington) and the truth behind their legendary acts.

The movie works on just about every level it aspires to. It is gripping and tense, keeping you on the edge of your seat with your heart pumping adrenaline into every artery of your body. The directing and editing are calculated and precise, giving us just the right amount of story arc and excitement in each time period before switching back over. The story is thought-provoking and engaging. Though the details of their situation will almost certainly never come up in your life, everybody eventually must grapple with similarly complex ethical dilemmas. The characters are fascinatingly intricate, but hindered by uneven acting that felt too simplistic at times and too complicated at others. The poor casting decisions didn't help; there was a striking similarity between the old David and young Stephan that made it difficult to follow. And while this movie works as a character study, a mystery thriller, and a provocative parable, it is by no means a masterpiece on any of those genres. Still, The Debt is a well-made movie that scores high marks all around.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226753/

The Ghost Writer (2010)

3/5

Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer is an exceedingly well-made thriller of the caliber that I have come to expect from Polanski, despite the flops he's made both recently and in the past. The plot follows a new ghost writer (McGregor) who was hired to help the former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Brosnan) write his memoirs. The movie sets the stage quickly and gets more mysterious even quicker. The previous ghost writer died under curious circumstances, the new ghost writer was hired as fast as possible for a huge profit, and Lang just got accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding the CIA in torturing terrorist suspects.

In terms of directing, this movie is superb. It is Polanski at his best. The camerawork, the editing, and the acting are all phenomenal. They work in synchrony to build tension out of nothing. I just wish Polanski had better source material to work with. It's unfortunate that there is such a disjoint between the quality of Polanski's work and the quality of the plot itself. I didn't appreciate the story that much; it seemed a bit simplistic and unimaginative. The pieces just don't fit together particularly well, despite everything tying up in a neat little package in the end. I don't know what quality it is about the piece, but I left the theater feeling a little dissatisfied. Still, I would advise you watch it if you found the trailer interesting. You may not have the same qualms I do about the film. If that's the case, you will love this movie.

Note: it seemed as if the movie was edited for language (dubbed over, specifically) so that it could be released as a PG-13 movie. I suppose they did it to try to make more money, but the movie wasn't publicized well enough and it didn't play in enough theaters to make it a smart decision. And it just wasn't done in a particularly professional manner. Bad move, distributors, bad move.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139328/

Duplicity (2009)

4/5

Tony Gilroy's Duplicity is an immensely fun, thoroughly intelligent con movie that far exceeded my expectations. Despite the growing pile of negative reviews, I had relatively high expectations. Why? Because I like Michael Clayton (another cerebral spy thriller written and directed by Tony Gilroy), Clive Owen (especially in Children of Men), and con movies (except bad ones like House of Games). The plot follows Clive Owen and Julia Roberts as two ex-spies working intelligence for two competing cosmetics companies, chaired by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti. Their jobs are covers to hide the fact that they are trying to steal insider information and sell it for millions. Can they trust each other to do their part, or will one of them leave the other behind and keep all the money?

The plot and its twists are a bit complicated, but fun to figure out and relatively easy to understand if you pay attention. The characters are all written with a uniqueness and clarity that make them both singular and memorable. (Giamatti's character is hilarious, reminiscent of an unholy union between Steve Ballmer and Steve Jobs). The dialogue is written with equal skill, infused with wit and elegance, and spoken with honesty and precision by the actors. While I am not a fan of Julia Roberts (nor was I back when she was younger, less wrinkled, and just as big-mouthed), I thought her acting was as good as that of the other stars. The rest of the technical aspects were more than competent, although not particularly noteworthy. All in all, Duplicity is a stellar example of classy entertainment, one that I highly recommend for anyone who is looking for a comic caper flick.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135487/

RocknRolla (2008)

4/5

Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla is pretty much the same movie as all of Guy Ritchie's other gangster movies. The complicated and confusing plot is made more imperceptible by thick, obfuscatory British accents. And while it started out with a story that seemed uninteresting and unengrossing, there was just enough innovation and cleverness to make it fresh and new. The cinematography, style, and editing all feel the same as his earlier movies (which is a compliment). The decidedly quick-witted humor is also back, and in full force. Guy Ritchie knows British movies, British actors, and British sensbilities, but not American ones. Jeremy Piven and Ludacris felt a little out of place here. Still, RocknRolla is an altogether enjoyable film that is on par with Snatch. I recommend it to anyone who knows and enjoys Guy Ritchie.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/

Valkyrie (2008)

4/5

Bryan Singer's Valkyrie is a superbly-made thriller based on the true story of Operation Valkyrie, an attempt by German officers to assassinate Hitler and stage a coup against the SS/Gestapo. As we all know, the operation failed, but I had no idea how close it was to succeeding. If only this one small thing had been different, if only that one person had done something else, and the entire course of human history could have been so dramatically altered. Watching this movie, I felt that tension, that what-if, that hope that the past could be rewritten. Singer has not only crafted an exhilarating thriller, but has also managed to make us forget what actually happened, if only for a moment.

I have no idea how historically accurate this movie is, and can only assume it is more inaccurate than accurate. That doesn't bother me. Some people may have come into the movie expecting a historical drama, and it may bother those people, but the movie is no such thing. It is a first-rate thriller, and knowing that will help you appreciate the elements that add to the suspense and forgive any poetic license or lack of characterization. The movie did what it set out to do expertly. Of all Singer's direction, what stands out most is the pacing and mood. We are drawn in so intimately to the plot, to every minuscule victory and defeat, that we fail to realize our knuckles getting whiter from clenching our fists so tightly in anticipation of the events to come. Every other facet of the film is either above average or at the very least adequate. Despite being much-maligned in a number of scathingly negative reviews, I found Cruise's performance to be "perfectly satisfactory," to quote Ebert's review. I was a bit perplexed by the inclusion of certain unnecessary scenes, but they were few and far between and easily forgivable. All in all, this delivered on every expectation I had going in. Any World War II buffs looking to learn more about Operation Valkyrie might want to stick to the History Channel and pass on this movie. But if you're a fan of suspense and were intrigued by the trailer, I highly recommend you check this out.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0985699/

Michael Clayton (2007)

4/5

Michael Clayton follows the title character as he attempts to clean up the biggest legal mess of his career when the lead defense counsel in a huge class action lawsuit stops taking his medicine and starts revealing secrets. If it sounds confusing now, wait until you see the movie. Going in knowing the basic plot, it took me more than half the running time to figure out who the characters were and who they represented. It reminded me a lot of Syriana, where even though things were happening on screen, I didn't really understand what was going on. People always talk to each other with subtleties I don't catch, skirting around the issues and hinting at ulterior motives.

But about halfway through, it all just clicked. And I was hooked. This is actually one of the rare movies where I appreciated the use of in media res. The written dialogue was amazing, and the stunning performances by the actors made the somewhat literary words seem real and natural. The music was integral to building up the suspense in a rather talk-heavy movie and went much appreciated. I thought the editing and plotline could have used a little work, as it seems that some events were added in to introduce suspense without an actual reason for their presence. There was nothing wrong with the cinematography, but nothing terrific about it either.

I missed a huge thing that Sameer brought to my attention, which really elevated the movie for me. There is one scene where Michael Clayton is holding an envelope containing a check in one hand and a memo containing evidence against his parent law firm in the other, almost weighing the two. It's a striking image and particularly moving at a later scene where he talks about selling out his friend. This is a movie I want to see again, because I know I missed a lot. I highly recommend it if you are interested in movies involving legal matters, power plays, and experts doing what they do best. Just don't expect an action suspense thriller.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0465538/