In My Country (on DVD)

In recent years, more and more filmmakers have shifted their attention to Africa, using films as a medium to raise general awareness of the plight and progress in that vast continent. 2004’s In My Country is one of those movies, but unfortunately, like many political films, moviemakers’ open agenda inadvertently ruins the story for the audience. In My Country is based on Antjie Krog’s book Country of My Skull and it deals with South Africans’ search for truth and reconciliation after the end of apartheid. The story evolves around two reporters covering Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in South Africa. Hollywood’s busiest actor Samuel L. Jackson finally finds a more meaningful role and plays Langston, a Washington Post journalist; and intelligentsia’s babe Juliette Binoche plays Anna, an Afrikaans poet freelancing for a radio station. The two characters are interesting only in the way that a white Afrikaner feels much more kinship, connection and love for the land than an African American; otherwise, they are mostly used as reactive roles to show the audience how we are supposed to feel about all the atrocities committed during apartheid. The only character I warmed up to is Anna’s assistant, Dumi (played by African actor Menzi 'Ngubs' Ngubane). Ngubs’s bright smile lights up even the darkest moments in the movie and acts as Dumi’s self-preservation mechanism that hides so much emotion underneath. In My Country is a classical case of “less could be more”: director John Boorman should have simply showed the audience real life footage of the commission hearings and let us decide how we should feel.

About a Boy (on DVD)

2002’s About a Boy was made at the peak of author Nick Hornby’s popularity. High Fidelity in 2000 had helped push Hornby into a cult status. About a Boy simply seems to be an extension of High Fidelity, with the same type of sarcastic, cynical, self-centered do-nothinger, and the same character voiceover commenting about his life and state of being. Hugh Grant plays Will, a guy who never has a job or relationship lasting longer than two months and basically lives off royalty of his father’s one hit song, Supersleigh. Grant is completely miscast here. He may be cute, but just not cool. He represents typical dull good-natured British gents, but does not convey the hipness present in most Hornby’s protagonists. Other actors are all fine, but with so little demanded of their roles, they probably could have sleepwalked through their performances. In the end, Will inevitably grows up from a boy to a half man and finds a girl of his dream. Actually there seems to be a perfect match for almost everyone in this movie. It is that kind of down pat film. If you really want to see a Hornby movie, I recommend you to rent High Fidelity and skip this one.

Mrs. Henderson Presents

Stephen Frears’s sappy and feel-good movie, Mrs. Henderson Presents, is saved by his two stars, Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. As usual, these two British veterans are delightful and enjoyable to watch. Too bad in our youth obsessed culture, we can’t see more movies with these two old stagehands at the center.

Mrs. Henderson Presents is inspired by true events and that should sound alarm bells for anyone who cares about historical accuracy. However, in this movie, I have no problem that screenwriter Martin Sherman may have deviated from some facts and I am sure that the real Mrs. Henderson and Vivian Van Damm would have been pleased to see Dench and Hoskins’ amusing and entertaining portrayals of them. The movie is about London’s groundbreaking Windmill Theater, the only London establishment that stayed open throughout the WWII blitz. It was also London’s equivalent of Paris Moulin Rouge. It may not have had Parisian’s carefree, anything-goes decadence, but it did offer nudity as “art” to appease British sensibility. The shows were vaudeville mixed with nude human statues, something that probably could only be found in aristocratic Britain.

The movie starts in 1937 as newly widowed Mrs. Henderson decides to buy the ramshackle Windmill Theater in London Soho. She hires Vivian Van Damm as the artistic director for the theater and two of them eventually turn Windmill into a nude burlesque club. Dench and Hoskins have such a strong chemistry that it makes you wish they could banter forever in the movie. Even though it is pretty obvious where Mrs. Henderson and Van Damm’s relationship will turn out, you still cannot help to be drawn in by Dench and Hoskins’ performances. Sherman does write some witty one-liners in the movie. When they are uttered by Dench and Hoskins, they all sound so funny, wicked and innocent simultaneously. When a soldier tells Mrs. Henderson he is an American, she replies, “strange people, but lovely manners.” When the show’s star Maureen tells Mrs. Henderson it is not her fault, Van Damm turns to Mrs. Henderson and says, “when people say it is not your fault, it usually is YOUR fault.” It makes me chuckle when Mrs. Henderson and Van Damm argue about the name for the chorus girls. I wonder if Radio City Rockettes’ name ever went through the same deliberation as Windmill’s Millerettes. When Lady Conway, Mrs. Henderson’s best friend, tells her how much fun a widow could have, the whole audience breaks into laughter.

Dench portrays Mrs. Henderson as a childish old lady without trying too hard on comedy or drama; instead she plays her with all honesty and human vulnerability. Her speech about Mrs. Henderson’s dead son in WWI may contain only a few sentences, but it is an eloquent description of war and its effect on people. Hoskins, after wasting his talents in Unleashed and Son of the Mask, finally has an opportunity to shine. His Van Damm is a lovable Teddy bear and an innovative showbiz old hand rolled in one. Because of nudity theme in this movie, inevitably there are a lot of breasts showing on screen and even a fully monty of Hoskins. Upon seeing Van Damm’s asset, Mrs. Henderson quips, “You are Jewish, Mr. Van Damm.” Britain may be the stuffiest country in Europe, but it still lacks American’s puritan prudishness and all the actors execute their nude scenes without seemingly a care in their minds and make this movie much less awkward for viewers.

This movie also introduces a new beauty to American cinema. I find English rose Kelly Reilly simply irresistible as tragically beautiful Maureen. Her freckled porcelain skin and seductive eyes will surely make her a sex symbol in Hollywood if that is what she wants to pursue. Her love affair with a soldier on leave is the best part of Sherman’s script. Frears shoots it like a romantic movie from Hollywood golden era and it reminds me so much of Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in Waterloo Bridge, but Sherman puts a sober twist after their whirlwind romance and brings the audience back to more realistic 21st century filmmaking.

I love the costume design by Sandy Powell in this movie. Since Mrs. Henderson has spent years with her husband in India, almost all of her costumes have a Far East pattern or trim. Although Dench may not be a fashion show horse, she carries all her outfits with elegance and grace.

Hollywood studios can also learn a thing or two from Frears to help cut their gargantuan budgets in the future. In the last third of the movie, WWII is raging and Germans are bombing London daily, but Frears almost uses no special effects to recreate some bombing scenes and mainly depends on newsreels to convey the devastation in the city. It not only saves money, but actually makes the war much more real to the audience.

Mrs. Henderson Presents shows the heyday of Windmill Theater, but sadly over time it has turned into a lap dance joint. It will be interesting if some filmmaker could make a documentary about the rise and fall of this legendary theater and I am sure that many history buffs will be happy to see it.

The Matador

The Matador took me completely by surprise and I absolutely love it, love it, LOVE IT! It is hard to categorize this movie. It can be considered as an assassin movie with a male bonding sideline or a buddy movie with a killer twist; a drama with a sense of humor or a comedy with a serious human touch.

In The Matador, two totally dissimilar characters meet by chance and form an unexpected friendship. Julian (played by Pierce Brosnan) is a professional hit man suffering a nervous breakdown and Danny (played by Greg Kinnear) is a typical American middle class salesman going through a tough time. Writer/director Richard Shepard’s script is so original and ingenious that I was completely absorbed into the story. In the first half of the movie, Julian seems to be the cool one in control and Danny is the one down on his luck, but in the second half, there is a subtle power transfer and Danny becomes the strong one while Julian struggles to stay alive.

The line between good and evil is not easily drawn in this movie and Shepard paints all the characters grey instead of black and white. Julian may be an indiscriminating murderer killing for profits, but there is a kind of honor code he follows in what he does. Danny appears to be a nice guy who won’t hurt anyone, but deep down there is human weakness that could lead to darkness hidden inside everybody. From the very beginning, Shepard uses clever editing to set up a nice contrast between Julian’s and Danny’s lives. Later, his editing shows the clumsiness of Danny’s attempt to imitate Julian and adds just the right amount of comic relief. Shepard’s choice of these two seemingly complete opposite characters as the movie’s protagonists makes this movie a unique viewing experience and sets it apart from other assassin movies. It is so interesting to watch Julian’s curiosity about ordinary people’s every day existence and Danny and his wife’s fascination with a hit man’s lifestyle.

Shepard’s Julian is also an assassin much more complex than those usually depicted in movies. I like how Shepard compares Julian to a matador; they are both highly trained and skilled killers and they both strive for some sorts of beauty, dignity and grace in their professions. We can even sense a matador’s calm and precision in Julian’s killings before he has the breakdown. Like another of my favorite movies from last year, The Squid and the Whale, Shepard employs many mirror shots to show character’s inner turmoil. When Julian is waiting for instructions for a new job, he looks through a window to see a group of ballet dancers practice. His hard face on the glass combined with elegant dancers reveals a yearning for beauty in this world and reflects the cruel reality at the same time.

All performances are solid in this movie, but Brosnan clearly dominates it. Wow, who knows he can be this good? Many critics regard Julian as a huge departure from his 007 role, but I disagree. His Julian is an over-the-hill James Bond. They are really not that different. Like Bond, Julian is a professional killer except he has no license from the government to kill; and like Bond, Julian is a lady killer except this aging Don Juan has clearly started feeling an emotional void left by pure sexual pleasures. Shepard even has Danny ask Julian if he is a spy and doing secret work for the government, a clear reference to Brosnan’s 007 past. In essence, Bond is a fantasy, but Julian feels real. Brosnan’s Bond days may be over, but this movie is a good showcase of his acting ability and hopefully will attract a lot more riveting roles for him to give his career a second boost. Shepard’s dialogue is sharp, witty and crisp in this movie, but Brosnan’s delivery adds another depth to Shepard’s words. He says his lines with just the right feelings and makes it impossible to see anyone but him playing this role. His Julian makes you laugh one minute and sad the next. Despite the fact he is a cold blooded killer, you cannot help rooting for him in the end. Kinnear’s Danny strikes a perfect balance and complements Brosnan well, but I wish I could see more of Danny’s wife Bean (played by Hope Davis) in this movie. Davis is so adept at both comedy and drama that she moves from funny moment to dark mood with complete ease in this movie.

Unfortunately, with limited theatrical release, movies such as The Squid and the Whale and The Matador may be too obscure to draw a large audience, but Shepard and Noah Baumbach are undoubtedly the future of Hollywood and I, for one, cannot wait to see what they have to offer next.