Review of Fantastic Mr. Fox

Whoosh! That’s the sound of many of the jokes in this movie going way above your kid’s heads. Please don’t mistake that as a criticism because I am sure the (older) little ones will love the frenetic pace and physical comedy of this film. It’s just that there is SO much for adults to enjoy as well! Such as sophisticated humour, clever dialogue, true stop motion artistry and some great voice acting. The Fantastic Mr. Fox certainly lives up to its name in every sense of the word.

Based on the book by Roald Dahl (how I loved reading his work growing up), this story features George Clooney. Mr. Fox is a chicken thief (hey, that’s what foxes do after all), but he is a chicken thief with such charisma and flair that he takes it to Mission Impossible standards. On finding out that Mrs Fox (Meryl Streep) is pregnant, he promises her that he will find a less dangerous occupation and becomes a journalist.

Their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman almost stealing the show) turns out to be everything Mr. Fox is not – short, un-athletic, grumpy and generally unattractive. Ash’s struggles are further compounded when his bigger, better looking and more talented cousin, Kristofferson, comes to stay.

Mr. Fox’s obsessive desire to be constantly at the centre of everyone’s attention and his dissatisfaction with family and work results in a severe case of mid-life crisis. With an old accomplice he decides to re-enter the dangerous world of chicken thieving (thereby breaking his promise to his wife) and immediately puts everyone he knows and loves in serious jeopardy.

Mr. Fox, convinced that his legendary wit and quick feet will see him defeat all his opponents, takes on three rather dark and scary farmers, Mr. Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Unfortunately, he (almost) bites off more than he can chew resulting in a 90 minute tale filled with equal parts humour, goofiness, action and warmth.
I have always loved stop motion cinematography. While it may not have the visual splendour of computer generated graphics, it is a craft that because it requires such great patience and careful attention it almost always results in a quality product. Director Wes Anderson has done a wonderful job in this regard, living up to his usual high standards. As mentioned the voice acting is top drawer with George Clooney once again showing how talented he is. In fact, his ability to generate a laugh with Mr. Fox’s “whistle-mouth smack-lips click-finger” trademark is almost worth the ticket price alone.

The quirky eccentricity of the humour may not appeal to all, but for others this will surely make your day. One of the many hilarious vernacular twists is to use the literal word “cuss” (or variations thereof) instead of actual profanity (although I guess some might feel this is just as bad). As much as the dialogue is clever, there are plenty of other moments of droll absurdity such as when otherwise calm animals rabidly devour food, or scream and claw at each other only to then instantly calm down.

As simple as the story line is (think of Ocean’s Eleven done with animals in a stop motion animation), there are plenty of deeper issues it addresses. For example, Mr. Fox’s mid-life crisis almost destroying the lives of his loved ones has been played out in reality too many times to count. His obsession with his own ‘fantastic-ness’ means he is incapable of giving his struggling son (who already lives in his shadow) the time or attention he needs. In fact, Mr. Fox even recruits Kristofferson above Ash to assist in the heists which places even further strain on their struggling father-son relationship.

At its core this film deal with universal issues of identity: a father/husband struggling to love people as much as he loves success, a wife who is being lied to, and a son attempting to find himself by pretending to be what he is not. Ultimately, Mr. Fox needs to come to the rescue not so much by rescuing everyone from the clutches of the three farmers, but by confessing to his loved ones that he has been trying to be fantastic in all the wrong ways.

While children will probably miss much of what is actually going on this film, it is still definitely worth seeing (although younger children may find it a little scary). Heck, don’t even bother taking the kids, go anyway and enjoy it for yourself!

For being pretty fantastic, I give Fantastic Mr. Fox 3 (and a half) stars out of 5.

Review of Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is a poor man’s Love Actually, nowhere near as funny or compelling. Sitting through this way-overlong movie is an experience akin to eating stale popcorn without any spice on it – it tastes like cardboard, leaves a funny aftertaste and you know its nutritional value is practically zero.

Set in Los Angeles one busy Valentine’s Day, it follows approximately two dozen different people as they wrestle with their love lives, or complete lack thereof. It has some big name pulling power (these stars must have thought they were signing up for another Love Actually), but this is actually part of its problem. Trying to find enough scene time for all those stars and all those love stories means the movie drags out endlessly, and while there are some good performances interspersed throughout, none of the stars actually have enough screen time to save the movie.
The closest thing to a leading man is Ashton Kutcher who plays Reed Bennett, the owner of Sienna Bouquet, a floral shop and café which serves as something of a flower-strewn gathering point for all the interconnecting narratives. He proposes to his girl friend Morley (Jessica Alba) on the morning of Valentine’s Day while his best friend Julia is smitten with the handsome Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey) who is no McDreamy in this feature (more of a McNasty). In between other stars such as Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway (great at accents by the way), Queen Latifah, Shirley MacLaine, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel and even Taylor Swift make appearances.

As far as finding deeper meaning in this movie, I am forced to return to my image of stale popcorn. There really is nothing here but cardboad tasting cut-out impressions of life and romance as it really is. Sure, there is a ‘kind-of’ affirmation of fidelity through the example of one committed couple of 51 years, Edgar (Hector Elizando) and Estelle (Shirley MacLaine). However, when Edgar finds out that Estelle hasn’t been complete faithful, their struggle with this and eventual reconciliation is superficial and contrived. Edgar does make one interesting point though when Estelle confesses her adultery to him that “The problem with this truth is that it makes everything else seem a lie.” The only thing I can say about this movie is- don’t waste your money and time unless you enjoy the aftertaste of stale popcorn. Oh, and if you do go and watch it then make sure you hang around for the outtakes scene at the end which provide the movie’s funniest moments.

1 out of 5 stars for this movie, and frankly, it is lucky to get the one!

Review of The Road

I remember reading somewhere that apocalyptic literature almost always appears on the scene whenever the world finds itself in some sort of crisis. It certainly seems this way post 9-11 and the global economic recession, for apocalyptic and disaster movies are a dime a dozen of late. The Road is yet another in a fairly long list in this particular genre but it happens one of the very best that I have ever seen.

It certainly is not easy to watch. The post-apocalyptic world of The Road is one filled with darkness and grey, despair and bleak lifelessness. Yet, amidst this hell on earth we see a father’s love for his son, and his son’s love for goodness which guides them both through the mess like a beacon in the dark.

The movie is based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pullitzer prize-winning tale of a father and son struggling to survive in a harsh world of destruction and danger, where violence looms around every corner and the ‘good people’ seem few and far between. McCarthy’s book is a tale of “love among the ruins” that reminds one to keep the flames of goodness and hope flickering even when life is at its very worst.

Set against the backdrop of an unknown apocalypse, we follow "Man" (Viggo Mortensen in his career-best) and "Boy" (11-year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee), unnamed because the world they live in has no time for luxuries such as names. The Road follows them on a dangerous journey in which nature is dead and dying, ash constantly permeates the air, and violent cannibal gangs scavenge among the weakest for their food. You cannot watch this movie and not feel unsettled, or feel along with the Man his sheer desperation to keep his beloved son safe and alive. The Man constantly has flashbacks to better times when his wife (Charlize Theron seen only in flashbacks), shared many happy experiences before civilization fell. These scenes portray a lament for a world that will never be the same again.

So where is God in all this? Well, one character observes that if he does exist "he would have turned his back on humanity long ago." And yet despite the apparent godlessness of this tragic world, God is still somehow there, if only in bits and pieces. The Man makes a declaration that: “The child is my warrant. And if he is not the word of God, then God never spoke." These poignant words echo through the film as The Boy repeatedly challenges The Man to be compassionate to those weaker than them, to be forgiving when they are wronged, and to be thankful when rare blessings emerge. Ultimately, the Boy is a reminder to his father that there is no point in surviving if you lose your humanity in the process. This is how they manage to carry a flame of hope through even the bleakest of landscapes. As McCarthy said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, "It is more important to be good than it is to be smart."

The Man and the Boy constantly use the expression “to carry the fire” as a reminder to keep the spark of human goodness alive. The fire represents the best of people, a kind of self-giving love in a world which has lost all sense of community. The boy has it the most, even though he was born after the apocalypse and never knew a world of charity.

“The Road is a parable of how a child is born into this world where there is no kindness. And yet, he manages to find this and nurture it and even teach [his father]," explains the director John Hillcoat, "Cormac McCarthy [the author] told me that if there's no spiritual dimension, then life is a vacuum and meaningless. He thinks that active struggle with faith is the key. This story is like the book of Job, it's just challenge after challenge after challenge."

This is a seriously good movie but also deeply disturbing. Be warned that this is not an easy movie to watch, although much of the violence is not seen but ‘heard’ and ‘felt” (it is atmospheric). On top of the violence, it also contains some strong language and a few brief scenes of male nudity.

I would give The Road 4 (and a half) stars out of 5.

Review of Up in the Air

Up in the Air is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. George Clooney who seems to get better and better with age, plays Ryan Bingham, a ‘career transition specialist.’ His occupation really is to relieve people of theirs. He spends up to 322 days on the road, flying from one destination to another and firing employees for all those corporate bosses too afraid to do it for themselves.

Even a script with such a grim subtext doesn’t necessarily need to be depressing, which writer/director Jason Reitman has made something of a speciality with his last two features being Thank You for Smoking and Juno. With an exceptionally clever script and great starring turns from leads George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Twilight’s Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air has you laughing in one moment and then pulls at your heartstrings in another.

Adding vitality to the heartbreaking scenes of Ryan Bingham’s daily work is that real people who had experienced real life retrenchments were used instead of actors. Whether you've ever been a victim of a recession and downsizing or not, you can't help but feel sad, confused and angry right there with them.

While we are never quite sure Bingham loves his work, he certainly loves his solitary, Up in the Air existence. It’s totally devoid of commitment, affection and other messy complexities of life. He even moonlights as a motivational speaker, giving self-help lectures on how to simplify life by avoiding relational interaction and obligation.

Through the course of the movie, two spanners are thrown into Bingham’s machine. First, he meets Alex, (Vera Farmiga), his female shark-like equivalent, who is looking for no-strings-attached sex and companionship on business trips. Yet somehow these trysts gradually leave Bingham suddenly feeling lonely and hoping for more.

The other spanner is young dynamo new employee Natalie, (Anna Kendrick), who proves equally disruptive to Bingham’s detached routines. She introduces the idea to Bingham’s boss (Jason Bateman in a great cameo), of firing people remotely over the Internet, possibly saving their company millions in travel expenses—but simultaneously threatening Bingham’s ‘up in the air’ existence.

Ironically, Bingham argues that people deserve a personal touch when being let go, and demands that the inexperienced Natalie learn the old ways before trying to change the status quo. Their boss agrees, but requires Bingham to do the showing on a cross-country firing expedition. Immediately, these two challenge each other’s core beliefs, and both are left in a dilemma: Natalie struggles to live with herself as she demolishes other peoples’ lives, while Bingham is left wondering if he can finally face having a mature relationship.

Essentially the movie explores the price of relationship – and the cost of a life without them.

It is significant that The Velveteen Rabbit is used in one of the scenes, as this story touches upon Bingham’s greatest struggle, his fear of becoming authentic through relationship. After all, there is no doubt that being in relationship with others is difficult. As this children’s story demonstrates, it wears out your joints, exhausts you and damages your fur.

But, it simultaneously makes your life and world wonderfully real. The Biblical message never shies away from the raw cost and difficulties of relationship, but at the same time Scripture urges (even commands) us to take up this cost. We are reminded that we have been created in love, by love and FOR love. God made us for relationships (and the commitment that involves), and ultimately, we find ourselves and our life’s true meaning within that whole process.

Bingham does grow to realise that his sterile reality is not a life at all. I am not going to give anything away, suffice to say that the movie never veers into sentimentality or predictability.

Go see this movie! It will certainly make you think and I give it 4 (and a half) starts out of 5.

(Please be warned that it does contain some strong language and sexual content).