Joel Edgerton

Red Sparrow

No actor is immune from making a bad movie; even some of the best have been guilty. However, a string of bad films might be cause for concern in an industry where the latest “It” girl can change from one year to the next. I don’t think Jennifer Lawrence (Mother!) has anything to worry about, as she’s been the toast of Tinseltown for a few years now, a bonafide megastar. But Red Sparrow marks her second consecutive disappointing feature (last year’s Mother! was an esoteric mess), and now I know that her presence alone doesn’t necessarily elevate a bad movie.

Red Sparrow intrigued with me its premise, the story of a Russian ballerina who becomes a spy. That’s all I gleaned from the trailer, and I imagined Black Swan meets La Femme Nikita or something. Lawrence stars as Dominika Egorovo, a ballerina with a promising career but meager finances and an ailing mother.  When she suffers a catastrophic injury on stage, she is presented with an opportunity to become a “sparrow,” a covert operative deployed by the Russian government in matters of espionage. Her training commences, and Dominika is subjected to a series of tasks and rituals designed to break her psychologically and emotionally. The film’s first act was its best, and I found it fascinating to witness their methods of training and subjugation. Veteran actor Charlotte Rampling (Assassin’s Creed) is featured as the “Matron,” subjecting the recruits to such humiliation as public nudity and intercourse.

As the film shifted into its second and third acts, the plot veered to and fro, with nothing but Jennifer Lawrence and some nice visuals holding the movie together. Director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) has shown from his music video beginnings a deft ability to capture stunning visual imagery of his subjects and their environments, and the film’s cinematography was one of its few bright spots. About midway through, Joel Edgerton (Bright) appears as an American spy to whom Dominika is assigned. He attempts to turn her and recruit her as a double agent, and it was all downhill from there. I can’t tell you much else about the film, because at that point I simply didn’t know what was happening anymore.

Jennifer Lawrence is a really good actress. American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook and Winter’s Bone all prove it. I’m not sure if Red Sparrow seemed like a good script when she initially read it, but I found writer Justin Haythe’s screenplay muddled, meandering, and confusing. Perhaps the source material was richer, but its interpretation left much to be desired. Jennifer Lawrence is better than this? Scenes that were intended as provocative and edgy came across as lurid and trashy instead. I can appreciate the alluring surface qualities, Lawrence’s beauty and the rich decadence of the environment, but that’s where my praise ends. Wait until this one makes its way to HBO.

Grade: C

The Gift

The best movies make you think about yourself and about life. I enjoy movies that explore some of my personal beliefs and philosophies. For me, what matters most in life is how you treat other people. You can be as wealthy and successful as possible, but if you don’t treat your fellow man with courtesy and respect, your worldly trappings mean nothing. The Gift was an intriguing movie that explored what it means to be a “good person,” and the accountability we must have for our actions.

Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses 2) and Rebecca Hall (Transcendence) star as Simon and Robyn, a thirty-something couple who have recently relocated to California from Chicago. Simon is a successful executive, while Robyn is between jobs. Grieving a recent miscarriage, the couple is looking for a fresh start not far from where Simon grew up. We are introduced to the accomplished couple as they purchase a beautiful new home, and their energy is joyful and expectant. While shopping for furniture, Simon bumps into an old friend from high school, a shy man named Gordon (Joel Edgerton, Exodus: Gods and Kings). We first notice him in the background through the store’s window, watching Simon and Robyn as they shop. He exudes a creepy awkwardness, and it was painful watching him strike up a conversation with Simon, who barely remembers him.

As Simon and Robyn settle into their new digs, “Gordo” (as Simon calls him) begins to subtly intrude into their lives. It starts innocently enough with a housewarming gift left on their doorstep but eventually escalates to unannounced visits and inappropriate gifts. He seems lonely and relatively harmless, but there is something unsettling about his quiet lurking. Robyn is compassionate towards Gordo, but Simon is unnerved by him and mockingly pokes fun at his social ineptitude. It was particularly troublesome that Gordo always seemed to pop up when Robyn was home alone and Simon was working, a detail that foreshadowed the film’s sinister twist.

The film succeeds in evoking sympathy for Gordo, despite his disturbing behavior. There’s sadness in him, a quiet loneliness he hoped to fill by reconnecting with someone from his past. As the film unfolds, we learn just what kind of person Simon was all those years ago when he and Gordo first knew each other. Robyn discovers that Simon isn’t quite the man she married, as he reveals that he hasn’t changed much since high school after all. We don’t know how far Gordo will go to right the wrongs Simon inflicted on him, but when he exacts his revenge it is a cruel masterstroke.

I enjoyed The Gift immensely. It was a quiet movie that arrived in theaters with little fanfare, but deserved more attention than it received. Suspenseful and thought provoking, it was a unique movie that held my interest throughout. Edgerton not only stars as Gordo, but he wrote and directed the film as well. It was an impressive effort and I appreciated the conflicting emotions Gordo inspired. The storyline was strong and original, a testament to Edgerton’s talent and versatility. Hall and Bateman gave emotionally charged performances, and it was good to see Bateman as a flawed character for a change. Make sure you check for this movie when it comes to Redbox and cable. Grade: A

Gatsby

It’s been a long time since my high school English class, but I remember that The Great Gatsby was one of my favorites.  It’s been dramatized a few times, including a 1974 version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.  That version was a rather dull, literal interpretation of the book that offered little in the way of artistry.  Now, director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet) reunites with Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) in a beautiful adaptation of the Fitzgerald classic.

The movie begins true to form with the introduction of Nick Carraway, played here by Tobey Maguire (Brothers).  Nick is an observer, a spectator in a world to which he doesn’t actually belong, and our gateway to Gatsby.  He lives on Long Island, renting a modest cottage across the sound from his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan, Shame) and her husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton, Zero Dark Thirty).  Their estate dwarfs Nick’s, as the “old money” Buchanans are well established.

The Island is divided into two sections, with Daisy and Tom on East Egg, and Nick on West Egg.  As Nick acclimates himself to his new environment, he begins to hear whispers around town about Jay Gatsby, a mysterious resident of West Egg known for his lavish, opulent parties.  He lives next door to Nick, but the two have never met.  In fact, Gatsby is such a shadowy figure that for the first 20 or so minutes, we don’t even see him, we only hear about him in excited, hushed whispers.  This is particularly true at one of Gatsby’s own parties, to which Nick is invited – but wading through the rumors only adds to Gatsby’s mystique.  Is he a bootlegger? How did he make his fortune? As the speculation reaches a fever pitch, finally Nick meets his enigmatic host.

Gatsby’s noveau riche trappings initially do very little to entice the object of his affection, Daisy Buchanan.  They had a brief dalliance before she married, but circumstances precluded their union.  After returning from war, Gatsby did not have the means to provide for a woman such as Daisy, and this fact both drove and haunted him.  Fast-forward five years to 1922, and Gatsby’s love for Daisy has intensified in its yearning.  She is his motivation for everything: the parties and the decadent monument to capitalism that his mansion represents.  The pair is ill fated, and the revelation of this immutable fact is  beautifully tragic.  I don’t want to say much more about the plot, because I hope you’re already familiar.

Baz Luhrmann is a true artist, and the cinematography was breathtaking.  Certain scenes looked as if they could be paused, printed, framed, and hung on a wall.  When Nick gets drunk for only the second time in his life, it is during a raucous party in the city with Tom Buchanan, Tom’s mistress, and her friends.  Nick is torn between his loyalty to his cousin and friendship with Tom, but eventually casts his inhibitions aside.  Luhrmann creates an unforgettable scene, a beautiful bombardment of color and sound unlike anything you’ve seen.  It was like a Romare Bearden painting come to life.

Much ado has been made about the film’s anachronistic score, provided by Jay-Z.  Luhrmann has employed anachronism in previous work, and I found it mostly effective here.  “Who Gon Stop Me,” “No Church In the Wild,” and “100$ Bill” were completely on point in terms of their placement.  I can’t say enough about this film, and I honestly don’t see what’s to dislike.  Gatsby was a magical movie that juxtaposed the great opulence of a gilded age with the hollowness of hedonism and unrequited love.  The performances were brilliant and haunting, particularly those of DiCaprio and Maguire.  DiCaprio infused Gatsby with the requisite charisma and panache, affecting the aristocratic transatlantic accent of the day with perfection.  This was one of the best movies of 2013, so far.  Grade: A.