Michael Clayton

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Convoluted Potboiler Pits Law Firm’s Fixer versus Crooked Corporate Client

Although attorney Michael Clayton (George Clooney) has been with Kenner, Bach and Ledeen for 17 years, he’s never made partner. Ironically, despite being low man on the totem pole, he still enjoys a certain grudging status, since the nature of his work makes his services invaluable to the prestigious Manhattan law office.
You see, as the firm’s fixer, Michael’s job involves mopping up other’s messy situations by any means necessary, even if that might sometimes mean breaking the law. For example, when a wealthy client is involved in a hit-and-run accident, he’s quickly called-in to in order to devise the best strategy to keep the story out of the press.
But nothing in his checkered career has prepared him for the chain of events about to unfold in the wake of the apparent mental breakdown of Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), a colleague defending a billion-dollar class action suit against U-North, an agro-chemical company accused of manufacturing cancer-causing chemicals. After six years as the lead lawyer on the case, Edens inexplicably did a striptease while mumbling incoherent flibbity-jibbity to himself during a deposition being conducted in Milwaukee.
So, the firm’s managing partner, Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), rushes his reliable “fixer” to Wisconsin to do damage control. However, Clayton soon discovers that he’s in over his head because Edens hasn’t merely gone off his meds as suspected, but has had a crisis in conscience and plans to go public with some very incriminating U-North internal memos. Plus, the rogue attorney has developed a crush on one of the plaintiffs, a cute, young, milk-fed farm girl he hopes to seduce during a rendezvous in the Big Apple.
“I’m not a miracle worker. I’m a janitor,” an exasperated Clayton complains about a situation that even he can’t cover up completely. This doesn’t sit well with steely Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), U-North’s chief in-house counsel who reports directly to CEO Don Jeffries (Ken Howard). With so much money at stake and no longer trusting anybody at Kenner, Bach and Ledeen, behind closed doors the company’s upper management devises its own dastardly plan to make the problem go away.
Thus, corporate ethics is at the center of the intricate web woven by Michael Clayton, a modern morality play marking the directorial debut of Tony Gilroy, a seasoned scriptwriter best known for the Bourne trilogy. Here, Gilroy has assembled a most talented cast capable to execute his convoluted potboiler, a chilling tale which subtly suggests that the criminal behavior of U-North might be par for the course among power-crazy captains of industry in today’s globalized economy.
Employing a wraparound as a cinematic device, this flashback flick opens with some visually-captivating pyrotechnics provided by the deliberate detonation of Michael’s late model Mercedes by saboteurs. He survives the explosion, then the plot rewinds to four days earlier, subsequently devoting itself to delineating how the hunter had come to be the game.
By the closing meta-tableau, which is actually a repeat of the film’s beginning, it’s now no surprise why Clayton’s been reduced to crying out to his employers-turned-tormentors, “I’m not the guy you kill. I’m the guy you buy off.” Erin Brockovich (2000) meets A Civil Action (1998), but featuring a flawed hero with blood on his hands and an ace up his sleeve.
Vintage Clooney.

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity.
Running time: 120 minutes
Studio: Warner Brothers

Why Did I Get Married?

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Tyler Perry Ensemble Drama Explores an Assortment of Marital Issues

Every year, four married couples, best friends since college, take a break from their hectic schedules to share a weeklong vacation together. This go-round, these affluent African-Americans’ annual getaway is to a luxurious lodge nestled in the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. But none of them probably anticipates just how eventful a reunion is about to unfold, with shocking skeletons coming out of the closet at every turn to reveal a quartet of failing relationships acutely in crisis.
Providing the flashpoint for the sordid festivities are Mike (Richard T. Jones) and Sheila (Jill Scott in a fat suit), the only couple with obvious issues. At the point of departure, we observe the cruel abuser opting to proceed to Colorado aboard a commercial flight with his mistress (Denise Boutte) despite his wife’s being escorted off the plane for being too heavy. This means that he and Trina show up at the soiree way ahead of his spouse who has to drive herself to the tiny town of Pemberton through a swirling snowstorm.
Understandably, this development does not sit well with the other wives, especially outspoken Angela (Tasha Smith) who not only feels loyal to Sheila but also a bit threatened by the presence at the chalet of a shameless hussy. Angela doesn’t need any additional drama, as her handsome hubby, Marcus (Michael Jai White), a former pro athlete, has already brought some baggage into her life via a baby-mama.
Used to speaking her mind, this trash-talking, eye-rolling finger-snapper has no problem telling Trina exactly what she thinks of her. However, she soon learns that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, as it spitefully comes out that Marcus has VD and might have gotten it from his ex, Kiesha (Kaira Whitehead).
For, in dire need of relief from his burning sensation, upon arriving, he had approached Terry (Tyler Perry) for a much-needed dose of penicillin. Meanwhile, pensive pediatrician Terry’s own simmering marital tensions with workaholic attorney Diane (Sharon Leal) threaten to come bubbling to the surface when he makes a demand for more quality time and to expand their family. And it’s not long before Patricia (Janet Jackson) and Gavin (Malik Yoba), a psychologist and architect, respectively, finally break the silence about the accidental death of their toddler which had left them emotionally-estranged and plunged deep in denial.
Thus, “Can these marriages be saved?” is the recurring theme raised by Why Did I Get Married, an alternately enlightening and entertaining adaptation by Tyler Perry of his stage play of the same name. Perry again exhibits his unique ability to create African-American characters with considerable depth who relate to each other in a realistic manner likely to resonate with black audiences thirsty for such sophisticated fare, even if his one-dimensional portrayal of whites and gays leave a lot to be desired.
The females featured in the ensemble provide the film’s most-compelling moments, starting with songstress Jill Scott scintillating screen debut as Sheila, a lonely soul in search of self respect. Then there’s scene-stealer Tasha Smith, who’s in danger of finding herself forever typecast following another unforgettable outing as a sassy sister, one similar to her role in Daddy’s Little Girls. Even Janet Jackson delivers a powerful performance that won’t leave a dry eye in the house as a mother consumed with overwhelming regret.
The Best Man (1999) meets The Big Chill (1983), only with more flava.

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexual references and mature themes.
Running time: 118 minutes
Studio: Lions Gate Films

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

OPENING THIS WEEK
Kam's Kapsules:
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
by Kam Williams
For movies opening October 19, 2007


BIG BUDGET FILMS

30 Days of Night (R for profanity and graphic horror violence) Josh Hartnett and Melissa George head an ensemble cast in this high attrition-rate horror flick about a sheriff who, with the help of his estranged wife, confronts a horde of bloodthirsty vampires that descend on a tiny Alaskan town during the pitch black month when the sun slips beneath the horizon.

The Comebacks (PG-13 for drug use, crude humor and sexual content) Spoof of inspirational sports flicks revolves around a down-and-out college football coach (David Koechner) who inspires his rag-tag team of losers to overachieve in their quest for the championship.

Gone Baby Gone (R for violence, drug use, and pervasive profanity) Ben Affleck makes his directorial debut with this crime thriller about a couple of private eyes (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) who end up risking their sanity and their lives to crack the case of a missing four year-old girl (Madeline O’Brien). With Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Karen Ahern.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG for scary images) Disney, digital 3D re-release of Tim Burton’s animated classic about a Halloween Pumpkin King (Chris Sarandon) who decides to try to take control of the Christmas holiday away from Santa Claus. Voice cast includes Catherine O’Hara, Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Reubens and Danny Elfman.

Rendition (R for profanity and violence, including torture) Political potboiler about a CIA Agent (Jake Gyllenhaal) who comes to question the unorthodox methods being employed by the Agency in the war on terrorism while he’s participating in the detention and interrogation of an Egyptian-born engineer (Omar Metwalley) married to an American citizen (Reese Witherspoon). A-list support cast includes Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, J.K. Simmons and Peter Sarsgaard.

Reservation Road (R for profanity and disturbing images) Revenge flick, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, revolving around an anguished college professor’s (Joaquin Phoenix) desperate search for the driver (Mark Ruffalo) of the car which claimed the life of his 10 year-old son (Sean Curley) in a hit-and-run accident. Ensemble includes Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino and Elle Fanning.

Things We Lost in the Fire (R for profanity and drug use) Oscar-winners Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro co-star in this bittersweet drama about a recently-widowed mother of two young children finds a shoulder to lean on in her husband’s drug-addicted best friend since childhood. With David Duchovny and Alison Lohman in support roles.


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Black White + Gray (Unrated) Bifurcated bio-pic examines both the intimate and professional relationships of a couple of art icons from the Seventies, curator Sam Wagstaff and homoerotic photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Via archival footage and present-day interviews, the documentary features reflections by Dominic Dunne, Truman Capote, Henry Geldzahler and rocker Patti Smith.

Fat Girls (R for drug and alcohol use, profanity, and graphic sexual content) Coming-of-age comedy about a couple of ostracized Texas teenage friends, one, just chubby (Ashley Fink), the other, gay (Ash Christian), and dreaming of unleashing his inner diva on Broadway.

Gandhi, My Father (Unrated) Bitter bio-pic chronicles the troubled relationship of India’s spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi (Darshan Jariwala) and his embittered eldest son, Harilal (Akshaye Khanna), who rebelled against his father by becoming an alcoholic and womanizer before converting to Islam. (In Hindi and English with subtitles)

Klimt (Unrated) John Malkovich channels Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) in the titular role of this bio-pic about the iconoclastic Viennese artist and notorious womanizer who fathered 30 children with the models featured in his erotic paintings. With Saffron Burrows, Veronica Ferres and Irina Wanka. (In French, German and English)

Lagerfeld Confidential (Unrated) Uncritical portrait of cultural icon Karl Lagerfeld features commentaries by Nicole Kidman and Princess Caroline of Monaco about the pony-tailed fashion designer.

Meeting Resistance (Unrated) The resistance movement to the American occupation serves as the subject of this documentary shot by a couple of Western photojournalists who spent ten months embedded with Iraqi insurgency in Baghdad. (In Arabic and English with subtitles)

Moondance Alexander (G) Wholesome family drama about a teen horse whisperer (Kay Panabaker) who takes an interest in turning a pony which escaped from its paddock into a champion jumper. Cast includes Don Johnson, Lori Loughlin and Olympic skater Sasha Cohen.

O Jerusalem (R for graphic battle scenes) Historical epic revisits the creation of Israel in 1948 as seen through the eyes of two friends from New York, one a Jew (J.J. Field), the other, an Arab (Said Taghmaoui) who make their way to the Middle East to contribute to their respective causes. Cast includes Sir Ian Holm, Tom Conti and Tovah Feldshuh.

Trigger Man (Unrated) Harrowing thriller, based on a true tale, about a trio of drinking buddies (Reggie Cunningham, Ray Sullivan and Sean Reid) on a hunting getaway in the woods who have the tables turned on them when they find themselves being stalked by a mysterious sharpshooter.

Weirdsville (R for violence, sexual references and drug use) Horror comedy about a couple of slackers (Scott Speedman and Wes Bentley) who, mistakenly believing a friend (Taryn Manning) has overdosed, end up burying her alive in the basement of a movie theater where a satanic cult performs ritual sacrifices.

Crazy Love DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Documentary about Lunatic Lawyer Who Blinded His Mistress Due on DVD

Back in the Fifties, Burt Pugach was an ambulance-chasing attorney who made enough money via shady fee-splitting schemes to open up his own nightclub in Manhattan. He even had plenty left over to lavish a jet set lifestyle on Linda Riss, the attractive receptionist he fell in love with at first sight. Without letting on that he was married, he had swept the impressionable 20 year-old off her feet with private plane rides and by wining and dining her at hot spots like the Copacabana.
But while the 32 year-old adulterer was scheming to take the virginity of his naïve mistress, his poor wife was stuck at home, attending to the needs of their severely retarded daughter, 24/7. When Linda learned that her duplicitous suitor already had a family, she broke off the whirlwind relationship.
This didn’t sit well with Burt, who became insanely jealous and started stalking her. And he went ballistic upon the announcement of Linda’s engagement to a guy her own age. Promising, “If I can’t have her, nobody will,” the lunatic lawyer hired some tough brothers from the ‘hood to throw acid in her face. The lye blinded Linda, who told the police that Burt had to be behind her disfigurement.
The cops tapped his phone line and heard him hatching a plan to cover his tracks by having a hit man “kill those three niggers.” Needless to say, he was arrested, tried and convicted, and sent up the river to Sing Sing in 1959 to rot behind bars for 30 years. Ordinarily, that would have slammed the door on this shocking tale for the tabloids, except for a bizarre twist following Pugach’s early parole for good behavior.
Upon his parole, the creepy psycho tracked her down and proposed. As riveting as a train wreck, Crazy Love is a documentary which recounts all of the above, plus some of the sordid details of the couple’s ensuing, stormy 28-year marriage. Along the way, the picture serves up an array of mind-boggling updates, like the fact that Burt has continued his womanizing ways, even landing back in jail temporarily after one girlfriend accused him of breaking her wrist for dumping him after she became fed-up with his empty promises to leave Linda.
A fascinating flick for anyone looking for a new reason to hate lawyers.

Excellent (4 stars)
PG-13 for profanity, sexual references, and mature themes.
Running time: 93 minutes
Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment

My Best Friend (Mon meilleur ami) DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: French Farce from Legendary Director Released on DVD

Over the years, Patrice Leconte has proven himself quite adept at plumbing the depths of the human psyche by placing two people with nothing in common in an emotionally-explosive predicament. In Intmate Strangers (2004), it was an unhappily-married woman who started sharing confidences with a tax attorney she mistook for her new psychotherapist.
The Man on the Train (2002) paired a straitlaced professor with a bank robber he befriended at a pharmacy. Girl on the Bridge (1999) revolved around the relationship of a 21 year-old nymphomaniac and the middle-aged circus performer who talked her out of committing suicide. You get the idea.
With My Best Friend, the Oscar-nominated director (for Ridicule) has served up another fascinating double character study, this starring Daniel Auteuil as Francois, an arrogant, antique dealer who’s phenomenally successful, except for the fact that he no one likes him. When Catherine (Julie Gayet), his business partner, points out this failing, he claims to have plenty of friends.
Skeptical, she challenges him to produce his best friend by the end of the month or else surrender possession of his prized Greek vase. Francois immediately accepts the dare, but soon finds none of his acquaintances considers him a friend.
After being rejected by everyone he already knows, he sets his sights on manipulating Bruno (Dany Boon), his regular cab driver, into helping him win the bet. So, unfolds My Best Friend, a sinuously intriguing French farce set in and around a Paris often presented from the perspective of a perambulating taxi.
Down on his luck Bruno, maintains an upbeat demeanor despite the fact that his wife recently left him for another man. And he freely shares with Francois his secret of why he’s so beloved by all his customers, namely, the three S’s, being sociable, smiling and sincere.
Sadly, strategic Francois can’t take this advice to heart, but only sees his cheery chauffeur as a naïve, lower-class loser to be exploited, which doesn’t bode well for his hopes of holding on to his cherished vase when he tries to pass off Bruno as his best friend during the denouement. A satisfying, cinematic masterpiece with an invaluable message about the meaning of real relating.

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for strong profanity.
In French with subtitles.
Running time: 95 minutes
Studio: Genius Productions
DVD Extras: “The Making of” featurette, plus theatrical trailers.

The Trials of Darryl Hunt DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Documentary Vindicating Convict via DNA Evidence Out on DVD

Back in 1984, Debbie Sykes was brutally raped and slain and left scantily clad in a wooded area of her hometown, Winston-Salem, NC. Because she was a popular reporter there, the police were under considerable pressure to crack the high-profile case.
Based on the positive identification by a Ku Klux Klansman, a 19 year-old black kid named Darryl Hunt was soon fingered as the perpetrator. In spite of a lack of any evidence linking him to the crime scene, Hunt was arrested and charged with the murder.
While behind bars, he was jailed briefly with a white convict who was promised parole in return for damning testimony against his cellmate. Not surprisingly, the man soon swore under oath that Darryl had confessed to killing Sykes.
After a trial which might best be described as a rush to judgment, Hunt was found guilty by an all-white jury which took the word of a couple of shady characters over that of an innocent African-American kid with a solid alibi. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he would languish in prison for ten years till his plight came to the attention of the Innocence Project.
At the behest of attorney Barry Scheck, a former member of O.J. Simpson’s infamous Dream Team, the case was reopened and it was subsequently determined that Darryl’s DNA did not match any of the semen left on the body of Sykes. And although it was apparent that he was indeed innocent, it would take another decade to get the corrupt Carolina court system to agree to right the wrong.
That tireless effort to set a wrongfully-convicted man free is the subject of The Trials of Darryl Hunt, a disturbing bio-pic chronicling a mammoth miscarriage of justice which can only be explained as resulting from deep-seated racism. Despite its feelgood resolution, the film offers little in the way of reassurance that the next black man framed in the Deep South won’t have to wait just as long to be vindicated.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 107 minutes
Studio: Velocity/ThinkFilm
DVD Extras: Bonus interviews, deleted scenes, theatrical trailer, plus a featurette.

Transformers DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: CGI-Driven Robot Adventure Arriving on DVD

First introduced by Hasbro in 1984, Transformers are robots disguised as everyday items, such as cars, planes and animals. The morphing action figures have proven to be so popular that the company has added to the product line every year since. Plus, the toys have been spun-off into a TV cartoon series and Marvel comic books.
Transformers were first brought to the big screen in 1986, but that animated version did little more than cash-in on the television show’s success. This 2007 edition, by contrast, is a live-action Michael Bay spectacular, and arrives considerably augmented by an array of rather impressive, computer-generated special effects.
The film is likely to be best appreciated by those who played with Transformers as kids who have remained fans familiar with the franchise, since the picture features far too many automatons for the uninitiated to bother to keep track of. In addition, the screen is cluttered with an abundance of human characters, too, each of whom the script, to its credit, takes the time to imbue with a little personality.
Fortunately, a simplistic, good-versus-evil plotline makes it easy to keep score. In 25 words or less, it reads like this: two competing races of robots, the virtuous Autobots and the evil Decepticons, have arrived on Earth from the planet Cybertron in search of the Allspark, a powerful cube which can unlock the secrets of the universe. One side is bent on world domination, the other on preserving the planet.
Unwittingly-enlisted to assist the latter in that endeavor is Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf), a geeky teen with a car and a cute girlfriend, Mikaela (Megan Fox). Overall, this flick gets this critic’s seal of approval for convincingly animating a cornucopia of robots in overblown epic battles worthy of a bombastic Michael Bay blockbuster.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, brief sexual humor, and intense sci-fi violence.
Running time: 143 minutes
Studio: Dreamworks Home Entertainment
2-Disc DVD Extras: Commentary by director Michael Bay, cast and crew interviews, stunt training footage, exclusive access to on-set locations, production design, military advisors and digital special f/x, plus “The Making of” featurette, including concept boards.