Movie Review: BULLY

“Bully,” the headline-grabbing new documentary from Lee Hirsch, examines the lives of five small-town kids and their parents. Kelby, a lesbian, Alex, a mildly autistic boy, Ja’Meya, an African-American girl, and two boys named Tyler (one Ty, for short), who each tragically took their own lives after they just couldn’t take the taunting and physical abuse any more.

For a movie about such a complicated and important issue, “Bully” spends most of its time on the surface, following the kids and teachers as they hopelessly stumble their way through the school year. There are some shocking moments of on-screen violence, but even more incredible is one Sioux City, Iowa, administrator’s reaction to it. She actually tries to force a kid to face his tormentor with a handshake, and wags her finger at him for not making nice with the bully that tried to choke, stab, and punch him in the face. “Tell me how to fix this,” she sighs to the camera in desperation, “I don’t have any type of magic.”
 

In another instance, young Kelby relates how even the teachers in her small Oklahoma town tacitly condoned the taunts she received, directed at her sexuality. Though she vows to fight, by the end of the film, her parents have pulled her from school, and they’ve made plans to move to the city, a more accepting environment.

The parents of the suicide victims, Tyler and Ty, each form advocacy groups in their sons’ names, but there is little action for viewers to model, save for organizing a town hall meeting or a candlelight vigil. And in what is the film’s most chilling moment, 12-year-old Alex, who has endured pencil stabbings, shoving, kicking, verbal abuse, and having his head sat on, admits to the filmmakers, “[The bullies] push me so far, that I want to become the bully.”

Is that how this happens? Are we in a vicious cycle? None of the bullies really gets any on camera interview time, presumably because they’re already media-savvy enough to know when to plead the fifth. Are their parents to blame? It’s tough to say, since none of them appear in the film. I suppose no parent of a bully wants to be interviewed on camera, either. The only parents we hear from are the ones whose children’s stories are being followed by Hirsch.

Bullying requires much more study and action than this documentary is willing to give to the subject. “Bully” is at its best when its young subjects are addressing the camera, likely telling the filmmakers things they’ve never shared with their own parents. But “Bully” rarely goes beyond that. Its goal is to open parents’ eyes, and open a dialogue. I suspect it would be a good film for parents to watch with their middle schoolers and high schoolers. Moms and Dads would be wise to listen carefully to their child’s reaction.

I can’t really recommend this film for a general audience, though. “Bully” is perfectly ordinary in its structure. But its very existence is welcomed, and leads me to suggest that if you want to know more, visit the film’s website, www.thebullyproject.com, to learn about resources for taking action.

Movie Review: DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX

Has there been a successful theatrical adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book yet? Excepting the 1950 short “Gerald McBoing Boing,” most of the films adapted from Dr. Seuss’ work have failed to capture the peculiar style and vibe of the beloved children’s book author. Ron Howard’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Cat in the Hat” were both so bad as to offend fans of Seuss, and “Horton Hears a Who,” while looking more like the Seuss world should look, was generally uninspired. My kids wanted to turn it off after ten minutes. With great trepidation I ventured forth into a screening of “The Lorax,” in 3D no less, thinking, unless someone cares an awful lot, these movies aren’t going to get any better. They’re not.

“The Lorax,” published 40 years ago, is the story of the Once-ler, who, in his haste to make a million, chops down all the Truffula trees that provided the material he needed to make his Thneeds, which seem to be a bit of a useless item that everyone needs. The Lorax Speaks for the Trees, and so he does in this movie adaptation, although he sounds a lot like Danny DeVito.

The movie opens not with the Once-ler or Lorax, but with a young teen, Ted, smitten with Audrey. So his desire to seek out the Once-ler is not driven by any need other than to impress the girl. The second act of the film is taken up by the Once-ler’s story. He was once an idealistic young man, and made a deal with the Lorax to leave the Truffula trees alone. But once the demand for Thneeds took off, you better believe that Once-ler didn’t think Twice-ler about clear-cutting the valley for material.

Right-wing pundits have are frothing at the mouth over “The Lorax,” claiming it’s brainwashing kids with an environmental message. I saw something else this time. If the Once-ler had been more careful about production by replanting and keeping some Truffula trees alive, he could have kept his Thneed business operational, instead of going bankrupt by wiping out the trees and leaving a smog-addled, sludge-filled wasteland behind. “The Lorax” is a parable against greed, not just an admonition to never cut down a tree.

But the real bad guy in the film “The Lorax” is the mayor of Thneedville, who also owns a business selling fresh air to the population (where did they get this idea, “Spaceballs?”). The mayor is mean, nasty, and cares not a whit for Truffula trees, seeds, or even the lives of love-struck teenagers.

“The Lorax” recycles (Ha! I made an environmental pun!) elements of “The Truman Show” and “WALL-E” into a needlessly busy movie. I did like the songs, by John Powell, and the 3D rendering is not overwrought. But it’s going to take a real visionary director to truly capture on screen the wonder and slightly dark edge that Seuss brings to the page.

--Nathan Cone

Movie Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Elizabeth Olsen plays the titular character in the new cult thriller, “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” The middle two names are given to her by Patrick (John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”), a cult leader that seduces Martha with songs and sweet talk about how society and her family has let her down. The movie uses a flashback technique to show Martha’s entry into the rural cult, and her present-day attempts to escape its influence after running back into the arms of her sister.

No attempt is made to explain why Martha first left home in search of a new life; it’s hinted that her parents have died, and that she may have had problems with a boyfriend. But the nameless rural group that brings Martha into their fold does so with a tried and true technique. Young men and women of the cult shower new recruits with praise, build up expectations that the newbie is destined for greatness, and then pummel them with rape and physical abuse, then the threat of such, to keep them in line. What starts as an alternative lifestyle devolves into a worldview where intimacy and life is debased. The cult serves mainly to provide the male members with fresh young females to screw. Eventually, Marcy May begins to see the holes in cult leader Patrick’s philosophy, and she flees into the not-so-open arms of her sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson).

Lucy and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy), take Martha in to stay with them in their spacious lake house. Having just liberated herself from a place where a handful of girls sleep half naked in a room while awaiting their turn to do dishes or service another member of the cult, Martha thinks nothing of stripping down starkers to go swimming, or walk in on Ted and Lucy as they're trying for a baby. She also berates her sister for their opulent lifestyle. Neither Lucy nor Ted know where Martha has been, and strangely, Martha's bizarre, obviously depressed and disturbed behavior annoys rather than concerns them.

This movie had my stomach in knots for most of its running time. It’s creepy, and disturbing in its depiction of how easy it is to take an impressionable youth and change them into a completely different person. It flashes back between the two halves of its narrative, disorienting the viewer. But I eventually got frustrated with Lucy and Ted, who seem so self-absorbed as to completely ignore the warning signs that there is something very, very wrong with Martha. In some ways, that makes the point that ol’ Patrick was making to little Marcy May when he told her again and again about how her family had let her down. That’s disturbing in itself.

Several scenes are underlit, and I had a hard time making out shapes and characters from time to time. And the film does not build upon itself enough to deserve the open-ended cut to black that closes the movie. But “Martha Marcy May Marlene” is certainly well-acted, especially by Elizabeth Olsen, who has to put herself through a ringer of emotions, all without devolving into parody. And John Hawkes, all sinewy and popping veins, is brilliant as cult leader Patrick. It’s a hard film to recommend, but for those that enjoy a glimpse of the darker side of human nature, there may be illumination here.

--Nathan Cone

Movie Review: The Dead

Zombie Armageddon

By Randy Anderson

There is a certain type of horror movie fan that loves zombie movies. I recently saw the grand daddy of them all, “Night of the Living Dead,” so I was primed to see the new Ford brothers film “The Dead.” Zombies are a great metaphor for a number of the planet’s ills, like overpopulation, dependence on technology, or our own animal nature just waiting for a chance to wreak havoc.

“The Dead” has a different twist to the basic plot; the entire story takes place in Africa; Burkina Faso, West Africa, and Ghana to be exact. Using 35mm film, the texture and beauty of these desolate landscapes is a major character in the film. The script is minimal and we viewers are tossed in to a zombified landscape with no preparation. A plane loaded with American military personal and civilians takes off, but some on board are infected and in the struggle the plane crashes in the ocean. One man, Lt. Brian Murphy (Canadian actor Rob Freeman) makes it ashore. With his steely blue eyes and quiet determination this American looks the part of someone with the skills and brains to get through this hell on earth. Why Hell? As he crawls onto the beach the un-dead are staggering his way. These zombies have light grey eyes and like to feed on anything that is moving. With one narrow escape after another Murphy gets a light truck running and meets up with soldier Sgt. Daniel Dembele (Prince David Osei).

The two unlikely partners are trying to get to their families and that basic urge is what powers them through a bleak world with thin West Africans shambling on with dead eyes and an unceasing hunger for living flesh. This isn’t your average zombie flick; there is no humor that has become a part of the genre, at least in America. There is nothing to remind one of civilization, nothing but trees, brush and rock. Little conversation and a continent of enemies makes for a long 105 minutes, there is bloody zombie violence and some grisly close ups. Not for the faint of heart.

"The Dead" is now showing through Halloween night at the Santikos Bijou and Mayan Palace theatres.

Movie Review: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Two – no, make that two pairs – of women share an intense, special bond in “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,” the latest film from director Wayne Wang. Alas Wang, good at emotional dramas, struggles to connect two similar plots taking place in 19th and late 20th century China.

In 1827, Snow Flower and Lily are bound, both physically and figuratively. The film makes a point of illustrating the terrible practice of foot binding. Each crack and pop of bones is heard on the soundtrack. The two girls, each from a different social class, are introduced to one another as laotong, sisters for life. Even when they are grown, and separated by marriage, they communicate by nüshu, a secret written language among women used in Hunan, China. The titular fan serves as the vessel for their messages.

Meanwhile, the film gives us the story in 1997 of Sophia and Nina. Like Snow Flower and Lily, they too are of different classes. Nina looks out for her more impulsive friend, Sophia. And instead of secret nüshu, they have text messages.

The modern story is superfluous, uninteresting, and wasn’t even part of the book the film is based on. The actresses struggle with their parts when speaking in English, and Hugh Jackman appears from nowhere to whisk Sophia off to Australia in an episode that feels half-formed. Snow Flower and Lily are given better parts, even as the history of China gets thrown piecemeal into the script. Emotionally, they’re closer to each other than their husbands. But “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” creaks under the weight of its comparison between the two laotong sisters.

The camerawork is solid, and Rachel Portman’s score is very, very pretty, using both western strings and Chinese instruments like the erhu and pipa. I’d recommend the soundtrack, but not the film.

Movie Review: The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick’s latest poetic opus asks the big questions, and Malick offers his best guess what the answers might be in “The Tree of Life,” a movie that dares to place a family tragedy in the context of the entire existence of the universe. Malick has been pointing toward this moment for most of his career, ever since the problems of three people in “Days of Heaven” (1978) didn’t amount to a hill of beans, not compared to the biblical wrath of nature. In “The Thin Red Line” (1998), the battle for Guadalcanal was offset by the natural beauty of the island, and the dispassionate observation of the native peoples, wondering who the hell these crazy soldiers were, killing each other over a piece of “property,” as Sean Penn’s Sgt. Welsh so adeptly put it in that film.

"The Tree of Life" opens with an on-screen passage from the Book of Job that alludes to the Creation. The story of the much put-upon Job is a good reference point for the film and its primary male characters, Jack O’Brien (Sean Penn plays him as an adult, Hunter McCracken as a young boy), and Jack’s father (Brad Pitt). Most of the dialogue in the film comes from voice over, as the characters comment and reflect upon their lives. At one point, Jack pleads, “I want to know what you are.... I want to see what you see.” Is he asking this of his dad, or of the Heavenly Father? Either way, it works. Later, having carefully observed his own father’s behavior, he asks “Why should I be good if you aren’t?” and, “who are we to you?” Again, the questions could be asked of God just as easily as of Jack’s stern father.

Malick’s idea of what those answers might be is made clear through a nearly 30-minute detour near the beginning of the film, depicting the Big Bang and early development of Earth. This sequence, developed in collaboration with special effects master Douglas Trumbull (“2001,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) is visually stunning. Meteors and the destruction of the dinosaurs make the case that our pitiful existence is small potatoes when placed in the context of universal time and space.

But then again, I think Malick finds this both humbling and ennobling at once. The camera, always swishing back and forth as if showing us half-remembered experiences from long ago, finds beauty in a newborn baby’s delicate foot, the steel cathedrals of Houston, sparklers on the Fourth of July, zipping through a house with childlike abandon, back-alley chases and dusk in small-town Texas, when the streets are lit by the porch lights and lamps of prairie homes. We are neither more important than, yet just as important as, the cataclysmic events and forces of nature that shape our world. If “The Tree of Life” asks the Big Question about what our role in the cosmos is, I have a feeling that Malick thinks God’s answer might be “I love all things equally.”

Movie Review: "The Art of Getting By"

It’s a problem for the movie when your main character, the guy you’re supposed to identify with, is no more engaging than a piece of cardboard. But that’s what’s happened in “The Art of Getting By,” a curiously lifeless film about what should be one of the most turbulent times in a young man’s life – high school.

Freddie Highmore (“Finding Neverland”) is George, a sullen art student who’s decided to stop doing his homework because, well, there are so many other horrible things happening in the world that homework doesn’t matter. Global warming, war, that Hieronymus Bosch painting on his wall… they’re all getting him down, man. Emma Roberts (Julia’s niece) is Sally, the smoking (literally, she smokes, which makes her dangerous, I guess) hot girl that in so many words asks George to be her boyfriend. But he turns her down, presumably out of shyness. I guess I can relate to that.

No one listens to anyone else in this movie! Even when George finally starts to admit how much of a wanker he’s been to everyone, his mom cuts him off to talk about her divorce. Now, George could be one of those charming slackers if only he were allowed to say anything remotely witty, or smile, or even remove his fists from the overcoat he wears inside and outside at all hours. But instead, he sulks his way through the movie, crying over his own inaction. We’re asked to feel sorry for him when Sally hooks up with an older guy, and when George finally delivers his equivalent of the “Manhattan” closing scene to Sally, it’s supposed to be a big moment. Instead, it’s as flat as the gray clouds that hang over the Hudson.

Movie Review: "Mr. Popper's Penguins"

“Mr. Popper’s Penguins” is a pleasant pastime of a pelicula that’s nevertheless passed from your psyche within a few hours. An adaptation of the 1930s children’s book mostly in name, Jim Carrey plays a wealthy New York real estate broker tasked with taking over Tavern on the Green so his bosses can – of course – tear it down and put up a high rise. But wait… Didn’t anyone tell him the restaurant went bankrupt in 2009 and now operates as a gift shop? Ah, never mind.

Popper, who grew up with a largely absent dad, receives a crate of penguins from Antarctica as part of his father’s last will. The little tuxes naturally create havoc in his fashionable apartment, which should please all the five to seven-year-olds in the audience. Instead of turning them in to the zoo right away, or sending them back where they belong, or even wondering why his explorer father would think it a good idea to send penguins to Manhattan in the first place, Popper delights the birds with videos of Charlie Chaplin, in whom they recognize a kindred spirit of some sort. If “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” does nothing else other than get a handful of parents and kids more interested in seeing Chaplin, then I’m grateful for its existence.

But back to the movie. Popper, who is divorced from his wife (Carla Gugino), is naturally too busy to give his kids the attention they deserve, but when they go crazy over the penguins, he sees a way back into their hearts. Popper also pines for his ex, with whom he has a still chummy relationship. Will they get back together? What of Tavern on the Green? You probably know the answers.

Carrey isn’t as hyper-manic as he was back in the days of Ace Ventura, and that suits me just fine. But he sure seems like he’s struggling to keep from breaking out the talking butt gag. It must be painful to keep all that bottled inside. Maybe that accounts for the lines on his face. Either that, or he’s getting older, and I am, too.

Movie Review: "Nora's Will" ("Cinco dias sin Nora")

In Mexico, José, an aging divorcee, finds his ex-wife dead of an apparent suicide on the eve of Passover. Though she must be buried by 3 p.m. according to Jewish law, José refuses to do so without their only son present. And so Nora is kept on (dry) ice for five days.

As family and friends arrive to pay their respects and prepare for the funeral, Nora’s “will” is revealed. The will in this case is not a piece of paper, but rather her last wishes. Divorced from José for 20+ years, the family rarely sees one other. But Nora, who had been suicidal for years, planned her exit carefully to get everyone together for one more Passover dinner with her. Even if she’s not around to enjoy it.

“Nora’s Will” has a dry humor about it. There are gently comic scenes as José, an atheist himself, thumbs his nose at the religious rituals the rest of his family observes. And there’s a knowing recognition of the familial tension that comes from different belief systems. But even after José discovers a secret his ex-wife was hiding that no one else knew of, he makes a choice to give of himself and carry out her final wishes. The film ends with José’s wistful, silent affirmation of love.

“Nora’s Will” is currently playing at the Santikos Bijou.

SXSW Wrap-Up, Part 2

Here's the second of two entries reviewing films from the 2011 SXSW Film Festival.

--Nathan Cone

******

Small, Beautifully Moving Parts

A technologically-obsessed young woman has to deal with decidedly analog feelings in “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts,” a wonderfully acted film, led by Austin resident Anna Margaret Hollyman as Sarah Sparks.

Spun off from a Sundance Channel web series, “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts” finds techno-geek Sarah Sparks pregnant and in a loving relationship, but unsure of how she feels about her impending motherhood. “We wanted the humor of her being more excited about the ultrasound machinery than the actual thing being ultrasounded,” director Lisa Robinson told me.

A baby shower in the film becomes emotionally overwhelming; I’m a man, and even I could relate to that scene. Afterward, Sarah goes searching for a mother who she’s been estranged from for years. That’s the plot in a nutshell, but the film is full of quietly beautiful moments, such as Sarah visiting her father, who’s also somewhat humorously using technology to help his own love life. “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts” is a good film with great empathy for its characters.

Win Win Director Todd McCarthy’s third film, following “The Station Agent” and the brilliant “The Visitor,” is a sneaky little film that only later leaves you realizing how talented its stars are. Paul Giamatti plays a small-town lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach that finds himself in a position one day to make a decision that may not be ethically right, but will ultimately benefit him and those around him. But the repercussions of that choice come back to bite him later.

Amy Ryan is in the supporting role of Giamatti’s wife, and Jeffrey Tambor gets laughs with just a look. “Win Win” is an actor’s picture, and it’s a joy to watch these folks in action; they make what would normally be an uneventful plot into something special.

Beats of Freedom The more I learn about Poland, the more it seems that you can point to that much-abused Eastern bloc country as an important catalyst in the fall of Communism. The documentary “Beats of Freedom” recounts the Polish rock scene from the 1970s and 1980s, its relationship to the Solidarity movement, and its role in taking down the establishment. Groups profiled include Manaam, Brygada Kryzys (Crisis Brigade), and Tilt. Highlights include the story of how the establishment tacitly condoned the Jarocin Music Festival for years, because it supposedly kept youth happy and out of trouble. The thing is, no one over the age of 30 understood the subversive lyrics that the bands were singing, but the kids knew. This documentary is a fascinating look at recent rock history, and even better, the music is really, really good. If you love rock music, find “Beats of Freedom” and see it. This was one of my favorite films at the festival.

Five Time Champion

Shot on a small budget in Smithville, Texas, “Five Time Champion” is about young scientist Julius (Ryan Akin) and his tentative experiments with love and sex. Simultaneously, the film follows several adults as they embark on the same quest, and it’s interesting to see how director Berndt Mader shows how the concept of love evolves over the course of our lives.

Jon Gries is terrific in the film as a high school coach wooing Julius’s mother. He’s set up to be the antagonist in the film, but I left the movie feeling some sympathy for his character. It’s a terrific part, written well, and Gries delivers.

Something Ventured

Co-directors Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (“Ballets Russes”) chronicle the early history of companies like Apple, Intel, Cisco, and Genentech in their documentary “Something Ventured.” The movie has little narrative arc to it, focusing instead on telling each company’s story, but tying the film together are the half dozen or so venture capitalists interviewed for the picture, all of whom not only had the business acumen to get these start-up companies off the ground, but to groom their often untrained founders and entrepreneurs into successful businessmen and women of their own. As a fan of Atari since childhood, I geeked out at seeing Nolan Bushnell on screen, and marveled at how he struggled to sell the arcade game concept to investors. Even if the film seems somewhat devoid of conflicting views (save for the story of Cisco Systems), it’s a fascinating document of recent tech history.

Taken By Storm

If you own albums by Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Montrose, UFO, the Mars Volta, or… or… the list goes on and on, chances are you’re familiar with the photography and design of Storm Thorgerson, and, working with his partner Aubrey Powell, the design firm Hipgnosis. Early on in “Taken By Storm,” a documentary about Thorgerson and his work, he’s called one of the “last great surrealists.” Certainly much of Thorgerson’s work falls into that category; his images are often characterized by ordinary people placed in unusual settings, such as the famous “burning handshake” cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” or the smiling family adoring a miniature monolith on the cover or Led Zeppelin’s “Presence.”

Thorgerson himself seems a genial old man in the documentary “Taken By Storm,” one who pours his heart and money into his work. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Peter Gabriel, and members of the Mars Volta and the Cranberries all describe their experience working with the perfectionist in a bemused but admiring manner. Mr. Thorgerson shares his inspiration for some of his most iconic images, but I kept wanting to learn a little more about the ideas that drive him to create such memorable images. And though I suspect it’s probably a money issue (i.e. not enough funds for an independent film to license), I wanted to hear more music by the bands that Thorgerson designed album covers for.

--Nathan Cone

SXSW Film Wrap-Up, Part 1

After taking the fire-hose of film that is the South by Southwest Film Festival in mid-March, I like to wait a few weeks before writing down thoughts about the movies I've seen. At a festival, it's easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the event; sometimes the critical mind gets dialed back a bit. Here are some of my thoughts on the films I saw at this year's SXSW Film Festival. Enjoy!

Natural Selection

The audience and critics’ favorite at this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival, “Natural Selection” is a dark comedy about a woman, Linda, (Rachael Harris) who goes searching for answers when she finds her husband's been keeping secrets from her — including fathering a son, Raymond (Matt O’Leary).

Since much of the plot is given over to Raymond and Linda’s road trip back to Texas from Florida, Harris and O’Leary have to carry the film on their shoulders. They do so with two terrific performances. O’Leary, as Raymond, has to first break through the junkie stereotype character, and then make us care about his personal growth. And as Linda, Rachael Harris uses her character's guilt as a motivating factor, carrying us through all manner of implausible predicaments to some sense of peace.

As a side note, “Natural Selection” features characters who are very religious. There’s some humor in the movie that stems from religion, but I found it refreshing that their beliefs were truly taken seriously by the film.

Kumaré

A few years ago, Vikram Gandhi began work on a documentary about the yoga industry, but the more he learned, the more interested he became in the gurus that people follow. Gandhi began to wonder just what people believed in, and decided to find out from the inside. Gandhi grew out his hair and beard, dressed in flowing robes, moved to Phoenix, and added an “e” to his middle name to become “Kumaré.”

After a few weeks in Phoenix, Kumaré develops a core group of followers, who begin to open up their lives to him. When Kumaré finally “unveils” to them his true identity, the results are surprisingly emotional.

Although Kumaré won an audience award as Best Documentary at this year’s South by Southwest festival, and I loved the film, buzz I’ve read online since, and the questions it raised at screenings during the festival, demonstrated its very premise to be quite polarizing. Some folks felt Gandhi was cheating or hurting the people that followed “Kumaré,” and others have said it was downright dangerous for him to play with these poor souls’ heads.

Gandhi may or may not have realized what he was getting into when he began his experiment, but I think by the end of the film, it’s clear that the whole Kumaré persona has become very important to him, and he’s developed a real attachment to Kumaré’s followers. Some have written that Gandhi had no training to be a counselor. But isn’t that one of the points of this film? Regardless of whether he’s a licensed counselor, it’s clear that as Kumaré -- and as Vikram Gandhi -- he did his best to be a good friend.

F#$k My Life The unfortunately titled Chilean film “F#$k My Life” stars Ariel Levy as Javier, a party guy that falls in love with Sofia, a beautiful singer who’s normally way out of his league. The two date for a while, and then Javier inexplicably breaks it off with Sophia, then spends months and months trying to get her back in ways that would normally lead to a restraining order in the United States. Plus, Javier is a major jerk. He makes sexist remarks, he drinks too much, he doesn’t really care about anyone other than himself, and he’s about as deep as a kiddie pool. It’s a wonder his childhood friend, Angela, even continues to hang out with him. And when, at the end of the film, the two of them get together after Javier’s spent the entire film chasing other skirts in front of her, I wondered what planet these folks live on. The film tries to make some sort of statement about love in the digital age, and the impossibility of separating yourself from an ex when they're all over Facebook, Twitter, etc., but all of that is overshadowed by Javier's unlikeability. I will say that the film is nicely photographed, though. Santiago, Chile, looks great.

Hesher

Star Rainn Wilson described “Hesher” to me as a “dark comedy, with less emphasis on the comedy.” That’s pretty apt, I’d say, but it makes what I think should be funny moments in the film less funny, and more just... uncomfortable. Young Devin Brochu stars as T.J., who, along with his father, is dealing with the recent death of his mother. Dad (Wilson) does so by popping pills and lazing about on the couch for most of the picture. T.J. is a good kid, but he’s getting picked on by a bully at school, and that’s been getting him into trouble.

From out of a haze of smoke one day comes Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who drives around all day in his good times van blasting Metallica and smoking like a chimney. Hesher takes it upon himself to mentor T.J. in the ways of breaking and entering, vandalism, and blowing up the local bully’s convertible. When young T.J. finally takes a pair of garden shears and threatens to cut off the bully’s toe, I wondered if I just wasn’t getting it. It sounds like a hopelessly square thing to say, but Hesher is a bad influence on T.J. He needed to kick his dad’s ass in gear, not the kid’s.

Natalie Portman has a role in the film as T.J.’s prepubescent crush, and does well with what she’s been given. She goes frump for the part, wearing oversize glasses and a low-rent grocery clerk’s outfit.

After premiering at Sundance in early 2010, “Hesher” will finally see wide release in May, 2011.

Inside America

I don’t feel quite right giving this film a review since I had to duck out about 15 minutes before its conclusion to get to a scheduled interview. But I was interested in seeing "Inside America" because its director, Barbara Eder, was born in Austria and spent much of 1994 as an exchange student in Brownsville, Texas. She based much of "Inside America" on her observations of Rio Grande Valley life, and the film was shot on location at Hanna High School.

There’s some nice cinema verité slice-of-life filmmaking going on here, but "Inside America" brings little new to the table dramatically. At the high school, there are the rival gangs, the ROTC kids, the popular girl that hides a drug problem, the good girl mixed up with the wrong group that we’re supposed to identify with, the meek white kid that buys a gun one day...

Like I said, I had to leave the film early. I hope it turned a corner in the last 15 minutes, but for the most part, "Inside America" feels like something we've seen before.

******

More to come!

--Nathan Cone