Movie Review - "The Quiet Man" (1952)

This is the perfect movie for a laid-back, lazy Sunday afternoon. A nice glimpse at an easy-going Irish lifestyle filled with pleasant people who want nothing more than to enjoy each others' company.


"The Quiet Man" follows Sean Thornton (John Wayne) as he moves from America to Ireland in the 1920s, and intends to buy back the land his Irish family once owned. As he does, Sean falls for young Irish girl Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara) and intends to marry her. But Mary Kate is devoted to her Irish traditions and won't marry Sean without the approval of her brother, Will (Victor McLaglen), who despises Sean for taking land that he felt belonged to him.


The title "The Quiet Man" works perfectly for John Wayne, not because he doesn't talk much, but that all he wants is quiet and pleasant lifestyle, which he feels can be achieved in Ireland. His biggest worries here are courting Mary Kate and rebuilding his home, which everyone in town is more than willing to pitch in (or at least give him a flower to plant). He cares little about money or petty squabbles with Will, since he knows that won't bring him peace.

"The Quiet Man" was directed by John Ford as a love-letter to Ireland, where both of his parents were born, and makes full use of its technicolor landscape, as the bright yellow-and-orange sun sets over the deep green hills that stretch for miles. Or the rippling rivers with their stony bridges contrasted by the massive blue skies. Watching this film is like spending an afternoon looking up at the clouds and making shapes or animals out of them, doing so without a care in the world.


Like any good John Ford movie, there is a wide range of colorful characters, all of whom love conversing and their pints of alcohol. From the nosey cabbie Michaeleen Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald), to the loud priest who loves to fish Peter Lonergan (Ward Bond), to the rich widow who loves controversy but hates people Sarah Tillane (Mildred Natwick), there is no shortage of wacky Irish folk here.


Overall, "The Quiet Man" is one of the most relaxing and peaceful movies I've seen in a while. It is an appreciation of the Irish, their culture and their landscapes, as well as how accepting they are of letting outsiders in. John Wayne offers his usual bravado, especially when he feels he has to marry Mary Kate the moment he sees her, but that just makes the cultural differences so funny and captivating. Watch this one to help you unwind after a long day or if you want one of the best looking Irish films you'll ever see.


Final Grade: A-

Movie Review - "Adam's Rib" (1950)

Here we have a classic comedy that only works because of its two lead stars - Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. If it were anyone other actors, who would have had to force their chemistry, "Adam's Rib" would be difficult to get through.


Hepburn and Tracy each play lawyers married to each other. They spend their mornings reading about the newest crimes in the newspaper, each taking a different stance, while they make googly-eyes at one another. But one morning a story about a wife shooting and nearly killing her cheating husband comes up and Hepburn's character believes that all the blame is on the husband, while Tracy cannot see her point of view at all. Tracy is given the case by the District Attorney and Hepburn's character seeks out the case and vows to win it for not just the wife, but all opressed women, turning this into a battle between the sexes, as well as husband and wife.


Their points are made clear - Hepburn feels the husband's continued neglagence and irritability with his wife forced her to take this drastic act to save her marriage and house, while Tracy demands that the person who fired the gun and attempted to end another life, whether that person is a man or a woman, should face justice.


I will admit that, as the film started, I was firmly in agreement with Spencer Tracy's side of the argument, no one has the right to end another life. But as the film went on, Hepburn continued to make solid and convincing points about how terribly the husband treated his wife just because he wanted her to lose some weight.

Yet, while all of this is going on, Hepburn, and Tracy show their love for each other. They would make kissy-faces at each other under the table or give the other gifts and back massages while outside the courtroom. Even when they become irritated with one another, their love still shines through. This is just how their freaky relationship works, the need for opposition and debate is so strong that they look forward to their arguments.


"Adam's Rib" is one of the few comedic courtroom dramas that pulls of analysis of the law and slapstick perfectly, and its due to the stern yet passionate speeches filled with fire and brimstone from Hepburn and Tracy that makes it work. The dual nature of their relationship and the ability to go from heated debate to passionate love is what makes this so hilarious.


This is a film filled with domestic battles - Man vs. woman, nature vs. nuture, conversative vs. liberal, and ego vs. the law. But like all good battles, the film lets you understand and appreciate both sides of the argument.


Final Grade: B+

Movie Review - "Lion" (2016)

It is interesting that I saw "Lion" only a week after having seen "Hidden Figures," which are similar in many ways. Both are based on true events, they are ultimately uplifting stories but are both also quite manipulative in how they get you to feel for these characters.


With that said, "Lion"'s execution is far more subtle and effective than "Hidden Figures" was. The latter was always in your face about its message and characters, as it should have been for the time period. But "Lion" creeps up on you, unsuspectingly, through calm and quiet performances from Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, and works its way into your heart without even trying.


Set in the India in the 1980s, young Saroo (Sunny Pawar) wants to help his older brother Guddu at his job and make money for their family. The two leave by train, but Saroo cannot stay awake and ends up falling asleep on a different train that he gets stuck on for two days. Saroo ends up on the other side of India where everyone speaks a different language, lost, and unable to find his way back home.


Saroo is eventually adopted by an Australian couple (David Wenham and Nicole Kidman) and is raised in a loving and caring atmosphere. But twenty years later, when Saroo (Dev Patel) goes off to college he is told of this revolutionary new piece of technology that could help him find his home and family - Google Earth.

The first half of "Lion" follows a young Saroo throughout a shabby, filthy, and infested Calcutta and it paints quite a picture of India without saying much about it. There are hundreds of homeless children running in the streets and at night they are hunted down and carried off to a prison-like area where they can receive an "education" from adults who would rather be anywhere else. Food is scarce and kindness is a rarity.


All this plays into Dev Patel's role as an older Saroo, who has spent the last twenty years living in comfort with anything he wanted at his fingertips, but realizes that his family is still stuck in that terrible place and have spent everyday wondering what happened to him. Patel says little throughout the film, but his grief and anger speak through his constant need to find his family.

Additionally, Nicole Kidman has some wonderful scenes as Saroo's adopted mother. She admits to her son early on that she will always be there, listening to what he has to say without forcing it out of him. She seems to understand the emotional baggage that comes with adopting a lost child and wanted nothing more than show him that the world is not as bad as he thought it was.


Both Patel and Kidman give reversed and quiet performances, letting their pauses filled with concern say more than their words.

While "Lion" can be manipulative at times, these performances and the two vastly different worlds that are built make the whole journey worth the sometimes forced emotional moments. The film avoids the typical genre cliches of finding lost loved ones through its quiet anger. The pacing might seem slow to some but I felt it moved well in building up how terrible living in India can be. Overall, "Lion" just might be the best uplifting movie of the year.


Final Grade: A-

Movie Review - "Manchester by the Sea" (2016)

One thought was going through my head as I was leaving "Manchester by the Sea" - Boy, that sure was sad. And it would have been a lot happier if he actually talked about how he was feeling. The first thing my parents said to me as they were leaving the theater was, "When you have a wife, talk to her about your problems. Communication is key! You don't want to end up like Casey Affleck."

As I am writing this review, I have recently finished writing my thoughts on "Hidden Figures" and "The Pink Panther," both of which left a positive impact on my in one way or another. But because "Manchester by the Sea" was such a sad-sack from start to finish, the film means almost nothing to me. It was certainly well put together and Casey Affleck gives one of the most captivating performance of the year, but there no hope to hold on to, no joy to be had. Even "Hacksaw Ridge" at least had a good moral about fighting for what you believe in despite what everyone else might tell you or force on you, and that was a gruesome war flick.


But "Manchester by the Sea" is sad for the sake of being sad, to the point where it is almost depressing. Its main character certainly goes through a difficult journey that I sympathize with, but he is given every opportunity to improve and he refuses to take it like a stubborn child who doesn't want to eat his vegetables.


Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) works as a janitor and handy-man at a series of apartment complexes in Boston. Lee is unfriendly towards the tenants and obnoxious to everyone else, picking a fight with someone who might look at him the wrong way. When Lee finds out his brother (Kyle Chandler) has passed away, leaving his son Patrick (Lucas Hedges) all alone in Manchester, Lee does his best help Patrick settle in, despite having to deal with harsh looks and whispers of Manchester about Lee's past.

Casey Affleck is one of the more underrated actors, but I can see why. He usually gives performances that are quieter in his tone, more about the subtlety and facial expression than what he's saying (which might explain why most of his performance goes over my head). But that quality is what makes him perfect for this role, as a man trying to mask his pain and cannot deal with world when he can hardly handle himself. Affleck is in every scene of this movie, and he plays Lee as a man sitting on anger, ready to burst at a moments' notice and doesn't seem to know anything but anger.


My biggest complaint with "Manchester by the Sea" is that Lee never moves beyond this point. Anger is his default emotion and despite what happens between him and Patrick, the journey these two go through, he seems to have learned nothing. Even though he's clearly in a lot of pain, Lee refuses to talk about his feelings like a normal person would. This would be fine if Lee gave a reason outside of "I don't want to talk about it," but that's the most we get.

I am left in this strange place where I sympathize with Lee due to his past and Afflecks' performance, but I don't relate to him because of his inability to communicate, even with his loved ones. There are so many scenes that are infuriating, because they offer Lee and Patrick plenty of opportunities to talk about their pasts and the future they could share, but is instead filled with awkward silence.


Overall, I appreciate what "Manchester by the Sea" was going for and enjoyed Afflecks' performance, but this was slow, poorly-paced and frustrating to watch. If a scene wasn't about Lee refusing to change, it was about awkward moments of Lee's lack of social skills. The only reason to watch this one is for Casey Affleck's acting, which does elevate the film above its sad story.


Final Grade: C

Movie Review - "The Pink Panther" (1964)

Boy, 1964 was the year of fun movies wasn't it? "Goldfinger," "Mothra vs. Godzilla" and now "The Pink Panther." Screw 1939 or 1994, 1964 might be the greatest year of cinema.


These days, I hear little about the Pink Panther film series, at least anything good. Before watching this movie, my only exposure were the Steve Martin movies, who portrays the title character Inspector Clouseau as incompetent fool who doesn't seem to understand how the world works. And most people seem to agree with me. But after watching the original film, I can see why Steve Martin's performance is so infuriating to those who enjoyed the series.


In the 1964 film, Inspector Clouseau is played by Peter Sellers, a bumbling police officer who seems to be just a few steps behind the notorious jewel thief, the Phantom (David Niven). He travels the globe constantly searching for the next clue, alongside his wife Simone (Capucine). We quickly learn that Simone is working with the Phantom and stops the Inspector at every turn, but seems to have fallen in love with him, and at least two other men.

For all of his comedic antics throughout the film, what I enjoyed about Inspector Clouseau is that he was still great at his job. He was always on the trail and would set aside family and loved ones to complete his mission, always intelligently assessing the situation and coming to the best conclusion possible. His problem is that he doesn't always look where he's going and his body cannot keep up with his brain.


He's not a mindless idiot, just uncoordinated and a little too dedicated to the job.


Originally, "The Pink Panther" was mostly going to be about the Phantom and his nephew attempting to steal the largest diamond in the world, the pink panther diamond. But as the filmming progressed, Peter Sellers stole more and more of the show and cracked up everyone on set with his bumbling personality. This convinced the studio to put Sellers in more scenes, until he ultimatley became the main character and got top billing. David Niven later noted that, while he played a jewel thief, it was Peter Sellers who stole the movie.


And while Niven does well with his role, playing the suave yet pompous gentlemen, Sellers gives us some great scenes in the later parts of the film.


My biggest complaint with "The Pink Panther" is how slow it starts out. There are small moments of goodness sprinkled throughout the first hour, especially between Niven and the princess who owns the diamond, but nothing substainial. But once it gets to an uproarious scene where Clouseau, the Phantom, his nephew and Simone keep going back and forth through the same hotel room and Simone attempts to hide everything from her husband, the film gets great, with one great joke after another leading to a hilarious punchline.


Overall, "The Pink Panther" may start out slow but it has one of the greatest comedic endings I have seen, which makes the whole journey worth it. Peter Sellers is wonderful in every scene, whether he is solving a crime or bumbling his way through answering the phone. It is not hard to see why this verison of Inspector Clouseau is so beloved and why Peter Sellers stole top billing for this movie.


Final Grade: B+

Movie Review - "Hidden Figures" (2016)

Boy, this was a film that tried to appeal to everyone - A film about launching the first astronauts into space, while also a civil rights movie at the same time. And it's based on true events.


On the one hand, "Hidden Figures" is bare-bones and is about as predictable as you can get. Every emotional note is hit right when you'd expect it and it is filled to the brim with speeches about race, equality, perseverence, and getting into space. This makes the film hoaxy and cheesy in its execution.


And yet, the hoaxyness of "Hidden Figures" makes the film endearing, because of the intensity and tenacity behind its many great performances. I left the theatre with a smile on my face, just like any great feel-good movie should.


Set during the space-race between the Soviet Union and America shortly after the Soviets launch Sputnik, NASA has now become determined to put a man into space and orbit around the planet. To do this, they hire the best minds and engineers they can find, which include mathematician Katherine Goble (Taraji P. Henson), engineer Mary Jackson (Janeele Monae) and mathematician/supervisor Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer). All three not only face the problems of being the first people to launch someone out of our atmosphere in a flaming ball of hot metal, but also the constant struggles of racial discrimination and gender inequality in the heat of the civil rights movement, in an environment surrounded by white men.

This film would not have worked if it were not for its three lead actresses. In the hands of less capable or convincing talents, "Hidden Figures" would fly apart at the seams.


Henson is quiet and reversed, yet is so strong and determined to show her worth that her intensity cannot be ignored. There's a fire in her eyes that made her performance so captivating, which I did not expect from the opening that showed her character as this hyper -intelligent child that did not like people, similar to Sherlock Holmes. Yet Henson plays Katherine as a woman desperately trying to earn her place in a world she knows that she belongs in.


Monae is fiesty and independent, which leads her to being the funniest of the three as she stands up to her husband and friends. While she gets the least amount of screentime of the three, Monae packs each scene with charm and a little bit of sass as she bucks the system. Her stand out scene comes when she confronts a county judge, as she lists off his accomplishments and how he has always supported change.

Spencer, as always, is a wonderful actress here - killing her enemies with kindness. She has the quiet quality of Henson and the sass of Monae when she needs it, but her tenacity and willingness to learn is what gets me. She has a motherly quality to her character, as someone who cares more about the well-being of others over herself, which makes Spencer perfect for this role.


Together these three ladies show different sides to handling racial discrimination, while also trying to contribute to the world. Their chemistry with each other comes off as three supportive sisters who realize the world is not going to change over night and they need to take care of each other. All three carry the difficult task of making these over-the-top lines carry the weight they need without overselling it.


While I can say I have seen stories like "Hidden Figures" a dozen times before, I cannot say I've seen performances quiet like the ones these three gave.

Overall, "Hidden Figures" accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do through its feel-good performances and story that reflects all the charms and curses of the 1960s. It made me laugh, cheer, and think, which is a great thing for any movie to do.


Final Grade: B

Movie Review - "Intolerance" (1916)

It is amazing how much of a damn I didn't give about "Intolerance."

Directed by the grandfather of filmmaking, D.W. Griffith, "Intolerance" was made as a snide comeback to the critical response to Griffith's previous film, "The Birth of a Nation." For those unaware, that was the first feature-length movie ever made in 1915 and it has aged about as well as wet bread sitting out in the sun for a month - Offensively racist in terms of storytelling and filmmaking, "The Birth of a Nation" is a chore to sit through nowadays.

"Intolerance" is not racist like Griffith's predecessor, but it is equally as tedious while remaining impressive for 1916. This three-and-a-half hour long movie tells four different tales of intolerance throughout different periods in time, including ancient Babylon, a brief period on Jesus, a French renaissance tale and one set during modern American times.

Any movie that has a network narrative, like "Cloud Atlas" or "Love Actually," owes a lot to "Intolerance." And for being a silent black-and-white movie made only a year after the feature film was created, it does have a distinctive way to inform the audience when and where we are through different-tinted screens. Most of the French story has a green tint, while the Babylonian era is a stained yellow. Any time violent acts occur, no matter the time period, the screen is tinted red.

There is also a fifth time period, in which the "mother of time" rocks a craddle back and forth, and mankind is the symbolic baby in the craddle. The mother is played by Lillian Gish, who would go on to have one of the longest careers in Hollywood and be one of the silent eras greatest actresses.

Outside of that, nothing about "Intolerance" stuck with me. I couldn't tell you what happened, because I really didn't care about anything that was happening.

When you watch as many different types of movies as I do, you come across a film that never attempts to pull you in and get you invested in what they're trying to do or say. "Intolerance" is one of those movies.

I appreciate one of the first attempts at an movie epic and the creation of the network narrative, but multiple stories about hatred and injustice throughout time isn't compelling or worthwhile when done as a silent film. That is something you need active dialogue for, and unfortunately that wouldn't be invented for another eleven years.

So I give "Intolerance" a pass for being ahead of its time, but like "The Birth of a Nation" this one was a chore to sit through.

Final Grade: C-