Irrational Man (2015)

I was joking with a friend over the weekend that people won't realize when Woody Allen has passed on until we go more than a year or two without a new film. He just keeps going and going, like the Energizer Bunny of film. Allen seems to be on a streak similar to the San Francisco Giants though. He's only good every other year (or so). Unfortunately, Irrational Man keeps up that trend.

It's not that Irrational Man is bad in any significant way, it's just so meh. This is especially unfortunate since it wastes a pretty good performance from Joaquin Phoenix, who totally carries the movie. Emma Stone is also very charming, but outside of their two performances, there's just not much there.

The plot actually goes in a different direction that isn't spoiled by the trailers, so I appreciated that. Once that direction was revealed, I was extremely excited to see how it played out. It's probably the only joy I got out of the film. Only that it takes forever to actually get there. Irrational Man doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get on with it. At least it seems that way, since it's so slowly paced. At just 95 minutes, it felt at least 30 minutes longer. It doesn't help that it's not particularly funny or romantic.

That's really all I have to say about it. Irrational Man is very middle of the road as far as Woody Allen films go. Not his worst, but far from his best. Maybe if another director had been behind this I wouldn't have expected so much. Save it for rental, and even then I'd only recommend this to Woody Allen fans, or people that need to see all of his movies.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Her (2013)

Do you like hearing people have awkward phone sex?  How about stories showing people falling in love with inanimate objects?  Do you like movies set in the future, yet everyone dresses like 1970's grandparents?  Well then Her is the movie for you!

Clearly I'm oversimplifying when talking about Her, as it's anything but a simple movie.  Her is one of those unusual films that oscillates from being brilliant to just plain weird.  This probably shouldn't come as a surprise to people familiar with writer/director Spike Jonze previous work, especially where Charlie Kaufman was involved.

Her is about Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), who is currently going through a divorce with Catherine (Rooney Mara).  They had a long, loving relationship, but drifted apart and Theodore's having trouble letting go.  He buys a new, artificially intelligent operating system, mainly to help organize his life.  The OS introduces itself as Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), and explains how she's designed to grow and evolve.  As Samantha learns more about the world, they continue to bond and eventually develop an emotional relationship.

Based on the premise of the film, I was worried this was going to be another Lars and the Real Girl, which might as well been called "Entire Town Indulges a Sad Man with Mental Health Issues."  Fortunately, Theodore is more grounded than that.  He's actually a fairly normal guy, just a little introverted.  I still had a bit of an issue with someone falling in love with an AI, but after I thought about it for a bit, is it really all that different from a long distance or exclusively online relationship?  I've watched people have relationships where all the interaction was over the phone or at opposite ends of a keyboard.  Either way there's no physical intimacy.  Is that a requirement for love?  Who's to say that's not the direction we're headed.  Followers of my blog are probably aware of my dislike for online dating.  I share a similar dislike for long distance relationships.  I feel like some of the time it's a way of having an easy relationship where there's not as much at stake.  If things get too difficult, you can just end it without much complication.  This is actually a point brought up during the film, so I appreciated the fact they took this on.

Another interesting point Her made was how all of this technology is actually making us less connected.  In many scenes of the film, you see people walking around, talking into their PDA/phone devices, not even looking up at people immediately around them.  We see this all the time now where people stare into their phones, so zoned out that they bump into people, trip over stuff, or worse.  Recently, I was a bar and noticed that every single person sitting in the bar area was looking into their phone rather than interact with anyone around them.  Don't get me wrong, I've been guilty of this, but it's one of the reasons why I'm trying to move away from stuff like Facebook and Twitter.  It's great to be able to connect with people that live far away or you wouldn't have access to otherwise, but I think our future will be much better off if everyone steps away from their computers, puts down their phones, and works on interacting with those around them a little more.

There were a few little things I found distracting.  One of which was whatever Theodore's job was.  He's some kind of letter writing surrogate, but I never got exactly what he did or what the purpose was.  I didn't feel it was explained all that well, and normally I wouldn't have paid it any mind, but since there are a lot of scenes of him at work and interacting with co-workers (mainly Chris Pratt), it bugged me a bit that it wasn't clear.  Another thing that was too cute was the overall look of the film.  It's very 60's/70's styled with lots of reds and oranges.  People wore awful shirts, had unkempt hairstyles, and had those old man pants with the waistline just below their chest.  They even managed to make Amy Adams look frumpy, but not Olivia Wilde (could anything though?).  It was like hipsters take over in the future, which may be the most terrifying aspect of Her.  Lastly, at just over two hours, the film could have been tightened up a bit.  There were a few scenes that went on too long where the point had been made.  On the other hand, they play hilariously unusual video games and I wish I could have seen more of that.

Joaquin Phoenix was wonderfully nuanced.  As I mentioned earlier, you might want to write Theodore off as a weirdo, and he is kind of a dork, but Phoenix makes him sweet and very sympathetic.  He's searching for the same things we all are.  However, he blows it on a real date with Olivia Wilde's character when she was clearly into him, and that's unforgivable.  I was impressed with Scarlett Johansson's voice work, which had very cute sexiness about it.  I also enjoyed Amy Adams, but I wish she would have been in it more considering she was one of the few real-world friends Theodore had and they had previously dated.  I could have used a little more Rooney Mara, but I think that's due to the fact that I wanted to learn more about their relationship and why it failed.

Her is a smart, thought-provoking film that brings up some interesting ideas regarding love, intimacy and general interaction with people.  I can understand how it might be too strange for some, but I think if you give it a chance and go in with an open mind, you'll find yourself thinking about the film for long after.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Master (2012) - Movie Review

No milkshakes were drank during the making of this film.

Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a World War II veteran that's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.  He's an alcoholic, making drinks out of any chemicals he can get his hands on, who's also prone to violent outbursts and cannot hold down a job.  One night, he stows away on a boat owned by Lancaster Dodd (Philipp Seymour Hoffman).  Dodd takes an interest in Freddie at first because he likes the drinks he can make, but also because he sees something in him, like a stray dog he wants to fix.

Lancaster Dodd is the leader of a movement simply called The Cause.  A lot has been made of how this is a movie about, or analogous to, Scientology.  While there are some similarities, they never come right out and say it, and it stays fairly vague throughout the movie.  As someone not all that familiar with Scientology, I can't really comment on how accurate they are being.  Outside of a few lines here and there, I didn't think it was much of an indictment of the belief system shown.  The Master is more about following the characters and their relationships.

Freddie wants to get better, so he buys into The Cause and follows them around.  He also serves as Dodd's unofficial attack dog, assaulting anyone that challenges Dodd and his beliefs.  He even challenges Dodd's own son (Jesse Plemons, who looks like he could actually be the PSH's son), who believes he's making this all up as he goes along.  Between his drinking and his use of violence, many members of the The Cause, including Dodd's wife Peggy (Amy Adams), fear and don't trust Freddie, but Dodd wants him there.

Joaquin Phoenix feels like a damaged, rabid dog throughout the film.  He transforms physically, looking much older, walking with a hunched-over posture, and speaking in a mumbled voice you can't understand at times.  With this way I've described him so far, you probably are wondering if there's anything redeeming about him, but Phoenix gets many chances to show some emotional depth and even a sympathetic side.  It really is a brilliantly insane performance, and I'm sure he'll be at the top of the Oscar short list this year.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays "The Master" with more control, and has a charisma that makes it easy to believe that so many people will buy into anything he says.  At the same time, you know there's something just beneath the surface waiting to get out.  He eventually submits to his own outbursts of anger when challenged.  You see that Dodd and Freddie are really just two sides of the same coin, and it felt like that was the real reason why Dodd wanted him around when nobody else did.  It's like that master that can't admit his dog is bad and beyond fixing.

The Master is an interesting film, and it's one that you'll be thinking about well after, even if that thought might be, "What the hell did I just watch?"  Much like There Will Be Blood, the movie is much more character based than story driven.  I hesitate to call it boring, but some of you may think that when watching it.   Even I thought there were more than a few times towards then end where I thought it was going to end, but then it kept going for a few more minutes.  It does kind of meander in that way.  However, it's extremely watchable due to the mesmerizing performances of the cast.  Even Amy Adams at times gives off a creepy vibe, as someone that buys into The Cause fully.  It's a much smaller role for someone of her stature, and the rest of the cast are mostly bit players.  Laura Dern also has a smaller supporting role as one of the followers of the cause.

Paul Thomas Anderson, not to be confused with that Resident Evil hack Paul W.S. Anderson, once again gives us a movie that looks great and has extremely interesting characters.  It's a gorgeous looking film and has the look of something that appears it was actually made in the 50's. Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead provides a swirling and eerie soundtrack.  It was hard not to notice, and the whole movie I wondered if it was Greenwood, as it reminded me of the similarly eerie soundtrack he did for There Will Be Blood.  The look and soundtrack gave this an almost ethereal feeling at times, and I was just meditating watching it.  I think P.T. Anderson is one of the five best directors working today.  He's able to write such interesting characters that have so much depth to them, and then he gets the performances to match.

I will say The Master also gets points for satisfying something I've had a weird issue with lately. Have you ever noticed that nobody farts in a non-comedy?  People fart.  It's a normal thing, and you just don't see it that often in movies outside of comedies.  The Master delivers on a well placed fart.  It's especially bizarre as this happened in the movie just as that thought popped up in my head again.  There's also a surprising amount of nudity in the film, and pretty much the last shot of the film is of a woman's naked breasts.

The Master is a worthy follow-up to There Will Be Blood.  It has great, Oscar-worthy performances, and is a fantastic looking and sounding film.  However, expect that it's not going to be the most entertaining film, and I wouldn't blame you if you thought it was boring or didn't get it.  If you can focus on the characters, and not get fixated on where things are going, then you should be able to enjoy it.  This is rental for most audiences, but if you want to see something that's going to challenge you a bit, I highly recommend seeing this soon.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars