Hachiko, A Dog’s Story
Lasse Hallstrom is a Swedish director who went to Hollywood in the 1990s. His works include ‘My Life as a Dog’ (1985), ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?’ (1993) and ‘Chocolat’ (2000). There appears to be no rhyme or reason to Hallstrom’s choices of films. In-fact, Hallstrom appears to be simply working his way through a wide variety of cinema genres. His latest movie, ‘Hachiko, A Dog’s Story’, comes from very much ‘out-of-field’. Based on a true Japanese story, which has been transposed to an American setting, the movie is a simple tale about a man and his dog. Much to his wife’s objections, Richard Gere adopts an abandoned puppy. Then, everyday at 5pm, the dog waits at the local railway station to greet Richard when he comes home from work. One day Richard doesn’t return! About 40 minutes into the movie you will start reaching for the Kleenex Tissues, and you will keep reaching for them well after the film has finished. The movie is terrific.
The Informant
Just when I had given up on director Steven Soderbergh, and declared him passé, he comes up with this excellent off beat comedic thriller. Matt Damon plays an upper management biochemist who works for a large international food additives company. When the company is being scammed for millions, the FBI is called in to investigate the case, and Matt finds himself a reluctant FBI informer. However, Matt soon starts to enjoy his role as a ‘spy’, and begins to throw into the mix all kinds of falsehoods to keep the case active. Eventually, the case ricochets hilariously out of control. It is well known that Matt Damon intentionally put on a lot of weight for his role in this movie, and he is dumpy and dorky, and absolutely brilliant, all the way through it.
Love Liza
When Philip Seymour Hoffman’s wife unexpectedly commits suicide, and leaves him a farewell letter, Hoffman is reluctant to read it. Instead, he falls apart completely, and becomes a ‘gas’ sniffer. This unusual, though not uncommon addiction, involves sniffing petrol, which is used to power motor cars, and which Hoffman purchases from his local gas station by the gallon. The movie is a bizarre study into the consequences of this lethal habit. Philip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding in his role, and, he is given strong support from Kathy Bates, as his grieving mother-in-law. Directed by Todd Louiso, the movie was made in 2002, but it has only now been released on DVD as part of the Sony Classics Collection. The movie is well worth checking out.
Tenure
Written and directed by Mike Million, this is a low-keyed character driven comedy. Luke Wilson plays a professor of English literature, at a small New England college, who is up for tenure. A job for life. To enhance his position Luke establishes an erotic poetry club with one of his brighter students, takes some ‘geeky’ students out into the forest searching for ‘Big Foot’, and tries to befriend the new associate literary professor, who is up for tenure as well. Actually, while the movie is quite enjoyable, nothing much really happens. It is all in the playing. Also, I guess, whether or not you enjoy the movie will depend on how you feel about Luke Wilson’s lackadaisical screen persona.
Invictus
Clint Eastwood’s latest movie falls short of its mark. Eastwood knows how to make movies, and, with this work, ‘Invictus’, he was obviously aiming for something ‘inspirational’. Unfortunately, what he creates is ‘admirable’. Eastwood makes a competent film, but, his anti-apartheid message is just a little bit too heavy-handed. Nelson Mandela, the newly elected President of South Africa, uses the South African rugby team as a rallying point for South African unity. Morgan Freeman, as Mandela, pontificates throughout the movie, while Matt Damon is boyishly enthusiastic as the rugby team’s captain. Both actors cope very well with their stilted South African accents.
Happy Tears
A somewhat dowdy Demi Moore stars in this movie, as a dutiful daughter who has been looking after her dementia ridden father for some time. Anxious to return home, and work on her failing marriage, Demi telephones her socialite sister, Parker Posey, asking her to take over the duties for a while. Parker has marital problems of her own, and, when she finally arrives, both sisters take the opportunity to air some grievances from the past. The movie is not as bad as it sounds. It is actually quite a pleasant laid-back comedy. Director Mitchell Lichtenstein’s contribution is some intriguing dream sequences which add considerably to the unusual appeal of the movie.
Daybreakers
Written and directed by The Spierig Brothers, who ever they are, this is the kind of movie which gives the Australian Film Industry a bad name. It is the kind of movie where the principal characters are played by middle ranking American actors, such as Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe, while the rest of the cast is filled out with terrible Australian actors playing with atrocious American accents. It is also the kind of movie where the historical landmarks of a prominent Australian city have been photo-shopped out, so that the city looks much more like a sleek nondescript American one. The dreary plot concerns a future world which has been taken over by vampires, and what is left of the humans are hunted down and farmed for their blood.
