There's a small backlog of movie reviews by Hizzoner from the past couple of weeks that're just too good not to share. So, topicality be damned! Let Ed help you make plans to hit the second-run house this week or maybe just guide you as you update your rental queue.
First up, Ed gets no kick from LeCarre.
The Constant Gardener
I did not read John Le Carre's book on which this film is based, but I must assume that it is a better-told story than this movie which is full of holes. Near the end of the film a dialogue takes place between two of the principal characters intended to lay out the story line and answer some questions. The device fails.Justin (Ralph Fiennes) is a British diplomat. While delivering a lecture, he meets Tess (Rachel Weisz) who is in the audience. She is an activist who questions him about British activities, particularly the testing of a new AIDS drug on the guinea pig citizens in Kenya. The film is a polemic against President George W. Bush and the big drug companies engaged in finding ways to test new drugs. It wouldn't surprise me if drug companies were abusing the citizens of Kenya, but is it true? If yes, a crawl at the end of the film should provide factual information. If not, then the movie is hurling a very unfair and explosive charge.
The story involves several subplots. Sir Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighy), a villain providing cover for the drug companies, is unwilling to examine Tess's allegations. A possible love affair, not well done, between Tess and Sandy (Danny Huston) is intended as a diversion. Of major interest is Tess's death, which occurs early on in the flick. Justin spends the balance of the film trying to determine whether her death was accidental or murder. A scene of Arab militiamen on horseback seeking to kill and enslave blacks also takes place, reminiscent of Darfur, Sudan.
I did not think Fiennes' performance was particularly exhilarating, as commented on by some critics, nor were any of the other performances particularly outstanding. Most of the reviews that I read of this film were complimentary, but I thought it was an unintended farce with an often ridiculous script. At one point when Justin is running after a plane seeking to take off, in my mind I heard him shouting "taxi, taxi." Use your valuable time to do something next week other than seeing this film.
One thing you could do is see that crazy Belgian amnesia flick.
The Memory of a Killer
This film is based on a novel by Jef Geeraerts entitled, "Memory," and the original title of the film was "The Alzheimer Case." Both titles are comments on whether an assassin, Angelo Ledda (Jan Decleir), suffering from early Alzheimer's, will remember where he placed the evidence needed to convict a powerful politician connected to a pedophile case.
The story line brings to mind a case that enthralled the Belgium public for decades involving a number of powerful citizens in and out of government involved in child prostitution. Corruption was rampant in the handling of that real case.
Here, the son of a duke in Antwerp is involved with a 12-year-old girl offered for sex by her father. Ledda is hired to murder two witnesses. When he realizes that one of his targets is the young girl, he is appalled by his task and decides instead to kill his employer and others associated with the employer. Two police officers are involved in the case: the Chief Inspector Eric Vincke (Koen De Bouw) and his partner, Freddy Verstuyft (Werner De Smedt). Their relationship is reminiscent of the two cops in the television series "Inspector Morse" starring John Thaw, now deceased.
The plot includes an interesting underground hideaway used by the assassin, battles between the city and state police forces, and a conspiracy to engage in a cover-up to protect the powerful elite from criminal indictment and prosecution. Several flashbacks and occasional surreal scenes were disconcerting but also added to the suspense and mystery.
This is an unusual film noir. The acting is terrific on the part of all the characters, especially that of Jan Decleir, and the script is exceptionally strong in its subject matter and impact. Some reviewers compared the film to a recent American sleeper, "Memento," which was excellent. The protagonist in that film lost his memory and wrote addresses and telephone numbers on his body, as does Ledda. All in all, "The Memory of a Killer" is an exciting ride.
Amnesia seems to be the plot hook du jour for ol' Ed, who also offers a short primer on inflation. Read on!
Keane
This short story is given a superb rendering by the performance of Damian Lewis as William Keane.We meet Keane wandering around the Port Authority Bus Terminal asking people if they have seen his seven-year-old daughter whom, he says, he left alone for a few minutes to use the restroom. Before long we learn that Keane is not only emotionally overcome by that loss but that he is an alcoholic and undoubtedly mentally ill.
Keane is living in a flophouse room which costs $20 a day. (When I was mayor, a room in a Bowery flophouse, probably not as clean, cost about $5 a day.) At that hotel, he meets Lynn (Amy Ryan) who also has a seven-year-old daughter, Kira (Abigail Breslin). The relationship between Lynn and Keane seems to be moving toward an intimate one. From that point on, the suspense mounts. The daughter is phenomenal in her reactions to what takes place around her including her initial fear of Keane. The storyline and fear of pedophilia taking place raised my anxiety level enormously.
Obviously, I can't tell you what happens except to say that not everything is resolved. The movie, which is currently playing in Manhattan at the Landmark's Sunshine Cinema on Houston Street, is well worth seeing.
Who woulda clocked Koch as a Cho ho? It's true! The thought of sitting next to Hizzoner during some of her raunchier bits--well, it's that whole "he's almost my grandfather's age" thing.
Margaret Cho: The Assassin Tour
Margaret Cho is one of the best comedians, male or female, in America. She writes her own material, which is very raunchy, and she delivers it extremely well. Unfortunately everyone has an off night, and I found "The Assassin Tour," which is a tape of one of her theater performances, disappointing.
I laughed at some of the lines, but more often than not I simply smiled, and at times her references were so "in" that I didn't get them at all. I regret having to give this film a negative review, and I intend to see her next movie performance, hoping that she will have regained her brilliance.
Finally, Ed goes into a movie a Marky Mark fan but comes out thinking like a mayor.
Four Brothers
I avoided seeing this film because I didn't think I would enjoy it. With few good movies opening, however, I decided to go because John Singleton is a superb director, and I enjoy seeing Mark Wahlberg on screen - he did a terrific job in "Traveller" and "Boogie Nights." It was a mistake to go.
The plot is simple. Four brothers reunite in Detroit to attend the funeral of their adopted, and now murdered, mother. Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) was a foster mother who adopted these four boys as youngsters because they were difficult to place in foster homes: Bobby (Mark Wahlberg) and Jack (Garrett Hedlund) are white, and Angel (Tyrese Gibson) and Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) are black. After the funeral the brothers agree, one reluctantly, to find their mother's murderer and execute justice. Although the gunfights, car chases, and man-to-man combat that follow rival Sam Peckinpah at his most violent, the movie drags because there are no nuances.
The movie was mostly filmed in Ontario, but part of it was shot in Detroit. In the snow both cities look alike. The film undoubtedly provided employment for some people in the suffering City of Detroit. That would be the only valid reason for making the film.
