Belle (2014)

"You are..You are...YOU ARE....illegitimate!" -Lady Elizabeth Murray

As period dramas go, I find that the story's success will be inversely related to the amount of time spent hammering out 'the would be obvious" and explaining that there is dramatic tension.  Thus, excellent period dramas explain very little and simply take their surroundings as fact. Poor period dramas spend vast amounts of time explaining relations, the issues of power, and the intricacies of then current politics/social issues over and over.  I also content that the relationship between exposition and success is even more divergent for a British period drama.  Propriety would insist that exposition is tacky.

With this in mind, I consider Belle to be on the poorer end of the period drama spectrum.  Its plot and script are written with extensive elements of heavy handed exposition.  Additionally, I found the word choice and syntax of the script to be jagged and below English high society elegance.  However, there were some positives to Belle.  1. The actors were professional and performed remarkably given script limitations.  2. The costumes and sets were superb.  I wish the script had taken the time to be written with the same care and attention to detail that went into hat selection.

I have two additional notes on the film.  Why is it titled Belle?  The main character is referred to throughout the film as Dido, which is her first name.  I'm only curious as to if the marketing department felt that a film titled "Dido" might not perform as well as one with a more elegant and fairy-tale-esque name?  Additionally, as a note for Mr. Tom Felton, AKA Draco Malfoy, I appreciate that you can play spite and malice as well as any actor, but please be careful as you are in danger of becoming typecast.  I would like to see you take on more diverse roles.

On a scale of The House of Commons to The House of Lords, I give Belle 3.2 out of 5 stars.          


  

Million Dollar Arm (2014)

"Everything is on schedule with only moderate delays." (Million Dollar Arm -Indian Business Manager)
"Oh yeah...The Flamingo." (Alan Arkin -as an old crusty baseball scout ie Obi-Wan Kenobi.)

Million Dollar Arm is an acceptable continuation of Disney's "based on real life events" sports movies. I liked Remember the Titans and The Rookie more than Million Dollar Arm, but they all have their moments. If you are in need of a film to cheer you up in a predictable way, Million Dollar Arm is a great choice. You might even learn a thing or two about India.

I am not original in deducing that Disney movies are blandly similar and reuse time worn tropes to great effect. Here are two sample short movie plots I have created in the same genre.

1.  A loving man long ago cast aside his dreams of a professional ping-pong championship for family.  Now, at the age of 90, can he resurrect his career and attain personal fulfillment with the help of his friends, family, and extended community?

2.  A young, down on his luck, self-obsessed lawyer thinks that defending a ragtag youth Ultimate Frisbee teams' field against an encroaching golf course will resurrect his career.  Can Ultimate soften his cold heart and teach him the value of community?

On a scale of 1 million rupees to 1 million dollars, I give Million Dollar Arm 3.1 out of 5 stars.              

  

Lincoln (2012)

"Nothing ever made the British shit like the sight of George Washington" (Abraham Lincoln -quoting Ethan Allen)

"You're telling one of those stories aren't you.  I won't have it. NO! No no." (Edwin M. Stanton)

The movie Lincoln was an interesting piece of history. It was well acted, well directed, and clearly relevant to our culture today.  However as a film, I found it to be underwhelming.  The movie failed to capture my interest in that I never reasonably doubted the success of our hero. In order for it to have had impact, Lincoln would have required a great deal more manufactured stressors.  One might also be tempted to see Lincoln as a bio-pic/platform-pic for the prodigious talent of Daniel Day-Lewis.  I appreciate that interpretation, but for that to ring true Lincoln would have to take on a more broad stoke approach to the life of Abraham Lincoln and not just the back story to the passage of the 13th amendment.

I would like to pause a moment and consider that Tommy Lee Jones is possibly an underrated actor.  I know that might be strange to comprehend, but the concept is growing on me.  His performance as Thaddeus Stevens was remarkable.

On a non-film specific note, I learned something interesting from watching Lincoln. On close inspection, I noticed that there is an less often remarked but nontheless talented generation of character actors that need to be appreciated for their abilities to fill in roles with flourish and yet never take on the mantle of leading a movie or show.  My thought is that when the producers of Lincoln were in pre-production the call went out for white actors of merit and gravitas from 40 to 80 who were capable enough to hold their own scenes, but not necessarily good enough to upstage anyone.  Seriously, Lincoln required at the least 35 character actors that could not be schlubs and had to be able to passably look the part of a U.S. Senator, Congressmen, or General in 1965.

Enter our true heroes of Lincoln:

David Staithairn (Most recently on this blog in Godzilla) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000657/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t3

Hal Holbrook http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001358/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t6

Jackie Earle Haley http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0355097/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t9

Bruce McGill (The incomporable D-Day from Animal House) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569226/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t10

Jared Harris (Mad Men and Fringe) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364813/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t13

John Hawkes http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0370035/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t8   

Tim Blake Nelson ( O' Brother where art thou) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625789/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t11

Boris McGiver http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569409/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20

and the youngster of the group

Lee Pace (King Thranduil himself) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569409/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20

Oh and I think of James Spader as a leading man...but he makes an amazing lobbyist in Lincoln

On a scale of a law to an amendment, I give Lincoln 3.6 stars out of 5/