To borrow the IMDB plot outline "When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss." Tom McCarthy writes and directs a charming tale of people and they way they interact, even when they don't want to interact. Fine acting all round from Peter Dinklage as Finbar, the hermit in training, Bobby Cannavale as Joe, the slightly annoying hot dog vendor, and Patricia Clarkson as Olivia, having difficulty coping with life and loss. It's great to see Dinklage in a lead role, as I thought he was hilarious in Living in Oblivion.
Rating: VID
When the director, writer and five of the six main actors are either Oscar winners or Oscar-nominated (Kevin Bacon being the exception, which is an oversight on the part of the Academy), you know that the film is going to be serious and Oscar baiting. A story that touches on child molesting and death is never going to be light viewing, this is intense stuff. Right from the beginning, Clint creates a sombre atmosphere for the film, which stays throughout. Everyone is very good, putting in some fine performances all round, even if I find the Boston accent slightly annoying (apologies to any Bostonians reading). I'm not sure why Penn's and Robbins' performances were more Oscar worthy than their other respective nominees, especially as I thought their accents dropped a bit during the emotional scenes, but that's just the way things are. A powerful story, with a downbeat and ambiguous ending, I was absorbed from start to finish.
Rating: DAVE
Bit of a link here, for those like myself who enjoy these sorts of things, in that Emmy Rossum is in this and Mystic River. This is a film that is not so much a story as a lecture wrapped in disaster movie trappings. The dialogue is ropey (scientists don't say, when someone introduces themselves as Terry Rapson, "Professor Rapson, of the blah-blah institute?" emphasising Professor, when at a conference on your specialised field), the plot secondary to the central idea (of the devastating affect that industrial pollution has on the fragile ecosphere) and the acting perfunctory. It starts okay, builds well, but finishes weak, like Emmerich's other films, but it's the special effects that make this worth watching. Spectacular scenes of CGI destruction are marvelous to behold, but there is no emotional connection to the characters, and you're left with the feeling that you are being harassed instead of attempting to initiate a discussion on the very important topic at the heart of the movie. With its resolution being that a few people in New York survive after billions die in the big freeze, and having the astronauts say, "Wow, doesn't the atmosphere look clean now?", it makes you wonder what the point of it was. Still, it looks nice.
Rating: DA
