Movie reviews

Movie reviews this week looks at the biographical drama War Eagle Arkansas.

This is a fairly recent biographical tale made for the big screen, that tells the story of two boys living in a rural community, War Eagle, Arkansas. The title might elude to it being a war story but it is far from it.

It is a story of a charming disabled boy known affectionately as "Wheels" played brilliantly by Dan McCabe (The Cake Eaters), and his best friend Enoch who has a speech impediment (played impressively well by Luke Grimes [Ryan in Brothers and Sisters]). Enoch lives with his grandfather better known as "Pop", played by the stalwart Brian Dennehy (Gladiator).

Pop is trying to get Enoch a baseball scholarship into one of the best sporting universities around their area, and it soon becomes obvious to the audience that Pop seems to have regretted giving up his dreams of being a major baseball star and staying in War Eagle, and he doesn't want that for Enoch, but you are not quite sure if Enoch dreams are to leave War Eagle.

The friendship of the two boys is so close, that at the first few scenes you automatically assume that they are siblings, spending as much time in each other's company as possible, and Enoch even gets to say the last word to Wheels, after his mother Jessie played by the ever brilliant Mary Kay Place (Adalene Grant in Big Love) gets him ready for bed.

Pop is in charge of the local baseball team, and in his attempt to get Enoch a baseball scholarship, pushes him as best as he can, as he sees it there is nothing in this town, to keep him there. Apart from baseball, there is an allusion to watching wrestling on TV, and one can't miss the obvious focus on Jerry "The King" Lawler, and can see the symbolism he represents as someone who made it out of war Eagle, Arkansas. There is the usual romantic interest as Enoch has the hots for a lovely girl, Abby played by the surprisingly young looking Misti Traya, and there are a few embarrassing moments for Enoch as he summons the courage to ask Abby out, but of course his speech impediment gets in the way, unless Wheels is by his side to speak for him, and in one painful scene, where Enoch tries to do it alone without Wheels, he leaves in a rush, as the words cannot come out and a few of Abby's friends can't help but giggle at his attempt. When he does eventually ask her out, the audience will feel the loneliness and pain Wheels feels, on a life he aspires for but is not realistic of seeing come true.

War Eagle Arkansas, is an endearing movie of two boys, and their friendship as they decide what path their lives are going to take, and they seek advice from the sole preacher at this close knit community, Jack played by James McDaniel (Lt. Arthur Fancy in NYPD Blue).

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Labels: baseball, biographical, Brian Dennehy, Dan McCabe, disablity, film review, film reviews, films, friendship, Luke Grimes, Mary Kay Place, Mistri Traya, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, romance, War Eagle Arkansas

Movie Reviews this week looks at the Oscar winning biographical drama The Blind Side.
It is an absolutely charming story, of Leigh Anne Tuohy played by the lovely Sandra Bullock (Speed), and the story of her adopted son, and you can see immediately why she won the best actress Oscar.

She plays a conservative mother in a very nice and well-off neighbourhood, who sees Michael Oher played very convincingly by Quinton Aaron, one rainy night walking aimlessly, she asks her husband Sean played by Tim McGraw (Four Christmases), to stop the car, she asks him where he is heading seeing he is just in a t-shirt in the pouring rain, he says he is going to the gym, she asks him again why he is going to the gym, and tells him the gym closed a while back, and for him not to lie to her, he says he is simply going there because it is warm.

Prior to this, we are told the story of how Mike got into the school in the first place. The coach at this Christian school, Burt Cotton played charmingly as always by Ray McKinnon (Randy and the Mob) had been approached by a fellow to allow his son into the school, as well as Mike, the coach sees Mike and the man's son playing basketball and sees the potential of Mike making them famous on a sporting arena, so convinces the board that it is their Christian duty to let him in. However in class Mike seems distant minded, and all the teachers are worried as he seems the slowest in the class, except for one particular teacher Mrs. Bower played the lovely Kim Dickens (Hollow Man) who notices Mike remembers the majority of what the teachers are saying, as he is able to describe in his own words the grasp of what it is they are saying, but may not necessarily write it down as eloquently as they wanted. As all the teachers are discussing Mike's ability one day, wondering if he can write, Mrs. Bower shows them a note that Mike had written that had been thrown in the trash, speaking of his sadness and what the teachers expect of him, to do all the work alone.

Leigh asks where he lives, his parents, or grandparents, Mike shakes his head nonchalantly, and Leigh amazingly takes him to her home, with a mild confrontation with her husband as to how long Mike is going to stay, he asks "This is just for the one night"? Where Leigh nods absentmindedly, but the expression on her face is already thinking of much longer term.

Mike gets along with Leigh's two children, her son S.J. played very impressively by Jae Head, and her daughter Collins played by the adorable Lily Collins, Leigh asks her how she would feel if Mike moved in with them permanently, she nonchalantly agrees, and when Mike is asked how he would feel moving having Leigh and Sean as his legal guardians, he smiles and thought he was already part of the family.

The Blind Side turns out is a very beautiful movie, of acceptance and love that a young man needs, and the struggle one woman faces with social services, her social circles, and the community in trying to make one boy's life better, and what makes this movie even more amazing is this is a true story.

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Labels: adoption, biographical, drama, film review, film reviews, films, football, Jae Head, Kim Dickens, Lily Collins, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side, Tim McGraw

Movie Reviews this week looks at the charming biographical drama An Education.
It stars the lovely Carey Mulligan (Bleak House) as Jenny, a very bright sixth former, on her way to studying English at Oxford, currently studying her A levels during 1961.
She is pushed by her well meaning father Jack, played with a great deal of melancholy by Alfred Molina (Dr. Octavius in Spider-man 2), and her supportive mother Marjorie, played by Cara Seymour (Hotel Rwanda), you can tell immediately from his demeanor that this is a little biographical if not the entire movie, there is a scene that gives an idea of how far things have changed where Jenny's boyfriend drives up to a black family waiting on the pavement playfully picks up one of the kids and takes them into an apartment, on returning Jenny asks how he knows those "Negroes"?.

As Jenny goes home one day after a cello lesson, a mysterious stranger David played by Peter Saarsgard (Jarhead), offers her a lift, well in fact he offers her cello a lift, saying he is worried such a lovely instrument would be damaged in the rain, and he wouldn't want her to jump in the car with a complete stranger, so she can walk while he drives. As a flirtatious teenager surprised at the attention she agrees, and after a short while walking and talking she enters the car and is dropped promptly at her front door.

He is charming enough, and soon he starts to stop outside of her school, and the inevitable romance commences, at first viewers may be a little perturbed why an older man would want to date a young school girl, but after sometime you do realise David does genuinely care for her. Surprisingly seeing he so well cultured, Jenny's father agrees to the liaison, then of course it is 1961, and he sees his daughter's options are either excelling academically and going to Oxford, or meeting a very wealthy and cultured individual, and being looked after, as he puts it "He wouldn't want you if you were thick".

David somehow manages to convince Jack to allow him to take his daughter on weekend trips, along with his friend Danny played by Dominic Cooper (The History Boys), and his girlfriend Helen played the gorgeous Rosamund Pike (Surrogates, there is a sarcastic scene where all four of them are in Oxford, and Danny mentions the dread of having to suffer for three years here, where Helen agrees, when in actuality Rosamund Pike did go to Oxford), and even to Paris.

Jenny after sometime sees the rigmarole of going to school and studying hard only to find a boring job and be in it for the rest of her life, as too depressing and she confronts her headmistress played by Emma Thompson (I am Legend), after it is found that she is dating an older man; that could interfere with her education. She states during this confrontation that her stance of leading a studious and boring life to get into Oxford only to enter into a studious and boring job for the rest of her life has to be justified, for future students who may have the same questions.

An Education is a brilliant and well made movie, and you can see immediately why it has Oscar nominations protruding throughout, especially for it's main character Jenny played by Carey Mulligan.
Movie Reviews is constantly updated with excellent reviews of great movies that are a must see.

Labels: 60's, Alfred Molina, An Education, biographical, Cara Seymour, Carey Mulligan, Dominic Cooper, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Peter Saarsgard, romance, Rosamund Pike

Movie Reviews this week looks at the drama The Men Who Stare At Goats. The title of this movie itself is intriguing as it doesn't give a clue what the movie is about.

It stars Ewan McGregor (the younger Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) as Bob Wilton, a journalist whose wife has just left him for his boss, he is feeling sorry for himself, and contemplates going to Iraq on a hunch after finding out about some psychic division of the U.S. military, he hopes to write about this that will get him recognition, and that doing this will stand him in good stead with his wife, and maybe she can see that he is doing something of major importance, so he can initiate a reconciliation with her. Whilst in Iraq he comes across Lyn Cassady played by the stalwart George Clooney (Ocean's Eleven, Up In The Air). At first glance with the stories Lyn tells Bob, the audience just as Bob, begins to wonder about the mental well being of Lyn.

Lyn constantly refers to himself as being a Jedi, while Bob dismisses it as absurd (I am sure the irony of Ewan McGregor playing a Jedi in the last three Star Wars movies is not lost on the audience). After a while you realise Lyn did indeed work for a special branch of the U.S. military called New Earth Army, led by the charismatic Bill Django played by the legendary Jeff Bridges (Star Man), Bill soon after the Vietnam war tried various aspects of the hippy lifestyle, and is recruited to lead the New Earth Army, where amongst other things the students were taught remote viewing: Being able to tell the exact location of where someone is just by thinking about them, Lyn reveals the military kept goats in an abandoned medical centre, which were used to train soldiers on how to dress a wound, he also reveals his psychic ability was tested on goats, hence the name of the movie.

The New Earth Army had Lyn as its star pupil, and one of Bill's ingenuous techniques was to get his pupils to dance, and even say a little prayer to the Earth for eating its produce, these new age techniques, were found to be a little irritating to one of the other recruits Larry Hooper played by the dependable Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects), who has plans to launch a coup to take over the New Earth Army, not to mention being a little jealous of Lyn for his impressive psychic abilities.

Whilst in Iraq there is a little bit of reality for Bob, when on a journey with Lyn, their car breaks down in the desert, and as luck would have it someone comes along to pick them up, but they are taken as hostages instead, while Lyn calmly states nothing is going to happen to them, at this point the audience will no doubt be wondering just as Bob is, if Lyn has blurred the line between reality and fantasy.

This is an intriguing movie, and you are left wondering just how much of this story does the author himself believe as true. The opening credits does state most of the story in the movie is truer than you would believe, it is an interesting point of view, and regardless of its veracity it is compelling to watch.

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Labels: Action, biographical, drama, Ewan MacGregor, film review, film reviews, films, George Clooney, hippy, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, military, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, The Men Who Stare At Goats, true story