The Road

So let me get this straight: the world shattering event wiped out all the…bicycles? I have to imagine that this story worked better on the page than on the screen, as the depiction here simply shows too many internal story contradictions to truly give the viewer a worthwhile experience. By the tale’s own internal logic, these characters should have starved to death long before the narrative ever begins. More problematic is the movie’s core concept: things are awful, then they’re awful some more, and then, finally, they’re still awful—with perhaps the suggestion that things might get better, but maybe not. One has to wonder, what exactly is the redeeming value of telling such a story? It comes across as a simple exercise in misanthropic speculation, as virtually no one in the tale comes across very well. Even the worst curmudgeon among us must believe that, even in such dire circumstances, more people than not would choose to do right by others, rather than resort to, among other things, cannibalism. Really, this story seems like a work that pretends to offer wisdom and a deep understanding of humanity, but in fact it just indulges in an unrelentingly bleak outlook simply for the sake of bleakness. And, finally, I am biased against people who say “papa” instead of “dad”; just a quirk of mine. No amount of emotional heavy lifting from Viggo Mortenson is enough to overcome this film’s fatal, fundamental flaws. I suggest skipping this trip—and if you do find yourself forced onto this journey, maybe be sure to use that one bullet you have left sooner rather than later. 

Motherless Brooklyn

This outing poses an obvious question: who made the mistake in making the lead character a Tourette's-afflicted gumshoe? Was it Edward Norton the writer, or Norton the director, or Norton the actor? Amazingly enough, the auteur gets off the hook, as the condition comes from the source book, and was simply carried over into the movie. I suppose it would have been impossible not to do so, as the character's affliction is a signature mark of the work, but the device probably works better in print--where the reader has a certain amount of control over distraction--rather than on screen, where it becomes a one more layer of opacity in a complex story. Some of the story gets away from the viewer, which adds a demerit to an otherwise solid effort. So too with Norton's penchant (typical in an unproven director) to try to be a bit too gimmicky in the presentation; sometimes it works, other times keeping it simple would have served better. Those flaws are mostly outweighed by the overall skill, which is well employed in creating a solid, neo-noir environment that is one of the real joys of the film experience. It's hardly perfect, but this piece is perfectly watchable, and promise even better works to come.

12 Years a Slave

An artfully crafted and masterfully executed film. This movie achieves exactly what you would hope and expect from a film on this subject: the viewer must watch this story and think to himself, “How would I react to being treated this way?”--precisely the kind of empathy required to prevent such madness. And ‘madness’ is the proper term; in some ways, this film serves as a meditation on how big a role insanity played in creating, justifying, and propping up slavery as an institution. (Not to mention religion, of course.) It’s worthy of its awards, and certainly worthy of your attention.