Sunday, February 27, 2011

"Mother and Child", Rodrigo García (2010)

Excellent performances are hampered by some reactionary plot twists that overpowers the actors´efforts with the ideology of the writer-director.  García punishes the most interesting character with a fate straight out of religious allegories, killing the movie in the process. (2/5)

The following reviewer put my thoughts online when the movie was released, and I agree with his words:

Slant magazine review by Andrew Schenker: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/mother-and-child/4798

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1121977/

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

"Carancho" (Vulture), Pablo Trapero (2010)

Pablo Trapero came from San Justo, a suburb in the south-west of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.  San Justo is dirty, corrupt and hopeless.  Now it has a new shopping-mall, but it does not appear in "Carancho".  In this movie the only thing that shines on the dark streets is one of the best actors of the world, the incredible Ricardo Darín, playing an ambulance-chaser ex-lawyer working for a shady organization which takes the cases of accident victims, wins them and pockets most of the money extracted from the insurance companies.  All of this, of course, with the full knowledge of the local police and the local hospital authorities.
The movie has some tonal discrepancies, a shift from naturalism to gritty film-noir, and too much despair for my taste, but many scenes are good (even virtuous if predictable; you know what Trapero is doing, and you´re waiting for it as you wait for the serial killer in a horror movie).  It makes for a good time at the cinema, if you can accept a couple of superfluous intimate scenes. The final shot is unwarranted, but Polanski did a lot worse this year, and if an old master can make mistakes, a young filmmaker can be forgiven (3+/5).

 IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542852

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

"The Ghost Writer", Roman Polanski (2010)

What a dissapointment!  The movie is beautifully shot and has a menacing ambience, but the central mystery is innocuous and politically naive.  The final shot of the film belongs in "Final Destination" and not here.  There is more socially relevant info in the end credits of "The Other Guys" than in this political thriller that doesn´t have too much of both.  Performances are excellent, and the central subject of the movie are the ghosts pulling the levers of the machine.  Other than that, a simple toy for simple minds (2/5).

Rotten Tomatoes link: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012063-ghost_writer/