****

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot-sp

The United States is in the midst of a horrendous addiction crisis. This movie gets to the heart of one man’s battle with alcoholism and the devastating effect that his illness had upon him. In a post-film discussion with Jack Gibson, one of the writers who wrote the book upon which this film was based, we learned that this movie has been 20 years in the making. It is based on a true story of the main character, John Callahan, who was originally going to be played by the late Robin Williams. As great a job as Williams might have done with this role, Joaquin Phoenix turned in a performance that we strongly believe deserves Oscar consideration. Thanks to his ability to inhabit his character, and what could also be an award-winning accomplishment by the director, Gus Van Sant, John Callahan vividly comes to the screen in various phases of his addiction, including being permanently paralyzed in an electric wheelchair with limited movement of his arms due to an alcohol-related accident. We gained some insight into his childhood experiences which undoubtedly led him to his addiction. We painfully shared his struggle in the AA program where he meets several people, including a young man who has inherited wealth but ends up as an addict, ultimately becoming Callahan’s AA sponsor. This role was very well played by Jonah Hill. There are also other excellent performances by Rooney Mara and Jack Black.

There are so many facets to Mr. Callahan’s battle with his disease which include his finding a way to make love, becoming a successful cartoonist, searching for his birth mother, going through the 12 steps of AA, including making amends, that we are torn between concluding that the film was too long (almost two hours) and yet at times, too superficial and that there were some very important area of his life that we wanted to see in more depth.

We believe that this film is destined for success, not only because of the bold depiction of one man’s struggle with alcoholism, but also because it should be seen and we feel will be viewed by so many people who are impacted by addiction. (2018)

****

Moneyball- rm  A major movie which deals with the complexities of baseball stands a good chance of capturing a big piece of the American pie. When you add a star such as Brad Pitt you have the recipe for a perfect dessert. However, this film which emerges on the scene as major league baseball is gearing for the playoff season, deals with more than just our national pastime. It is a metaphor for the problems facing so many businesses today as they realize that in order to win in today’s competitive world, you have to be more than the biggest guy around with most bucks. You have to be smart, understand modern technology and be creative. That is exactly what Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics and his trustworthy Assistant Manager and computer nerd, Yale graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill)  set out to prove when he realized that the meager salary cap that his owner gave him for his team couldn’t hold a candle to the one that the  New York Yankees had available to them. Baseball fans, most of whom understand the fine points of the game will appreciate the logic of the idea that three guys who all together get on base as often as the big gun who makes several times all their salaries combined might be better value to draft or hold on the team. This thesis based on real events is played out with drama, humor and much realism assisted by very realistic actors playing baseball, real baseball video clips and the voices of real baseball announcers. Brad Pitt infuses into Billy Beane the determination, inner confidence and likeability that holds the attention of the audience. We shouldn’t forget a very strong  (as usual) supporting role played by Phllip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe, the A’s manager. The movie is directed by Bennett Miller and the screenplay co-written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, the latter being  well known for producing riveting dialog which also characterized this production.  (2011)

* *
Cyrus – sp – Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass are the screenwriters/directors of this movie which is their first relatively big budget independent film and it has been picked up by Fox for distribution. This skillful duo has a knack for providing interesting characters with very realistic dialog. They discourage rehearsal and let their actors work using the script but improvising to bring out their interpretation of the their characters. In this case they had John C. Reilly and Marisa Tomei playing two somewhat awkward people in their mid 40s who seem to be falling in love shortly after meeting and hopping into bed. Tomei’s character has a 22 year old son, Cyrus well captured by Jonah Hill who appears to be a regressed mama’s boy who is joined at the hip with his mom but yet has a cold calculating almost evil side who will do whatever he can to prevent John played by Reilly from taking her away. This is essentially the plot . As John gradually becomes aware of the intense relationship between his new girl friend and her son he seeks the advise of his ex-wife played by Catherine Keener . He ultimately tries to confront Cyrus which leads to some intense and comedic moments. The Duplass brothers acknowledge that they do not provide much back story so we see these weird but appealing characters as they are, without knowing how they got to be this way or why they undergo some change. Therefore the result is a “Johnny one note” film with a simple story. Despite the talented expressions and sensitivity of the actors, we are not greatly moved or enlightened. There were a few somewhat disorienting brief scenes in the movie where the characters were talking without moving their lips but yet it did not appear to be a representation of internal thinking. When we asked the directors about this, they acknowledged that in one case they were trying to correct and shift the dialog which they were doing in the editing room. They then decided to use this motif in a few other scenes. While we did not feel the net result of this film merited our recommendation, we will look forward to future work by these talented brothers. (2010)