AMERICAN SNIPER  3.8***

        Few times does a movie  entertain  yet at the same time tell deep truths. American Sniper manages just that. If one wanted a current definition of an American Patriot hero it's effectively brought to life by the masterful direction of Clint Eastwood. This movie will be one of his crowning achievements in a much celebrated career. Such a feat could not be accomplished with just any story however. The life of Chris Kyle, and what he did and what he stood for, makes a perfect match. The film is based upon the true life events of Chris Kyle, a highly skilled and determined Navy SEAL sniper, and his brothers-in-arms in the Iraq war.  It's a story about a Texas boy who grew up to be a man‘s man  yearning to fulfill one specific duty: To protect men, women and children from those who seek to do evil and harm. The movie takes us through some of his early life and training, and then juggles between his 4 tours in Iraq and his returns to home and family in Texas as he struggles with internal and external dilemmas including PTSD. It's a moving and dramatic portrayal of the life of Chris Kyle, who during those 4 tours had 160 confirmed  kills that saved many more American lives.

Bradley Cooper's amazingly real depiction of a "complicated, yet simple Texas cowboy" breathes life into a story surrounded by the darkness of war. It single-handedly makes that phrase "The Greatest Generation"  one that didn't end with WWII.  Coopers’ performance is remarkable and well deserving of his Oscar nomination for “Best Actor” , the 3^rd year in a row that he’s been nominated in that category.

American Sniper is rare in that it shows the brutality of war yet presents it in a watchable way.  While folks such as I have led a very normal, SAFE life stateside during the years since 9/11,  men just like Chris Kyle have been laying everything on the line for the very  freedoms we were so casually enjoying. One can't help but feel humbled by what these men accomplished and sacrificed. War is the worst of humanity without doubt, but within war the best of America and its soldiers often rise above both evil and politics. Chris Kyle was assuredly one of the finest examples  of such and American Sniper is a fine testament of which we all can be proud.  

Clark

WILD  3.0***

   In “Wild”, Reese Witherspoon  stars as Cheryl Strayed, an aspiring Minnesota writer who tailspins into drug abuse and empty sex after her 45-year-old mother, Bobbi (Laura Dern), dies of cancer. To rediscover herself, she decides to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail, a  1,100-mile route from the Mojave Desert through California, Oregon and Washington to the Canadian border. An inexperienced hiker, she sets off with a ridiculously overstuffed backpack (a running joke) and undersized boots, but with a gritty determination.The film chronicles Strayed’s 94-day hike, beginning in the middle when she loses a boot and a toenail.  She encounters numerous people along the way, mostly men, and – with one or two scary exceptions – all are decent.

Flashbacks unfolding in Cheryl’s mind, meanwhile, transport viewers into her troubled past. The way the flashbacks are handled  is well done. They come up in much same  way memories would on such an expedition and Cheryl's past is painted in quick brushstrokes that ultimately give you a sense of who she is.  However the flashbacks  consume about one-third of the movie and break up the  narrative and detract from the main story, the hike itself.

Yet the film is still smart, scenic, well-acted and emotionally real enough to satisfy as a female into-the-woods adventure and  memoir.  It shows an intelligent, embracingly imperfect heroine.

Witherspoon is charismatic and believable, although she never quite sheds her movie-star quality ( she just doesn’t quite look as worn and grimy as you would expect for such a grueling undertaking ). However she does give a strong performance which IS good enough to get an Oscar nomination.   Whether quoting poetry, climbing breathtaking cliffs, swearing at a rock, or craving potato chips, she inspires you to go the distance with her.

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language

Clark

PS: The filming was done using only natural light (no artificial lighting at all); the no mirrors were covered on the set to avoid any primping; the young girl playing Cheryl in the flashbacks is in fact Cheryl’s daughte;r and it was filmed in Oregon and Washington both on and off the PCT trail.

INTO THE WOODS  3.5***

         The Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine 1987 Broadway musical “Into the Woods” has been transferred to the screen by director Rob Marshall with most of its complexities and light-dark tones intact.    Although its first hour is more stunning than its second, this is a movie musical that, for a change, never slumps into a false “Hollywood” wholesomeness. It’s one of the rare musicals that both children (not the young kids…but 12 and over) and adults can enjoy, though for somewhat different reasons. Children will delight in the vast potpourri of classic fairy tales and adults will appreciate the wisdom and moralities in the retellings.

For those not familiar with this  musical, Into the Woods tells the intertwined tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel, connected by a story of a childless baker and his wife, and the evil witch who cursed them. The  movie does a very good job of combining the four classic fairy tales, along with the new material into one plot line that is not only coherent but quite clever as well, with each story building on the others and their characters crossing paths in the most amusing ways. And just when you think it's over ( i.e. a “happy ending”) things get serious and we see what happens after the “happily ever after”. It has just the right touch of humor, spectacle and special effects along with a  solid cast, excellent production values, and a clever screenplay which makes this film achieve what it was meant to be: a twisted reworking of some pretty dark material that has been sanitized way too much in most adaptations.

The cast is large and for the most part up to the task. James Corden and Emily Blunt are wonderful as the village baker and his wife, who are childless due to the curse placed upon them (long story) by the blue-haired Wicked Witch, played and sung with ravishing zest by Meryl Streep, looking like she’s having the time of her life. Anna Kendrick  is Cinderella, who, in this version of the tale, purposely leaves behind her glass slipper for the Prince (Chris Pine) to find. The Prince is a pompous twit whose best line comes when he confesses, “I was raised to be charming, not sincere. “Among the large cast is also Johnny Depp’s brief appearance as the Wolf, Tracey Ullman as the overbearing mother of Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), and Lilla Crawford as a precocious Red Riding Hood.

Being a musical, this film is not for everyone. And Sondheim is not for everyone. Many of his songs are more about the words than the music and, thus, are not as hummable or memorable as what you would find in "Phantom of the Opera".

Clark

 

THE IMITATION GAME  3.5***

Per my research, the life story of Alan Turing has inspired books, documentaries, a choral composition, and even a musical . Yet for most people, he and his accomplishments are unknown. But his work quite literally changed the world in a number of different ways. If you're reading this review on a computer, for example, you owe a debt of gratitude to the late Mr. Turing, the “father” of computers. A brilliant mathematician, he was responsible for building a machine, a computer, that cracked the Nazi Engima code, thought to be unbreakable, during WWII. The Imitation Game recounts that experience, celebrating Turing's accomplishments and his misfortunes while also taking a long, hard look at  the nature and cost of keeping secrets. .

 

There's  a line that is repeated for emphasis in the movie about how it might be the ones we don’t imagine  making a difference who  go on to imagine incredible things  The repetition works. It has an impact because by the end when I heard it again, it gave me chills. We  get to understand the depth of that line, and how it can inspire and change the world, which is a quite accomplishment for any  film.

 

The Imitation Game is a lively, exciting beat-the-clock thriller that shows the hurdles Turing faces. Inability to get along with others, technical malfunctions, a government that didn't always understand what he was doing – all these things and more make an already difficult challenge that much harder. One of the most pleasurable aspects of the film is that it avoids stodginess in telling the story. While it pays deep respect to the accomplishment Turing achieved – and builds a strong feeling of mounting suspense - there are still many moments of humor, and the dialogue between characters is frequently sharp and witty. The approach ensures that The Imitation Game holds your attention for every second, as you wait to see how each challenge will be met.

 

Benedict Cumberbatch is outstanding as Turing,  creating a character who is socially awkward and immensely focused . Cumberbatch makes it all feel authentic, so that we believe in his ability to make his machine work while also understanding how frustrating he is to the not-quite-so-understanding people around him. Keira Knightley also gives a solid supporting actress performance of the  as the woman who initially fears the point of the mission, then comes to vehemently defend it and Turing.

 

Clark