Evan E. Richards Film Blog

Lucky Number Slevin

Posted by Evan E. Richards

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Director: Paul McGuigan

This film is about a guy named Slevin (Josh Hartnett) who is mistaken for someone he is not by a mob boss (Morgan Freeman) and hired to kill the son of the opposing mob boss (played by Ben Kingsly). At the same time there is another hitman wandering around (Bruce Willis), an undercover police officer (Stanley Tucci) and a girl that lives across the hall (Lucy Liu) to complicate things. Great cast. Not so great movie.

This film has so many plot holes in it I couldn't really count them all. I can suspend my disbelief as much as the next guy, but there was just a lot of stuff in this movie that was rediculous. Why would bodyguards bust through the wall? Why don't they just walk in through the door like everyone else. How do you get the unconscious body of a mafia kingpin down from one highrise penthouse and up into another without anyone seeing? If a guy is pretending to be someone why would he tell someone he isn't? If you watch the whole movie you will see it is sort of a trick inside a trick. I don't want to give away the ending, but the whole thing it too contrived for my liking. If you go back and think about the entire film in light of the last 20 minute, you will see that there are just lots of problems that are never addressed. Other than that though, this was a fairly enjoyable film. There were some nice stylistic flourishes reminiscent of Guy Ritchie, and the few action scenes are well done for the most part.

The wallpaper in the movie is amazing. If you happen to watch this movie, keep a look out for the wallpaper designs. I really like them. They are amazing; very retro. Several times during the film I found myself wondering where I could find that particular pattern.

My rating: 3 out of 5

Winter Passing

Posted by Evan E. Richards

Winter Passing (2005)
Director: Adam Rapp

Reese hasn't talked to her dad for years. Her mom killed herself several months ago. Both her parents were famous writers a long time ago so I suppose it isn't that surprising when a publicist comes and offers her $100,000 for the letters her mother and father wrote to each other when they were courting.

I love quirky characters. This movie is full of them. Corbit (Will Ferrell) is a Christian guitarist who was recently kicked out of a band called "Punching Pilate". He plays the guitar and sings, but can't do both at the same time. He hits golf balls indoors with his friend, the famous writer, Don Holden (Ed Harris). Holden lives in the garage but keeps most of the furniture from the house in the back yard. Shelly (Amelia Warner) it seems does the cooking and laundry. They all three live in a house filled to the brim with books. Reese (Zooey Deschanel) is an aspiring actress who has a drug problem, and kills her kitten because it is diagnosed with leukemia.

I really like Zooey Deschanel. This is the second movie she has been in with Will Ferrell (Elf was the first). She’s a good actress. She plays both the emotion and the lack of emotion with equal skill. She has a way of talking that makes her always sound drunk, but she has a very cute and approachable girl-next-door look to her.

I don't know why Ed Harris took this role. It isn't a very meaty part. He did a good job, but it is just a small role I am surprised he was interested in. It’s reminiscent of his role as Jackson Pollack, but it’s just...much smaller and shabbier.

Will Ferrell is very good in a semi-serious role. I always thought that the best comedic actors could also be the best dramatic actors (Robin Williams, Jim Carrey etc.)

This is a cold, sad story. It reminds me a bit of Garden State. It was written by a playwright and it shows. It isn't bad it’s just...stagy. But it is enjoyable; if you have an extra hour and a half some night it might just be worth a look.

My Rating: 3 out of 5

The Getaway

Posted by Evan E. Richards

The Getaway (1972)
Director: Sam Peckinpah

Doc McCoy (Steve McQueen) has been granted parole by a man named Beynon under the condition that he robs a bank! That's story idea behind this Peckinpah film. It moves along fairly slowly, until about halfway through when there is a chase scene inside a train. That was far and away the best part of the movie. Then the pace slows down again and continues that way pretty much until the end of the picture.

Ali MacGraw is gorgeous but her acting is not. She doesn't show a moment of emotion in the whole film, and her line delivery is just plain bad. You would think that since she was actually in a real life relationship with McQueen at the time they would have some sort of on screen chemistry, but alas that is not the case.

Steve McQueen's acting, as you might expect is a little better than MacGraws but I think he was held back by the dialog. There isn't much dialog in this film, but when there is it isn't all that impressive or important.

I found the sub-plot to be one of the most interesting parts of the movie. It involves a mans wife falling in love(?) with Rudy, the other criminal who is hunting down McQueen. Rudy forces a doctor and the doctors wife to bandage up his shoulder and then forces them both to drive him to Texas. The wife seems to like Rudy but you think "She is just trying to lull him into a false sense of security" but then as the film goes on you see that is not the case. The fact that a woman falls in love with a bad bad man is nothing new, but to do so enthusiastically and almost defiantly in front of the man who loves you is just a horrible thing to do to someone. I found it to be the most poignant part of the entire film. I can't say as I blame the husband for his reaction.

This isn't Peckinpah's best film. Apparently McQueen, who was a big star at the time, had a lot of sway over how the film was written, edited, and even scored; so maybe it isn't really Peckinpah's fault. Apparently he disowned the film after he saw the final cut. That may have been wise.

My rating: 3 out of 5

Akeelah and the Bee

Posted by Evan E. Richards

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
Director: Doug Atchison

This was the first movie ever produced by Starbucks. For those of you who aren't familiar with filmmaking lingo this means that starbucks footed the bill (or at least part of it). That was a good move. This is an excellent film to begin your producing portfolio.

This movie is very similar to "Searching for Bobby Fischer" it just has spelling instead of chess. Lawrence Fishburne even plays the coach character again. Basic plot: A young black girl from Los Angeles tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee. That's it. Seems simple enough, and it is. The plot plays out pretty much how you would expect. It contains all the characters you would expect to see in a film like this. You have the mysterious but effective coach (who is usually played by Lawrence Fishburne anyway in movies like this), you have the reluctant mother, you have the arch rival and his overbearing father, and a collection of bullies from family and school. In spite of all this the film is quite good.

You might think that a movie about spelling would be boring, but it isn't. It is a new twist on a theme we have seen many times before. The characters are great. Akeelahs friend Javier is one of the greatest characters I have seen in a while. He absolutely stole a scene where he is stalls for time at a spelling bee. I especially liked Eddie Steeples (Crabman from "My name is Earl") turn as the shady drug dealer(?) character. I thought it was very clever to have a character who is bad by societies standards but still has some good intentions for other people. Why wouldn't a drug dealer root for a little girl to win a spelling bee? Even drug dealers have feelings, but most movies don't portray them that way.

I feel like the thing that set this film apart from others is that Akeelah really has compassion for other people. In "Searching for Bobby Fischer", Joshua Waitzkin offers his rival a draw, but you get the feeling he is just doing it because he feels it is the right thing for a chess player to do under the circumstances, and not because he feels any sense of compassion for the other boy. This is not at all the case with Akeelah. Akeelah is very empathetic towards the people she comes in contact with, and it makes for a different dynamic than most normal films.

I do think that this film is riding the wave of the spelling bee craze in the USA right now, but it is a good film so I don't mind.

My rating: 4 out of 5