Glengarry Glen Ross

Directed by: James Foley

Written by: David Mamet (play and screenplay)










This movie is, ostensibly, about the pressures of real estate sales.

David Mamet's script is fantastic. The screenplay holds a little too closely to the original play format (most of the scenes taking place in one room, lots of talking), but the dialogue is sharp and the story is compelling enough to allow the audience to overlook that limitation.

The acting consists of some of the finest performances ever put in the same film ever. Alec Baldwin's part is small and he only appears in one scene, but he is hard to forget. Jack Lemmon manages to make his character absolutely pathetic. Ed Harris makes his character's desperation real and tangible.

I'd have never thought that the world of real estate sales could be so emotionally powerful. But "Glengarry Glen Ross" changed all that.

Margin Call

Written and Directed by: J. C. Chandor

The economic collapse of the early 2000s went largely unnoticed by those who make films. There aren't many movies out there making overt reference to what was (and still is) one of the largest economic disasters of all time. For the most part, films have been depicting middle-class life just moving along like normal, ignoring the larger social context of the past five years. "Margin Call" is one of the few non-documentaries that I've come across to address this situation, using a fictional financial group (clearly based, at least loosely, on Lehmann Brothers and Goldman-Sachs).

Risk analyst Peter Sullivan (Quinto) is told to look at a project exiting manager (Tucci) had been working on, and what he finds is that his company's holdings are headed for disaster. Afraid of what the implications mean for the firm, Sullivan's boss Sam Rogers (Spacey) decides to call an emergency meeting that, ultimately goes all the way to the firm's CEO John Tuld (Irons). To ensure the survival of the company beyond the projected collapse, Tuld decides to order the immediate selling of all of the firm's toxic assets, despite Rogers's warnings that it would cripple the company and sever critical financial ties to other companies. Ultimately, the firm manages to dump their bad assets costing the firm hundreds of jobs as well, and Tuld tells Rogers that the firm took such harsh measures to weather the economic storm that they helped to create.

This movie was good, and one of its strongest aspects was the tension it was able to build by focusing on a limited time-frame and a limited setting. Most of the film's action takes place within a twenty-four hour period within a single building. Important decisions with massive ramifications must be made quickly, and one false move could mean the end of the company.

Another strength of the film was its ensemble cast. Everyone managed to play their part without overstepping anyone else. Irons was outstanding as the ruthless CEO, and Quinto dynamically played the up-and-coming analyst. Spacey managed to add a soft, sympathetic, human touch to his character who is forced to do things that will damage his reputation and his employees livelihoods.

There were a few rough-edges to this film that kept it from moving beyond "very good." Most notably, the presence of Demi Moore. Not only was her acting sub-par in this film (though, to be honest, she wasn't terrible), her character really didn't add much to the movie. I'm not sure what the character's purpose was at all. Her scenes felt like irrelevant fluff. Perhaps the only part that redeemed her role was the scene in which she interacts, brutally and bluntly, with Tucci's character.

It will take a lot longer for history of have a long enough scope to put perspective on this period in America. Still, when we get there, it will be important that we have some kind of cultural document - "Margin Call" - to show what happened when it all went down hill. It's not "The Grapes of Wrath," but it will do. For now.

Horrible Bosses

Directed by: Seth Gordon

Written by: Michael Markowitz, John Frances Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein

"Horrible Bosses" isn't horribly funny. It isn't horrible, but it isn't horribly good either. (Enough with the horrible gag now.)

Three friends (Bateman, Day, Sudeikis) commiserate on their crazy bosses. One boss (Aniston) is sexually aggressive, one boss (Farrell) is a cocaine addict, and one (Spacey) is just plain rotten. With a little help from Jamie Foxx's character, the buddies conspire to kill each others' bosses. Things quickly fall apart, though, and things go awry, leaving the friends running for the lives.

This movie was weak, all around. It felt like everyone - from the director on down - just decided to go through the motions. Even Jason Bateman - usually very funny - never broke from his typical character.

This is unfortunate, considering the material could have been molded into something great. The premise itself was funny in an absurd way, and it just needed to be fleshed out accordingly.

As with most comedies, the plot was a problem. In this case, frankly, there was too much of it. Too much time was spent getting to know the characters and establishing their backgrounds. It takes the story too long to get to the point where they decide to kill their bosses, considering that it's the basis of the action and was revealed in the trailer.

There were a few good points, though. Jennifer Aniston played her role well - which is to say she didn't play the usual Jennifer Aniston role. Although his role wasn't necessarily demanding from a technical aspect, Kevin Spacey really played his nasty, smarmy character well. Jamie Foxx stole the few scenes he was in, though I'm glad that his scenes were limited - he could have easily been overexposed.

"Horrible Bosses" earns a "not very good" review. I can't say that it's awful (unlike "Bad Teacher), but it definitely failed to reach its potential.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Tagline: "No Goats, No Glory."

Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a small-town journalist desperately trying to impress his estranged wife, travels to the Middle East to cover the Iraq War. On his way, he runs into Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who reveals that he's a psychic soldier on a secret mission. Turns out, as Cassady explains, that in the 1980s the Army trained a whole unit - the New Earth Army - to use new age strategies to fight the wars of the future, led by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges). But, alas, a power struggle ensues with one trooper, Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), fracturing the group. Using his psychic mind and intuition, Cassady leads himself and Wilton to a secret base in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Apparently, after the New Earth Army was dismantled, Hooper founded a Blackwater-style group and is making major money launching psychic warfare. Ultimately, Cassady and Django decide to sabotage Hooper's operation by spiking all the food with LSD and then they go riding off into the sunset, never to be seen again and leaving Wilton to try to report the strange tale.

This movie is good. Not great, but good. But, if it isn't already evident, the movie is hard to explain in conventional terms as well. It isn't quite fiction, but it isn't quite non-fiction either. (The opening title states "More of this is true than you would believe.") For a movie that seems to drag on at points, it is surprisingly short.

The hazy gray middle area that this movie occupies is ultimately what held it back. Cassady is so strange, crazy, and off-the-wall that I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to laugh at his absurdist ideas or to pity him for his disconnection from reality. At times the movie is artistic journalism, self-discovery journey, road trip, social commentary, and comedy. None of these are necessarily exclusive from one another, but too many of them packed into just shy of 90 minutes pulled my mind around too much. There were even just a few too many big-name actors thrown into such a short script. (And, I'm not complaining, but it seems like Jeff Bridges can now only play "the washed-up ________ trying to redeem himself." Insert "hippie" for this movie, "country singer" for "Crazy Heart," and, probably, video game programmer for the new "Tron.")

Despite my final confusion, I can easily say that I enjoyed watching the movie. All of the leads - Clooney, McGregor, Bridges, Spacey - were fantastic, dynamic characters. The rich colors of the sets and scenes gave a sense of being just on the edge of reality, without falling away to fantasy. The best comparison I can think of is that this movie is like a grilled hamburger - good on its own, but a few more spices could have made it much better.

Directed by: Grant Heslov

Written by: Peter Straughan (screenplay) and Jon Ronson (book)