April movie reviews

 

 SOURCE CODE.  In this science fiction thriller, Jake Gyllenhaal wakes up on a train.  He is completely disoriented, but the attractive woman across the aisle appears to know him (as somebody else).  But he knows he is a helicopter pilot serving in Afghanistan.  He stumbles to the bathroom, only to find the face in the mirror isn’t his.  As he is trying to figure out what is going on, the entire train blows up.  He regains consciousness in a confined space, where through a video screen an Air Force captain is trying to get him to concentrate on his mission.  Which is to live the last 8 minutes of a train rider’s life, again and again, until Jake figures out who blew up the train and therefore stops another, future terrorist attack.  So he does keep going back, trying to solve the crime, changing the events bit by bit, while at the same time trying to figure out what has happened to his own self.  If you like science fiction, alternate universe type movies, you’ll probably like this one.  I did.  

WIN WIN.  Paul Giamatti is a small-town lawyer who is having trouble making it in the bad economy.  He has a slip of ethics, taking conservatorship over an old man (Bert Young) for the money he can make from it.  When the old man’s grandson shows up, Paul and his wife (Amy Ryan) end up taking him in.   The kid seems a little odd, but turns out he is an outstanding wrestler (Paul coaches the local high school team), and the last-place team gets a real boost from the kid’s participation.  The movie also has Jeffrey Tambor, Melanie Lynsky and Bobby Canavan in great supporting roles.  Another one of those Paul Giamatti movies where he plays an ordinary guy with regular problems, making human mistakes.  I really liked the arc of the movie and all the relationships.

HANNA.  Hanna (Soirse Ronan) is a young teenage girl who lives near the Arctic Circle with her dad (Eric Bana).  He is teaching her all the survival skills she could ever need.  One of those skills includes defending yourself from assassins.  Her dad realizes she is getting older, and gives her the option to leave.  When she does, she is tracked by a CIA team (led by Cate Blanchett), who are out to get her.  She apparently was part of some plot to breed super-children.  Much mayhem ensues as Hanna attempts to escape her pursuers once and for all.  Although this movie is very stylish and has some rocking good music, I found it was too disturbing to have a young girl both be an assassin and be the target of assassins.  Plus, when you think about it, the plot doesn’t make much sense.

RIO.  This family-friendly animated movie is about Blu, a blue macaw who was separated from family early in life.  He lives with his human in Minnesota, and has never learned to fly.  One day a scientist notices him, and realizes he is the last living male of his species.  He convinces his owner to bring Blu down to Rio, where a female macaw lives.  In Rio, the female is not impressed with Blu, as all she wants to do is escape back to the jungle where she belongs.  They both are kidnapped by smugglers, and together must escape.  Lots of adventures ensue, with an entertaining supporting cast of characters.  The kids I was with thought the movie was funny, but I didn’t think it was that great for adults.  It was colorful, and I did like the music.  Good family movie, I think.

AFRICAN CATS.  This Disney documentary follows two families of cats in Kenya.  On one side of the river is a lion pride, with the main focus on an aging mother with one cub.  On the other side of the river is a cheetah mother with five cubs.  Both females will face significant challenges bringing their cubs to adulthood.  There is a lot of drama – the lions face off against competing lions and alligators, the cheetahs face off against lions and hyenas.  Samuel Jackson narrates a pretentious, overblown storyline, over and over again telling us how mommy and daddy will do anything to protect their families.  On one hand, I think this movie is too dumbed down for adults – there is no information here that isn’t easily found on Animal Planet or PBS’s Nature.  On the other hand, it was pretty darn scary for children, so I am not sure who the audience for this is.  Maybe older children.  I will say the cinematography was pretty spectacular.

POTICHE. In 1977 France, Suzanne (Catherine Deneuve) is a dutiful corporate housewife. Her husband disrespects her and treats her like an idiot. He is also pretty negative to their grown children. He runs the umbrella factory she inherited from her father like a dictator. When his health gets bad, she ends up taking control of the factory and making a success of it. She even works with the local communist politician (Gerard Depardieu). The kids find their niches in the workplace, the workers are happy and Suzanne finds a competence she didn’t know she had. But then the husband comes back. What will happen? Not only does this movie take place in 1977, I felt it was from 1977. Even though it is intended as a feminist story, Suzanne’s power is rooted in her maternal instincts. It had a very dated feel to it. Other than one revelation about Suzanne about two-thirds into the movie, I felt this could have been a Lifetime TV movie.