Irrational Man is not a terrible movie. If you are a fan of Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris, Blue Jasmine), there’s no reason why you shouldn’t see this movie, despite its rather lukewarm reviews (42% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 48% audience score). This movie didn’t fare very well at the box office, earning just over $4 million. This movie completely flew under my radar. I cannot recall seeing even a single preview for it until I was scrolling through some selections on my Video On Demand network. The movie intrigued me in the same way Midnight in Paris did. Irrational Man was a movie that I did not think I would love but felt would hold my interest. It is certainly not as good as Midnight in Paris, nor does it claim to be. But there is something about Allen’s work in recent years that has me liking him more since about 2007 than I did in the ’80s and ’90s when he was getting most of his acclaim. I’ve never considered myself a huge fan of his movies. I usually like my humor when it is laugh-out-loud funny, and I want my dramas to be serious, while his films tend to fall into the dark comedy/light drama category. I’m also not huge into light-hearted romances. Thus, I’m probably not in Allen’s usual demographic, which has worked perfectly well for both of us. Yet, starting with Match Point and then with Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine, there has been something about him that has convinced me not to write off everything he does before giving it a chance.
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Category Archives: 2015
The Walk (2015)
The Walk, the 2015 film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer, Don John), put director Robert Zemeckis back into the driver seat of the unique, quirky, character-driven drams that he is best known for. While he can do the heavier dramas quite effectively (Flight, Cast Away, Contact), we remember him less for these movies than some of his other movies. Known for his ability to incorporate technology while still telling emotional stories, The Walk does just that. After looking at his filmography, this appears to be the first movie Zemeckis has ever directed based on a true story. He does a good job. While The Walk is not one of the 20 best movies of 2015, it is entertaining, and there will be many more people who leave the movie liking it than disliking it.
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Love & Mercy (2015)
Love & Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic that shows two time periods of The Beach Boys’ life’s most recognizable face, is one of the most underrated movies of 2015. Forgot whatever you know or think you know about Brian Wilson. For me, that was absolutely nothing. I knew he was a member of The Beach Boys, but that was about it. I’m not really a fan of The Beach Boys, but I have a new appreciation for the band and especially for Brian Wilson after seeing this movie. While the band is known for its carefree car tunes like Surfin USA, I Get Around, and California Girls, not all was as peachy as I thought it to be. I’ve always considered The Beach Boys one of those bands that didn’t have a lot of substance in their songs. Not being a Mr. Happy Go Lucky type guy myself and having been to the beaches of California only a couple of times in my life, I couldn’t relate to their music like I could a Tom Petty or a Bruce Springsteen. Their songs, to me, were just that. Peachy. While I will not go out and buy their entire anthology, I will give some of their songs a listen, whereas I might not have in the past. Originally I had no intention of seeing this movie. I thought it was a documentary at first. But I’m glad I decided to see it. I think every fan of the band and everyone who enjoys a good biopic should go out and see this movie.
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45 Years (2015)
I drank the Kool-Aid on this one. I discussed who would receive the five Best Actress Academy Award nominations in many of my previous reviews. I kept including Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia, The Eye of the Storm) as one of the five based on everything I had been reading. I regret including her name, but, in my defense, January 29th was the very first chance I had to see 45 Years. I saw it a day later, and I am uncertain what I just saw. I love heavy dramas and movies about broken relationships. I also like slow, methodical movies if they are building towards something. The pieces were in place for 45 Years, but this movie ultimately didn’t do it for me. I realize I am in the minority when I give it a less-than-average review. Nevertheless, it earned a stellar 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t like using this excuse (mainly because I’m no spring chicken), but I may have been too young to truly appreciate this movie. I want to think that I am not. I have a deep appreciation for movies about aging in general or movies about couples dealing with life-altering experiences. I adore the film Away From Here. I love About Schmidt. Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, and Amour are also movies that I admire. And while it is a different type of aging movie, I believe The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one of the best love stories ever told on screen is one of the best 100 movies ever made. In each of the five movies mentioned above, at least one actor or actress (and in many cases more than one) received a nomination for an acting award. Each was deserving. I have nothing against Rampling, and I went into this movie thinking I would see one of the three or four best performances by a leading actress all year, but her performance failed to meet my expectations. Now that I have seen all of the contenders, I believe Carey Mulligan (Suffragette) deserved the final nomination for Best Actress this year.
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The Intern (2015)
It’s a good feeling when a fading legend proves that he still has something left to give. Robert De Niro (Cape Fear, Taxi Driver) is one of the most accomplished and legendary actors of all time, having earned seven Academy Award nominations for acting, including two wins (The Godfather: Part II, Raging Bull). He has proved that he can be successful across many genres, including drama (The Deer Hunter, Cop Land), comedy (Analyze This, Wag the Dog), action/adventure (Midnight Run, Ronin), and mystery/suspense (Heat, Sleepers) to name a few. He can play some of the most likable characters we’ve ever seen (Leonard Lowe in Awakenings, Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents) as well as some of the most reprehensible, violent, and hostile characters who we will never forget (Max Cady in Cape Fear, Ace Rothstein in Casino, Al Capone in The Untouchables and many, many more). Unfortunately, he has become (what my friend Tim affectionately refers to) a movie whore in recent years. One can hardly fault him for his work ethic and desire to earn a paycheck, but most of us would be amazed to know that De Niro has made more than 20 films since 2010’s Little Fockers. Only two of these films (Silver Linings Playbook for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and Limitless were the only two that earned more than 60% on Rotten Tomatoes). While he was excellent in each of these two films (and pretty terrible in the other 18), Nancy Myers’ (It’s Complicated, Something’s Gotta Give) The Intern reminds us just how endearing and versatile that De Niro can still be. He is a part of cinematic history who people will take about in 50 years the same way that we talk about James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, and Clark Gable today. Perhaps De Niro will be even more revered because today’s cinema has allowed its actors to portray characters with much fewer restrictions.
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