Based loosely on the true story of one of the most prolonged missing person cases in New York, Andrew Jarecki’s (Capturing the Friedmans) All Good Things tries hard to tell a story but ultimately fails to form anything meaningful or lasting. I say it is based “loosely” on a true story because this case is still an open case. As a result, this story is a wishy-washy mess based upon a jumble of fact, rumor, conjecture, and psychoanalysis. By the end of the movie, you could care less about what happens to each of the characters. You would rather just have some logical conclusion. Unfortunately, that’s not what you get. I felt myself wanting and wanting to like this movie, but I grew increasingly frustrated as the movie dragged toward its unsatisfying conclusion.
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The Horseman (2008)
The Horseman is Australia’s version of Taken without the star power and filmed with a much lower budget. It stars Peter Marshall (pretty much an unknown in the United States) in his first starring role as Christian Forteski, a distraught father who goes on a killing rampage after discovering clues that have led to the death of his 20-something-year-old daughter. It’s a revenge flick, and while there isn’t anything new offered when compared to similar movies, it still holds the viewer’s attention. Some of that might have to do with an unknown cast because it was shot exclusively with handheld cameras or not produced in America. So, while you’ve seen this plot in hundreds of different movies if you can stomach the torture scenes, you’ll be entertained. And while you might not remember anything about this movie two weeks from now, you’ll remember that it did hold your interest.
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Pollock (2000)
Ed Harris (The Abyss, The Hours) delivers the performance of his career in Pollock, the story of American artist Jackson Pollock, who revolutionized American painting in the 1940s in New York City. Harris, who also directed the movie, portrays Pollock as an emotionally and mentally unstable wreck of a human being whose personal demons were often overshadowed, or should I say overlooked, by his adept skill in abstract painting. His use of dripping and splattering wild combinations of colors was unique and new and captured the attention of some of America’s most notable artists, museum owners, and journalists.
The Reader (2008)
There are interesting comparisons between Stephen Daldry’s (The Hours, Billy Elliot) 2008 film, The Reader, and Lone Scherfig’s 2009 film, An Education. Both movies revolve centrally around the emotions a young person feels when they capture the allure of a much older member of the opposite sex whom they find to be sexually attractive. In An Education, it is Peter Sarsgaard’s character, David, who is wooing a young and impressionable Jenny (Carey Mulligan), influencing her so much that she is willing to sacrifice her future for him. In The Reader, it is 36-year-old streetcar conductor Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet – Titanic, Revolutionary Road) taking a liking to 16-year-old Michael Berg (David Kross in his debut performance). I would be interested in learning if An Education was filmed before or after Scherfig had watched The Reader.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Aside from having perhaps the worst movie title in the history of movies, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a stunning film and one that can be appreciated by anyone willing to give it its due diligence. Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe – Gladiator, Cinderella Man) is the captain of the HMS Enterprise. This British ship protected the Pacific Ocean from Napoleon’s French forces, who sought to invade England. As directed by the Queen of England herself, his job is to intercept any attacking vessel from the French fleet.
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