The crowning achievement of Robin Williams’ storied career is not the Mork and Mindy sitcom where he was first discovered. It’s not the numerous leading roles he has received recognition with, such as Best Lead Actor Academy Awards (Good Morning, Vietnam, The Fisher King, Dead Poets Society). It was not in the numerous timeless comedies we’ll watch for ages (Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage, Jack, Robots, Night at the Smithsonian, Jumanji). It’s not for his creepingly effective turns in movies like Insomnia, One Hour Photo, The Night Listener, or heartwarming dramas such as Awakenings. Heck, it was not as the voice of The Genie in Aladdin. Instead, it is a community college professor who has not been able to move on from his life after losing his wife to cancer in Gus Van Sant’s (Milk, Drugstore Cowboy) surprise 1997 hit Good Will Hunting. Nevertheless, the film earned Williams the only Oscar of his career. And he’s not even the best part of this movie.
Category Archives: Casey Affleck
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
While it may not end up in my top five movies of the year, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea was almost perfect. I said the same thing when I started my review for Nocturnal Animals a week ago. Both movies could potentially be serious contenders, but both had some serious holes. While Nocturnal Animals will likely not receive any nominations com, Manchester by the Sea will likely earn multiple ones. Manchester by the Sea will likely finish as one of my five favorites of the year, but boy, did it have the possibility to be number one.
Triple 9 (2016)
Suppose you watched season 1 of HBO’s True Detective, and you were as much of a fan of the six-minute single-shot shootout scene that ended episode four (titled Who Goes There) as I was. You might like John Hillcoat’s (The Road, Lawless) underappreciated Triple 9 in that case. Likewise, if you watch Game of Thrones and found the intense battle between the Jon Snow-led wildlings and the white walkers at the end of season five, episode eight (titled Hardhome) as the best single scene in the history of the show, you might just very well like the star-studded Triple 9. If I had trusted my instincts and not those of the critics, I would have been able to appreciate this gem of a popcorn flick on the big screen. Instead, I let the movie pass through the theaters, knowing I would see it eventually at home, but convincing myself that, despite the awesome previous, I would be disappointed by this movie.
Interstellar (2014)
Interstellar is a good movie that aims to be not just a great movie but a movie that people talk about for years and years to come. I imagine that there will be a circle of fans who will do this, but I think, for the majority of people, this will be a movie that they enjoy but won’t ever think of as being unique or legendary. I think this movie tried too hard to make that lasting impression rather than just live in the moment of making a great film. As I will mention below, this movie could have been much more straightforward and, in doing so, much more effective. I felt the first 45 minutes of the movie created a cast of characters and a setting in which numerous stories could have been told, and the film could have succeeded. I say this because Interstellar is, first and foremost, a space exploration movie with overtones of the importance of human relationships and weighing what is best for society against what is best for an individual. However, I would like to know if I recommend the movie. And I do recommend it. As much as I wanted it to be great, it wasn’t. But it was still good. At 168 minutes, it is at least 45 minutes too long. And the spaceship scenes themselves are absolutely brutal. There is way too much dull talk of esoteric physics that went straight over the heads of 90% of the audience. It wasn’t needed and forced you to try to use your brain to comprehend everything that was happening. That wasn’t why I was there. I go to movies to not have to use my brain.
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Out of the Furnace (2013)
Finally, a gritty drama for 2013 to win you over with complex characters and excellent acting performances. This movie is, first and foremost, about flawed characters who want to do the right thing but don’t always know how. Well…I say that except for Woody Harrelson’s (The Messenger, Rampart) character. He is as vile, violent, and rotten to the core as he’s ever been. There are no redeeming qualities in Harrelson’s portrayal of Harlan DeGroat, a fight organizer/crystal meth dealer who drinks way too much, dabbles a little too much in his product, and looks to physically hurt anyone and every one every time they do anything to set him off, regardless of what it is. He is a ruthless jerk to the nth degree. Unfortunately, he plays his role perfectly. Without giving anything away, he dominates the movie’s first scene and makes him the person we are to fear for the next two hours.
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