‘Rings’ Leads A Pack Of Fall Flicks

It’s January, folks, and that means that Oscar season is right around the corner. This year the race will be tighter than ever, and Muse hopes to clarify the situation with a rundown of what’s been going on in theaters lately.

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: it’s not perfect. There are scenes missing, a handful of flaws, a few inconsistencies, and some sketchy editing, among other tweakable offenses. But let’s get another thing straight, too. This is the one Hollywood NEEDED to pull off, and boy, does Peter Jackson deliver. His “Fellowship” is one of the first American films since “Star Wars” that has so vividly and majestically brought a mythical fantasy world to life.

Jackson and his team have created not just a story, some teeth-knashing fight scenes, and characters in funny hats and odd quirks, but a seemingly tangible world where we love the heroes, hate the bad guys, and completely “get” all the mumbo jumbo about Middle Earth, Sauron the Dark Lord, elves, hobbits, and anything else that, to a non-believer, would seem like the remnants of a bad acid trip. “Fellowship” is a rousing success on all counts for this reason alone: that New Line Cinema took a chance on a little known New Zealand director and gave him a license to visually interpret one of the most beloved works of literature of all time. They are now enjoying the fruits of Jackson’s labor as “Fellowship” tears through the box offices, wins the hearts of Hobbitheads, film geeks and laymen alike, and readies itself to receive a slew of Oscar nominations.

Of course, the real test is still to come: will the magic of “Fellowship” carry through into the next two films? Will Jackson and New Line Cinema really be able to pull of a trilogy of this magnitude, or is “Fellowship” simply this horse’s fast start out of the gate? It seems unfair though, regarding “Fellowship,” to say “so far, so good.” Standing alone, as in the original “Star Wars,” it’s a titanic picture that is one of the best Hollywood films of recent years. It’s 2001’s best example of a work that is both a film AND a movie. A

It is a great thing when a film such as this little-known powder keg from the Czech Republic can captivate an audience with such a powerful examination of a depressing subject. It is an even better thing, however, when a director, such as “Dark Blue World’s” Jan Sverak, can captivate an audience by approaching such a haunting subject with a gentle touch, thus creating a different drama, an indirect and even more satisfying kind.

“Dark Blue World” tells the story of Czech fighter pilots who fought against Hitler in Great Britain during World War II, only to come home and find their homeland under Communist control. Jan Sverak is no stranger to critical acclaim: his brilliant “Kolya” picked up a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1997. But, with “Dark Blue World,” he has expanded his talent with a stirring commentary on the nature of war and the deep suffering that only a soldier without home or rest can know. While this film was barely a blip on the big screen, it will hopefully find new life on video in the coming year. Another foreign film nomination for Sverak wouldn’t hurt, either. B+

There’s a lot to like in “Ali,” Michael Mann’s latest and most daring cinematic endeavor, and even a few things to love, but in the end it must be considered a good-looking, good-intentioned failure. The result gives us a shell of what could have been a great film: Mann is a brilliant director aided by an equally brilliant cast and a lot of good ideas. However, “Ali” lacks in pace, and, perhaps most crucially, in its script, which seems flat and, at times, laughably simplistic.

The viewer isn’t quite sure what to make of Muhummad Ali, AKA Cassius Clay. Is he a hero? A misguided athlete? A wild heart set free too early? A womanizer? Mann’s work answers no questions and instead leaves us with a string of scenes, equal parts boxing and soap opera, that seem more like a set of Ali-related vignettes than the interpretive and thorough biopic it should have been. An excellent cast is nearly squandered, but ultimately is the only thing that keeps this two-and-a-half hour colossus from crumbling. Jamie Foxx, Ron Silver, and an exceptional Jon Voight, on his way to an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of sportscaster Howard Cosell, are the standouts.

As for the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith creates a portrait of the man that is sometimes stirring, rarely gripping, and usually decent, but in the end, his star power isn’t enough to keep the film from derailing. Granted, Michael Mann has set his own bar very high, but the film “Ali” is compared to what it should have and could have been, and doesn’t come close to his brilliant “The Insider” or even his excellent “Heat.” For a more satisfying round in the ring with the life of Ali, rent “When We Were Kings.” B-

There is a certain quality to E. Annie Proulx’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel upon which this film is based that pushes it into a realm of originality and satisfaction that we are hard pressed to find in today’s works of fiction. We identify with its characters–especially the hilariously pathetic protagonist, Quoyle–almost immediately, to the point where we are a part of their bizarre, disjointed and strangely functioning lives.

Unfortunately for the film adaptation, directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“Cider House Rules,” “Chocolat”) and thrown together by the Miramax juggernaut, that quality is either totally absent or misinterpreted as a chance to pile on the sap by a factor of ten. “The Shipping News” seems to have everything lined up and ready: a phenomenal cast, which includes the always reliable Kevin Spacey in the title role, strong turns from Judi Dench and Julianne Moore, and an eye-opener in a nearly unrecognizable Cate Blanchett; beautiful location filming on the rocky shores of Newfoundland; and much of the humor that peppered the novel’s tragicomic storyline. But the thread with which Annie Proulx wove such elements together on paper and in the imagination has not carried through to the big screen, and Lasse Hallstrom’s choice to lighten the novel’s crucial poles of gloom and beauty into more audience-accessible fare is a fatal flaw. “The Shipping News” is unfortunately a case of misguided direction and misinterpretation of its source material, leaving only one solution: read the book. B-

It’s hard to believe that a film like “In the Bedroom” is the work of a first-time director like Todd Field, the actor last seen as blindfolded piano player Nick Nightengale in “Eyes Wide Shut.” Here is a film so quietly stirring and so silently screaming that it is able to elevate a simple story into a visual guide for creating character drama masterpieces.

Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson give two of 2001’s best performances as a middle aged Maine couple whose son (Nick Stahl) is killed after getting tragically involved with an older married woman (a gripping Marisa Tomei). The ensuing personal anguish expressed by the grieving couple creates a level of drama that is on par with such great family unit dramas as “Ordinary People,” “American Beauty” and “You Can Count On Me.” Todd Field’s direction is a subtle and intricate affair, amounting to a masterwork that is deliberately paced, perfectly designed, and meticulously edited.

While a murder is at the heart of this film, the true crime will be if the Academy fails to properly recognize this gut-wrenching character study on all of the appropriate fronts. We can expect more great things from the mind of Todd Field, but for now we must congratulate him and the rest of his team in creating not only a challenging, detailed and finely crafted piece of art, but also what is truly one of the best films of 2001. A

“The Majestic” is the kind of film that people often complain they don’t make anymore, so it only makes sense that when someone finally does make it, no one goes to see it. “The Majestic” is sweet, perhaps a tad overly so, but it’s almost refreshing to see a completely non-cynical film that hearkens back to an era when feel-good movies actually meant something.

Jim Carrey gives a fine dramatic performance as a blacklisted Hollywood writer who drunkenly drives off a bridge and washes up on the beach of a small town. There he is mistaken for Luke, the son of a theater owner (Martin Landau, “Ed Wood”) who was believed dead in the war.

The plot may seem a bit contrived, especially toward the end, but the film throws a few curve balls that ground it and keep the film from totally drifting into happyland. Frank Darabont already has two strong films under his belt (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile”) and, like his previous efforts, “The Majestic” is long, but doesn’t drag. While this may be the weakest of his films thus far, he continues to show the confidence as a director that made his previous films so successful.

Darabont has made no secret of the fact that “Majestic” was inspired by the work of Frank Capra (“It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”). Like Capra’s work, “The Majestic” is an escapist film, but despite its faults, “The Majestic” is a film worth escaping to. B

“The Business of Strangers” was hyped as a female variant on Neil LaBute’s “In the Company of Men,” but, in reality, it lacks the darkly humorous edge of the earlier film. In fact, “Strangers” is closer in tone to Richard Linklater’s superior “Tape” from earlier this year.

The story is about two women (Julia Stiles and Stockard Channing) trying to exact revenge on a man the Stiles character claims raped a friend in college. It’s the kind of plot that would actually lend itself much better to a sickly dark comedy, but first time writer/director Patrick Stettner decided to play it straight with mixed results.

Some strong acting and interesting characters keep the film watchable, but as soon as the pieces fall into place at the end, it’s difficult to determine exactly what the film was trying to say, and the end result is dissatisfying. “The Business of Strangers” is a bold film, but one that doesn’t find the best approach for its material and suffers because of it. “Strangers” plays more like a good made-for-TV movie than a film. C+

One has to give MTV Films, the company behind “Orange County,” credit for effort. They have director Jake Kasdan, who made the very entertaining “Zero Effect,” and screenwriter Mike White, whose “Chuck and Buck” was one of the best films of 2000. For acting, they got Tom Hanks’ son, Colin Hanks, and Sissy Spacek’s daughter, Schuyler Fisk, along with a supporting cast that includes Jack Black, Harold Ramis, Ben Stiller, Catherine O’Hara and Chevy Chase. This seems to be another case of smart people trying to make a dumb movie, but ultimately making a satisfying, if underwhelming film.

Colin Hanks plays a frustrated surfer-turned-writer that can’t seem to get legitimate feedback on his story (he believes his English teacher, a scene-stealing Mike White, is illiterate). So, he applies to Stanford for a chance to work with Marcus Skinner, the author that inspired him to write. Unfortunately, his guidance councilor (Lily Tomlin) sent the wrong transcript and he is rejected. Hanks grows desperate and the remainder of the film is made up of attempts on his part to reverse the rejection.

There are a handful of moments when the film really does try to show some subtly, and you can tell many of the people involved are better than the material. What eventually came out is an odd mixture of more obvious humor, some slightly deeper moments and a few scenes of Jack Black running around in his underwear. All in all, “Orange County” is an amusing 83 minutes at the movies-a solid dumb comedy with some great cameos and a few laughs. B