Recent Movie Roundup 2

Haven't done one of these in a while. Mostly because, if you go through the UtB archives and dig up the three or four posts I've written about films in the last six months, you'll have a pretty good record of my movie-watching activities. This particular roundup incorporates streamed films and even one that I caught on TV, but I can't say that it whets my appetite for more of the artform (which is not to say, of course, that I don't like to watch stuff like Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and Superman Returns. I'm a good little sheep in that respect).

• Casanova - I really wasn't expecting great things from this movie. The trailer makes it look like yet another attempt at clunky historical revisionism, plus that old chestnut, the rake reformed by a progressive woman. And let's be honest, 'from the director of Chocolat' isn't exactly a phrase that inspires confidence. But to my very great surprise, Casanova is a frothy delight. The film revels in its own ridiculousness, and does a very good job of imitating the period farce, complete with several cases of mistaken identity, the requisite scene in which our hero arrives at the ball with two dates, and everyone paired up at the end. Heath Ledger is charming and ebullient as the lead, and Sienna Miller is really quite appealing given that her character--a feminist in 18th century Venice whose primary purpose seems to be to show the hero the error of his ways--could easily have become a hectoring shrew. The film sadly falls apart in its climactic scene, where instead of buckling his swash and swinging off chandeliers, our hero stands aside with a baffled expression while he is rescued by others, and even the camera seems to forget where he is (also, although the set and costume design are appropriately lavish, one can't help but wish that the effects budget had been a little bit higher, not to mention that some money had been spent on a better stunt coordinator). In spite of this flaw, Casanova makes for a very enjoyable entertainment, and is well worth a rental.

• X-Men III: The Last Stand - The consensus on this film is that the cure plotline was quite interesting but underdeveloped, and that the Phoenix plotline was criminally underused. I agree on both counts, but I will add that I appreciated the way that both sides of the mutant divide were clearly non-homogeneous in their opinions. Among the good guys, we have Rogue leaping at the opportunity at a normal life, and Storm thoughtlessly pronouncing that no mutant needs to be cured of their mutation. Magneto may coldly turn his back on Mystique once she's been cured, but Pyro is clearly uncomfortable with that decision. This disagreement even among compatriots gave the division between mutants an extra dimension, and helped make their predicament a believable one. Which was sadly necessary as, much like the two films that preceded it, X-Men III failed to convince me of what is arguably the crux of its plot--that humans are disgusted and terrified by mutation. The scene in which Angel first unfurls his wings is a study in dissonance between the audience and the characters. How can we accept that anyone would look on those beautiful white wings with disgust? I think this is a problem with the central concept of the X-Men story--the mutants are far too cool. With the core of the story absent, I had very little to hold onto, and of course the characters didn't offer much on that front. In terms of quality, X-Men III is largely of a piece with the first two films--very pretty and at times stirring and exciting, but with a great big hole where its heart should be.

• Ghost Ship - Yet another failed attempt at the 'ragged crew are picked off one by one by unseen menace' formula, and yet another demonstration of how important plotting is to shlocky action and horror flicks. It take great skill to convey backstory and character traits in throwaway lines, and to effectively establish the history of the menace that's killing off our heroes, but far too many writers don't even make the attempt, trusting that a few pulse-pounding sequences will be enough to sustain the film even without a coherent plot. Ghost Ship is a masterful demonstration of why this attitude fails. It seems to be missing its second act--the story transitions directly from 'characters arrive at spooky location and some of them die' to 'last survivor makes valiant attempt to defeat the evil menace' without passing through increasing tension or the slow revelation of the menace's identity. Even the deaths of main characters are rushed through and given very little significance. It is, however, worth noting two exceptionally stylish and well-made scenes in which we learn what transpired on the ship, one at the beginning of the film and one near its end. They can't save the film, but they are effectively horrifying, and go some way towards assuaging the suspicion that one has wasted 90 minutes of one's life by sitting down to watch.

• Bee Season - I was dubious, shading into disdainful, about this film when I watched the trailer a few months ago. I have to admit, having seen the film, that the trailer misrepresents it--the movie is neither as heartwarming nor as benevolent as it suggests, and the Jewish aspects of the story have not been excised. That said, Bee Season simply doesn't work. The novel, in which 11 year old Eliza's ascent to the national spelling bee corresponds with her family's disintegration, takes place primarily inside its characters' heads. The film deals with this issue in the mother's case by using awkward and slightly embarrassing voiceovers and flashbacks, and in the case of the other characters by simply ignoring their inner life. This is a particular problem when it comes to Eliza, who is the novel's main character but in the film is nothing but a catalyst for the other characters' problems. Finally, although the film doesn't shy away from the damage inflicted on Eliza's family, its ending strongly suggests that that damage can be repaired, in a complete reversal of the novel's conclusion (or, at least, I think that's what it's saying. I found the film's ending nearly inscrutable).

• Happy Endings - Don Roos's film bills itself as a comedy, but it is actually at its weakest when trying to be funny. Especially in its middle segment, the film devolves into an embarrassing and uncomfortable farce, in which previously rounded and fully-human characters are reduced to caricatures in the service of a quick laugh. Happily, these comedic segments don't last very long, and surrounding them are three touching and melancholy stories about love and lies. The film's promise to resolve all of these stories happily is a sly wink at the viewers, and as the stories progress we come to understand that it isn't the happy endings that we should be watching for but the unhappy, and sometimes simply mundane, middles. Happy Endings is a more soulful film than Roos's The Opposite of Sex, and its large cast is more uniform in its abilities. Lisa Kudrow is, of course, one of the standouts, but it's Maggie Gyllenhaal who comes to dominate the film. Her character is amoral and thoughtless, but at her most unlikable moments, she suddenly exhibits a compelling strength, and even a sort of integrity, that transform her into the film's heroine.