Movie Review: September brought us some good films

Posted @ Oct. 26 2011 11:46AM by Susan - arts-ent

By Dr. Bob Blackwood

September has been a month of great expectations, one disappointment, and two sure hits.

Moneyball
Finally, Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” with Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics’ general manager during their 2002 season, was surprisingly nuanced. It reminded me of the similar challenge that David Fincher faced with “The Social Network.” How do you make a picture about the challenge of reducing your evaluation of something to an esoteric system determined by a particularly clever data cruncher (Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”) without putting the audience to sleep?

Well, Brad Pitt showed how to do it. You use the bags under your eyes. You carefully spit your tobacco juice into a cup. You educate your daughter to not make the same mistakes you made. At least one critic was surprised that Pitt could do it so well. I guess Pitt just refuses to be limited to being featured on the covers of supermarket magazines.

Killer Elite
Unfortunately, the disappointment was Gary McKendry’s “Killer Elite,” starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert DeNiro. However, if you just want an action film, “Killer Elite” will not disappoint you. Statham’s acrobatics almost eclipse Jackie Chan’s accomplishments. But Statham can also give a good dramatic performance; check out “The Bank Job” (2008). Clive Owen’s way with a leading role in “Children of Men” (2006) would have won him an Oscar if it had not been a science fiction film. Robert De Niro, of course, can make something out of almost anything—but this script gave none of the actors much space to develop their characters. It was too close to that parody of action films “Shoot ‘Em Up” (2007) with Clive Owen. Our loss.

Contagion
Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” with Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne and Jude Law was a perfect Soderbergh film—well-edited, with an upbeat tempo, and deep insights into character with jewel-like precision.

It was a film not just about how an international disease is spread, but rather how intelligent doctors and scientists deal with the most dreaded diseases that crawl out of some pesthole. Paltrow, playing the main American contact for the disease, was willing to take a role where she rarely appeared healthy and vibrant—what confidence she must have as an actor. Matt Damon’s role had him suffering through most of the film, yet he still displayed a certain vitality. Jude Law did another of his sleazy character turns—just slightly reminiscent of the killer he played in “Road to Perdition” (2002), and, no, this is not a plot spoiler. Laurence Fishburne’s physician was a very human man who was asked to be superhuman when the heat came down on him as the chief administrator fighting the contagion.

Do you think the Contagion's plot is realistic? Do you think the characters in Killer Elite offer a compelling movie experience or is it just another shallow action flick? Have you ever followed or yourself been part of an "underdog" sports team that made it? Please add your comment in the space below.
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Dr. Bob Blackwood, professor emeritus, Wright College, Chicago, will be visiting his former colleague and fellow Wright College professor, Man in the Kitchen Paul Thompson, in October. The two hope to catch some fish when Blackwood makes his annual trek west this fall. If they do, you will surely hear all about it in CRR.