300 Words About: I'm Still Here

Last week, before Casey Affleck inexplicably broke his silence about I'm Still Here being a mostly scripted hoax, I told a friend of mine how great it would be if Joaquin Phoenix walked out onto the stage of "The Late Show with David Letterman" tonight with a clean-shaven face and a normal personality. What a perfect "Gotcha!" opportunity it would have been.

Alas, his appearance will now be an anticlimactic reunion in which he will no doubt apologize to Letterman and probably fail to explain exactly what I'm Still Here is "about". From where I sit, having seen it a couple of weeks ago and immediately recognizing a number of things that just could not be real, I don't think there is anything to explain. Either you consider I'm Still Here a brilliant skewering of Hollywood celebrity culture (featuring a Best Actor-nominee worthy performance; the best of Phoenix's career), or you consider I'm Still Here just plain offensive, a joke on the movie industry and a waste of everyone's time. Much of your reaction may depend on whether you saw it before or after the cat was officially out of the bag - but if you have seen it, wasn't it pretty obvious while watching that Casey Affleck was documenting a manufactured reality?

300 Words About: Two Lovers

"Oh, alright, I'll write one of my rap songs about you, Gwyneth..."

If it is true that Joaquin Phoenix is done acting, his will be one of the most intriguing careers in recent memory. With a distinctively recognizable face and a penchant for playing brooding loners, his characters would improbably evoke both sympathy and disgust in us at the same time, perhaps never more so than as Leonard in Two Lovers. It’s not his best performance (and in all likelihood it’s probably not his last), but it should certainly be good enough to quiet his critics – at least those who weren’t convinced by his jaw-droppingly impressive appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman”.

Having wrapped himself up in an inescapable bind - and a familiar setup - by simultaneously dating two women (perfectly played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw), Leonard displays a surprising lack of discretion in his hedonistic behavior. He denies nothing and admits everything, or so it seems, until the situation eventually becomes untenable. It’s funny, more than once I thought, “This feels like a dark Woody Allen movie”; instead of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, it’s Michelle Sandra Brighton Beach.

And as with Allen’s recent film, whether you identify with Leonard’s particular dilemma or not isn’t really as important as the acknowledgment that these are three rich, realistic, and compelling characters. To be honest, it’s not what I would have expected from James Gray, whose last two films starring Phoenix (The Yards and We Own the Night) were gritty crime dramas, saturated in blue light and punctuated with fist fights.

But Two Lovers has none of that edge. It would almost be sweet if it wasn’t so depressing, and for the first 90 minutes it’s surprisingly engrossing. Gray has a talent for making talky scenes between characters feel natural and engaging, and I’m starting to notice at least one memorably absorbing scene in each movie (the nightclub scene here, the car chase in We Own the Night).

If Gray continues to secure solid casts (Brad Pitt is rumored for his next film), and he continues to focus on the characters instead of the clever stories (on paper this one couldn't be more generic), there's reason to think his future work will be increasingly great. Also, it would appear that the third time was the charm for the collaboration between Phoenix and Gray – will there be a fourth?

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P.S. What if Peter Sarsgaard is playing Joaquin Phoenix playing a creepy aspiring hip-hop artist? If anybody could pull it off, these two talented actors could.

Short Cuts: "In This Life or the Next"

Gladiator (2000). Directed by Ridley Scott; written by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson; starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, and Djimon Hounsou.

REVIEW: Reservation Road (B-)

Background: Based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz, Reservation Road is directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) and stars Mark Ruffalo (You Can Count on Me, Zodiac), Jennifer Connelly (Little Children, Blood Diamond), and Joaquin Phoenix (We Own the Night, Walk the Line). You might also recognize Elle Fanning, little sister of Hollywood darling Dakota (War of the Worlds). It was filmed on location in Connecticut. Wow, I just saw the trailer for the first time - that's a great trailer and it only gives away as much as I'm about to, which is a lot.

Synopsis: College professor Ethan Learner (Phoenix) and his wife Grace (Connelly) are returning from their son's cello recital when they stop for wiper fluid (?). Attorney Dwight Arno (Ruffalo) is delivering his son (about the same age as the Learner boy) to his ex-wife's house after taking him to a Red Sox game. Because of a cell phone call and some fireflies, Dwight accidentally hits and kills the Learner's son - and leaves the scene (Reservation Road) without being identified. Over the course of the next month, Ethan and Grace try to put the pieces together in their life, Grace looking to heal and move on but Ethan wanting revenge against whoever hit his son. Dwight is racked with guilt but can't find it in himself to confess to the police. By incredible chance, Dwight's ex-wife was the music teacher of the Learner's son, Dwight lives down the street from the Learners, and Ethan Learner hires Dwight to handle his legal affairs with the case. Despite all of this pressure, Dwight still doesn't turn himself in, and Ethan grows more desperate in his attempts to find his son's killer. Eventually his suspicions settle on Dwight, leading to a final confrontation between the two hurting fathers.

I Loved:
+ That I really didn't know what was going to happen at the end.

I Liked:
+ When Jennifer Connelly found out about the fireflies.
+ Mark Ruffalo's performance - he's an excellent nervous actor and was great for this role.

I Disliked:
- When Jennifer Connelly flipped out about their son's belongings.
- The online chat forum - what kind of a weird program was that? The interface was really bizarre, and it was odd online dialogue.
- Joaquin Phoenix with a beard - weird and not a good look.
- The focus on the Red Sox - there was too much time spent watching and discussing baseball when we could have been learning more about the characters.
- The poor acting by Antoni Corone as Sgt. Burke.

I Hated:
- The obviously fake tear that dropped on the camera viewfinder in the last shot - that was really poorly pulled off and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Grade:
Writing - 8
Acting - 8
Production - 8
Emotional Impact - 8
Music - 4
Significance - 4

Total: 40/50= 80% = B-

Last Word: In addition to some awkward dialogue and a few too many coincidences, my main criticism of Reservation Road is that it drags a bit. It feels longer than it actually is, and either out of nervousness or boredom, you might find yourself looking for some action. Also, something about the evolution of Joaquin Phoenix's character didn't really click, though it was a believable performance. And, the marriage between Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly dissolved strangely, but I'm sure a tragedy will take its toll in different ways. Mark Ruffalo successfully made me squirm, though the reasons he didn't turn himself in could have been flushed out a bit more. God forbid I ever hit something on the road, but if my wits are about me I really don't think I could just take off. What would you do? Overall I think it's a story worth adapting to film, but a few issues with the production/editing, some unbelievable story elements, and poor character development all weaken what should have been a very powerful movie.

REVIEW: We Own the Night (C+)

Background: You'd be forgiven in thinking We Own the Night is a sequel to The Yards, what with the same look, feel, leading actors, writer and director. Somehow, it's not, mostly because the police play a larger role in this one. Written and directed by James Gray (The Yards...and that's about it) and starring Mark Wahlberg (The Departed, Shooter) and Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), We Own the Night was filmed on location in Coney Island. No word on the inspiration for the story, but it's your basic brothers-on-two-sides-of-the-law plot, with a couple of twists.

Synopsis: Brighton Beach/Coney Island, 1988. Bobby Green (Phoenix) is a free-wheeling nightclub manager who is quickly getting involved in the growing Russian drug trade. Bobby's brother Joe Grusinsky (Wahlberg) is a celebrated young NYPD narcotics task force lieutenant, and their father Burt Grusinsky (Duvall) is the NYPD deputy chief. Joe and Burt try to persuade Bobby to act as in informant, but Bobby is just starting to earn respect from the Russians and besides, he's having too much fun with his girlfriend Amada (Mendes). Lucky for Bobby, the Russians are unaware of his police relations (because Bobby uses his mother's last name...?), but when Joe makes a bust at the nightclub and the Russians decide to wage war against the police, Bobby finds himself caught in the middle and wanted to fight for both sides. He chooses his family, of course, and even goes so far as to enlist in the NYPD. By this time, though, it's too late - the Russians are wise to the situation and all that's left is to see who can kill whom first.

I Loved:
+ The ultra-real car chase in the rain.

I Liked:
+ Eva Mendes showing some real acting chops - I was impressed.
+ The 80's soundtrack that helped set the mood.
+ Joaquin Phoenix's performance - solid again, and able to elicit both sympathy and disgust from me at different times.

I Disliked:
- That I felt like I was watching Mark Wahlberg in The Departed - his character could have been given some more unique traits.
- The anticlimactic, almost cliched shootout ending - it was kind of how movies used to end before Hollywood went all mind-trippy in the mid-90's. This was kind of refreshing, but still a letdown.

I Hated:
- Nothing, really, besides some graphic violence.

Grade:
Writing - 8
Acting - 9
Production - 8
Emotional Impact - 8
Music - 4
Significance - 2

Total: 39/50= 78% = C+

Last Word: This is a classic shoulder-shrugger. It's entertaining and you maybe gain some insight into the war on drugs in the 80's, but it doesn't really take you anywhere. Looking at my grade, it was pretty well made, but it's just not an important movie. Joaquin Phoenix is at his best in roles like this where he can express a full range of emotions, compared with his stilted performance in Gladiator. You'll probably enjoy We Own the Night if you like police movies, drug movies, or bad television crime series. The acting is solid with the exception of the Russians, and the film color makes for an appropriate mood, but the story is unoriginal. Apparently it received a standing ovation at Cannes, which baffles me. Maybe the French have never seen an American cop movie, or maybe people were just glad to see a straight good guy vs. bad guy movie. One last thing - anyone understand what the title means?