Newski_the_Hippie

Shawshank Redemption is a story of, well, Redemption. Just like any film from Quentin Tarantino, but with an extra dose of melodrama. Orchestral music to drive you to tears, overly dramatic dialog, and plot twists that come so far out of left field even M. Night Shylamalan would cringe. You just have a hard time seeing them, because the movie is relatively laid back.

Which is the best part of the film. It slows down whenever it needs to take its time. It's the story of two prisoners who bond over. One is a wrongfully accused man hoping to find a way out. One is a man who has given up all hope. And random acts of kindness help them earn their redemption.

See, it's about Redemption. It's in the title. No use thinking about the theme. Morgan Freeman is perfectly cast in this film, and gives one of the best performances in his life. But every one of his lines is not the line of a prisoner, but somebody who has been paid to pretend to be a prisoner.

The movie lacks any sense of reality, from the poorly supervised chain gang, to the subplot of the sinister warden, and even down to the fact that a man is allowed to keep a tool made for chipping away rocks in his cell.

The film would have worked as a stage play easily. Because we expect this detachment from reality. But this film likes to pretend this is reality. The film also likes to make conclusive statements, and then immediately retract them.

This movie has a heart. It spills out all over the screen while we watch the characters monologue, getting to the point of the movie over and over again. Long movies never bothered me. On the contrary, I think it's a shame four hour movies never get released these days. Still, when it's two and a half hours plus of monologues reiterating the same plot point, it's two and a half hours too much.

On September 11th, we all watched as the two towers came tumbling down. We were all affected in some way. Those who are in the creative fields looked at the world and saw something they wanted to capture. Spielberg thought he'd make a poignant look at the American family in the days following the crisis.

So. War of the Worlds. A movie that lacks any sort of subtlety (like most Spielberg films). From the grey ash, to the terror in the streets, to Dakota Fanning shouting "Terrorists!" every five minutes. We are looking at people reacting to something horrific. People under pressure. People doing what they can to make the best out of the situation.

Though since Tom Cruise's character, Jay, is always on the forefront. He's not an average American or the working class guy they make him out to be. He's too in the know. It's easy to see how poor his relationship with his kids is, because they say it. Over and over again. As I mentioned, this movie lacks subtlety. Still, he's one of the witnesses to the attack. After seeing something hit the ground, and a large "Tripod" emerge, he automatically knows everything about it's origin. How does he know everything? How was he able to piece all of it together? An average family in this situation would be in the basement, hiding, and fleeing. Just as confused, trying to make sense of it all. Instead, he's got all the information and he's even fighting Aliens that the entire U.S. Army couldn't scratch.

This is thematically different from any incarnation of War of the Worlds that has been done. I don't mind differences between books, or other films. Thing is, I should still be able to watch this, not knowing anything about it, and be able to say, with no question in my mind "This is War of the Worlds." Instead, I start thinking "Is this War of the Worlds, or Independence Day?"

Every movie has it's good and it's bads, and this is no exception. The scifi aspect of it was pleasantly low key. The director seems to have a knack for cinematography, which by and large was superior. The world it set up was interesting, and there is nothing wrong with the Sci Fi elements.

Except for, to remind us that it is the future, flying cars are digitally added time and time again. Why? Enough of the flying cars. Show a few of them, and that's fine. Not every time somebody is on the street, one just happens to whirl by. It's agitating. Not all of the time did it bother me, but sometimes, when I am trying to pay attention to the characters on screen that that hunk of metal comes across the screen.

The "Personal" story of the film takes over past the scifi aspects, which generally is something I respect in a film. Not this time. The story revolves around a thoroughly unpleasant man's sexual tension and attraction to a mysterious young woman (who is equally unpleasant). Sure, the mystery involved was more important then the fact that these were characters I couldn't care about. I probably wasn't supposed to like them, thus the attraction to the mystery.

And isn't everyone tired of the cliché "Man sees Mysterious girl who changes his life" thing anyway? I mean, seriously. Too many indy film clichés in this. Including the fact that if the characters aren't swearing at each other, they are trying to say something somewhat intellectual. People don't talk like that in real life.

Mysteries remain unsolved by the end, probably because this was planned as the first part in a trilogy. Which is fine. However, nothing conclusive ended this film. There was no catharsis, and all we got was a card that said "Red Cockroaches" to let us know the film was over.

With all my criticisms of the movie, I am looking forward to viewing the next two films. Perhaps the Director might have improved on his craft, because that's all it really needs. It had a lot going for it, but unfortunately became just another prententious indy film.