The Wackness and Smart People

A couple of indie films today:

First we have The Wackness, the winner of the Dramatic Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. I have to admit, at first I was a little apprehensive going into this movie. The premise sounded good but I hated the first trailer I saw - coming in at a short 90 seconds, this first preview had played up the young cast and the hip hop soundtrack and downplayed the storyline. Luckily, the movie itself was much better.
Totally deserving of its Audience Award win, The Wackness isn't a perfect coming-of-age picture, nor does it want to be. It is completely content with hanging out and telling its story, presenting its characters, and just being who it is. That kind of confidence is reassuring, and goes a long way towards an audience enjoying a movie.

It's a small film, with basically only three main roles to speak of. Each of them is cast to perfection. Josh Peck (a revelation in 2004's Mean Creek) plays Luke, a pot-dealing 18-year-old rap enthusiast, living in 1994 New York City, pondering his existence after graduating high school. His mentor is his therapist, Dr. Squires (amazingly rendered by Ben Kingsley). He's a successful psychologist, but he's also an immature drug addict whose marriage is failing. Things get complicated when Luke falls for Squires' daughter, Stephanie (Juno's Olivia Thirlby). Other people show up in supporting roles, including the great Jane Adams (Happiness) as one of Luke's pot-buyers.
There's so much about this movie that could have gone horribly wrong. The vintage 90's rap music could feel overly campy, almost veering towards novelty, but the careful choice of music and the discussion of it by characters - in context with their lives - makes it work. The whole teenage pot dealer thing has been done before, but this movie puts a nice little spin on it: it's almost like an afterthought. Although this activity is used as a plot device to put things in motion, it's not the central driving force in the film. There's no big moral drug choice for the kid to make at the end of the film, and there's no violent acts or consequences that result from his selling of pot. In fact, the guy who sells it to him (effectively his boss) is one of his closest confidants. It's refreshing, and allows us to pay attention to what really matters in the film: the relationships, whether they be parent and child, husband and wife, or the man focus of the piece, the budding romance between Luke and Stephanie.
This particular aspect of the film is handled quite well, particularly the sex scenes between the two young actors. Everything is given the right amount of awkwardness, eagerness and melancholy, and it's one of the most affecting aspects of the film.
Okay, enough rambling. This is a good film. If it was received a little bit better (it was given highly mixed reviews, although they mostly aired on the positive side), I might've predicted an Oscar nomination for Ben Kingsley. His role has that great mix of vitality and compassion that the Academy loves. Josh Peck is great in the lead, though, and holds the whole thing together. After Mean Creek, I knew this kid was going places. He might not get a lot of attention for this, but I'm sure his breakthrough role isn't far off. This is a memorable movie, and although it sort of fizzles out in its last fifteen minutes, it redeems itself with a great ending. Highly recommended.


Smart People is another independent film with mixed reviews, but in this case I think the critics were right on the money. It has a great opening, which quickly and neatly establishes a tone for the picture, but it's all sort of downhill after that. The movie's dialogue does a good job of maintaining that tone, but someone along the way didn't think so. There is way too much music in this movie. Don't get me wrong, I love music in film, when it's done right. But I have a big problem with snippets of different songs being used as background for what seemed like every other dialogue scene. In one five-minute section of the film I counted no less than four different songs. It reminds me of what the WB network does with its teen-oriented shows; they throw music in at every possible moment because they are deathly afraid that people will get bored. Twenty seconds of a quiet conversation is an eternity in their eyes. The movie never gets a chance to breathe, which is unfortunate, because there is some great dialogue in there between the many, many songs. I have no idea whether this was the director or the studio's choice, but, quite frankly, it bugged the hell out of me.

The cast is great, anyway: Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page, and Ashton Holmes (A History of Violence). Even Sarah Jessica Parker, who I personally can't stand, is decent in this. Everyone's well-cast, especially Thomas Haden Church as the irresponsible brother. It's worth a watch, but don't worry about going out of your way to see it.

The Dark Knight

Yes, that's right. I just got back from a midnight show - it's 3 AM, and I'm sure I'll spend another hour awake writing this thing, because I feel compelled to gush about this movie, as much and as often as possible.
I feel so strongly about this picture that I will say this right out front: if this movie wasn't a "Batman" film, it would be a Best Picture nominee. It is simply the best American crime film since Heat. Unfortunately, I think the whole "Batman" thing may prevent people from taking this movie seriously. This is a serious work, with ruminations on good and evil, the organized chaos of society, and the nature of heroes, and why we need them.
More than anything, this is an epic crime film. I return to Heat once again, Michael Mann's masterpiece. This movie has an obvious debt to that picture, but breaks its own ground and finds its own voice. It has a crackling immediacy that gives everything enormous weight and importance, and visually, it looks more like a gritty crime film than anything else. Being rooted in such reality gives the film its power. It was a brave and wonderful choice, and one of the big reasons for the film's success.
Much has been made of Heath Ledger's performance, and I have to admit, it was the main reason I chose to see the film (along with the stellar reviews it has gotten). The verdict? It is simply breathtaking. It's everything you've heard it is, and so much more. He steals every scene he's in, and he's probably the best villain ever put on screen. As for his Oscar chances, well, if Anthony Hopkins can win an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs, there's no reason why Ledger shouldn't win for this. Even Javier Bardem's win last year for No Country For Old Men pales in comparison to this performance. If he isn't nominated and doesn't win, it will be one of the biggest mistakes the Academy has ever made.
And while we're on the subject of awards, I must point out this fact: this is the best-directed film so far this year, and I doubt I'll see one that tops this. Christopher Nolan deserves at least a nomination for Best Director. Every single thing is done right. Not a false note. I have to admit, I've been disappointed with Nolan in the past. I loved Memento of course, but after 2002's Insomnia (a watered-down American remake of the original film) and 2006's The Prestige, I lost hope in Nolan. Even Batman Begins I wasn't satisfied with. I thought it had some problems at the script stage that were never solved. Well, he's back. All the promise that I saw in Memento has finally come to fruition, and it is a great thing.
The rest of the production is great, with the best editing I've seen all year. The film is long, and it feels long, but it feels right. It's a big story, and it deserves its running time. Like I mentioned before, Heath Ledger steals the show, but the masterful editing keeps all the narrative threads on an equal playing field. Sometimes, if someone is giving an amazing performance, all of their time off-screen is simply spent waiting for them to return. This is definitely not the case here. Ledger might be the main attraction, but there's plenty more here to see.
Well, I suppose I'll leave it at that. Put aside all expectations. This is one of the best films of the year. It's not perfect, but it's just about as close to perfect as a movie can be. This is a work of art, and it deserves to be seen. It drew me in more than any other movie so far this year, and it was an exhilarating experience.
There are some movies that restore your faith in the power of film, but this was more than that. It got me excited about the filmmaking process again, and made we want to go out and shoot more. I think I will. In the meantime, I'm considering going to Boston to see this in an IMAX theater. I've heard there's no better way to see it. And with a movie this good, I owe it to myself to try.

Charles H. Joffe
1929-2008
(Woody Allen's long-time manager and producing partner - he has produced all of Woody's 42 films)

Photos from July 4th, 2008