Reviews by Nathan Weinbender
WHAT TO RENT THIS WEEKEND:
Vicky Cristina BarcelonaWoody Allen is one of my favorite writer-directors, and the fact that I haven’t really admired anything he’s made since “Bullets Over Broadway” is distressing. But “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” although far from a masterpiece, is the best picture he’s made in a very long time. It’s a breezy romantic comedy, as light and airy as a soufflé, concerning two students (Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall) vacationing in Spain and their brief but tumultuous relationship with a toothsome artist (Javier Bardem) and his eccentric ex-lover (the brilliant Penélope Cruz). Like an Eric Rohmer mosaic, the film revels in showing us beautiful people in beautiful locales—the Spanish scenery is absolutely gorgeous, as are Johansson, Hall and Cruz. But Allen doesn’t treat his characters as asides: The women especially are written with refreshing complexity, and this is Allen’s best portrait of female psychology since the great “Hannah and Her Sisters.” Read my original review here.
Grade: B+
ALSO ON DVD:
Lakeview TerraceNeil LaBute, once a great indie provocateur, seems to have lost his edge as he’s gone mainstream. His newest film is “Lakeview Terrace,” a wannabe social commentary that plays it safe when it should be ruffling feathers. Samuel L. Jackson stars as a prejudiced cop who resents the young, interracial couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) who move in next door, and he makes their lives a living hell: He installs bright security lights that shine through their windows, he spies on them in their backyard, he slashes their tires, he assaults and humiliates and frightens them. Why does he do all of this? Well, we wouldn’t question his actions if he hadn’t been written as such a hate-spewing cartoon, but the movie’s explanation for his behavior is so clunky and superficial that it undermines the film’s attempts at legitimacy. And by the time the picture reaches its last reel, it has completely deconstructed into a contrived Hollywood thriller.
Grade: C
The RockerRainn Wilson of “The Office” has his first star vehicle, a pleasant but predictable feel-good comedy about a goofball rock ‘n’ roll drummer who’s kicked out of his band right as they’re making it big (think Pete Best). After years of slumming it, he becomes a replacement drummer for his teenage nephew’s garage band, which ends up becoming massively popular. The movie is slightly better than most in its genre: It doesn’t resort to mean-spirited or gross-out humor, and I appreciate that the characters are smart and that Wilson has a shaggy dog appeal. If only the script hadn’t recycled a formulaic story that involves the band’s meteoric rise to fame, the perils of the cutthroat music industry and Wilson’s tepid romance with the underused Christina Applegate.
Grade: C
RocknRollaYou’re either with Guy Ritchie or you’re not. I’m with him, but I say that with some hesitation: He certainly knows how to shoot and style a picture, but the jury’s still out on whether he can create compelling human drama (his remake of “Swept Away,” which actually attempted pathos, was a disaster). I can’t deny, though, that I’ve been mostly entertained by his films, and, almost in spite of myself, I liked “RocknRolla,” even if it’s a pale shadow of his “Snatch,” which was itself a pale shadow of his first feature, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” The plot is almost comically convoluted. Its characters include a powerful crime boss, a Russian real estate magnate, a sexy accountant, a drug-addicted rock star and a gang of foolhardy bandits. It plows along at a mile a minute, exploring London ganglands, the music industry and the art world, and it’s told in an aggressive, self-aware manner that excels in some scenes and becomes aggravating in others. But the movie mostly works—as a comedy, as a crime caper and as an example of cheeky, excessive style.
Grade: B
