Movie Review: Gone Baby Gone

What do 'Seven', 'The Pledge', 'No Country for Old men' and 'There will be blood' have in common? These are all movies with non-conventional endings. 'Gone Baby Gone' (GBG) joins this list.
This movie marks the directorial debut of Ben Affleck, and stars his brother Casey Affleck in the lead role. The ensemble cast also includes Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.

GBG begins as a thriller involving the kidnapping of a young little girl in a Boston suburb. Casey plays a sleuth brought in by the girl's family to find the girl. As the plot evolves, it opens up an intricate web of evil and unholy alliances forged among the girl's relatives, gangsters and even members of the police force.

Finally the story becomes fodder for a philosophical discussion about making ethical choices. The raw dialogs enhance the realism of the movie and add to the mounting tension.

The camera work is impressive. One particular scene is quite graphic adding more to the film's intensity. Kudos to Ben Affleck, who hails from my present hometown, Boston. With GBG, Affleck has made a decent directorial debut. I look forward to seeing more of his talents.

Read more...

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

It took the genius of Alan Moore and Frank Miller to retell the Batman folklore and transform it from a child's comic book to a literary graphic novel art form that even the intellectual could enjoy. It took the skills of director Christopher Nolan and a stellar cast of Christian Bale, the late Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gyllenhaal to create a Batman closer to the one envisioned by Moore and Miller.

Batman fans know that the Joker is by far the most twisted and complicated among all of the caped crusader's villains. The Heath Ledger incarnation of this fiend is perhaps the greatest villain to ever make a presence on the movie screen. What made playing the Joker an intimidating task was that Ledger had big shoes to fill. Ledger had to create a Joker at least as fearful as the one Jack Nicholson created more than a decade ago.

Ledger's Joker is by far more psychotic and terrorizing than his Nicholson counterpart. Many predict a posthumous Academy award for his role. It is indeed a big loss to the movie world that Ledger would meet an untimely death after this role.

Christian Bale is easily the best Batman ever. Christian Bale brings out the dark character of the Batman and all the inner conflicts that the dark knight must endure much better than anyone else.

Director Nolan deserves special kudos for bringing so many of the Batman complexities on the screen. Though Batman the Beginning did not succeed at the Box office, critics hailed it as the only Batman movie that had got it right until then. This story focused on the Batman rather than his colorful villains like other movies had done before.

Undeterred by his prior setback, Nolan has brought forth this masterpiece that begins where the last Batman left off. This time Batman must meet his deadly nemesis who has struck an unholy alliance with the local mob in Gotham city.

Batman has his allies too. There is inspector Gordon, played extremely well by Gary Oldman and the new DA, Harvey Dent played by Aaron Eckhart. The paradox of Harvey Dent is one of the most complicated of all Batman sub-plots. I did not expect any director or actor to explore this character. Nolan has succeeded in doing this beyond my expectations. Eckhart brings a charm to Dent's character that I have not seen in any of the Batman comics.

Finally, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman true to their reputation add more luster to this Batman saga. I am the least bit surprised that this movie shattered all box office records with its $155 million opening. This movie is a must-see.

Do I now believe that Frank Miller's 'The Dark Knight Returns' will ever make it to the big screen? Most probably not! The whole idea of a seventy year old batman coming out from retirement to save Gotham does not look appropriate for Batman movie. But then, who knows? Maybe Nolan and Bale can work their magic again!

Read more...

Movie: Unforgiven(1992)

This was the movie that won Eastwood his maiden Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Movie. The movie won 4 Oscars including one which Gene Hackman picked up for best supporting actor. Hackman first refused this role but later Eastwood convinced him to take it.


Eastwood, who became a macho icon by playing the cigar-chewing ,softspoken 'man-with-no-name' in the Sergio Leone Spagetti Western returns for probably the final time as a retired Bounty Hunter.This is probably one of the greatest Westerns of all time.

It is indeed delightful to see that Clint is courageous enough to polk fun at his own age as one watches him struggle to hop on his horse. Seeking justice for a prostitute who has been disfigured by a rowdy bunch of men, he enlists the help of his old friend.(Morgan Freeman). Together they enter a town with a ruthless sherrif(Hackman) who wants the two out of town and would not hesitate to kill them. The bloody confrontation with the rowdy men is frightfully impacting as is the hard-hitting end.
The film also features a brief but memorable performance of Richard Harris.

In the following years Eastwood's directorial skills would churn out string of award winning actors. I recommend this one unequivocally.Critics and fans alike have hailed this one.

Read more...