Mini Review - Two for Tuesday

First:

American Gangster

"The Departed" light. I actually thought a true story would be much more riveting. I guess Ridley Scott is no Scorsese. There are many, many admirable things about the movie. The Screenplay in interesting and the dialogue is snappy. The acting (on the whole) is excellent, it just seemed a little lackluster.

All the praise I have read about this film has heaped most of the acting kudos on Denzel Washington. No doubt the man has charisma, but my word did he seem to not be invested in this performance. Frank Lucas should have been feared, and you should have seen why he was feared. In one scene Denzel walks up to a rival in a busy street, pulls a gun, aims it at his head and pulls the trigger, with nary an emotion. This is supposed to give chills to the audience, and we are supposed to see him as ruthless. In Washingtons hands he is a bore.

Crowe on the Other hand is sensational. No wonder people say he is a great actor. He makes his character more complex, brave and intellegent than anyone with the name Richie Roberts deserves.


However the acting prize goes to a woman with very little screentime, but who give the entire movie a much needed jolt of spark, energy, drama and emotion. Ruby Dee gives what I love in a supporting performance, one you miss when not on screen and you wish had more to do. However what she does in her little time in the film is deliver a master class in depth and acting.
She will be on my ballot.

American Gangster C
Ruby Dee A-

Review Two:

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Oh dear.

Well firstly this is not a bad movie. If you had never seen Elizabeth I you would think this a good film. I have seen the aforementioned mini series so I do not think this a good film. Historical inaccuracies aside, this is just far to grand and pantomime for me to take seriously.
The dialogue is cheesy and just plain absurd and the direction is just sloppy. There is no real build up of the drama, and scenes change both look and emotion at the drop of a hat.

That being said there are a few pluses. The costumes are the best, most outlandish costumes since "The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert" and the cinematography is the most creative and eye popping (thank you CGI) in some time. This film is beautiful to look at.

And although I hate to say it, Cate is very good in the role (but not nearly as amazing as Helen Mirren was in the previously mentioned masterpiece), but she plays the role like it is supposed to be iconic which was rather distracting. The heavy handed and grandiose dialogue weights her down a bit.


The best in show, when it comes to performance (unsurprising to those who read my blog, but non-the-less true) is Samantha Morton who is given far too little screen time and far too little to do. She takes these small moments and creates something gigantic. She give Mary flesh and bones, and a full range of emotions that all ring true. When she discovers the outcome of her plot she knocks Blanchette out of the acting ring with the complex and wide range of emotions that run through her. I was absolutely stunned by what she was able to accomplish in this scene.
It seems she, out of everyone involved in this overwrought production, was able to find truth.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age C
Samantha Morton A