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Movie Comments: The Fountain, Casino Royale, Deja Vu

I've seen three movies recently, and all three of them have surpassed my expectations in one way or another. I'll list them, in increasing order of surprisingness:

1) The Fountain. This was wasn't exactly a surprise, but at the same time, it could easily have sucked. About all I'm going to say is that this is one of the most gorgeous films I've seen (DVD will not do it justice at all), and that Aronofsky really has a fascinating way of looking at things. Recall, this is the guy who wrote a movie which ended with a guy drilling a hole in his head. The Fountain is not intended to be disturbing like that, but it does have the same sort of cognitively twisted feel as his previous two movies. I was quite engrossed by it, and appreciated its quiet meditativeness and sensitivity.

2) Casino Royale. While I was one of those who felt that Daniel Craig was an inspired choice to play James Bond, what I had read of this movie in advance of its opening made me almost decide not to see it. But, in the end, my curiousity got the better of me and I went. It was a good choice, as I was quite impressed by what I saw. While I have always been a Bond freak, I found myself not missing the stuff I thought I would miss. Not at all. (Okay, I admit I did miss all the usual naked female figures in the opening title sequence, but I can't complain too much about that, because the sequence itself was absolutely gorgeous.) In fact, I was impressed enough by aspects of this movie that I went back to see it a second time last night, and liked it even better than the first time. I'll go out on a limb and state that this is not just a good James Bond film, not just "the best since Goldfinger", as some critics have said, but is actually the best James Bond film ever made, and that Daniel Craig is the first actor to play the role who may turn out to be as good in it as Sean Connery. It also holds up very well as a straight action movie--in fact, I can't think of an action film I've seen in several years that's as well put together as this. This movie is the polar opposite of Moonraker or Die Another Day, and you know what? It's a goddamn relief. I look forward to the next one. I also hope the producers have the balls to stick with what they've started here, and ignore the petulant whining of people who complain about "where are all the gadgets?" or "why is James Bond driving a FORD?!!?!?" The answer to these questions is, obviously, "because it makes sense in the context of the story." And they'll get over it, sooner or later.

I only have one big question about this movie: Who is that absolutely stunning brunette in the red dress? She doesn't appear to be listed in the credits at all. (Eva Green, on the other hand, definitely was. She was also fantabulous, by the way. Such a contrast to Denise Richards or Halle Berry, who, notwithstanding their individual qualities, never should have been cast in a James Bond film.)

Now for the really big surprise:

3) Deja Vu, produced by none other than that spawn of Satan, Jerry Bruckheimer. Just as a broken clock occassionally happens to display the correct time, I guess it was inevitable that Bruckheimer would, sooner or later, manage to produce an enjoyable movie, if only by sheer accident. I won't even attempt to explain why I went to see it in the first place. Okay, I lie: I was intrigued by the trailers, and figured maybe Denzel Washington would cancel out the Bruckheimer effect. Well, he just about did. There was a spot in the middle where the film got a little bit too heavy into the geeky-gadget-hype thing, something that should be avoided when your geeky-gadgets are totally made up out of thin air, as they are in this movie. But, on the whole, it had a heart and soul to it that I totally did not expect, and the lead-up to the ending was especially well-presented and suspenseful. Would I rate this as a "must see" in the theater? Possibly, although it's on the borderline. It's for sure worth a rental, unless you somehow despise Denzel Washington for some reason.

I shall now commence eating my hat, or whatever I must surely have said after seeing Coyote Ugly.

posted by cke @ 8:34 PM