Double Feature: 'The Words' and 'The Cold Light of Day'

Last weekend was something of an historic moment for Hollywood. While the beginning of September has kids going back to school and is often a weak time for theaters in general, and production companies shove out what they believe to be some of their less prestigious fare, a feat was achieved in the release of ensemble drama The Words and action thriller The Cold Light of Day. The pair of new releases added little to a weekend in which the top twelve grossing movies brought in only $51.9 million, the worst since 2008 and one of the lowest weekend grosses in recorded history. Both films featured rising stars and proven performers, so why did nobody turn out to see them? Where did it all go wrong?

Of the two releases, The Words was felt to have far more potential. Beyond the original story (centering around the harmful effects of plagiarism) that would on the surface appear to agree with the literary-minded set of Hollywood, this was a time-traveling ensemble piece that more than a few people expected to contend for awards this winter. Pulling it together is the talented cast led by The Hangover's Bradley Cooper but also featuring Jeremy Irons, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid and Olivia Wilde, with Cooper giving a surprisingly soulful performance that stands far out from his previous, more light-hearted efforts. The only negative thing I can say about Cooper's work is that the script does its best to get away from him in order to tell the story; when he's center stage, however, he's electrifying.

Don't worry; you're not forgotten, Mr. Irons.

But if there's one performance that will be remembered this award season, it will be Jeremy Irons as the nameless Old Man from whom Cooper's desperate author accidentally cribs in creating his best-selling novel. It's funny how Irons has reinvented his career in the past year, with his success on the Showtime series The Borgias likely a major factor in his casting. The Old Man vocalizes wide swaths of the tale, but that's no problem; if Irons' throaty rasps could do all narrative voice overs for the rest of time, I'd never complain about them again. The work he puts in here is exemplary, and cannot be easily defined by a few lines of text. He's easily redefined himself as one of Hollywood's go-to scene-stealers.

Yup, this is me at crunch-time.

But The Words' rookie co-directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal just don't have enough narrative clout to make this film work overall. While most of the movie takes place in Cooper's present and Irons' past, a third time frame presenting the preceding events as a work of (maybe autobiographical?) fiction from ANOTHER author (Quaid) falls flat, although I can at least understand why the storytellers felt they had to go in this direction. However, the result is a choppy narrative that tries to delve too deeply into what shouldn't be all that difficult a message. Some great dialogue is wasted on a mediocre movie, though at least The Words was not the worst widely released movie to come out last weekend.

That distinction gets to belong to The Cold Light of Day, a low-tech action thriller that riffs off of the Bourne series without any of the charm and excitement that made those films such unexpected hits. The story pits an everyday guy (Immortals' star Henry Cavill) in an unbelievable situation; despite the extremely long odds, we've no doubt as to who will come out on top. When I first saw trailers for this film I was under the assumption that this would be the one to catapult Cavill into recognizable status leading into next year's Superman reboot, but apparently it wasn't even going to get a wide release in the states following the drubbing it got overseas. But with The Words as their only competition, it seems Summit Entertainment had a change of heart and started throwing the film at whatever theater would carry it. Honestly, they probably would have been better off going the limited release route.

Simply put, this is a dry, unoriginal action piece that has some decent actors rattling off inane dialogue and performing stunts that have been done to death in better, more groundbreaking productions. French director Mabrouk el Mechri certainly knows how to work his chosen genre (as he proved in the surprisingly good JCVD), but this movie has none of fun, charm and wit that is needed to carry a really good action flick. I get that every director needs to pay their dues until they get a REAL Hollywood job, but making films like this just because you don't want to give someone a shot just yet is kind of ridiculous.

The most awkward father-son chat EVER.

To make things worse, most of the veteran talent seems intent on cashing their paychecks, for all the enthusiasm they shrug into their performances. This should have been a big year for Bruce Willis, but between the last second delay of the GI Joe sequel, the "been there done that" of Expendables 2, and his uninspired performance here, it's been a mixed bag for the action star. Moonrise Kingdom has been his only legitimately good gig lately, and he might earn some points sitting across from Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the upcoming Looper, but overall this has to be a disappointing year for him. Likewise preening for the camera is Sigourney Weaver, which is a personal pain for me. In recent years Weaver has stopped caring about the roles she takes, and for every great cameo in Paul or Cabin in the Woods is matched by even more godawful dreck not fit for public consumption. What on Earth happened to Ellen Ripley and Dana Barrett? This used to be an actress I loved to see in movies; now she's little more than a famous face brought in to spruce up a sorry paint job. Finally, Cold Light does little to showcase Cavill as a potential action star. He's definitely working harder than his veteran cast-mates, but still lacks that special something that makes someone a movie star. Maybe that will change come Man of Steel's arrival next year; maybe it won't. But for whatever reason he doesn't have the inhuman strength required to carry this particular movie all that far.

Trying to hold a nonexistent audience hostage is not a good idea...

Hmm, normal guy whose existence is stripped away with the revelation that his family is not what he thought it was? And then in Bourne-like fashion he fights against all odds to retain his life, only to succeed thanks to highly irregular coincidences? Where have I heard of this before? Oh, that's right, that was the same story as Abduction, one of the worst films of 2011! You know things aren't right when you're copying the mission statement of a Taylor Lautner vehicle, but hopefully Cavill's career won't take the downward spiral that will siren-call Lautner after the final Twilight film releases. Cavill has the talent and potential to be a bigger star than most of the current "Next-Gen" actors currently working their way up the Hollywood ladder. Thankfully, nobody really sat down and watched this film, so he is in no danger of becoming the next Brandon Routh just yet. But it does raise yet another red flag in relation to the upcoming Superman film; with almost nothing (especially director Zack Snyder) pointing towards a positive experience with Man of Steel, can everybody involved in the project really step up and do a better job than they've ever done before? Because for that movie to even meet the insanely high expectations placed upon it, Snyder, Cavill and company are going to have to do just that. And The Cold Light of Day does nothing to allay those fears that it won't.

Get Your Dance On

I remember a long time ago reading the review of some dance movie (Center Stage, maybe?) and coming across an axiom that made perfect sense. The idea was that when casting for any film in which dance was a central component, you could either cast normal actors and hope they can learn to follow a beat, or cast dancers and hope they can act. While there are those few performers who can actually do both well, the act of corralling enough photogenic dancers into one room often proves far too difficult for studios to pull off. These days are a far cry from the 1980's, when you had legitimate movie stars in Kevin Bacon and Patrick Swayze who could act as well as they could move. Ask anyone who's seen The Eagle or GI Joe if Channing Tatum can really act. The answers won't surprise you. While they might do a decent job portraying pretty people with problems, most actors who appear in films like Step Up or Center Stage are barely passable when it comes to headlining major releases. It's lucky then that most people going to see these titles aren't interested in acting, at least not as much as they usually would be. When fans of the genre see a dance film, they're looking to see something new, a great stunt or move that will make them straighten up in their seats and ask "How did they do that?" Apparently that's now being sought in the past, with a remake of Footloose on the docket for today's review and Dirty Dancing announced for sometime in the foreseeable future. When the original movies are so beloved, is there anything more than bank to be gained by resetting the story in a new, modern era?

He's the annoyingly new kid on the block

When Boston native Ren McCormack (Kenny Wormald) moves in with his uncle Wes (Ray McKinnon) and his family in the small town of Bomont, he knew there would be some serious changes in his life. What he never expected was to find himself in the middle of a small town's battle between overprotective parents and their rebellious progeny. Three years ago, five high school seniors were killed in a car accident while coming home from an unsupervised public dance party. As a result of the tragedy, the town council led by Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) pushed into law a ban on public dancing, citing it as lewd and provocative and plain unhealthy for their children. Ren, a former gymnast and fan of dancing, leads his new friends - including best friend Willard (Miles Teller) and the Reverend's defiant daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) - in an effort to repeal the ban, which threatens to permanently drive two generations apart.

Who knew Line Dancing could actually be fun?

The first thing to know is that while this is indeed a scene-by-scene remake of the original 1984 classic, care has been made to make this release more approachable to those who have no idea of the kinds of religious extremism that people still encounter first hand in some parts of the country. The concept to banning dancing and loud music is not solely based on religious belief, but also on the aforementioned tragedy acting to make the adults overly protective of their children to the point where they are smothering their expressive sides. The film and director Craig Brewer make a concerted effort to portray Bomont as a modern town that happens to be small, not an isolated community governed by conservative law. This often comes from characters protesting that they are not backwards hicks, that they have cell phones and computers same as any other town or city. There is even an early scene in which Reverend Moore questions what qualifies as progress, when that technology seems to be driving people apart rather than bringing them together. It's obvious that Brewer and his team wanted this idea to be a major driving force in the retelling, though sometimes it seems as if they try too hard (in one scene Ren finds a record of Quiet Riot, only to pull out his iPod and Voila!), especially since that focus in the story dies out about halfway through.

You don't mess with Quaid's "Don't Mess with Me" look

One element where the film definitely shows some progress is in the soundtrack, which remakes four of the original's songs (including a Blake Shelton adaptation of title track "Footloose") and includes eight new tracks all its own, eclectic in selection and even featuring some hip-hop, a by-product of the glut of street dancing films that have become oh so popular in the past decade. Every song is well chosen and produced, not surprising as Brewer was the director of the upstart hip-hop film Hustle & Flow which took Hollywood by storm and made a legitimate star out of Terrence Howard. Brewer knows music, and its clear that his influence is a good chunk of the reason that the soundtrack is as amazing as it is. That Footloose doesn't limit itself to country music is a nice change of tune, and makes each scene feel fresh and exciting.

Redneck vs. Ruffian...FIGHT

 

It's a shame that the attention on the dancing couldn't be as focused. It isn't that the dancing portions of the film are BAD; on the contrary, it's quite obvious that Wormald, Hough and company are highly talented performers who put their all into every nuanced movement. The problem is with the film's camera work, which seems fearful of focusing on the person in action for more than a few seconds before changing to a different angle or close-up, throwing off the rhythmic balance of the dance itself. One scene featuring Wormald angrily dancing solo in an empty warehouse is so sabotaged by the camera not allowing him to finish a particular step as to be somewhat frustrating, as a little more cooperation between the two would have worked wonders. Still, there's no denying the talent on display, no matter how much they seem intent on making you forget it.

Say it with me now... "Dawwww"

Of course I began this whole conversation by talking about the usual lack of decent acting in dance films. Footloose doesn't do a ton to dissuade that notion, though the level of acting talent is actually much higher among its stars than you would initially expect. Wormald obviously couldn't escape his very real Boston accent (the original film's Ren was from Chicago) and unfortunately his acting chops aren't so great that he can carry the film on his shoulders as the filmmakers would like. Still, he stands out every time he's asked to bust a move, and is probably the film's most talented dancer. He's well paired with Hough (she the owner of Hollywood's most beautiful blue eyes), who as a two-time winner of Dancing with the Stars is a far better dancer than she shows here. She is a surprisingly strong actress however, and eloquently portrays the struggles of a self-destructive small-town girl who can't find any middle ground in her turbulent life. While they're not the best pair of romantic leads, where the acting Footloose really shines is in its supporting players. Quaid is a silently strong force, his stoic look perfect for the film's conservative and hard-nosed but burdened and worried parent. Ray McKinnon is also a treat, underused as Ren's uncle Wes, who seems to be one of the few adults willing to give Ren a shot and take him seriously. But the real scene-stealer is Miles Teller as Ren's new best friend Willard. Teller, who stole his share of acclaim in last year's Nicole Kidman vehicle Rabbit Hole, might be the film's comic relief, but his journey from two left feet to impresario is as funny as it is heart-warming.

The newest batch of "Late Night" host tryouts is a packed field...

In all, I really enjoyed this remake of Footloose, warts and all. A feel-good movie for teens, anyone going in expecting a perfect remake is in for a rude awakening. Poignantly cast, immensely enjoyable and acutely charming, the film manages to overcome its own issues and make us focus on the spectacle of the dancing, while giving us a new, completely fresh look at the small southern towns we might have thought cliche in the past. It's not nearly good enough to place as Top 10 material, but a spot in the year's Top 20 sounds about right. A little tweaking would have made it perfect, but fans of the original and neophytes alike can be pleased with the product in front of them, flawed though it may be.

Oh, No Joe!

So it was a slow movie week for The Latest Issue. Tired, lazy, and with mediocre weather waiting outside for me, I decided to spend the day in the apartment, where I slowly went stir crazy for want of things to keep my interest. It was with this mindset that i decided that watching GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra on Netflix streaming was in fact a good idea, especially since the hype for last year's blockbuster hit did draw me in somewhat, if not enough to see it in the theaters.

Baroness is as deadly as she is seductive

Let me say first that I'm no GI Joe fan. I never had the toys as a kid, never followed the shows or comics, don't know much about the characters. I simply didn't grow up with them in my life, although I did know several kids who did and you could say I know what little I know about the toy line from them. I was more of a fan of other big 80's toy franchises: TMNT, Ghostbusters and Transformers were more up my alley. While Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and the Baroness may be iconic characters to many, that simply is not the case for me. Perhaps that's why I thought I'd like Joe, since the expectations of the franchise's fans would not necessarily affect me in the same way it would others. Contented that I could not be disappointed in the film because my expectations were not high, I laid down on the couch for what I knew to be a mindless film but determined to see it through.

I should have set my expectations lower.

Oh, you two are fighting again SNORE

GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a jumbled mish-mash of character interactions wrapped around a terribly cliched plot involving experimental warheads created by James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston), a weapons dealer whose family historically tended to sell to both sides in armed conflicts. Naturally, of course, when this charismatic weapons dealer makes some warheads for the US that use nanotechnology to strip molecule by molecule whatever it comes in contact with, the military wants it and these weapons become the central plot point of the story, as soon they're stolen from us by the terrorist group COBRA, who intend world domination. The only ones who can stand in their way? A covert, multinational military force known only as GI Joe.

Rachel Nichol's direction: "Look attractive!"

I won't go on too much about the story since just thinking about Joe's simplistic plot starves my brain, but after being rescued by Joe after their convoy carrying the warheads is attacked by a COBRA unit, Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are recruited into the Joe program by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid) since Duke recognized and could supply information on the leader of the assault, the Baroness (Sienna Miller). The rest of the film has the two opponents fighting one another while decked out in form-fitting leather outfits while Ripcord puts out the occasional one-liner. Heavy Duty, indeed. The plot is a retread of better action films, but the filmmakers are hoping you're too entranced by the classic Joe characters that you'll hardly notice how an elite unit like Joe could be staffed for the most part by nameless cannon fodder easily taken out by a small COBRA strike team. It's plot holes like that that cause wrecks to form.

Poor Breaker, nobody loves you!

While acting is hardly the main focus on films such as this, you still want talented performers doing their jobs well. Tatum was one of the considerations to play the hero in 2011's Captain America film, and I can now see why - despite having the right look for the part - he wasn't offered the job. While perhaps not as wooden as some reviewers might think him, he certainly doesn't show the charm and talent required in your leading man. His Duke is supposed to be the ultimate hero of the tale, but we just keep wishing it had been someone else. If Miller did nothing more than look amazing with black hair, a leather catsuit and dual-wielding pistols, I frankly would have been just fine. Thankfully she does more than that, weaving a cruel and vindictive character that is unfortunately ruined by the script's story. Still, she correctly portrays the type of villain the Baroness was meant to be, when she is allowed to do so. Eccleston is both charismatic and sinister as the man who would be Destro. The actor, who's biggest role to this date is that of The Doctor in the first season of Syfy's Doctor Who, doesn't seem to be stretched too much in his performance. It's almost as if the role was written with him in mind, rather than him necessarily earning the part. Wayans can be a talented actor, don't get me wrong. His role in Requiem for a Dream opened a lot of people's eyes to his potential as a performer. He always picks the same parts in the same type of films, however: silly sidekick who can back up his talk. Typical Wayans role. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje left Lost because he didn't like the material but ended up making Joe instead as Heavy Duty. He basically plays the character most dismissive of the new blood, Duke and Ripcord. Yeah, that ain't a step up. Better is Rachel Nichols as Scarlet, though she does little more than play up her looks than display anything worthwhile character-wise. Storm Shadow (Byung-Hun Lee) and Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) are explored far too much as the director decided that they needed an epic flashback backstory to explain to the audience why they hate each other so much. Park is the kind of performer Hollywood calls on when they need a physical actor who says little to nothing in dialogue and must express himself in his actions, and Park does more of that here. Lee talks more, but for all the interest we invest in his character it doesn't come out to much, and by the end we're sick to death of their feud. Quaid actually has a pretty small role as General Hawk, he just appears every few minutes, for a few minutes, until the end of the movie.Anyone else is either passable or not worth mentioning.

A few other Joes make appearances: This is Cover Girl... COVER GIRL???

All of this might have been forgivable if the film had at least top-notch special effects, but it seems like even that was out of reach for a $150 million film. Though six special effects studios worked on the film, none were especially good, with the worst resulting in obvious CGI outdoor scenes involving futuristic airships or other paraphernalia. Though the scene of the missile attack on the Eiffel Tower is gorgeously-rendered, this example is the exception, not the rule. Fight scenes are also sub-par, with only an early Scarlet-Baroness fight resembling anything remotely entertaining, and anything involving Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes droning on more of the same. Far too much of the action is shot so close that you can't tell what's happening on the screen. And when you add all this on to the fact that the film has very little in the realm of original thought (inventive character origins don't count), there just simply isn't anything to recommend this film to anyone besides die hard Joe fans, and even many of THEM would be upset by the fact that many of their favorite heroes didn't make the shortlist for the team's roster.

Storm Shadow or the Baroness: Who will get voted off the island?

Okay, I made a mistake. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is fun for about as long as it takes you to realize that the film has bad special effects, bad directing (Stephen Sommers' previous projects included The Mummy and Van Helsing, hsssssss), poor acting and lousy character development, with mediocre special effects and an ending that both tidys up things too much AND leaves too much leeway for a sequel (explain THAT one), one expected in the next year or so. I won't see that one in the theater either, though the fact that the screenwriters from Zombieland (which I loved) have been brought in to pen the next chapter makes me at least slightly hopeful. I may not be a GI Joe fan, but I am a movie fan, and when movies this bad are made it hurts, especially when I feel I could have spent that time watching something infinitely more worthwhile.