Family Matters

And just like that, we go from one of the year's best movies to one that is... not quite so close to that pedestal. Based on Tonino Benacquista's mobster novel 'Malavita', The Family is the first movie from Frenchman Luc Besson to get a wide release in the States since 2006's Arthur and the Invisibles. Despite gaining fame in the director's chair for such fare as Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, Besson is nowadays better known as a producer, and his tutelage has helped develop many films we still love today, including the Transporter series, Taken and more recently Colombiana and Lockout. Producing would seem to be his strength, but every so often he steps back into the director's chair when it suits him, this time to tackle the violent comedy that has often been his staple.

In this case, the story of The Family is based on the duality of the title. On one side is the family you raise; father, mother, children, the family pet. This is the family of blood ties, the ones you love unconditionally. The other "family" is the mob; ruthless, bloodthirsty and loyal to one another and the "don", the father of the gang. It's these two families Giovanni Manzoni (Robert De Niro) is forced to choose between, and his snitching on the mafia has forced his remaining family - wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and children Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D'Leo) - deep into hiding with the witness protection program. Under the watchful and humorless eye of FBI agent Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones), the Manzoni's attempt to carve out a new life in their new Normandy home. But old habits are hard to break, though their issues with authority may be their smallest concerns if Giovanni's former family were ever to find out where they were hiding.

Man, De Niro is not young anymore.

The immediate problem I see when The Family gets going is an utter lack of focus. Yes, the main plot is about the mob locating and trying to murder the Manzonis (thanks to an series of impossibly contrived circumstances), but in truth only about twenty minutes of the nearly two-hour flick even deals with this thread, and poorly at that. Instead most of the movie is split between each character's side story. Giovanni tries to face and justify his criminal past by writing his tell-all memoirs, while also tracking down why the water coming out of his pipes is brown. Maggie struggles to adapt to her new surroundings and the unwelcoming personalities of rural France. Belle crushes on a college student and fights off unwanted advances, while Warren turns his new school into his own little mafia training ground. Each character has plenty to do, although it matters little; this is a group of antisocial, hyper-violent malcontents, and the fact that they are the heroes of the tale can't help but feel a little bit wrong. For instance, while it's great to see Agron's character take down a group of boys who were going to try and have their way with her, you can't help but enjoy. But when she has the exact same reaction to a girl who steals her pencil case, you get the feeling that maybe it's not such a good idea to root for these people after all.

This is generally the first sign that your family might be insane.

At least they're admirably acted... well, most of them in any case. De Niro appears to be having a grand old time, especially since the film both lampoons and pays homage to the mobster flicks that made him a household name (in one particularly meta scene, he enjoys a viewing with some associates of Martin Scorcese's Goodfellas), and that energy translates into his performance, which is a step above his usual mobster routine. Jones meanwhile puts in his usual "Agent K" effort, resisting the urge to smile and humanize himself for the sake of levity. For those in the audience who like him, it'll be like Christmas in the Fall. For those who are not Jones' fans, The Family will be another example of his supposed mediocrity. Meanwhile, the film handily belongs to the ladies. Pfeiffer resumes her career resurgence by proving that she is willing and able to go hand-in-hand with De Niro's madness, while the aforementioned Agron is delightfully devilish as a daughter who is more alike to her parents than she would like to admit. I know I put down her role a little bit in the last paragraph, but I would like to clarify: any problems I have with the characters in this movie are not the result of the acting, but a lousy script - co-written by Besson and Michael Caleo - that the actors have to do their best to overcome. Most of them - D'Leo's cliched mob son notwithstanding - manage to do just that, although the clear winners here are definitely Pfeiffer and Agron.

She just can't get out of high school though.

When the time the movie comes to a jarring halt (thanks to an unarguably terrible ending), you can't help but feel that Besson might have benefited from staying out of the director's chair for this one. Plot threads are left wholly unexplored or incomplete, characters take paths completely outside their established behaviors, and the tonal changes of The Family so quickly shudder between violent comedy and serious thriller that it's clear there was an identity crisis on set. With gag scenes quickly giving way to vindictive cruelty, one has to believe that Besson's lack of polish here was an unintentional one, and that The Family fails to make its mark thanks to rustiness and not merely ineptitude. There are sparks of wit and charm scattered throughout the film, enough to suggest that this could even have been a GOOD film in someone else's hands. Sadly, Besson did not play to his strengths as a producer, and The Family suffers from his neglect.

"Forgive me, Lord, for I am about to sin."

Justice for All

I know I might upset a lot of Academy Award voters with this statement, but here goes: I'm not that big a fan of Steven Spielberg.

Sure, his early stuff - Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind - are classics, and everybody who has seen his early thriller The Duel tells me that it's a movie I need to watch. But as good as Jurassic Park was, was it REALLY one of the best the year it was released? Are E.T. and Schindler's List REALLY among the best movies of all time? I say no. I believe Spielberg is one of the industry's more overrated directors, one with a certain amount of talent and an eye for the cinematic but lacking a consistent storytelling ability. Look at last year as an example; War Horse was a bloated, over-hyped mess that would have been shunned had anybody else been in the director's chair. Instead, it was nominated for Best Picture over more deserving fare such as Drive, Bridesmaids and even David Fincher's solid adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Spielberg's name can still move mountains, even if his movies more often move me to boredom. It's why I don't look forward to his products, even when they are Lincoln and feature the inimitable talents of Daniel Day-Lewis.

Ah, the days of smaller cabinets...

Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography Team of Rivals, Lincoln focuses on one of the most crucial battles for our sixteenth US President, one that had (almost) nothing to do with the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg has ended, and the disastrous Civil War is coming soon to a close. Lincoln (Day-Lewis) has just secured reelection, and makes it his priority to add an amendment to the Constitution to abolish slavery. With public support at an all time high, now is the time to get the amendment ratified by Congress. But even with all his strength, he doesn't have the majority vote necessary to guarantee victory. And so Lincoln and his allies must convince his Democrat rivals that approving this measure is more important than petty political machinations.

As Jessica Rabbit's evil clone would say: "A Man!"

First and foremost, let's get the obvious statement out of the way: Daniel Day-Lewis is simply astounding. an almost guaranteed lock for this year's Best Actor categories, Day-Lewis does far more than simply emulate the recorded character of arguably our most revered President. As the stovepipe hat-wearing politician, the actor embodies Lincoln's persona, from his easy command of an audience to his sensitive compassion to his ability to speak on any given subject. That he does this convincingly comes as no true surprise; that it seems to arrive so easily is what makes Day-Lewis the outstanding performer he is. There isn't one moment in which he is on the screen that he does not demand your attention, respect and awe, and he also appears to garner those same responses from his erstwhile costars.

It was Mr. Booth, in the Theater, with the Revolver. I win!

But he doesn't have to carry the whole movie on his own back, as Day-Lewis is surrounded by some of the best actors Spielberg could cobble together. You can't fire a musket without hitting any of a number of talented character players, from David Oyelowo to Walton Goggins to Jared Harris to Lee Pace to the amazing Michael Stuhlbarg, and those are just the small cameo roles. Tommy Lee Jones, who had been regressing in the quality his performances the past few years, leaps back to relevance with his portrayal of Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens. His is an Oscar-worthy performance, a far cry from more Men in Black sequels. More strong performances come from David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and it was obvious a lot of research went into making their relatively obscure characters as true to life as possible. Watchmen's Jackie Earle Haley manages to steal a few moments (opposite Day-Lewis, surprisingly) when he is allowed on screen, putting a much-appreciated face to the Confederate government. And some of my favorite moments in Lincoln involved the banter between John Hawkes and James Spader, playing Republican lobbyists tasked with garnering Democratic support for the amendment. Spader especially is one of the film's best additions. Certainly he's the most entertaining, and while his witty repartee won't likely be enough for Oscar considerations, I'm surprised he's not getting mentions in that regard.

No Oscar for you!

Of course, no Spielberg film is without significant drawbacks. Like most of his work, the director tends to spell everything out in no uncertain terms. Subtlety isn't his specialty, and he's not above using blatant humor, cliched situations and imagery, and telling rather than showing to get his point across. It's not as bad here as it was in War Horse, and the director is helped by his performers in not allowing these weaknesses to get too out of hand. One actor that doesn't really help him however is Sally Field, who plays Lincoln's mentally fragile wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Spielberg has said that he only saw Field in the role, and that's likely what blinded him to the fact that her performance was typical of what we expect from the character. I frankly wasn't impressed; I've seen good Fields roles over the years, and this wasn't one of them. One scene in particular between Lincoln and his wife didn't quite fit, thanks to a decidedly theatrical take that I'm not entirely sure wasn't intentional. And Spielberg has issues with keeping all of his details straightforward. At times he uses subtitles to effectively introduce new characters or locations that we had only heard of before; at others he leaves us to our devices, confused as to the latest turn of events.

My favorite performer of the whole show.

Besides Day-Lewis and the mostly-amazing cast, what I liked most about Lincoln was the history behind it. For many audience members, this is the first we've heard of many of the details leading up to the ratification of the thirteenth constitutional amendment. The reasons behind each character's actions are closely scrutinized, and Spielberg actually does a good job of showing us both how things have changed in the last 150 years and how much they've remained the same, from the gullibility of the public to the divisiveness of Congress. Again, at times he makes things a bit TOO clear cut (especially with politicians perpetually shouting "What's next: black voters? WOMEN voters?" Yeah, we get it), but this is still likely the most authentic look at Lincoln's political career you're going to see on the big screen. The director's ability to capture a scene on camera is one of his greatest strengths, and likely the main reason he has maintained his foothold atop the Hollywood hierarchy after all this time.

I wonder if he has "Old Man" written on his business cards?

Despite my early reservations, Lincoln is a fine film, and one of the better historical dramas of the past decade. It's not perfect, and Spielberg's inability to get over his own hype slightly sabotages any chances of a Best Picture win. But Daniel Day-Lewis is more of a sure thing than anything else in theaters right now or at any time this year. This is a film that - warts and all - is worth watching for his performance alone. If you want to see a master at work - and really, who doesnt'? - then you simply must give Lincoln a shot. It's easily Spielberg's best film in two decades, and is a much better than most of his critics will ever admit.

A Black Man Cometh

Right now we seem to be living in an era of Hollywood nostalgia. Everywhere you turn is a remake of a classic film, an adaptation of a popular book or television show, or a new sequel to an old franchise. The latter has had the least success in theaters recently with relaunches such as Scream 4 and American Reunion failing to live up to the box office standards of their predecessors. After a year in which the domestic box office sank 3.8 percent and ticket sales dropped 4.7 percent to their lowest levels since 1995, it’s obvious that those in power are afraid to deviate from the “tried and true” methods that had allowed them to achieve market dominance in the first place. The rise of the sequel/prequel is the most obvious example of this fear of change, and we entered 2012 with 27 franchise titles awaiting release, including The Dark Knight Rises, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt 2, and The Hobbit. Most of those are sequels from recent films, with Prometheus (a sorta-prequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien) being one of the obvious exceptions. This week marked the release of Men in Black 3, a sequel ten years in the making. MIB3’s release is not only interesting in that it is another long-awaited entry to a popular franchise, but for being the first major film appearance of star Will Smith in more than three years.

"Woah, where was I for the last three years?"

From 1995 through 2008, the actor formerly known as “The Fresh Prince” was arguably the most popular man in Hollywood. A fan favorite, everything Will Smith touched turned to gold, with fourteen films that he headlined accumulating worldwide grosses of over $100 million, four of which (Independence Day, I Am Legend, Hancock and the original Men in Black) grossing over $500 million. He was also a critically-acclaimed performer, using his easy charm and relentless dedication to earn Oscar nominations for his portrayals of real-life figures Muhammad Ali and Chris Gardner. Strangely, Smith decided to step away from the bright lights after his late 2008 film Seven Pounds, presumably to focus on raising his family. His return is a boon to a flagging industry, and it’s good simply to have a proven star back on the big screen.

New York gets a much-needed renovation.

When I first heard that Men in Black 3 was coming to theaters, I admit that my first thoughts were skeptical ones. While I loved the first Men in Black, both a critical and commercial success back in 1997, its sequel five years later was a mess. This practically put a kibosh on any future franchise hopes, despite the good will built up by the first film and the popular animated series that had followed. After the recent failures at reinvigorating long-dormant series, I had no reason to believe that MIB3 could be anything more than a nostalgic cash-grab, but as I learned more about the story I was quickly brought over to the other side. When veteran Men in Black (a top-secret agency who keeps aliens a secret, for those not in the know) Agent K (the eternally dour Tommy Lee Jones) becomes the victim of a time-travel paradox, the only man who doesn’t remember that K died over forty years ago is his partner, Agent J (Smith). J resolves to use an illegal machine to go back in time and fix the problem, and restore his friend to the land of the living. To do so, he must team up with the K of the past (Josh Brolin), and track down and stop the vicious Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement). Boris is out to not only kill K, but prevent a global defense net that K was going to deploy from coming to be, opening the door for an alien invasion that Earth has absolutely no chance of repelling.

The Mad Men audition nobody saw...

It was the inclusion of Brolin that really drew me to MIB3, as the trailers seemed to show the actor perfectly mimicking the mannerisms and personality of a young Jones. Brolin, who’s had a long career but seemed to finally break out in 2007 with No Country for Old Men, has enjoyed a string of praise for his roles in W, Milk and True Grit. These films helped cement his place in cinema as a strong supporting actor, and that talent is on full display here. Brolin separates himself from the rest of the cast – including a strong return by Smith – in his performance as Young K, taking over the reins from Jones with apparent ease. It’s a shame that the entire concept of his appearance means that Brolin will be unlikely to appear in any more sequels, as it will be difficult to enjoy when we know that we were missing. Smith proves he still has the cocky charm to carry a film on his back, and doesn’t appear to feel any poor effects from his acting hiatus. It’s a good thing Jones’ role was reduced, as he looks even more tired than usual (and you know he’s getting too old for this shit), which is a giant flag that the series would be running out of time even without a great opening weekend. Other great additions to the cast include Flight of the Conchords’ Clement, who appears to have graduated from the Hugo Weaving/Tim Curry school of movie villainy; Emma Thompson and Alice Eve as MIB’s new head Agent O and her younger incarnation, respectively; and Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays an alien with the ability to see all potential timelines as one.  Stuhlbarg especially stands out, and alongside Brolin brings the whole experience to a level beyond what the film SHOULD have been able to do.

"I'm just going to ask you once: Are you a Communist spy??"

It’s not just the return of Smith that makes MIB3 so special, but those behind the scenes as well. Director Barry Sonnenfeld, Executive Producer Steven Spielberg and producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald all return, and their contributions do a great job of replicating the combined environments of real life and cheesy science fiction that made the first film such a crowd-pleasing hit in the first place. Screenwriter Etan Cohen helps keep the story fresh, introducing the time travel concept that is the film’s central plot device while simultaneously exploring K’s back-story in a way that doesn’t involve numerous, angst-riddled voiceovers. Some of the series’ minor staples, including the knowledge that the more “eccentric” celebrities out there are actually aliens in disguise, are downplayed somewhat in this go-around, though seeing Lady Gaga on MIB’s watch list does garner a few chuckles. But while the film does have some inspired moments (including having SNL vet Bill Hader play renowned artist Andy Warhol as an undercover Agent W), MIB3 does its best when not trying to do too much, and allowing the natural charisma of Smith and crew to do more with traditional humor.

The much-anticipated Bieber cameo.

After so long an absence, it’s almost guaranteed that this will be the final entry in the proud Men in Black franchise. That’s a shame, as there is a lot here to suggest that the series could build up steam under the right circumstances. Jones would almost certainly have to go, but finding someone who matches Smith’s irreverent on-screen attitude would be nearly impossible, even if they hadn’t already statistically eliminated Brolin from the running. Still, if this is the end for J, K and the rest of the alphabet, at least the MIB name can go out on a high note. It may not be as entertaining or as unique as the original, but Men in Black 3 still manages to combine the right amounts of action and humor that can make for the perfect summer film, making it the #5 film of 2012. As for Will Smith’s big screen comeback, I can’t imagine a more appropriate return for the actor, and hope that all his future big-screen work can be this entertaining for however long he decides to keep the fires going.