Blu-ray Review: Love & Mercy (2014)

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AKA: Love and Mercy

Like the waves of the ocean that inspired so many of The Beach Boys' earliest hits, Love & Mercy moves back and forth in time between two of the most pivotal decades in the life of its subject Brian Wilson (played by Paul Dano in the 1960s and John Cusack in the 1980s).

As multilayered as one of Wilson's symphonic Pet Sounds compositions that likewise move between multiple time signatures and keys, Tree of Life producer Bill Pohlad's phenomenal true life tale is a wonderful labor of love.

Experimental but still both palatable and accessible to viewers more accustomed to the traditional extended flashback formula often employed in contemporary biopics, while Love & Mercy may indeed "get around" in its chronology, it never wanders out too far off the deep end, learning a valuable lesson from the overly fragmented Bob Dylan opus I'm Not There which was partially penned by Love co-writer Oren Moverman.

Helping to ease the transitions in time by shooting a majority of the earlier sequences on Super 16 millimeter film, frequent Wes Anderson cinematographer Robert Yeoman infuses his '60s set footage with vibrant, nostalgic golden light to shower Wilson with (as he famously sang) "the warmth of the sun."

And since we're missing a good decade of drama, Yeoman's innovative and impressionistic lensing not only emphasizes the changes in Wilson's life but it also serves as a painterly shortcut for the audience. Inviting us to read between the lines of drama left on the cutting room floor, we're struck by the weight of Wilson's offscreen loss and heartbreak through the stark and sudden shift in both color and camera.

Replacing the brilliant glow of loved ones who'd filled his younger years with harmony, music, laughter, love, and sunlight with the harshness of cool blues and white prescription pill hued overcast light makes us acutely aware of the isolation felt by Wilson under the care of a domineering psychiatrist (played by Paul Giamatti) in the 1980s during one of the bluest periods of his life.

However, even though Love & Mercy is centered on Brian Wilson, the surprising heroine of Pohlad's picture is Wilson's then-girlfriend Melinda Ledbetter (beautifully portrayed by Elizabeth Banks) who helped liberate her future husband from his overly controlling doctor/legal guardian.

From one of Love's earliest scenes where the two meet in a Cadillac showroom to their tentative escape from one of the doctor's spies by diving into the same waves he'd sung about decades before, given the role that love played in liberating Wilson, Mercy is thematically on par with the impressive if more traditionally structured Johnny Cash endeavor Walk the Line.

Featuring one of John Cusack's strongest turns in years, although Love & Mercy plays even better to Brian Wilson devotees (myself included) who have a greater frame of reference for details about the composer's past that are only briefly referenced in the film's dialogue, Pohlad's sensitively drawn portrait nonetheless remains one of the best musical biopics that I have seen in quite some time.

Unlike some genre efforts that get so caught up in the drama that the music nearly becomes an afterthought, the filmmakers behind Love & Mercy allow Wilson's creative process to guide some of the film's most inspiring and memorable sequences.

Rather than focus on music video style montages of screaming fans and tour dates or settle for the "a-ha" light bulb moments of brilliance that gave birth to a hit song, Pohlad and Moverman celebrate all aspects of Wilson's musical genius while presenting the soundtrack of The Beach Boys as a vital part of his biography.

Racing to keep up with the music and voices in his mind (that would later lead to a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia), we travel with the gifted Paul Dano's '60s era Wilson from one studio to the next several times per song and watch in awe as he layers impromptu inventions and multiple "pet sounds" on top of one another to result in an endless harmony.

Trying to turn mistakes into instrumental beauty and dissonant noises into sweet melodies, as masterful as the movie is, in the end perhaps Love & Mercy's greatest feat is the way that it enhances our understanding of Brian Wilson's lush pop music symphonies.

   

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Blu-ray Review: Igor (2008)

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After his master Dr. Glickenstein (John Cleese) is tragically killed in the name of misguided experimentation, his hunchbacked dwarfish assistant Igor (John Cusack) crafts his very own version of Frankenstein in an attempt to win his community of Malaria's "Evil Science Fair."

However, instead of unleashing a dangerous monster, he creates Eva, a charismatic, sensitive, and sweet female giant (Molly Shannon) who-- after an unsuccessful trip to become "brainwashed" via subliminal videos (think A Clockwork Orange)-- finds herself wanting to become an actress after the channel is accidentally changed to host James Lipton's Inside Actors Studio.

Yet, instead of giggling at Lipton's sophisticated cadence, his frequent tendency to go a bit overboard in his praise or relishing in the audience favorite "what is your favorite curse word?" section of his survey that closes every episode, Molly Shannon's Eva decides she needs to create sense memories, work on her instrument, and get new head-shots.

Initially upset that his plan to create diabolical havoc has gone awry since the goal of Malaria as argued by Jay Leno's King Malbert is to take advantage of the failing climate and economic hardship to become Donald Trump like wealthy off of horrific products they can unleash on others-- instead Igor decides to try and control his new she-creature by pretending that the Evil Science Fair is merely one big show for which she needs to prepare.

Along with his two eccentric sidekicks (and inventions gone awry) including Steve Buscemi's endlessly suicidal rabbit character Scamper who keeps trying to fight his curse of "immortality" and Sean Hayes' clueless robot who labels himself a "brain" although the label on his head reads "Brian," Igor tries to blend the musical Annie into Eva's preparations for her frightening debut.

When the competitive scheming Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard) and his shape-shifting, seductive girlfriend (Jennifer Coolidge) start to sabotage Igor's work by stealing ideas as they do every year to ensure Schadenfreude's victory, soon the blossoming relationship between Igor and Eva is jeopardized as he begins questioning their strategies as evil-doers to instead become joyful and kind citizens.

MGM and Fox pulled out all the stops in their creative animation for the visually compelling film and all the more so in Blu-ray with a plethora of concept art galleries, storyboards that comprise a veritable delight for animation fans in this high definition transfer with mesmerizing picture and sound.

And while it begins on a high note as the film is given a hilarious set-up which appeals much more to adults than children (due to the thinly disguised references to the most recent president's administration, politics, jokes about actresses, etc.) and writer Chris McKenna receives bonus points for originality in the overall concept, ultimately the influences cinematically and structurally towards the end of Igor seem overwhelmingly inspired by Shrek, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and several other superior films.

Soon evolving into a misfire as the highly complicated plot changes gears uneasily as it begins as a political satire before moving into a Hollywood satire before ultimately becoming a "beauty is on the inside" and "can't we all just get along" Shrek styled fairy-tale at the end. Nonetheless it has its moments and I adored the adorably drawn characters (especially Buscemi's crazy death wish happy rabbit).

Additionally, it's a great toe-tapper due to the abundance of wonderfully engaging Louis Prima tracks on the soundtrack (which-- because they're the least obvious musical accompaniment for this children's science fiction monster movie makes them feel that much fresher). Still, overall, it's a rambling mess that tries to squeeze in too many plot-lines and agendas into an overly crowded eighty-six minute running time.

The sparks of brilliance were evident from the start and had the filmmakers just stuck with that original plot-line by making a kids film into a commentary on "evil doers" and our political climate, it may have been-- if not in the same league-- than at least closer in quality to 2008's other film featuring a character whose name is pronounced the same as Shannon's Eva-- namely, Wall-E'a love for the sleek robot Eve whom he calls "Ev-a."

And although that's another film that took a major likability detour about one hour in-- at least the catalyst was more than just an accidental viewing of Inside the Actor's Studio since James Lipton seems about as capable of brain-washing as comedian Jay Leno is as being a king. I mean, seriously-- everyone knows that's David Letterman's job... just kidding.

Grace is Gone

Director: James C. Strouse

Much like a bartender trained to blend together enough ingredients to form an ideal cocktail that will both entice patrons yet keep them sober and thirsty enough to come back for more, corporate news television producers have now become near tastemakers. Sifting through various ingredients such as spin and damage control to mix their nightly product-- namely a sound byte heavy drink of selective reality-- these clip-tenders tease us with vague explanations and half-truths so that we’re left thoroughly confused, slightly intoxicated by the concoction and given a false sense of what’s really going on, similar to a cocktail buzz.

Therefore it’s no surprise in the calm light of the following morning that-- instead of a hangover-- news junkies such as myself find ourselves wondering just what the headlines will say next. All the while, we realize that-- in trying to distract us from tragedy with clever graphics instead of paper umbrellas, slices of lime and olives in covering the devastating war in Iraq and especially its overwhelming casualties-- the true lead gets drowned, watered down and poured into the large decorative glass not for martinis but of our television screens.

Not only are our soldiers faced with unspeakable casualties and significant disabilities, as writer/director James C. Strouse asserts in a DVD interview for his feature length filmmaking debut Grace is Gone, for every soldier who is killed overseas, generations are affected as the lives of any number of the soldier’s survivors from tens to hundreds are forever altered. We will never fully be able to calculate the damage done to the American psyche from the horrors of war but just like my generation recalls with our relatives who served in Vietnam as we now find ourselves called to duty in two war-torn countries, the battle continues to be fought back here in the states in the hearts and minds of families, friends, lovers, neighbors, and classmates, consistently ignored by the media in favor of salacious scandals, political infighting, and lurid crimes.

As a father and wanting to somehow translate his perspective on that role onscreen, Strouse penned the unique character driven anti-war film Grace is Gone. Originally attached to director Rob Reiner who dropped out for unspecified reasons (IMDb), in a rather fortunate twist of fate, Strouse took over to helm it, bringing only his second screenplay (after Lonesome Jim, directed by Steve Buscemi) to cinematic life, courtesy of the tremendous support he gained in producer and star John Cusack along with The Weinstein Company and Clint Eastwood who lent his talent by composing the bittersweet, heartbreaking, and breathtakingly nuanced musical score, which is easily Eastwood’s most effective since Million Dollar Baby.

The usually hyper, highly verbal Cusack we’ve come to know and love in Say Anything and High Fidelity turns in one of his finest and most understated, subtle performances as a right wing, strict, conservative Minnesota father of two young daughters (played by the talented Shelan O’Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk) who learns early on into the film that his army sergeant wife has been killed while serving her country in Iraq.

Unable to bring himself to face reality or tell neither his twelve and a half nor eight year old girl, Cusack’s Stanley Philipps makes an impulsive decision to grant the wish of his youngest daughter Dawn (Bednarczyk) to travel to the Disney World like Enchanted Gardens Theme Park.

Skipping out on his job as a manager at a Home Store that he seems to run as though it were the military he fervently loves for which he still seems bitter about not being able to serve, Stanley and the girls leave without luggage or preparation, as he tries to outrun his problems, stopping every so often to phone home, longing to hear his deceased wife’s voice and also try and speak with her again one last time.

While admittedly, one knows going in that the film is going to be unspeakably sad, it’s a riveting road film and a meaningful study of fatherhood as Stanley along with the audience begins to realize, similar to Strouse’s intention, that heroes come in all types and we can all be heroic on a different scale. Clocking in at just eighty-five minutes, the most frequently discussed detraction among critics and viewers was that given the film’s title and inevitability that Stanley will have to share with the girls what happened to their mother, is that the film seems to lack an arc and doesn’t offer its audience much in the way of a dynamic plot.

However, it’s a poetic decision by Strouse to trust his own work and its authenticity as a character piece and one that invites introspection, not to overload it with filmmaking-by-the-numbers plot points or unbelievable quirky characters thrown in for our amusement similar to the decorative ingredients mixed into the evening news or shaken into a drink. No, it’s Stanley’s story first and foremost and by extension the coming-of-age and loss-of-innocence of his wide-eyed daughters including the lonely Dawn and wise-beyond-her-years Heidi (played phenomenally by O’Keefe) that manages to keep us invested, all the while breaking our hearts with nothing watered down, nothing drowned in sound bytes-- the lead right where it’s supposed to be-- right in front of our eyes instead of buried beneath the distractions.

The Thin Red Line

Director: Terrence Malick To this day, I’m still shocked when people say the dislike The Thin Red Line. Having had the misfortune of being released the same year as Steven Spielberg’s critically lauded yet (aside from the brilliant and unrelentingly brutal opening) highly formulaic Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line seemed to be the antidote to the Hollywood gloss of most WWII films as it is poetic, passionate, frustrating, hypnotic, tender, breathtaking and unspeakably tragic. While it’s said in some circles that having both Spielberg’s Ryan and Malick’s Line up for the Best Picture Oscar may have helped split the vote and led to the Shakespeare in Love upset, to me, it was again proof that the Academy Awards, while important and historical, are subjective and it’s a shame that several films and performances can’t be recognized as they’re overlooked in the definitive quest of simplifying things down to a single “best” choice. In comparing the works, Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that “Steven Spielberg’s film was about character and Malick’s is about spirit,” although I’d argue that spirit by its very definition is embodied in a fully realized and fleshed out character and in Malick’s film (which is based on the autobiographical novel by James Jones) is filled with a wide range of characters and their unforgettable spirits. As IMDb reported Malick had longed to adapt the book by the author of From Here to Eternity since the late 1980’s yet it wasn’t until ’98 when his meandering opus about the first major offensive by America’s Army Rifle Company C (for Charlie) on the South Pacific island of Guadalcanal in 1943 was released. While fighting for an overwhelmingly long time over the “key-positioned airfled that allows control over a 1,000 mile radius,” (IMDb) we get an intimate view of both the army and inner lives of several of the soldiers including our heroic Pvt. Witt (Jim Caviezel) and Pvt. Bell (Ben Chaplin) along with countless others that are played by the likes of Adrien Brody, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Thomas Jane, George Clooney, Elias Koteas, Jared Leto, Tim Blake Nelson, John C. Reilly, John Travolta, Nick Stahl, Nick Nolte and Sean Penn. With so many actors, it does at times become hard to tell them apart since (much like myself) the casting director must have had a thing for sensitive looking dark haired men. Viewers do at times feel a bit lost in the shuffle and may benefit from a second viewing yet contrary to critic Roger Ebert’s statement that “the actors… are making one movie, and the director is making another,” I thought they all added to Malick’s vision and their willingness to leave their egos aside for sometimes only moments of screen time owes much to the admiration for the legendary director of Days of Heaven and Badlands. The underrated Elias Koteas is especially good as Capt. Staros who fights hard to stick up for the men under his command and defy the orders of egomaniacal Lt. Col Tall (Nolte) to protect the others and save lives much to the detriment of his own career. With an average reported shot length of 7.9 seconds (IMDb) and a running time of roughly three hours, the daunting film which was nominated for seven Academy Awards alienated some with its artistic and cerebral approach but for those with the patience who appreciate a different take on a traditional war film (and one in the tradition of Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now), you will be extremely glad you invested the time.