Blu-ray Review: Baggage Claim (2013)

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Having grown up across the street from the Twentieth Century Fox lot, it’s only fitting that after years of playing the friend or a sidekick in a supporting role, the utterly delightful Paula Patton has finally been given the opportunity to take the lead in one of the studio’s big ensemble romantic comedies.

It’s just a shame that writer/director David E. Talbert’s cinematic adaptation of his 2005 book Baggage Claim is nowhere near as charming, genuine or relatable as the effervescent Patton, who nonetheless puts her heart and soul into her role as beautiful Baltimore based flight attendant Montana Moore.

Like a long lost Doris Day vehicle, the film’s laughably outdated attitudes regarding love, marriage and a woman’s worth make Baggage Claim’s anachronistic, formulaic plot hard to buy into from the start, particularly given the movie’s presentation of Montana as an intelligent, independent-minded woman.

While she’s given a sharp, witty voice-over introduction at the start of the film, Montana’s characterization as a savvy modern woman is quickly negated in the first act when she jumps into a garbage can before realizing she’d been manipulated by a smooth-talking married man.

Only a few pratfalls away from mistaking it from any other romantic comedy, Baggage is fortunately bolstered by its dynamically talented cast, not to mention Talbert’s wise decision as a screenwriter to put more faith in the ensemble than the overly predictable plotline by dishing out several scene-stealing opportunities for the cast to shine.

While it does bear far too much in common with another recent Fox release via the Anna Faris romantic comedy What’s Your Number? which in itself was based on a 2006 novel, fortunately, this one is the better of the two cinematic endeavors.

While Faris was the best thing in the earlier production, fortunately Baggage avoids Number’s raunchier emphasis on sexual history with a classier interest in past relationships as Montana revisits her boyfriends from the past to discover the men they are today.

After her latest romantic disaster finds her down in the dumps, Montana is stunned to discover that her college-aged sister has gotten engaged.

Tired of playing the single maid of honor in her marriage minded family where her mother has walked down the aisle a total of five times (so far) and holds such outdated views that females aren’t women or ladies unless they’ve been married and had at least two children, Montana decides to turn her search for a husband up to Bachelorette level proportions.

During a night of drinking and scheming with her stereotypical gay best friend (a priceless Adam Brody) and promiscuous gal pal (the hilarious Jill Scott), the three flight attendants rig the ticketing system to their benefit – arranging for Montana to happen to work any flight taken by an ex-boyfriend during the busy holiday travel season.

Knowing that she doesn’t have enough time to meet someone new, their hope is that Montana’s someone olds will have turned into someone to grow old with as she embarks on thirty days and thirty thousand miles worth of dating hijinks.

From a black Republican (Taye Diggs) to a music star to a wealthy hotelier, Montana’s scheme to unveil a future husband soon finds her revisiting her own feelings to the men of her past and present including her best friend of twenty-five years turned apartment neighbor… whose name just so happens to be Mr. Wright (Derek Luke).

While it’s easy to see where all of this is headed as she navigates from one caricature to the next, Patton holds her head high, evoking the same grace under formulaic Rom-Com pressure of genre queens of the past from Meg Ryan to Sandra Bullock.

And while much like many of Montana’s men, the movie is easily forgotten, Patton’s a keeper as in the film her character (rather unconvincingly) discovers that the most important person she’s met along the way just happens to be herself.

Unfortunately, we just wish that Montana Moore would’ve been half as interesting as Patton’s portrayal of her fools us into believing she is (at least until she makes the first in a series of embarrassing moves from the garbage can onward). Despite this, Patton is so good that she deserves another chance to lead the way in a female-centric film that’s truly reflective of life in 2014 rather than Baggage's only-in-the-movies era of Doris Day and Sandra Dee sexless sex comedies.

Fortunately fast-talking Adam Brody gets in a few memorable barbs as the gay sidekick, even though far too little is made of some genuinely creative characters that work alongside Montana for the airlines including an over-eager security screener named Cedric (Affion Crockett).

Crockett, like Brody – is much more entertaining the silly romantic encounters that make up the rest of the film, and while there’s still enough wit and spirit in the briskly paced 97 minute film for indiscriminate romantic comedy lovers looking for something mindlessly fun, there’s also enough great airline material there to have made for a much greater and more unexpected comedy altogether.

 

And indeed when the film moves beyond the confines of the gimmicky romantic comedy plotline in favor of organic air industry based laughter, that’s where Talbert’s writing (and Baggage Claim overall) really soars, illustrating his talent and promise for future comedic fare.

Glossily produced with warm, flattering cinematography and music video like loveliness in its parade of hotness (male and female alike), the beautifully transferred Fox Blu-ray arrives on shelves in time for Valentine’s Day.

But despite its predictability, Baggage Claim still manages to avoid too much turbulence thanks to the smooth delivery of its enviable cast, including yet another star-worthy turn by Paula Patton who flies far above the movie’s baggage to claim her very own place alongside Bullock, Ryan and Roberts as a Rom-Com heroine.

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Blu-ray Review: In the Electric Mist (2008)

Venturing Out of the Bayou
And Onto DVD & Blu-ray
3/3/09

Explore the Entire Dave Robicheaux Series

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Maybe it just works better in Europe.

Acclaimed, award-winning French director Bertrand Tavernier's adaptation of the sixth Dave Robicheaux mystery-- In the Electric Mist-- penned by screenwriting team Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski from the novel by James Lee Burke somehow managed to lure the director back to making an all English language feature and also dubiously scored a Berlin International Film Festival Golden Berlin Bear nomination for his effort. And if somehow you're able to make it all the way through the film, something tells me you'll be scratching your head as well...

Initially slated for a theatrical run due to its incredibly talented cast headed up by Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones, Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen, Oscar nominee Ned Beaty, and critically lauded stars Peter Sarsgaard, John Goodman, and Kelly Macdonald that even boasts a cameo from American indie auteur John Sayles somehow fizzles rather than sizzles in its hum-drum mystery which takes place in the Louisiana bayou.

It is set in a society still ravaged by Hurricaine Katrina and indeed the event is referenced numerous times subtextually and involves a heartrending visit by our no-nonsense, recovering alcoholic detective Dave Robicheaux (Jones) while trying to string together clues in solving the gruesome cases of two dead young women. And in doing so, the film tries to move beyond the limits of its police procedural crime and punishment genre by venturing unsuccessfully into the realm of psychological thriller as Robicheaux and other characters commune with the ghosts of dead in a few downright odd hallucinatory scenes that don't quite gel with the film's uneven tone.

Throughout Mist, I was never sure if it was aspiring to be the type of modern day neo-noir given a Cajun makeover that worked so well in Robert Altman's underrated The Gingerbread Man and even some of the superior round-about mysteries of John Sayles (Lone Star, Silver City) or if the film is a trippier gothic piece. Sadly, it never manages to engage us on either level or on a simply casual one in spite of its the talented ensemble that's bogged down by uninspired dialogue (example: "Elrod's a shitbird, but I love him."). The script excels when it appears as though it's taken directly in voice over narration form from the novel as Robicheaux describes an A.A. friend who always called at night until one night someone had to call for him.

Further muddled by lackluster, poorly lit cinematography that manages to suck the ethereal beauty right out of the southland (making it a crisp yet waste in a Blu-ray transfer) and even filming the characters appearing as movie stars on a location shoot (Saarsgard and Macdonald) in an unflattering light-- everything about the film feels forced and inauthentic right down to its straightforward conclusion.

Granted, it has its moments thanks to 3:10 to Yuma's composer Marco Beltrami as well as a spirited turn by John Goodman bringing some of his Coen Brothers flavor to a role as New Orleans gangster "Baby Feet" Balboni that makes him sorely missed whenever he's offscreen. Yet, more often than not, other actors such as Steenburgen (as Jones' wife) are given little to do but simply go through the motions in underwritten roles and unfortunately as a whole, it's weaker than your average made-for-television mystery of the week. Again, this is especially unbearable given the extraordinary talent involved, excellent location, atmospheric jazz by five-time Grammy Award winning musician Buddy Guy that's all wasted in the finished product.

Again, while it may be better in translation overseas or for those who aren't acquainted with what a real Cajun set film should look and sound like nor the exceptional work offered by the cast and other high quality offerings from the distributors Image Entertainment-- ultimately it's not enough to recommend this one and instead I'd suggest going with the book by bestselling author James Lee Burke in its place.

Spring Forward

Director: Tom Gilroy

I happened to stumble upon Spring Forward accidentally at a local library one evening and noticing that Liev Schreiber was involved, took it home on a whim. After viewing the film, I became angry—not angry at the film itself as it was one of the most gorgeous, understated and moving American films to be released in the last few years but angry that, like many important independent works, it had fallen under the radar in cities other than New York and Los Angeles, left unnoticed on very few video shelves and left to chance to discover in libraries or on Netflix. It’s absurd to me that the latest cross dressing Eddie Murphy film Norbit or even the biggest summer blockbusters get so much advertising on everything from popcorn bags at the local theaters to ads during prime time television. However, movies that truly inspire, movies that are completely without a trace of cynicism, real “people movers” such as The Station Agent and Spring Forward are left by the wayside after being lauded with awards and critical praise from noteworthy critics and festivals across the country while most of the movies on multiple screens at local malls will no doubt earn numerous Razzie nominations. It’s a common problem with money and lack of star power being the most glaring reasoning, however, my goal here is to draw attention to a worthwhile film so I’ll get off my soapbox and urge you to track it down.

As the film opens we meet the always versatile Liev Schreiber who stars as Paul, a recently released convict who’d served time for armed robbery, on his first day on the job working for the local parks system in the Northeast. While Paul is nothing but apologetic and full of soul searching insight which seems to be the result of reading far too many of the new age, spiritual and self-help books available to him on the inside, Paul’s supervisor Murph (Ned Beatty who has never been better) is a man with the gift of wisdom, due in part to his age as he nears retirement but also in his ability to cut right down to the heart of any matter, forget all of the ways one can fixate on their situation and just be down-to-Earth and completely in the moment. Over the course of a year, the two begin to have a noticeable effect on one another as what first seems like a traditional coworker relationship evolves into something closer to father and son. It’s a rare thing in American film to see two men bare their soles for the length of a feature film and former award winning playwright Tom Gilroy, who as he told filmcritic.com was inspired by his own relationship with his father, proves to be a natural filmmaker, unafraid of letting scenes play out with silence or just long monologues back and forth, with complete trust in the intelligence of his audience. Other characters come and go including Peri Gilpin (Frasier) and Campbell Scott who both turn in nice little cameos but the most interesting characters, namely Murph’s beloved wife and his dying gay son Bobby who are never seen, are left conspicuously absent, living just as much in our minds as they probably would if we would have actually seen them onscreen. Instead, like most great storytellers, the film (nearly a novel in its own right), lives in our imagination—we feel that we not only know the two characters inside and out but also the people they’re discussing so often. In this summer of endless sequels which don’t expect much from viewers other than to simply rent an air-conditioned seat for two hours, clichéd as it is, the fresh air evident in independent works such as Spring Forward will prove much more satisfying. While most of the summer blockbusters one forgets on the way to finding their car in the parking lot, Spring Forward will stay in your mind for days if not weeks afterward.

Rent Spring Forward