The Vow

If you've seen the preview, you know the story. And not just part of it - but almost the entirety. A young couple suffer a severe tragedy in which the wife loses the previous five years of her memory. That memory loss includes any recollection of the courtship with and marriage to her husband. The husband spends the rest of the movie trying to woo her and remind her of their relationship. It's basically the same plot as Chuck's series finale - without the geeky humor and spy vs spy action.

But what's different from that Nerd Herding TV show is that The Vow is loosely based on a try story.

The rest of this review is laden with plot spoilers - which I don't feel bad about as the preview itself is a two minute plot spoiler.

Rachel McAdams plays Paige, the free spirited Artist inflicted with amnesia. Not only has she forgotten everything about her husband and the love they shared, but she doesn't remember anything about her current work and her time in art school. When she emerges from a coma, the last thing she remembers is being a law student engaged to another man.

Her parents (Jessica Lange & Sam Neill) are manipulative and selfish. Her real husband, Leo (Channing Tatum) is heartbroken. And half of the movie is a war between the factions of husband and parents - neither like the other and both think they have Paige's best interests in mind.

The other half of the movie is spent watching Leo's displays of devotion - all of which are fruitless.

Your opinion of this movie will vary depending on your outlook on life. Bekah found the film to be hopelessly romantic and inspiring, but that could be because most women want someone to love them as deeply as Leo loved Paige. That's why stories like Twilight are successful. I thought The Vow was wholly depressing. That could be because his repeated failed attempts remind guys of how they've previously failed in our own love stories. In The Vow, Leo kept doing all the right things and none of it worked.

By the end of the movie Paige and Leo may be heading to a restaurant for a meal together, but they're divorced. Leo is still hurt from his loss and unrequited love, and Paige is trying out art school again while trying to rediscover herself. The happy ending is only provided in the afterword. I'm not bummed that Paige never regained her memory. That would be taking too much creative license over the true events. But I am disappointed that the romance was not reignited during the film.

I'm not saying this is a bad movie. It was just OK. McAdams and Tatum are both decent in their romantic roles (although I don't buy Tatum as a hipster professional musician and recording studio engineer). Sam Neill is at his best when he plays characters that we're not supposed to trust. And I appreciated some of the more intelligent music references like the story of Thom Yorke turned into a motivational speech - which in my opinion was the best scene in the movie. Second best part? Hearing Pictures of You by The Cure during the closing credits.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

There was an extended preview for Extremely Loud before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and through the whole 3 minute clip I kept thinking, "This kid is on the Autism Spectrum." I got my phone out and quickly texted my wife: "We must see this movie." (don't worry, the movie hadn't started yet so I wasn't one of those movie goers)

Extremely Loud follows Oskar (Thomas Horn), a precocious ten year old New Yorker, as he tries to make sense of losing his father in the World Trade Center attacks - an event which Oskar repeatedly refers to as "the worst day."

Oskar is abnormally intelligent; possesses a legion of phobias; has an obsession with facts, numbers, and maps; has a foul mouth; speaks his mind without weighing the possible impact of his words; employs self stimulating routines; and has several other peculiar habits.

In his grieving, Oskar finds a key and thinks it's a clue to a quest that his father left for him to explorer and dicsover New York's lost sixth borough. His self imposed search to find the lock that the key unlocks is an attempt to find order in the disorder of life and make sense of an inexplicable tragedy. In it he touches the lives of many people - most of them strangers.

We also see the struggles of parenting a unique child. We see Oskar's dad (Tom Hanks) step into his child's world. We see Oskar's mom (Sandra Bullock) care for her son while coping with her own loss. You see the heartbreak and the joy of raising a kid that is just a step out of sync with society.

As the movie started, I couldn't help but laugh (perhaps inappropriately) at Oskar's eccentricities. It's a somber film and you should feel sorry for this kid that learned of his father's death through a series of six answering machine messages and TV news reports. But I couldn't help but chuckle as he counts the number of lies he tells, or sorts through the essentials he needs to pack to take on his search, or compulsively shakes a tambourine to find courage to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I laughed because it was like watching my son on that big screen. It was a glimpse into my son's inner psyche.

At last the moment of justification came. Oskar is interviewing (interrogating) strangers to find who knew his dad and recognizes the key. He explains to the first stranger, "People tell me I'm very odd all the time. I got tested once to see if I had Asperger's disease. Dad said it's for people who are smarter than everybody else but can't run straight. The tests weren't definitive."

But Bekah and I both recognized the signs of ASD. Oskar is just quirky enough to be described as an aspie child with or with out an official diagnosis explained in the script. And the oddities of being a kid with Aspergers was expertly portrayed by Horn.

But of course the movie isn't all about Oskar's disorder. But it does help explain why and how Oskar executes his search for the missing lock. It is this understanding that may be lost on many movie goers. It is a frame of reference that helps audiences understand that Oskar is not a normal child.

If you want to see what life is like for parents like Bekah and me or thousands of other parents whose kids are on the Autism spectrum, go see Extremely Loud. If you are the parent of a kid on the spectrum, this is a must see film. And if you're just looking for a good film, this movie packs a well composed script, a gut wrenching story, and believable portrayal of dealing with loss.

The Soloist

First, start with an excellent premise from a talented writer. LA journalist Nathaniel Ayers befriends a talented homeless musician who happens to be a schizophrenic Julliard dropout.

Then take two of the most brilliant actors in modern cinema and plug them into the biographical roles. Jamie Foxx as Steve Lopez - the homeless musical savant, and Robert Downey Jr as the writer Ayers.

Finally, use cinematography to contrast the harsh streets of Los Angeles with delicate concert halls; and balance the chaotic sounds of an urban jungle with the soothing sounds of classical music. This audible/visual disparity serves as a creative attempt to make the audience feel like they are battling the symptoms of schizophrenia.

10 points for effort. 2 points for execution. This movie looked promising and I was eager to see it. Downey and Foxx both contributed high caliber performances. The story was poignant and stunning. Yet, I was completely underwhelmed.

The Soloist suffered from slow pacing (exacerbated by the long stretches of kaleidoscopic visuals set to the lulling score of cello and violin) and uneven directing. It was a dismal disappointment, but it shouldn't have been. It tried too hard to be A Beautiful Mind, when straight-forward story telling would have spawned a better film. The movie focused too much on the music rather than the music makers.

Please don't misinterpret that last sentence. Classical music is not the reason The Soloist is a dreary and plodding movie. Several other movies have used classical music with more compelling results. Mental illness is not the problem, nor is the realistic portrayal of homelessness.

The problem with The Soloist is that it is trying to do too much. It tried to mimic the devices of other mental illness based movies. It tried to unpack the problems healthy and grounded individuals have relating to the mentally ill. It tried to highlight the trials of the homeless. It tried to show how an act of selflessness can change the course of a person's life. In attempting so much, it falters on every purpose.

I give it two half stars out of a possible five half stars.

(Disclosure: I was tired when I watched The Soloist. Some of my complaints about pacing could be a result of my sleepiness.)

The Last Samurai

Pop culture quiz.
Q: After a white American soldier lives with an indigenous population, he begins to understand their ways. He develops sympathies for the culture and falls in love with one of the women there. At the end of the movie, the soldier fights with the natives instead of against them.

This is the plot for what movie?
a) Kevin Kostner's 1990 movie Dancing with Wolves
b) Tom Cruise's 2003 movie The Last Samurai
c) James Cameron's blockbuster from this past holiday season - Avatar
d) All of the above


When it comes to the fundamental plot, The Last Samurai proposes nothing new. It wasn't the first time we saw this story, and Avatar will not be the last.

Each of the three movies are cinematically excellent in their own right. Of the three, The Last Samurai is my favorite. Taking place about the same time frame as Dances with Wolves (1870's), Samurai has a different tone to it. While both stories are completely fictional, Samurai has more of a truthiness feel to it with a greater degree of historical accuracy. The Japanese countryside plays a scenic backdrop far more beautiful than the American plains. And as batty as Cruise is in real life, he is a better actor than Costner.

Cruise plays an American soldier - Captain Nathan Algren - once apart of Custer's 7th cavalry. He's an alcoholic (fairly true to the character of many of Custer's men) with many personal demons. He is hired to train the new Japanese army, many of whom have never held a gun. When the military is prematurely sent to battle, Algren is captured and held prisoner at the Samurai's remote village. It is here that Katsumoto (played by Ken Watanabe) begins to hold conversations with Algren... to practice his English. If you've seen Dances with Wolves (or Avatar for that matter) the rest of the story is predictable. Algren learns ancient Japanese culture and how to fight like a samurai. He earns the respect of his captors and fights side by side with those he once considered an enemy.

The story itself is not based on one singular event in history, but rather an amalgamation of several events - covering a broad scope of both American history (Washita River massacre, Winchester gun shows) and Japanese (Boshin War, the Satsuma Rebellion, real life samurai Saigō Takamori). Through this story we're given lessons in perseverance (there is a fabulous scene when Ujio repeatedly beats Algren with sticks in a mock sword fight and Algren keeps getting off the ground to try again), redemption, honor, personal revenge, the importance of culture, and (of all things) Japanese poetry. The movie doesn't have a happy ending and that is likely the most important lesson of all: in war, there are no happy endings.

My take: gorgeous scenery, masterful recreation of late 19th century Tokyo, thorough attention to detail in costume and prop design, the social commentary is neither preachy nor overbearing, and the familiar storyline is told with the passion of an expert raconteur. Yet it is a sad story with slow pacing, heart-rending flashbacks, and gratuitous blood splatter (a couple people lose heads, others lose limbs, and one soldier - I believe - loses his gluteus maximus).

Bekah's take: Good. A little violent, but good. She didn't remember watching The Last Samurai when we first saw it in the theater, so (for her) this was like seeing it brand new. While true to history, the flashback scenes of the Washita River massacre were distressing. She's always found sorrow in the depiction of violence toward children but more so now than she used to. I'm not sure if the scenes from The Last Samurai were more poignant because we have kids of our own or because our daughter is Native American. During the movie's final battle she remarked at how it was such a sad story.

Overall: As Simon Graham, the British photographer and historian who served as Algren's translator said, jolly good. Only not so jolly, but very good indeed.