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Clumsy
Attempt THE UPSIDE OF ANGER: Written and directed by Mike Bender. Produced by Alex Gartner, Jack Binder, Sammy Lee. Cinematographer, Richard Greatrex. Production design, Chris Roope. Editors, Steve Edwards, Robin Sales. Costumes, Deborah Scott. Music, Alexandre Desplat. Starring Joan Allen and Kevin Costner. With Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell and Alicia Witt. Also, Mike Binder, Dane Christensen. New Line Cinema, 2005. R. 116 minutes.
At first I couldn't shake the sense that I had seen Upside of Anger before. Finally, I realized I was thinking about The Virgin Suicides (2000), Sofia Coppola's first film, based on a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. The story of an overly protective family with five daughters unfolds in flashbacks recalled 30 years later. Overprotected and infantilized by their parents, the girls finally break free after the eldest (Kirsten Dunst) has sex with a football player (Josh Hartnett). But she would rather die than tell her parents, so she takes her own life. Long before the suicides begin, a nebulous, grief-like feeling shrouds the film. The mood was pervasive, mysterious, yet strong enough to keep me emotionally distanced. I finally understood it was the narrator's nostalgia for his own innocent youth. Something very like that indefinable mood interfered with my appreciation of The Upside of Anger, despite beautiful, nuanced performances by Kevin Costner and Joan Allen. Costner is Denny, a laid-back former baseball player with a penchant for beer and an emotionally open side that's engaging. Allen is Terry, the mother of four daughters whose husband has just disappeared. She's mad as hell but brittle, strung too tight and explosive. Unaccustomed to expressing her anger openly and missing the person the rage is intended for, Terry slumps into depression, drinks too much and embarrasses her girls and herself repeatedly on social occasions. The atmosphere created by writer, director Mike Bender (HBO's "The Mind of the Married Man") is a twitchy strain of damped-down anger. Bender plays Shep, Denny's radio producer. Shep's an unappealing, middle-aged womanizer who sets his sights on Terry's 18-year-old daughter Andy (Erika Christensen), which draws Terry's finest fiery moments. The relationship between Denny and Terry gives the film its anchor, and watching these two fall into bed and then into habit while drinking way too much is alternately wonderful and wretched. Alcohol-fueled romance is doomed, sooner or later, and the viewer knows things can't go on as they are. But writer, director Bender seems unable to rescue these well-drawn, fully fleshed characters from their own worst instincts. The film's flaws are the four girls, who barely registered as individuals to me. When I looked at the names of the girls and the actresses who played them, I was certain only about Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen, "Once and Again"), who plays the narrator and budding filmmaker, Popeye, and is an accomplished actor. I recognized Keri Russell, who plays the ballet dancer, Emily, as the star of "Felicity," which I watched in its first season. While Christensen acquits herself nicely as Andy, the role itself is so shallow, her talent is wasted. The least credible character is the oldest sister, Hadley (Alicia Witt), about whom we are told much but shown next to nothing. Bender's checkered experience writing for television does not serve him well with the minor characters. They're sitcom daughters rather than members of a family. Bender needs to sit at a dinner table with four teenage girls and observe how they relate to one another and to their parents. He could learn a lot from Ang Lee's brilliant The Ice Storm (1997), where 1973 teens played by Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire, Adam Hann-Byrd and Elijah Wood perfectly capture sibling relationships, teen angst, sexual curiosity and inexperience, and the secret life kids lead away from home and parents. OK, that's asking a lot. Here's hoping Bender reaches that level of filmmaking someday, and he may if he figures out the story. "Comedic drama" is a misbegotten term masking "I don't know what I'm doing." The Upside of Anger is now playing at Cinemark and Cinema World. Highly recommended for the fine principal performances.
Alternate
Universe MELINDA AND MELINDA: Written and directed by Woody Allen. Produced by Letty Aronson. Co-producer, Helen Robin. Executive producers, Stephen Tenenbaum. Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe. Cinematography, Vilmos Zsigmond. Production design, Santo Loquasto. Editor, Alisa Lepselter. Costumes, Judy Ruskin Howell. Casting, Juliet Taylor. Starring Radha Mitchell, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Amanda Peet, Chloë Sevigny and Wallace Shawn. Fox Searchlight, 2005. PG-13. 99 minutes.
This must have been a simple pitch for an ensemble comedy by Woody Allen: Two writers having dinner at a trendy French bistro hear the same story. One (Max, played by Larry Pine) says it would make a great comedy. The other (Sy, played by Wallace Shawn) says, no, it's tragic. Show me, the storyteller (Stephanie Roth Haverle) says. And so the story begins. I should say the stories begin, because while they start as parallels, in time the stories both diverge and seem to intertwine. Or maybe enough of the surface is the same in both stories that I couldn't tell residences apart after awhile. Both are set in tastefully appointed Manhattan apartments peopled by well coiffed, slender individuals with fabulous occupations. Comedy and tragedy are close here, but money and/or status are givens. Maybe that's the point and the reason Melinda feels left out. In both stories, Radha Mitchell (Phone Booth, Finding Neverland) plays a woman named Melinda, who bursts unannounced into a dinner party. Melinda's gone through a rough patch lately, and she stirs things up when she joins the gathering in progress. Melinda tells slightly different versions of her recent troubles in each story. In the dramatic story, the dinner is being given by Melinda's old college friend, Laurel (Chloë Sevigny), and her husband, Lee (Jonny Lee Miller) in their SoHo loft. A pianist, Laurel grew up on the city's Upper East Side, while Lee's an aspiring actor. In the comedy storyline, the dinner party is hosted in an Upper East Side townhouse by an easy-going actor named Hobie (Will Ferrell) and his ambitious wife, Susan (Amanda Peet), an independent film director. In this story, Melinda is the dizzy blonde neighbor who intrudes on their party. One of Laurel and Lee's guests is another pal of Melinda's from school, Cassie (Brooke Smith). Laurel and Cassie set up a date for Melinda with Greg (Josh Brolin), a rich, stable dentist who owns a country home in the Hamptons. But Greg bores Melinda. She's attracted to the piano player, Ellis (Chiwetel Ejiofor Love Actually, Dirty Pretty Things). He's a serious composer who lives in a skylit loft. With most of the ensemble assembled, Allen seems to have a really good time weaving the various strands of story one and story two together. As for the dialogue, sometimes it's stiff and sounds like vintage Allen. Other times the actors make the lines sound natural. But Ferrell's line readings out-Woody the man himself. They are priceless. Good cast, great production values and only a few plot confusions add to this exercise in story. Here story is that all-important tale we tell ourselves and others about our lives — tragic, comic, half-full or half-empty glass — the choice is ours. Melinda and Melinda opens Friday, April 14 at the Bijou. Highly recommended.
OPENING
OR RETURNING: Absolut Warhola (2001): Lighthearted documentary by Stanislaw Mucha's traces Warhol's roots. His extended family lives in Eastern European villages, and they love Andy but never met him and cannot imagine the world he lived in. Europe's only Pop Art Museum is located in a place described as the "Ruthenian Bermuda Triangle" between Slovakia, Poland and the Ukraines. At 8 pm on 4/15 at DIVA. Free. Amityville Horror, The: Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George star in this psychological horror about a family's dream home turned nightmare. A remake of the 1979 blockbuster and based on a true story, this suspenseful film directed by Andrew Douglas is sure to chill you. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Bad, Andy Warhol's (1977): As tasteless as early John Waters productions and as funny if that's your bent. Videohound says: "a Queens housewife struggles to make appointments for both her home electrolysis clinic and her all-female murder-for-hire operation…" Last film produced by Warhol. Directed by Jed Johnson. At 8 pm on 4/16 at DIVA. Banff Festival of Mountain Films (April 15, 16): Films on tour from international film competition held in Banff, Alberta, Canada, last November. April 15 films include Soul Purpose (Special Jury Mention) and Alone Across Australia (People's Choice and Best Film Mountain Environment). April 16 films include Daughters of Everest (Best Film on Climbing) and Sinners (Best Film on Mountain Sport). Doors open at 6 pm; films begin at 7 pm at McDonald Theatre. Ticket prices vary. Battle Royale: Japanese thriller, horror film starring Takeshi Kitano is both extreme and controversial. A class of young adolescents is kidnapped, drugged and dumped on a deserted island, with enough food and water for three days. And a weapon each. Only one will leave alive. R. LateNite Bijou. Boogeyman: Horror, terror and violence await you as Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel and others confront the boogeyman. PG-13. Movies 12. Cursed: Wes Craven's twist on classic monster fables stars Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Judy Greer, Portia de Ross. Gaining supernatural powers after a near-accident, a brother and sister face a heavy price and ancient omens make their way into the modern world. R. Movies 12. Dangerous Beauty (1998): Rufus Sewell and Catherine McCormack star in this tale of a 16th century poet turned prostitute in Venice. Trashy fun as directed by Marshall Herskovitz, who can't make up his mind whether pic's about a brainy whore or a liberated woman who sleeps around a lot. Also stars Moira Kelly, Jacqueline Bisset and Oliver Platt. R. At 7:30 pm on 4/19 in 177 Lawrence, UO. Free. Get Thee Out (Russia, 1991): Dimitri Astrakhan's film about a Jewish family which opens a dairy. They are persecuted and met with prejudice. At 7 pm on 4/19 in 115 Pacific, UO. Free. I Shot Andy Warhol (1996): Lili Taylor plays disturbed anarchist, feminist writer Valerie Solanas who shoots the king of Pop Art, Andy Warhol (Jared Harris). Great re-creation of Warhol's Factory and the hipper-than-hip whose hang-out it was. R. At 6 pm on 4/17 at DIVA. Free. Iron Jawed Angels: Hilary Swank, Anjelica Huston and Julia Ormond star in this spirited film about women's fight for the vote, 1912-1920. These brash heroines face down both an establishment that labels them "hysterical" and old-school suffragettes whose goal is a Constitutional amendment. An edgy tale with a contemporary beat. NR. At 7 pm on 4/17 at Cozmic Pizza. Benefit screening for Planned Parenthood. Donations. LCC Earth Week: Free films include PickAxe on 4/18; Exporting Harm on 4/19; The End of Suburbia on 4/20 and Blue Vinyl on 4/21. All screen at 3 pm in Building 3 Boardroom at Lane. Magic Kitchen (Hong Kong, 2004): Romantic comedy dir by Lee Chi Ngai about a chef (Sammi Cheng) who celebrates Chinese New Year by creating her "food of love." Andy Lau and Jerry Yan love her, and Maggie Q and Nicola Cheung are her girlfriends. At 4 pm on 4/21 in 115 Pacific, UO. Free. Melinda and Melinda (2005): Parallel stories about Melinda (Radha Mitchell) and her adventures in alternate New York City adventures. Ensemble comedy by Woody Allen also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Amanda Peet, Chloë Sevigny and Wallace Shawn. Highly recommended. PG-13. Bijou. See review this issue. Spirited Away: 2002 Academy Award winner for best animated feature from legendary Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki follows a10-year old Chihiro, who discovers a secret world and takes care of herself after her parents undergo a mysterious transformation. Very highest recommendations. PG. At 7 pm on 4/20 in 180 PLC, UO. Free. Online archives. UO Disability Film Festival (April 21- 23): On April 21 in 175 Knight Law Center: 7 pm panel on "The Law and Access" at 7pm, followed at 7:30 by films Scary Lewis Yell-A-Thon, The Mayor of West Side and Annie Dearest, followed by panel on media portrayals at 8:30 pm. Films open the Friday following EW publication date unless otherwise noted. See archived reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
CONTINUING: Are We There Yet?: In Brian Levant's new movie, Ice Cube takes his recently divorced girlfriend Nia Long's two kids on a road trip from Portland to Vancouver, BC, on New Year's Eve. Jay Mohr plays his best friend. PG. Movies 12. Be Cool: Picks up where Get Shorty leaves off. Chili Palmer (John Travolta) quits the movie industry to try the music industry and woos a music exec's widow (Uma Thurman) on the way. PG13. Movies 12. Beauty Shop: Hair stylist Queen Latifah leaves a posh salon with shampoo girl Alicia Silverstone to open her own shop. Also stars Alfre Woodard, Mena Suvari, Andie MacDowell and Djimon Hounsou. Directed by Billy Woodruff. PG-13. Cinemark. Born Into Brothels: 2004 Academy Award winning documentary feature about children growing up in the red-light district of Calcutta and a photographer who gives them cameras and teaches them a way out. The kids are joyous and unforgettable. Very highest recommendations. R. Bijou. Online archives. Coach Carter: Based on a true story. Samuel L. Jackson stars as a basketball coach in a Richmond, CA high school. His tough-love ethic requires players to keep up their grades and dress right. He makes national news when he benches the whole team for poor academic performance. Directed by Thomas Carter (Save the Last Dance). PG-13. Movies 12. Fever Pitch: The Farrelly brothers direct a Lowell Ganz screenplay based on a Nick Hornby novel about a fanatic Red Sox fan (Jimmy Fallon) who may have to choose between the team and a woman (Drew Barrymore) he loves. Cinemark. Cinema World. Guess Who: Bernie Mac stars as the father of Zoe Saldana, who brings her boyfriend, Ashton Kutcher, home, and he's white! Comic retake on the 1967 Sidney Poitier movie. PG-13. Cinemark. Hitch: Will Smith stars in this romantic comedy as a New York "date doctor" who helps hapless men woo the women of the their dreams. Costars Kevin James, Amber Valletta, Eva Mendes, Michael Rappaport and Adam Arkin. Directed by Andy Tennant. PG-13. Cinemark. Hostage: Former LAPD hostage-negotiator Bruce Willis moves his family to a low-crime town in Ventura County where criminal teenagers hold them hostage, and he must take over the crime scene investigation. A film by Florent Siri. R. Cinemark. Hotel Rwanda: During the Rwandan massacres of 1994, a hotel manager named Paul Rusesabagina offered refuge to more than 1,000 Tutsis fleeing rampaging Hutus. Directed by Terry George, film stars Don Cheadle, with co-stars Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Nick Nolte. Three 2004 Academy Award nominations: Cheadle, best actor; Okendo, supporting actress; original screenplay. Very highest recommendations. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Ice Princess: Fantasy about a smart high-school student who must choose between a career in physics (and a chance to go to Harvard) and a career as an ice skater. Hmm. Stars Michelle Trachtenberg as Casey, Joan Cusack as her mother, and Kim Cattrall ("Sex and the City") as a former ice skater. G. Cinemark. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: The misadventures of three orphans who fall into the hands of an evil count are popular with children and adults. Jim Carrey stars, with many co-stars. Directed by Brad Silberling. PG. Movies 12. Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: Wes Anderson's new ensemble comedy stars Bill Murray as a famed underwater adventure filmmaker who's run into some big waves and is going under. Co-stars Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Michael Gambon and Willem Dafoe. R. Movies 12. Online archives. Meet the Fockers: Jay Roach follows Meet the Parents (2000) with Ben Stiller's bride and in-laws to-be Teri Polo, Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner meeting his rather eccentric parents, Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand. Culture clash writ small. PG-13. Movies 12. Million Dollar Baby: Clint Eastwood, who directed, produced and composed the music for this film, co-stars with Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman in this story of a spunky fighter, a reluctant trainer and an ex-boxer who looks after the gym. One of 2004's best films. Very highest recommendations. 2004 Academy Awards for best picture, Eastwood director, Swank actress, Freeman supporting actor. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online archives. Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous: Lucky FBI Agent Sandra Bullock has an outspoken partner (Regina King) who calls her "Barbie" and keeps her straight. Also stars Enrique Murciano, William Shatner, Heather Burns, Treat Williams. Directed by John Pasquin. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. National Treasure: Directed by Jon Turteltub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, adventure stars Nicolas Cage searching for treasure George Washington hid during the Revolutionary War. Sean Bean plays his British rival who's anxious to score the treasure first. PG. Movies 12. Pacifier, The: Disgraced Navy SEAL Shane Wolf (Vin Diesel) is given a new assignment to protect 5 kids from enemies of their recently deceased father – a government scientist whose top secret experiment is still in the house. Thriller? Drama? Tear-jerker? Nope, it's a comedy. PG. Cinemark. Phantom of the Opera, The: The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is brought to the screen by Joel Schumacher, starring Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler and Patrick Wilson. Under Schumacher's insipid direction, kitsch dominates. If you already love the work, you may enjoy the film, but its way too-sweet for me. 2004 Academy Award nominations for original song, art direction and John Mathieson cinematography. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Pooh's Heffalump Movie: Pooh, Piglet and Tigger set out to capture a Heffalump in the Hundred Acre Wood. Voices by Jim Cummings and Brenda Blethyn. G. Movies 12. Racing Stripes: A farmer (Bruce Greenwood) and his daughter (Hayden Panettiere raise a baby zebra to become a champion racer. Live action, computer animation. Voices: Frankie Muniz, Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Snoop Dogg. PG. Movies 12. Ring 2: Sequel to Gore Verbinski's remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 Japanese horror film is directed by Nakata this time. Naomi Watts stars again, seeking the truth behind a videotape that kills people who watch it. Rated PG-13 for violence/terror, disturbing images, thematic elements and language. PG-13. Cinemark. Robots: Animator Chris Wedge's (Ice Age) amusing tale of a robot lad who dreams of being an inventor. This creative world of mechanical beings is never dull because these endearing, pieced-together, talking tin cans convey comfort and safety. Voices by Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Amanda Bynes, Stanley Tucci, Greg Kinnear. Not preachy, but a good teaching tale about differences. Warmly recommended. PG. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online archives. Sahara: Penelope Cruz, Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn team up to look for a long-lost Civil War battleship that protects a secret cargo. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark. Sideways: Alexander Payne's social comedy follows two guys on a bachelor week in California wine country. Great performances by Paul Giamatti (American Splendor) and Thomas Haden Church ("Wings") sweetens the tale, as do Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh. One of the best films of the year. Don't miss. 2004 Academy Award to Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for adapted screenplay. R. Movies 12. Online archives. Sin City: Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and directed by Miller, Robert Rodriguez (and "special guest director" Quentin Tarantino), film stars a host of players including Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Clive Owen and Josh Hartnett. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Online archives. Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation: No one under 18 will be admitted. LateNite Bijou. Upside of Anger, The: Joan Allen stars as an angry, abandoned wife with four daughters, and Kevin Costner is her bachelor neighbor in this "spiky, indie comedy" (New York Times). Directed by Mike Binder, film co-stars Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell and Alicia Witt. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. See review this issue.
MOVIE
THEATERS Bijou
Art Cinemas Regal
Cinemas Cinemark
Theaters
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