Holiday Movie Review Roundup: Valkyrie Wrestling Benjamin Button at Revolutionary Road? Yes, Man.

THE WRESTLER (A)

Much has been written about Mickey Rourke's performance in The Wrestler, and much more will be written. It's the best performance of the year, and one of the best of my lifetime. Rage, disappointment, failure, weariness, surprising humor and charm, it's all there in his face. He almost doesn't need to speak. You don't catch him acting, you can't. He's equally amazing in powerhouse emotional scenes with his daughter and in scenes where he's just filling deli orders at a grocery store (the film's funniest and most delightful scenes). And when I think that he'll likely be competing with (and perhaps losing to) the likes of Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio this year, it makes me really frustrated. He deserves the award, and not because he's earned it by having a tough life or because he's due for a comeback, but because he acted wrestling rings around everyone else. If there is any justice, he'll take the prize. Alright, enough gushing about Rourke. What about the movie?

What bothers me about most peoples' take on the film is that while they acknowledge the greatness of Rourke, they write the film off as a one-note Rocky retread. Really? That's all you got out of it? And what the hell is wrong with Rocky anyway? The Wrestler splits the difference between the shaggy dog aspects of Rocky (it's closer to Rocky Balboa, actually) and the emotional violence and pain of Raging Bull, and that's a mix I'd think anyone would be thrilled to achieve. Granted, certain aspects of the story, like Rourke's strained relationship with his daughter (played by Evan Rachel Wood, who is a bit out of her league but pretty true to how girls of that age behave) are familiar, but Rourke and director Darren Aronofsky see to it that nothing gets too sentimental, ever. I mean, how could one watch the stunning final scene of this movie and not see this as a tragedy of the highest order? Different strokes, I guess. Whatever your take, if that music cue before he goes onstage for that final showdown doesn't make your balls (or breasts) fill with juice (or milk), I don't want to know you.

Let's also pause to talk about Marisa Tomei, who is terrific. Aside from her very strong performance, Tomei is so naked so often in this movie. So naked. So often. And she's perfection. She's never looked better. I know that doesn't have much bearing on the movie, but I want you to see the thing. She plays Rourke's stripper love interest (kinda, it's more complicated than that), and she's a perfect compliment. These are two people who are broken down by life, people relying on their bodies to bring them in money, people whose bodies are very close to giving out. It's a lovely parallel, and they're great together. Their scene in a bar, singing along to Ratt's "Round and Round" is hilarious, awkward, and, like everything else in the film, totally 100% real. 

You are there, for every scene of the movie. You're in the shitty parts of New Jersey, you're at a run-down carnival, you're in a hellishly fluorescent grocery store, you're banging some big-boned gal in her firefighter-themed bedroom. This kind of realism ain't easy to achieve, which is why so many movies feel so phony. Perhaps Aronofsky doesn't reinvent the wheel technically or visually (hasn't he done that enough?), but this movie would have been derailed by flashy camera tricks. Perhaps the script, by former Onion editor-in-chief Robert Siegel, isn't twisty and experimental, it doesn't need to be. It's a character study, and one on a par with those amazing 70's films that clearly inspired it. I've seen it three times, I'll see it three more. This is one of my favorites of the decade, and easily my favorite movie of the year. Whatever winds up in second place will be miles behind. 

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (B-)

Benjamin Button is a beautiful film, and there are moments in it that are unlike anything I've seen. It's a technical marvel, and the special effects are special indeed and actually serve the story. I certainly admired this Forrest Gump Dark trip through a man's reverse life, I just didn't like it. It's pretty fucking hard to like. The main issue here is the unbearable length, a real problem with movies this year. She's about three hours, folks. Coulda been two real easy. This is an adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story! SHORT! The entire middle hour, with high seas adventure and a deadly dull Tilda Swinton romance could have been cut with no effect on anything. Do these people hire editors?

But you know, there's enough good here that I could have gone along with the whole thing if a stronger actor was carrying things. If Meet Joe Black taught me anything (other than how quickly I can become suicidal), it's that Brad Pitt should not be the centerpiece of a three hour movie. He brings nothing to the table here. Nada. Luckily, he's got the great Cate Blanchett to make him look better, but can we all agree to stop pretending Pitt is some kind of major talent? He's a great set of abs who's banging a great set of tits. That's it. Even in his "good" performances, he is very obviously "acting!". I am a major David Fincher fan, but just as Scorsese needs to quit working with DiCaprio, Fincher needs to find another muse. Oh, and speaking of DiCaprio... 

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (B+)

Did you just get engaged? Go see something else. This is an endlessly depressing and utterly hopeless look at marriage. No one in the film is happy, and the suggestion is that no one in the film will ever be happy. Merry Christmas! The movie is great looking, Winslet and DiCaprio are very strong, there is an outstanding supporting turn from Michael Shannon, and the whole affair is gripping from start to finish. Really, the only problem Revolutionary Road has is that so many films have done the suburban misery thing before, and done it far better. Off the top of my head, there's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, War of the Roses, The Ice Storm, even American Beauty, which, like Road, was directed by Winslet's husband (awkward much?) Sam Mendes. Those films just cut deeper, hit harder, resonated more strongly. The 50's workplace stuff here might have been really interesting, but we're already getting the best possible version of that with Mad Men. So what we have here is a very good movie that needed to be very great to stand out among the greats that preceded it. It's not, so it doesn't. 

YES MAN (C+) 

Let's talk about Jim Carrey. I hate when people use the word "brave" to describe acting. There's nothing brave about it. If you're taking your clothes off, okay, that's kind of brave. But firemen, policemen, armed forces...they're brave. You're spending your days in a trailer having whatever you want to eat and drink brought to you. You're not brave. And yet, I wouldn't balk if you referred to Jim Carrey's early work that way. Carrey's Ace Ventura is one of the bravest comedy performances of all time. Carrey played that role so many miles over the top that it could have been career suicide. His work in Dumb and Dumber was just as raw, just as fascinating and insane. That tense, manic, angry, wounded energy is nowhere on display in The Yes Man. Jim Carrey is trying to "do" Jim Carrey, and it's disappointing and occasionally sad to watch. He seems like nothing in the world bothers him, and that's not funny at all. Getting happy ruins musical careers and it ruins comedy careers. Carrey squandered his prime funny years trying to prove how serious an actor he was. And now we're left with the hollow shell onscreen here.

All that being said, The Yes Man is a very sweet movie. Zooey Deschanel is as adorable here as she was in Elf, and that's saying something. Her romance with Carrey really works, and that's enough to make the whole flick go down real smooth. Unfortunately, it's just not funny. At all. The great John Michael Higgins - usually a laugh machine - is completely wasted. Joke after joke fizzles and dies. But it sure is pleasant to watch. If pleasant is enough for you, and it certainly is for most of the moviegoing public, check it out. But this baby screams "Hungover Sunday HBO On Demand Viewing."

VALKYRIE (C) 

"Okay, everybody. Say cheese!" 

The pulse-pounding story of the attempt to kill Hitler?! Sounds awesome. Wait a minute...Hitler killed himself. So, ah...these guys didn't do shit then, right? Oh, and they all died? Hmm. That doesn't sound like much fun. The attempt itself must be really exciting, though, yeah? No? Just a tiny failed bombing? Ahhhhh. Well, how is Tom Cruise's German accent? What do you mean, he doesn't use one? He's playing a German officer, right? Well, what kind of accent does he...no accent? None? Just speaks like Tom Cruise in Risky Fucking Business? How about the other actors playing Germans? They mostly use British accents? Well, isn't that stupid? Does anyone speak with German accents? The German actors, right. So you've got people with British, German, and American accents having conversations, and they're all supposed to be from the same location? Doesn't seem like that would work at all. It doesn't? Uh-huh. And doesn't Tom Cruise talking like Jerry Fucking Maguire in WWII Germany come off as a little out of place? It does. Okay. I figured. So...why am I seeing this again? I'm not? I should just see something else? Okay. Sounds good. Nice talking to you.

tags: valkyrie  tom cruise  revolutionary road  leonardo dicaprio  kate winslet  benjamin button  brad pitt  david fincher  cate blanchett  the wrestler  mickey rourke  marisa tomei  yes man  jim carrey  movies  movie reviews  

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