The World War II film delivers big time with an unconventional perspective.
Tag: Tom Hardy
DiCaprio is the beating heart of The Revenant
Hey Hollywood, meet the new golden standard for survival flicks. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s The Revenant reshapes the expectations, entertainment and the overall brutality level of survival films. Leonardo DiCaprio finds yet another first class director that gives him a project to sink his cinematic chops into. This is a different kind of performance and one that anchors, elevates and sustains the film and its extended running time.
This isn’t just acting. This is full immersion into a role and a world that was known for its dead or alive status. Give DiCaprio a golden glove for the bear mauling scene that sets the film’s plot in motion and an Oscar for the go for broke all in performance he gives. You won’t see anything like this this year. DiCaprio barely speaks any English, grows a massive beard and allows the ugly to come out of his character, Fur trader turned death defying beast Justin Glass.
Glass is a good man haunted by the memory of his dead wife, who was killed in a raid. His son, half Indian, is all he has left in this world. The only thing for him to cling to while he makes a living hunting and killing bison and stripping their fur for cash. When a bear attacks him viciously and he is close to death, his crew abandons him, leaving him behind. They do so behind the propaganda jargon of the evil Fitzgerald(another dozy of a role for the fearless Tom Hardy). Left with nothing, Glass literally crawls across the earth, healing and gathering strength for the ultimate revenge mission.
Hardy is something else here. Fitzgerald isn’t just a bad man. He’s a twisted soul who is good at his job but not at much else, including compassion and respect for his fellow man. His fight with Glass during the film isn’t as fierce as the one raging in himself. Hardy doesn’t spare the audience one moment of pause, exposing himself to be something he has never played before. A true villain with purpose. Fitzgerald isn’t bad. He’s bent the wrong way.
Inarritu hangs the film, though, on DiCaprio’s shoulders. While the story springs away to follow Hardy’s Fitzgerald, there are extra long stretches of Glass withering, hobbling and doing anything to stay alive. Whether it’s crawling inside a dead horse for warmth, pigging out on raw Bison guts for dinner, or befriending an Indian(formerly his enemy) in order to stay breathing. While it’s slow moving, The Revenant is captivating in every moment. For a two hour and 36 minute movie, no scene or shot is wasted.
This film kicks your butt. It’s brutal, bare and asks all the powerful questions heavyweight dramas do this time of year. What are you in this world at your lowest level of function? When does the beast take over? Are their good and bad men, or just people with a certain philosophy that compels others to follow them? Also, when approached by a bear do not try to fight back unless you have a knife. A big knife.
That is the scene that will have everybody talking. The scene between a large brown bear and Glass that sets the tone for the rest of the film. You will leave yourself asking if that was a real bear or not, or half CGI or full CGI because it’s so horrifying and realistically done. DiCaprio is thrust into trees, stomped on, pierced by the bear’s claws and generally kicked around like a doll. If it wasn’t an actor, it was one heck of a beast inside that costume. Right when you think it’s over, the fight continues. It’s like a 12 round boxing match inside a movie and the actor’s commitment makes you buy all the way in.
That is how it works with the film. DiCaprio’s 100 % full throttle commitment to the story hold your attachment for the running time. A lesser actor would have been overpowered by it. Other capable actors may have done too much with it. DiCaprio does just enough to break your heart watching this emotionally and physically wounded soul find a way to live again.
When it does come time for the final battle between Fitzgerald and Glass, the actors and Inarritu don’t disappoint. An extended battle that starts in one snowy patch of land and escalates down a hill next to a river is wonderfully shot and intense. Fight scenes don’t get this messy and realistic in 95 percent of mainstream films. You may be rooting for Glass but you’ll understand why Fitzgerald is so mad. Nothing is spared and the end is sublimely optimistic yet bittersweet as well.
The Academy can go ahead and hand the cinematography award to Inarritu’s go to guy, Emmanuel Lubezki. They did Birdman together and elevate the craft even higher here, redefining beauty. There isn’t an endless tracking shot like the one in Birdman, but The Revenant presents many moments of sustained beauty and reward for the eyes. A getaway scene in particular involving DiCaprio on a horse trying to put distance between himself and about 30 other horses is taunt and aggressive enough to make you gasp when it suddenly ends. Lubezki knows exactly how to frame a shot and hold onto it, making it more realistic. He has worked on Oscar films before, such as Gravity, Children of Men, Tree of Life and the aforementioned Birdman. Combined with DiCaprio’s acting and Alejandro’s directing, the cinematography will make you feel cold even if you watch this film at a drive in movie theater in Florida.
If you think you have seen something like The Revenant, you are very wrong. It’s part Last of The Mohicans, part Castaway and a slice of Braveheart. It’s not just a great movie. It’s an experience.
The New James Bond: My three candidates
Spectre is thriving at the box office and even though Daniel Craig is contractually obligated to scrap on the tux, take a beating and pound shaken martinis one more time, I want to talk about the future of the franchise. Who plays him next? Craig sounded exhausted on the press tour for the latest adventure, so I would be surprised if he did more than one more ride. He has one foot out the door so let’s talk who plays him next. Here are my three candidates.
Michael Fassbender
He is suave, taunt, intense and has the build to slide right into MI6’s high wire theatrics. He hasn’t played a character like this either, yet built his career similar to Craig’s on solid roles and art house fare. He has a head start on the mainstream, having played Magneto and Steve Jobs in recent movies. The point is, seeing Fassbender here wouldn’t be tiring or a sad case of “seen that, forget it” misfortune. He can act and slays the ladies. Did you watch Shame? He can play a sad Lothario as well.
Tom Hardy
Cut from the same type of bulldog mold as Craig, Hardy has proven himself in action roles yet fares equally well in independent films. He has a presence that few can attain through film school or director longing. When he shows up, authenticity takes precedent over mere make believe. He’s played a Batman villain, filled Mad Max’s shoes, and rocked different accents in Locke and The Drop. His role in Bronson will forever be his ticket to the table, but signature roles in Lawless and the recent Legend stamp his place as a force to reckon with. I can easily picture him as the first Bond with a five o’clock shadow.
Idris Elba
Suck it Anthony Horowitz. The Bond author slammed the British actor’s credentials as a future Bond because he was too “street”. Aka too black. How shortsighted and unfortunate. If you have taken the time to watch Luther, the BBC detective series with Idris leading the party, you know how good he would be as Britain’s most famous cinematic creation. He has the look, the voice and the build to knock the role out. He also may add a sense of humor to the reckless agent.
These are my three guys. My bet is Craig shrugs his shoulders and takes a huge paycheck to come back for a 5th film. He wasn’t the problem with Spectre but the director and writer need to produce a better setting and appetite for the actor to play around in. If he leaves, go with one of the sly fellows mentioned above.
Trailer Park: Suicide Squad trailer offers hypnotic pleasures
Welcome to the land of trailers. Teases that drive us fucking insane. A tidbit is dropped a year in advance and we spend the next few months breaking down the threads, hints and tiny bits of details that may lead to spoilers. Directors and editors create these 150 second ice cubes of intrigue just to drive us nuts and make us buy the 11 dollar ticket on opening night. Take Suicide Squad, writer/director David Ayer’s latest loaded deck. It comes out in August of 2016, which is over a year away but in the middle of shooting he drops a trailer off for us to dissect and digest over and over again. You see, SS is the third film i the new DC universe of films. It started with Man of Steel and continues with Batman v Superman before Suicide Squad drops next summer. Let’s start with that trailer and roll on from there.
Suicide Squad
What is this about? Well, DC’s band of thieves are rounded up by the government to task missions and take care of the dirty work that they don’t want traced back to their hands. Instead of asking Batman to take out some criminals or a terrorist cell, the suits install baddies like Harley Quinn(Margot Robbie from Wolf of Wall Street), Lloyd aka Deadshot(Will Smith with a shaved head!!!), Captain Boomerang(Jai Courtney) and Rick Flagg(Joel Kinnaman). They do job, eventually turn on each other and the whole trailer is tuned to a Bee Gee’s cover. Sounds swell and the trailer works very well.
Ayer’s magic trick here is reinventing The Joker via Jared Leto’s punk rocker imitation. He had silver teeth, green hair, a deep voice and the tattoos to assure us this is not Heath Ledger’s Joker. Should we cut this new version a free rein of slack? Yes. As much as I adore Ledger’s work, Leto doesn’t do a film because he’s told to. He decides to take it on. It’s a choice thing. From the looks of the trailer I don’t think he is playing around. (more…)
The Drop sneaks up and floors you
“There is no devil. I think some people die here and they go see God and he tells them no, you can’t come in. You will be alone…forever.”-Bob Saginowski
Tom Hardy is amazing and carries the latest Dennis Lehane joint, The Drop. The movie is a equal parts gangster thriller, subtle romance and quiet character study. It will be known as James Gandfolfini’s last completed work but let it be known that the film belongs to Hardy, rocking ANOTHER accent here as Bob Saginowski, a quiet calculating man who tends bar for Gandolfini’s Marv, a old lion still trying to play the criminal hustler game.
Michael R. Roskam’s direction, along with Lehane’s adaptation of his short story entitled Animal Shelter, keeps you off balance. The first half of the film is slow building and resembles the increasingly fast shaking of a tree. Little plot points fall to the ground throughout the 105 minute running time, but you don’t really know the characters until about halfway through. That’s good filmmaking and even better acting.
You have no clue what to make of Hardy’s Bob and that is the way it should be in this pot boiling thriller. Is he slow witted or slow? Is he up to something or is he just plain? Why is he so quiet yet observant? Hardy spins a cobweb around his character and keeps the viewer a distance. Like Russell Crowe or Clive Owen at their best, Hardy lets his facial expressions do the heavy lifting. A stare down with Belgium marvel Matthias Schoenaerts contains about four lines of dialogue but the way the two men stare at each other makes it seem like paragraphs are being recited. In this movie, dialogue doesn’t have to spoken for actions to be expressed. The actors don’t need to bore us with words. I felt like I knew these guys in one life and had no clue they existed in another. There is a darkness in Hardy’s Bob that I couldn’t put my finger on until the climax of the film, when a bomb suddenly detonates inside the plot and springs the film towards its final resting place. (more…)
Tom Hardy Carries The Drop
“There is no devil. I think some people die here and they go see God and he tells them no, you can’t come in. You will be alone…forever.”-Bob Saginowski
Tom Hardy is amazing and carries the latest Dennis Lehane joint, The Drop. The movie is equal parts gangster thriller, subtle romance and quiet character study. It will be known as James Gandfolfini’s last completed work but let it be known that the film belongs to Hardy, rocking ANOTHER accent here as Bob Saginowski, a quiet calculating man who tends bar for Gandolfini’s Marv, a old lion still trying to play the criminal hustler game.
Michael R. Roskam’s direction, along with Lehane’s adaptation of his short story entitled Animal Shelter, keeps you off balance. The first half of the film is slow building and resembles the increasingly fast shaking of a tree. Little plot points fall to the ground throughout the 105 minute running time, but you don’t really know the characters until about halfway through. That’s good filmmaking and even better acting.
You have no clue what to make of Hardy’s Bob and that is the way it should be in this pot boiling thriller. Is he slow witted or slow? Is he up to something or is he just plain? Why is he so quiet yet observant? Hardy spins a cobweb around his character and keeps the viewer a distance. Like Russell Crowe or Clive Owen at their best, Hardy lets his facial expressions do the heavy lifting. A stare down with Belgium marvel Matthias Schoenaerts contains about four lines of dialogue but the way the two men stare at each other makes it seem like paragraphs are being recited. In this movie, dialogue doesn’t have to spoken for actions to be expressed. The actors don’t need to bore us with words. I felt like I knew these guys in one life and had no clue they existed in another. There is a darkness in Hardy’s Bob that I couldn’t put my finger on until the climax of the film, when a bomb suddenly detonates inside the plot and springs the film towards its final resting place.
John Ortiz plays a perceptive detective. Noomi Rapace plays the woman that acts as the cartilage between Hardy’s lost soul and Schoenaerts rebellious felon. The acting here is seamless but it can’t be said enough how key Lehane’s writing is. This is the same guy who created the worlds of Mystic River, Shutter Island and Gone Baby Gone. Worlds that looked like a rabbit’s nest and bar full of criminals and degenerates but instead full of regretful sad people. His writing evokes classic Boston underground noir and his script places gold at the feet of the actors.
I have a good feeling Hardy could play any role and do it well. There are a handful of actors who create a connection with the audience ANY time they work. A group of performers who give a shit and respect that moviegoers pay with their money and their time. Hardy gets that. He doesn’t waste films. He doesn’t take films off or phone it in. Look at his work in Locke, Inception, Bronson, or Lawless. The different characters that he inhabits and brings to life. I think Hardy could follow me around and after a couple of days, play me in a movie. He is an actor who other actors want to watch work. Gandolfini plays a much sadder version of Tony Soprano here and is dynamite, but even he knows this movie belongs to Hardy. Bob’s relationship and connection with a lost pit bull sets the the groundwork of the plot, but Hardy never plays it like its a device. He treats it like it is real and makes it work.
The Drop is a good dose of September cinema. If you have been waiting for something REAL to land in theaters that makes you think a little, doesn’t show its hand too early and feels authentic, The Drop is your ride. It’s gritty, heartfelt and quite sinister. Towards the end, when the plot comes full circle and Hardy shows his true colors, you will know something special is going on.
The Drop doesn’t beg for your attention like some films. It lays bread crumbs and you come running.
Dose of Buffa 