The Pelican’s Perch

I raved about The Kite Runner not too long ago, and over the break I found some time to sit and watch some movies finally. Luckily for me, all three movies I watched ended up being really good. Without further adou…

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (trailer)

If it weren’t for Once being my favorite movie in recent memory, this movie would most likely be my stand out #1 of 2007. It’s such a surprisingly good film that ends up being a showcase in how to develop characters. The acting is superb, but that was almost a given seeing that Phillip Seymour Hoffman was in it. Add Ethan Hawke as Seymore’s brother, Marisa Tomei in one of her best performances in a long while, and Albert Finney, who, if not for Hoffman, would have stolen the show. The plot is simple really. Hoffman and Hawke are struggling brothers in deep debt to numerous people and in their desperation, devise a plan to rob their parents jewelry store. It’d be a cakewalk they think, because they worked there, know the safe combos, and all the shift times. They’d walk out with the jewelry, no one would get hurt, and their parents’ insurance would cover their loses. Obviously things don’t go that smooth or we wouldn’t have much of a movie. The minute things go awry, the brothers further panic, with bad guys looking for their money, the family struggles not to get torn apart, and all kinds of other things go wrong.

The plot jumps back and forth in time, either showing what’s happened followed by why it happened, or to go back and tell another character’s side of the story. It’s controlled chaos done wonderfully and I loved it. If you’re a fan of Hoffman, seeing it just for him would be enough to satisfy, but the other characters and the script itself make it one of the best movies I’ve seen since, well, Once. Add to that the fact that it was directed by Sidney Lumet, and there’s really no way to not like this movie. Unless maybe, you’re a 5 year old. Then, I’d just recommend Hannah Montana.

The other two movies you should see immediately after the jump!
Rescue Dawn (trailer)

Werner Herzog directed the stellar documentary Grizzly Man, so I was curious how his follow-up full length film would turn out. The answer? Intense. Heartbreaking. You know, all the cliché descriptions, but Christian Bale’s performance is just great. The beginning of the movie finds Bale a little weak, as he jokes around with his pilot buddies, but as soon as his plane crashes, the story, and his performances, take a dramatic turn for the better. The plot really isn’t the most important part of Rescue Dawn, rather the importance comes from the P.O.W.’s interaction with each other. Steve Zahn is the perfect sidekick for this film. He’s hilarious in everything he does, and while I didn’t expect any humor at all, considering they’re in a prison camp, I still found myself cracking up numerous times when Zahn was in the scene. If you asked me to name one actor who could play a malnourished P.O.W. that had been held prisoner for over two years, but could still somehow make you laugh, Steve Zahn would probably be the first to come to mind.

Of course, I’m making it out to be a comedy or something, but I’m just talking about the brief moments of comic relief in a film full of heartbreak, struggles, and intensity as Bale’s arrival brings, for the first time in two years, hope to the other prisoners as his stubbornness to escape the prison in the jungle leads to a multiple month-long plan of escape. I’ll just leave it at that, but Herzog’s newest film is one of the best P.O.W. stories I’ve seen in a long time. Of course, I can’t say that I’ve seen too many of them, but if you sat me down and had me watch five of them in a row, I’d bet Rescue Dawn would win in a landslide.

and finally…!

The Bucket List (trailer)

I knew I’d like this movie before I saw it. I mean, I love Morgan Freeman, and Jack Nicholson is great as well, and this movie had “feel good” written all over it, so I went into it ready to feel good after watching it. What caught me off-guard ended up being the great script the two actors had to work with. Sure, they were going to do all these life-changing things in the face of death and there’d be some grand moral message at the end, but it ended up being so much more than that. First, Freeman is given all sorts of narration opportunities throughout the film, which always makes the movie better, but some of the monologues are just plain well written. Add to that the last third of the movie, which had me smiling and choked up at the same time (I’m not afraid to admit it), and you’ve got my favorite feel good movie of 2007. Simple as that.

You may find yourself over at Metacritic’s round up of ratings for this movie like I did, and here’s me telling you to either read an unusual amount of hate towards this movie from some film critics that must have had a bad Christmas to be so cynical towards this movie, or you can just take my word for it and go see the film and find yourself with a big smile on your face afterwards.  Honestly as simple as that.