Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Review

One of my favorite things about watching movies is experiencing movies without any foreknowledge of the film. I did that a couple of times in the last few days with films like Duplicity, Robot & Frank, Kill List, and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. I feel like knowing nothing about films going in makes the experience so much better and much more immersive. I fully intend to review at least one of those movies in the future, if not two. But for now, I just want to talk about Salmon Fishing.

The movie is about a fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) who is recruited a financial advisor (Emily Blunt) to bring salmon fishing to the Yemen desert, at the behest of a sheikh. That is the best way to describe it, and, if I may toot my own horn, is a pretty damn good description. The movie is way more than that basic description, but I think that is a great basic plot overview.

I always find it fascinating when a book like Salmon Fishing is adapted into a screenplay. The book is written in a diary/article format (which I've come to learn is called an epistolary novel.) I absolutely applaud anyone who can adapt a book like that and make a fluid and understandable screenplay out of it. I still cannot phathom how Christopher and Jonathan Nolan adapted The Prestige from a similar format, and this movie is equally as baffling. The story is really well written, and all of the plot threads seem to flow so fluidly between each other. Not all plot threads are important to the overarching plot of salmon fishing in the Yemen desert, but they all contribute something to the story or to character development. I'm really impressed with what Simon Beaufoy did with the source material. I think it was an excellent adaptation.

The direction for this movie was really nothing special. It isn't bad direction, it just isn't great. I really didn't notice anything going on with the camera or anything (I was far too busy fawning over the script and acting.) The direction definitely did not detract from the film, so that's a plus. I just wish it had been utilized better to...fuck it. I don't care enough to talk about this anymore. 

The acting in this movie was definitely the selling point for most people who saw this film. I mean, Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt. Both eye candy. Both excellent actors. And neither disappointed. While I don't think that this was either of their best performances of the year (that being The Impossible and Your Sister's Sister, respectively) I thought they were both quite moving. I really loved McGregor's character arc and watching how he portrayed such a drastic change over time. 

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Overall, this movie was surprisingly good. I can honestly say I wasn't expecting anything amazing from this film, but was pleasantly surprised. It really hinges on several strong performances (not just the two I mentioned; everyone was great) and a really well adapted screenplay. Everyone should see this movie (especially if you want to freak out when you see Varys with hair; I nearly shit my pants.) 

Writing: 8/10

Directing: 6/10

Acting: 8.5/10

Pacing: 6.5/10

Rewatchability: 7/10

Score: 7.2/10

Perks of Being a Wallflower Review

The "coming of age" genre has always been really hit or miss for me. I seem to be one of the few people that hates most of the cherished coming of age films like: Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and Superbad. That's not to say I hate every film in this genre, I just find that I like one in twenty, and that's a very generous estimate. Needless to say, I was not expecting to love Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age story about a quiet, loner boy named Charlie (Logan Lerman) and his struggles with being a freshman in high school (among other things.) He befriends a group of seniors: Patrick (Ezra Miller), Sam (Emma Watson) and Mary Elizabeth (Mae Whitman). I'm not going to say much more than that, to avoid even the slightest bit of spoilers. The story covers everything from drugs to just how awkward it is to be a teenager. Let's just say that it's all about high school life and how it can get very complicated.

I was really impressed with what Stephen Chbosky did with his own material. Normally, you would think that having the book's author write the screenplay and direct the film would be a great idea, but I was a little worried by this concept. When adapting a screenplay, it's important to know exactly what needs to stay and what can be removed, and I was really worried that Chbosky might be too attached to his own material that he wouldn't want to slash it up. This could have led to a very lengthy, drawn-out film that would have bored most people. Thankfully, he didn't do that. The script for this film was really well done. All of the dialogue seemed really well placed and well phrased. It made the entire film seem like every scene was absolutely crucial to the story. Though there were a few lines that made me look at the screen and say "what the fuck?!," I'm assuming they would make a little more sense if I had read the book.

On the other side of the coin, Chbosky also directed the film. That part I can't say I was super impressed with. He didn't do a bad job, and I think he did pretty well for his second directing gig, but it didn't really wow me. There were a few really pretty shots, like Sam going through the tunnel, or Patrick and Charlie looking out over the city, but overall it was fairly mediocre direction. I do see some real potential here, though, so I hope he directs more things and tries to experiment a little more. Some of the drug related scenes were strangely reminiscent of Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream. But they weren't nearly crazy enough to impress me.

I think the real strength in this film was (surprise, surprise) the acting. The three leads (Lerman, Miller, and Watson) all delivered very moving performances. Let me just give a quick sound bite about each one. Ezra Miller has been in my sights ever since he blew my fucking mind in We Need to Talk About Kevin. After that I knew he was destined to be one of this generations best actors, and he hasn't disappointed me yet. I would love to see him do more mainstream stuff like this. Hermione Granger...I mean, Emma Watson was great in this as well. I really love how quickly she has gotten into meaty, emotionally demanding roles (a far cry from what she was doing in HP.) After a brief but important role in My Week with Marilyn, I was glad to see her tackle something like this. I can't wait to see her do more (like The Bling Ring!) 

Logan Lerman was the only actor that I was slightly worried about. I've only really seen him in family-oriented, not-so-hard roles like Percy Jackson and Three Musketeers. Knowing this, I didn't really know how well he could carry a very serious coming of age film like this one. Clearly, I was worried for no reason. Lerman absolutely blew me away with his acting range. His character goes through such a roller coaster of emotions throughout the entire film and Lerman didn't miss a beat. It was really stunning to watch, not only the character grow through the film, but also the actor. This film was a big step in his career, and I'm hoping he takes more roles like this in the future.

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Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best coming of age films that I have seen in a long while. While I do have some problems with the scripts, and found the direction to be lackluster, the film really hit me hard with it's deeply emotional themes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get choked up a little bit at the end. I highly suggest this film to anyone and everyone.

Writing: 8/10

Directing: 6.5/10

Acting: 9/10

Pacing: 9/10

Rewatchability: 8.5/10

Score: 8.2/10

Anna Karenina Review

 
Joe Wright made his directorial debut with 2005’s Pride and Prejudice. That movie solidified him as one of this generations auteurs. From there, he went on to make movies like Atonement, The Soloist, and Hanna. All of his films share a very similar vision and the same style, which (in my opinion) is absolutely beautiful. So, when I heard that Joe Wright was going to try and tackle Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, I was pretty excited. I didn’t know much about the story, though I had heard that it was cherished by many, and a lot of people were not looking forward to it. My view was: Joe Wright is going to make this movie something spectacular to look at, even if it doesn’t fully deliver on story (like Hanna and The Soloist before it.) Needless to say, I was right...to an extent.

The plot of Anna Karenina is really hard to sum up in a short paragraph, so let me just put it this way: it is a story of love. The film depicts several different relationships and shows just how variable love can be and tries and shows a distinction between love, lust, and infatuation. The main plot revolves around Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley), her husband Karenin (Jude Law), and Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson.) This plotline is contrasted by the story of Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kitty (Alicia Vikander.) There is also a beautiful plotline that shows exactly what happens when love breaks down between Oblonsky (Matthew Macfadyen) and Dolly (Kelly Macdonald.) This, like the Levin/Kitty story, perfectly contrasts the story of Anna/Karenin and how their relationships deteriorates.

One thing about Joe Wright’s direction that has always captivated me was his use of lengthy shots. His direction is so excellent in the sense that he has the actors movie in certain ways that complement the movement of the camera. These lengthy shots have almost become a staple of his films that you usually expect them by now. Needless to say, he did not skimp in this regard with Anna Karenina. Since the entire film takes place in this theatre setting, a lot of the long shots were used to show changing of scenery. I thought this was beautifully done by Wright, because instead of just showing scenery changing, he showed the characters moving around the cinema while things changed around them. The scene where Levin and Oblonsky go from Oblonsky’s office to the “soiree” was absolutely breathtaking.

The contrast between this quick-to-action type of love between Anna and Vronsky and the slow realization of love between Levin and Kitty is so beautiful. I imagine it is just like this in Tolstoy’s original text, but I found it incredibly moving on screen. All of the contrast between the different relationships were deeply moving. Tom Stoppard’s script was really well put together to make these contrasting themes resonate so deeply throughout the entire film. I thought the film did drag at some points, but it wasn’t enough to completely take me out of the story and make me feel like the pacing was awful. I can’t say enough about Tom Stoppard’s writing, because he wrote two of my favorite films (Brazil and Rosencrantz and Guidenstern Are Dead) and I will forever praise him for that. I think he really nailed the style of the film really well, and a lot of the dialogue (especially from Levin) was very eloquently written.

Joe Wright seems to have noticed that what he did with Pride and Prejudice and Atonement seems to have worked. So, it’s no surprise when he teamed up with a lot of the same people that he worked with on one/both of those films. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey comes back after having been Wright’s DoP on Atonement and The Soloist to deliver his best work yet. The cinematography here is stunning. McGarvey knows exactly how to frame shots so that the lighting is absolutely perfect.

One thing that I’ve found I don’t talk about enough on here is music. I might need to change my rating system to incorporate that, since I find that ridiculously important for a film. Wright is collaborating with Dario Marianelli for the fourth time with Anna Karenina. Just like with Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, Marianelli has written a beautifully poetic score that not only complements the film, but adds a completely new element that was not there in the other collaborations. This score is absolutely essential in this film because it makes the whole “this all takes place in a theater thing” feel real. I really hate that so many people are talking about the Life of Pi score so much when scores like this exist. It absolutely blows any other score from this year out of the water (except for maybe Alexandre Desplat’s score for Argo.)

I’ve noticed that I talk a lot about individual performances in most of my reviews, so I’m going to try and not dedicate like seven paragraphs to talk about each individual performer. Let me just say this: this was truly an ensemble piece. Every single actor was just a cog in a bigger mechanism. They all played their parts so well that it made the entire film seem that much better. Some people that stood out to me were: Domhnall Gleeson, Jude Law, and Matthew Macfadyen. That’s not to say that everyone wasn’t amazing, I just found that these three guys gave the strongest performances. Especially, Gleeson. Every seen that he was in was absolutely captivating. He made me really feel for his character and root for him through the whole thing. After having seen him in Never Let Me Go, I was really waiting for his breakout performance, and this was it. To me, he has ceased to just be Bill Weasley and will forever be Levin.

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To sum it up (which I feel obligated to do, since most people on read this section) Anna Karenina is another ace from Joe Wright. It is the perfect meld of writing, directing, acting and scoring. The visuals in this film (physical and cinematography) are absolutely breathtaking, and I wouldn’t be super offended if that was all you enjoyed from this film. The pacing is a little off at times, and if you don’t enjoy period pieces like this, it could jarr you out of it. But I absolutely loved this movie and fully intend to see it again (and might even buy it when it comes out on Blu-Ray.)

Writing: 8/10

Directing: 9/10

Acting: 9.5/10

Pacing: 8/10

Rewatchability: 8/10

Score: 8.5/10