Reviews

Late in the afternoon, with the rain and wind outside, I found myself sitting stories above Piazza Strozzi in a comfortable armchair dancing the ballet with Natalie Portman. Such is the dynamic of Darren Aronofsky's 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan.

The film explores the persona of Nina Sayers (Portman), a young ballet dancer on the New York City stage, competing for a part in her company's production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Nina struggles to gain acceptance from her peers until she is chosen by director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) to dance the lead role. In training for the part, Nina falls victim to Thomas' ambiguous demands and sexual advances, as he implores her to become not just the innocent white swan, which her natural naivety emanates, but the sinister black swan; a threatening alter ego necessary for the role.

A preexisting mental illness emerges in full force when Nina learns to dance the black swan and forgets how to live her own innocent life. As the boundary between Tchaikovsky's tragedy and Nina's reality disappears her fate dwindles in the hands of the production. With the crowd fixed attentively, and the orchestra rumbling, the final act brings the black swan closer and closer to her own self inflicted death.

A true art film, Aronofsky presents a number of haunting motifs in his use of mirrors, doppelgangers and in the way Thomas seems to verbally narrate Nina's story, effectively rending him the director not just of her ballet, but of her life. The 16mm hand-held camera employed by Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique gives the film a raw documentary quality, amplifying the realism and drama of Nina's inner struggle. In addition, the highly-mobile camera technique used in the performance sequences allows the audience to dance with the characters.

While praising this film for what it does effectively, I must also note it is doubtful one will desire to sit for a second viewing of Black Swan. The excess of "glass-in-flesh" gross-out horror makes Black Swan one of the most difficult films in recent years. Nonetheless, there is no excuse to skip this masterpiece by Darren Aronofsky, where the boundary between truth and torment is as blurred as the eyes of a ballerina in the bright spotlight of a New York City stage.

Jim Carter wrote the following review which was published in an Italian newspaper in April 2011:

Two weeks ago and for the first time in six years April Fool's Day fell on a Friday. Of the seven days of the week, there is something peculiar about Friday. Floating somewhere between old and new, Friday is a culmination that allows recognition of the past week's accomplishments while providing optimism in anticipation for the stretch ahead- a new beginning. It is due to this phenomenon, specifically the financial vulnerability that accompanies this sort of liberal mindset, that the American film industry, since 1981, has chosen Friday as the nearly uncontested weekday for the release of Hollywood films.

Thus, for the American cinema, Friday April 1st, 2011 was not a childish holiday. Instead, the date marked the Italian release of the new Adam Sandler film Just Go With It which sent Happy Gilmore fans like myself running to the box office. How ironic, therefore, that of the five April Fool's Days since 1981 that have fallen on a Friday (and perhaps also the twenty five that have not), Just Go With It has proved itself to be the greatest (or worst) joke of all.

From director Dennis Dugan, Just Go With It is a romantic comedy which follows the heartbroken plastic surgeon Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler) who uses a fake wedding ring from an "unhappy marriage" as he searches local bars for deceitful sexual encounters. One night at a Los Angeles house party Danny's attitude suddenly changes when he meets the girl of his dreams in Palmer (Brooklyn Decker). When Palmer discovers the wedding ring, Danny sidesteps the situation claiming that he is getting a divorce. After Palmer demands to meet his wife, Danny employs his office manager Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his future ex.

While he succeeds in convincing Palmer of his impending divorce, Danny is blackmailed by Katherine's real son (posing as his own), and is forced to take his fake family, along with Palmer, to Hawaii for an impromptu vacation. Danny and Katherine become a sort of improvisational comedy troop, struggling to keep up with the lies they have created as they grow closer and closer. Eventually, Danny and Katherine slowly lose sight of Palmer, as they fall, instead, for one another.

In summarizing the plot of Just Go With It, the mere amount of detail, even main characters, one is able to eliminate without altering the story is a testimony to the poor quality of screen writing exhibited by Allan Loeb. Lacking any clear form of the three act structure, the characters indulge in irrelevant excursions such as a dance competition between Katherine and her college adversary, an unexplained repeated mentioning of the boy band NSYNC, and a strange dinner date that is interrupted in order to save a dying sheep.

The written dialogue is generally boring, containing monologues in which the characters simply tell the audience who they are (notably Palmer's self introduction the first night at the beach). Danny's first encounter with Palmer is nothing more that visual attraction and lacks any effort in creating a believable chemistry. The story is generally illogical and lacks reason, as the characters treat important institutions, such as marriage, with impulsiveness; planning and cancelling weddings as if they were dentist appointments.

One may argue that a film such as Just Go With It is not intended to be a logical and original treatment of believable relationships, and therefore should not be criticized within these boundaries. Being a romantic comedy, however, the film does at least carry with it the expectation of being comic- an expectation unfulfilled.