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madamebrad
Reviews
Life (2007)
One of the Best Shows on TV (and, no its not House with Cops)
Despite a slightly choppy pilot episode, Life paced itself through a very impressive first season. Even those who outright disliked the pilot and subsequent first few episodes were pleasantly surprised at just how GOOD this show became with each episode. The season, unfortunately shortened a good deal by the fallout from the writer's strike, reached a fever pitch at the fourth episode and hit every note perfectly from that episode until the truly classic and excellent last two episodes of the season. I can't remember a season finale as tense and truly interesting in a long, long time.
MILD SPOILERS Much of the show is carried by Damian Lewis, as Det. Charlie Crews. Crews, wrongfully sent down via conspiracy for the murder of his best friend's family, emerges from 12 years (most of which is spent in solitary) in the super-max Pelican Bay Prison. Nearly killed several times inside, the only thing that kept Crews going is a small, tattered book of Zen teachings that he seems to have read over and over again in an attempt to keep himself from losing his mind.
Constance Griffiths, a kind-hearted and tenacious lawyer manages to get Crews's conviction overturned. She also gets him his job back at the LAPD, and at the Detective rank he'd have been if he'd not been sent down for 12 years. She also managed to secure him a nice settlement...anywhere from 5 to 50 million dollars, depending on which beat cop you ask.
Crews settles in to his Home Sweet McMansion with Ted Early (Adam Arkin) a smart but crooked inside trader whom he met and protected in prison.
Meanwhile, Dani Reese (Sarah Shai), an attractive, smart but troubled young detective is also emerging from serious troubles in her past. Demoted, she ends up with Crews as her partner as a punishment, but also quickly picks up on the fact that her commanding officer may have more sinister reasons for pairing the duo up; she wants to keep an eye on Crews, who she feels is back for one thing only....revenge on those who may have set him up. A second generation cop (her father was with the LAPD, too), she seems to exist for work, which props her up when her battles with addiction and self-loathing kick in the worst.
The show revolves around Crews's search for the family's real killer and those who set him up, but in the meantime, he's got work to do. LA is a big city, crimes happen and he and Reese have to solve them. This is where the procedural element, and possibly the show's weakest element, come into play. Each weekly mystery, especially in the first few episodes, has been done to death (no pun intended) and solving the murder mysteries can seem tedious and a distraction from the sub-plot of the conspiracy. However, by the episode Farthingale, even these procedural plots become much more interesting and original.
Comparisons have been made, especially in the beginning, between this show and House. While I understand that both lead characters are quirky (Crews with the Zen and House with the.....well, House) and the procedural element of both shows lend similarities, they really are nothing alike. I find the endless comparisons not only inaccurate, but lacking in imagination.
Season 1 sets up the conspiracy story arc well, and despite the shortened season, we DO get some answers towards the end of the season, so there is some satisfaction.
The season finale, which is really kind of a two parter, if you include the second to last episode as part of the finale, is tense and pitch perfect. When was the last time you saw a film, let alone a television show, where you TRULY did not know what was going to happen, which path a borderline character would choose? The writing in this series is commendable, but the entire show belongs to Lewis, and to an only slightly lesser extent, Shahi.
Best known from the mini-series Band of Brothers and films like Keane and Dreamcatcher, Lewis is a British actor who employs possibly the single best American accent on US television. His mannerisms and intensity are not only completely three dimensional, his repressed anger and depth are palpable. Lewis makes Crews a brilliant combination between a sixth grader and a serious, old school bad ass. The character is cool, smart, sexy and humorous.
For her part, Shahi is nobody's fiddle or banana in this show. Stoic and, at the same time, brimming with quiet and serious charm, Shahi's Reese is instantly likable.
Together, Crews and Reese make one of the best on screen partnerships in recent history.
One can't help feel Adam Arkin is slightly under-utilized and the second season should feature more of his character.
Overall, this show is not only original, smart and funny, it has the layers of depth that set it apart from similar shows. Definitely worth watching, check it out on NBC.com or Hulu.com (or order the Season 1 DVD on Amazon) before the second season begins in October. You'll be glad you did.
Keane (2004)
Honest, Intense and Really (REALLY) Good.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD
Like most films which eschew the typical trappings of Hollywood movies, Keane might not be for everyone. Pushing the envelope of cinema as an experience, Lodge Kerrigan gives us a story that is so intense, it threatens to swallow us up in its honesty and realness.
Damian Lewis plays Keane, a man on the brink of homelessness and losing his mind. As the film opens, we see Keane frantically looking for Sophie, his young daughter who we gather has disappeared at the port authority, some months earlier. Beside himself with grief, despair and guilt, he searches for her in the way of someone who is obsessed with repetition. You get the feeling he's been doing the exact same circuit day in and day out without a break for months.
Keane is a man who is clearly living in hell. This is as bad as it gets on earth; being cognizant enough to feel the pain of a loss like this while also being mentally unstable can only be described as hell on earth.
For better or worse, the direction of the film is unrelenting and truly makes us experience Keane up close, and perhaps too personal. Uncomfortable scenes of self-talk, crying and cringe-inducing escapism via alcohol, drugs, violence and frantic sex with a stranger make the film hard to watch at times.
As a woman and her young child make their way into Keane's tortured world, we begin to see a different side to Keane. A friendly, conscientious and polite young man emerges from the madness as he begins to focus on this child in front of him, perhaps as she's the same age as his own Sophie. Particularly while he's asked to care for her by the unstable mother, we see a likable, steady personality emerge. While the girl is with Keane, we see him blossom and this is where the only true linear part of Keane's world/story comes to fruition. Will Keane be able to hold on to reality long enough to pull himself away from the hell he's been immersed in? The intensity of the film (you are basically watching Lewis in every scene, and with a close up usually from the shoulders up) is relentless. But, isn't that true of life, itself? How often do we get to look away in real life? All too easily. This film gives us less than two hours of what it is like to be in the world of the mentally ill.
Lewis is, in a word, extraordinary as Keane. In my estimation, his performance in this film is the best of his career. Or, anyone else's, for that matter. He never overdoes it and his eyes and face express and contort to give us even more of a realistic rendition of Keane's pain.
Much has been made about Lewis's fairly clean cut appearance in the film and critics have said it belies the real face of mental illness. However, those of us who have seen schizophrenia in person know that one of the most heartbreaking and cruel parts of this condition is how normal one can look and seem on the surface. I believe the fact that Keane was not horribly grubby or dirty was a very deliberate choice on the filmmaker's part and it is one that I think is often misunderstood. The fact that Keane might, at any moment "snap out of it" and become "normal" is exactly what the real face of schizophrenia is all about.
Also misunderstood is the "mystery" about what happened with Keane's daughter. Much conversation revolves around what really happened to her. Indeed, we aren't ever given solid proof that she existed. Taken at face value, we see a man who was probably struggling with manageable mental illness before something tragic happened to his daughter. Whether he lost her literally or was perhaps lost in a divorce is debatable. Theories of her completely not existing, while certainly possible, aren't probable. And, those who like to talk of Keane having killed his young daughter are clearly missing the point of the entire film and should probably watch it again.
Ultimately, if you're uncomfortable watching this film, it is understandable. However, missing it means missing out on one of the most powerful, realistic and personal films made.
Revolver (2005)
Worth Watching (Only With An Open Mind)
This film should be noted for the fact that it will undoubtedly confuse and irritate as many viewers as it delights.
This is not a sequel to Lock Stock or Snatch, nor is it like any other film you're bound to see.
This is a film about the fragility and scope of ego and personality and therefore has some level of sophistication to it that some fans of Ritchie's previous work won't like.
For starters, IMDb lists Luc Besson as a writer, so that should give most film fans a clue that it isn't going to be the most linear and coherent of jaunts, in the first place.
If Tarantino, Lynch, Besson and Cronenburg all had a baby..... it would look nothing like this film. So, please don't buy into all the reviews that are comparative in this way.
This is a very well made film that really deserves a good look if you are any kind of real film fan.
First, the cinematography is excellent, and some shots are not only outstanding, but one can almost feel the influence these scenes will clearly have on future filmmakers. The final scene with Liotta and Statham is just as perfect of a scene as it gets in film.
What the film lacks in explanation, it clearly gives back in tone, style and inspiration. That's not to say it is all style over substance, however. There is certainly enough to ponder, enough of a theme and message if you have your eyes (and brain) open to see what is really going on.
Chromophobia (2005)
Don't Understand All the Negative Reviews
SPOILERS
After seeing many negative reviews of the film, I was not expecting it to be that great, but I'm a fan of some of the actors in the film, so I figured I'd give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised, but I don't feel my opinion was heightened by lower expectations. I think it was a truly good film, overall. There were a few slow areas and scenes which were heavy handed (either by director or actor) but the main storyline was engaging and easy for most people who have any shred of introspection to relate to.
Damian Lewis and Kristin Scott Thomas were excellent, as usual. Both stayed admirably true to both of their characters, both of whom are a mass of complexities and contradictions under the surface, and also appear at the outset to be fairly one sided. I felt that there was a good representation of when you meet someone in real life and know only surface and appearance related info about that person....slowly, the story builds as you get to know them and all the facets start to show. and really were perfectly true to their characters.
Ben Chaplin plays an old friend with altrustic intentions on a general level, but sinister ones where actual lives are concerned. His sudden appearance in a friend's life, deception and betrayal are excellently plotted and echo of the very best of Shakespeare. This storyline and performance is a strong-point.
Penelope Cruz as a dying call girl basically recycled her performance from every tragic young woman role she's been in. I didn't really care for her acting, save for certain scenes, notably the end of her love scene with Sir Ian Holm (excellent, restrained and poignant as usual in his role as pinched, ineffective patriarch.) Rhys Ifans was also quite good, but I felt the attachment he formed was quite quick and seemed somewhat forced.
There was a surprising amount of humor in this film. In particular, I found myself laughing out loud at the furtive, awkward sex scene between Lewis and Scott Thomas as well as their verbal fumblings as they try to steer their way through a terse, bitter marriage.
Not surprising, but appreciated (by me anyway) was some of the subtle undertones of the film, which is basically about a whole bunch of interconnected people who really have no REAL connections to each other (including those who can cast away real connections for the sake of convenience or personal gain.) Early on, a character who will end up in jail plays the Clash's "I Fought the Law" and that song is played again in a crucial dramatic scene in the background. Also, a cast off hardly worn red dress floats through London from the home of a wealthy, seemingly privileged through a charity shop to a woman who wears the dress on her dying night. There's something to be said for the literal visual impact of the red dress being passed between strangers, but it also speaks eloquently of the larger issue of fashion and consumerism as a defining factor for some very unhappy people, which is a theme in the film as well.
All told, a well crafted film that only suffered minorly from vague heavy handedness. The acting was excellent and it was most definitely an enjoyable watch. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to connect, relate and enjoy.