Snippet Reviews

The Soloist
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To paraphrase a quote from Roger Ebert, this is a film that is so bad that it could have only been made by very talented people. What trips this movie up is the incredibly disjointed pacing, especially when director Joe Wright (Atonemnt) indulges himself in long tracking shots that accompany the methodical classical music. The film also feels like it splits itself in two by trying to comment on the bigger issue of the homeless problem, and the depiction of that problem generally feels like it's predominately focused in the population's minority. Add these problems to a pedestrian and formulaic story, plus some really unnecessary scenes and jokes (there are two urine gags), and not even great actors like Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., and a constantly underused Catherine Keener can save what I think is the worst film of the year so far. *1/2 / ****; GRADE: C-


State of Play

An intriguing mystery, this is if sometimes it does falter every now and again. All the actors are top of the line here, as Russell Crowe shows once again that despite some choices in the past, he's still got what it takes to be a commanding screen presence. Ben Affleck also is good here as his congressional friend, and so is Rachel McAdams as the paper's new generation blogger and Helen Mirren as their tough as nails editor. The story doesn't always do every character justice, and the end might have one too many twisty reveals, but at the end of the day, director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), along with ace writers Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton), Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) and Matthew Michael Carnahan (Lions for Lambs), the film becomes a great commentary on the newspaper status of today as well as great thriller. ***1/2 / ****; GRADE: A-


Crossing Over

With it's large ensemble cast participating in interconnecting storylines that play into a theme of minorities in the United States, it's very easy for this film to get labeled as a Crash rip-off. However, there is an element here that makes this different than that movie and at times a little better. This film deals with immigration, and where as Crash showed how people are participants of racism, this film shows how the immigration issue affects people's lives. This shows how the theme affects people, not how they affect the theme. I think that's why some didn't like Paul Haggis's Oscar winner, and that issue is fixed here. It's also nice to see the movie not only talk about immigration from Mexico, but from all the other countries. However, I will give it Crash for having a better ensemble, as people like Ray Liota and Ashley Judd don't always work. This is also one of the few films that could have been better if it were longer, as it seems it ends just as the storylines start to get interesting. Never the less, despite some flaws, it's a movie that pokes at the mind and offers up some interesting discussion. *** / ****; GRADE: B


Sin Nombre

There are really two stories going on in this film. One is the depiction of a Mexican gang and their brutal practices as they hunt down a dissenting member of their klan heading north. The other is a "race to the border" story following a young girl traveling with her estranged father and uncle to the United States. The former is far more intense, riveting, and better than the latter. But that doesn't bring the film down too much thankfully. The film offers great performances from nearly everyone involved and the story never hits too many wrong notes. Most of it feels like it is grounded in some sort of reality, and I guarantee that the ending will certainly reflect that. Add to it the purely gorgeous cinematography and not even the sometimes odd pacing of the film can make you deny one of the best the year can offer. ***1/2 / ****; GRADE: B+