Watercooler: ‘Whatever’ works, ‘Bruno’ bores, Bay bombs
I finally caught up with Woody Allen’s Whatever Works this weekend and I kind of loved it, contrary to critical consensus. It’s not a perfect movie and probably not even top tier Allen (whatever that means), but it made me laugh and it was the perfect tonic for a day when I was feeling particularly misanthropic.
The film is from an old script originally intended for Zero Mostel that Woody dusted off and patched up as a work around to the writer’s strike and it feels like it. The plot is thin and the production feels rushed, but most of the jokes work and I laughed a lot.
Larry David who seems like a prefect Allen surrogate on paper was the weak link in the performance chain. His misanthropic rage always plays as one brassy note, unmodulated and unsoftened by Allen’s usual self-loathing. The result is that his appeal to Evan Rachel Wood seems a little incredible. Wood’s southern accent is stagy, but she’s pretty much adorable through and through. Her sparkling outlook is the perfect counterpoint to David’s wretchedness. As always, Patricia Clarkson owns every scene she’s in as Wood’s mother. She’s given more to play with here than she was in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and she makes the most of it. Ed Begley, Jr. is also good as Wood’s father.
I’ve read through some of the negative reviews of Whatever Works and I’m not getting it. Rather than compare it to past Allen glories, I’m content to take it for what it is. The fact is, I went in feeling kind of blue and came out wearing a smile.
That’s a lot more than I can say about Brüno. Sacha Baron Cohen’s supposed exposé on American bigotry by way of a flamboyantly stereotypical gay character fails as a piece of social commentary, but even worse it fails to be funny. With a few exceptions, most of the people victimized by Brüno’s rudeness reacted as any ordinary person would. If anything, some of them are more polite than you’d expect. They react mostly because Brüno is an abrasive, narcissistic oaf and not because he’s gay. That’s fine really. I was skeptical of the movie as social action, but the worst sin is that it wasn’t very funny. The audience I saw it with seemed to find plenty to chuckle at, so of course your results may vary.
After Brüno, a masochistic sense of cinematic curiosity convinced me to sneak into a screening of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. With the lowest of expectations I was surprised to find that it was even worse than I imagined. It’s easily the lamest movie I’ve seen in a couple of years. Tone-deaf comedy, ham-handed drama, non-existent characters and nonsensical action sequences edited well beyond the point of coherence add up to over two hours of thudding boredom. It’s hard to believe this movie appeals to anyone above the age of 12, but there was a guy sitting near the back who cheered and clapped like one of those wind-up cymbal monkeys at every shot meant to rouse an audience reaction. He was the only guy in the half full auditorium who seemed to be enjoying himself.
Filed under: Watercooler
Tags: Bruno, Evan Rachel Wood, Larry David, Michael Bay, Patricia Clarkson, Sacha Baron Cohen, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Whatever Works, Woody Allen
First. ;)
I watched The Girl on the Bridge on DVD, which I’d never seen. It was a wonderful quirky French movie, filmed in black and white, with great work all around from the cast which includes Daniel Auteuil. Highly recommended.
Also caught The Holiday on TV. As far as stupid rom-coms go this one wasn’t as bad as so many others, and it’s always a pleasure to watch Kate Winslet. I can live without Cameron Diaz and she was a bit annoying in this.
That’s it for me. Not a big movie weekend.
Too bad about Bruno, but I can’t believe you actually went to see Transformers!
As you know, Craig, I’m kinder to Bruno than you are though I share your sentiments in many regards. Even though the preview audience I saw it with laughed a lot a whole lot, I didn’t as much — too few “hits,” too many “misses,” and not enough of a point. Still, I’m interested in seeing what Sacha Baron Cohen can do in the future as I regard him as very talented.
Also caught The Hurt Locker — all I can say is it’s an excellent film. I hope Kathryn Bigelow gets more and better directorial assignments.
Right now I’m watching Lillian Gish chase Robert Mitchum away with a shotgun (Night of the Hunter). The film seduces me. And a few days ago — while experiencing the flu — I was pleased to see Ernst Lubitsch’s A Royal Scandal, one of Tallulah Bankhead’s best roles and a good, fun comedy (with William Ethye, who, as some may know, experienced problems with his career because he was too openly gay offscreen for the studio’s comfort).
LOL, Pierre, I’m watching Night of the Hunter now too.
Why am I not surprised you liked the Woody Allen movie and hated the Michael Bay movie?
I have nothing much movie to offer. Spent the weekend in Seattle with friends and no responsibilities and it was great. Now I’m half-watching Saving Private Ryan while I internet.
I could have watched Night of the Hunter, but I fear I’m too tired to pay it the full due, so I went with something less demanding. Great movie though.
Ah, the critical consensus…
What the hell do they know?
Craig, I’m so glad that you enjoyed WW. That’s the beauty of the piece IMO.
You have this misanthropic clod who hates everything and everybody. He tells you that if you’re expecting a feel good film to get the hell out of your seat and move on. This isn’t the feel good film of the year and there’s nothing like that to experience in that regard.
Except that he’s dead wrong. It IS the feel good film of the year.
If you fall for WW’s wistful charms, YOU FALL HARD. Whatever mood you happen to be in when you walk into the cinema, you’ll come out into the bright beautiful world being grateful you’re alive.
I don’t get the critical lambasting that this film has been getting. Doesn’t make sense to me. What on earth were these people expecting???
Evan’s accent did bug me for the first five minutes. She sounded like a lot of teenage girls in 12th grade drama class attempting to get a grip on a Tennesse Williams character.
But then I began to understand why she went that route. It really is an exceptional performance. Lots of layers and nuance.
If you needed cheering up, my precious little crabcake, that was THE film to see. That fits the bill precisely.
Much better than the equally fabulous CHERI.
I’m dying to see WW again. But I’ve been viewing a lot of other films (including attending some one time classic motion picture screenings) and I haven’t had time to get back.
Still, I think it’s one of the precious gems of the year.
Too bad it’s sadly unappreciated.
But NOT, of course, by us…
Borat was hilarious, but so far I don’t have any plans to see Bruno. I get all kinds of bad vibes from the trailers for that film. The concept of cornering a politician into a gay sex-tape situation seems rife with comic possibilities, but not when it’s Ron Paul. He’s one of the few conservative politicians who seems to stick to his principles. Paul hasn’t even been anti-gay in his rhetoric, so why target him? The only reason I can think of is that he’s the most transparent/open/straight-shooting Republican and therefore more likely to respond to requests for interviews. There were moments in Borat when the targets seemed to react in rational ways, but were still presented as objects of derision (the dinner party guests, for instance). From what I’ve heard, most of the skits in Bruno are like that. Ick.
This weekend I caught Public Enemies and Night at the Museum. Although it ran a bit long and I think the Melvin Purvis storyline could’ve been downsized, I really enjoyed PE. The digital photography worked surprisingly well and eliminated the sentimental sepia tones that are usually adopted in films presenting that era.
My mom’s been wanting to see Museum, and I couldn’t really say no. It’s not a good movie by any stretch, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Amy Adams. She just glows in the film, a daisy amid the fertilizer. Ben Stiller was even more ridiculous here. I never saw the first movie, so maybe he’s had similar makeup before, but it was kind of off-putting to see him walking around with black emo eyeliner and not have anyone point it out in a joke.
The Ron Paul stunt in Bruno was the film’s nadir. He’s there to talk politics and to be hit on by the interviewer, male or female, would’ve freaked him out. Is he particularly squirrelly about man-love? Probably, but he’s a dinosaur.
It was an even worse stunt than Michael Moore hijacking a doddering Charleton Heston.
Having said that, like PIerre, the audience I saw it with enjoyed themselves and I seem to be on the other side of the comic fence when it comes to movies more often than not.
For what it’s worth, I liked large bits of Borat.
Hurt Locker. Glad you enjoyed it Pierre. It’s one of those movies that needs attention, but I think it risks being overhyped. It’s a catch 22.
You know Alison, I’ve never seen Girl on the Bridge, but I’ve heard good things about it. As a sucker for French cinema, I should probably check it out. The last film I saw directed by Patrice Leconte was Man on a Train starring French pop star Johnny Hallyday and Jean Rochefort who was originally going to be Don Quixote in Terry Gilliam’s doomed film. I don’t think it got a US release.
K. It was a complete whim. I didn’t feel like going home and it just happened to be starting in the next auditorium. It didn’t cost money, but that’s 2 1/2 hours I’ll never get back.
Miranda, we’ve been on opposite pages a lot lately, but we’re in total agreement on Whatever Works. It really WAS a feel good film and not in that cloying, annoying way either. It had a nicely bitter edge.
Yes, Larry David’s character was a total misanthrope, but even he acknowledged that life has little moments of beauty and goodness and when you find one, you have to cling to it and make the most of it. There were a couple of moments in his relationship with Wood where he realized how good she was for him that were downright sweet.
Plus, unlike Bruno, it simply made me laugh. It was the perfect thing for that moment in time. I really don’t understand where all the negative reviews came from. It’s not exactly originally territory for Woody Allen, but so what? The dude is in his 70s. Does he have to keep reinventing the wheel? Coppola is trying to do just that and critics are giving him the what for also. Jerks.
Cheri was on my short list of movies to see, but I didn’t quite get around to it.
WJ. I’m kind of a sucker for Amy Adams myself, and honestly sometimes it’s enough to make your mom happy, isn’t it? Having said that, I’d have done everything in my power to steer her to a different movie, but I imagine you could’ve chosen worse.
It’s funny about the digital in PE. It’s totally dividing people. I’m somewhere in the middle, but most people really loved it or hated it. I miss the softness of film, but I still mostly liked the experiment except in a few scenes. It was too hard to avoid associating it with TV.
Craig, you should definitely check out The Girl on the Bridge, especially since you’re a sucker for French cinema. I’m returning it tomorrow so it will be available on Netflix. :-)
I’ll have to doublecheck Netflix for Man on a Train. I’m pretty sure they have it but I couldn’t swear to it.
Lucille and I attended a fabulous concert at Avery Fisher Hall on the last day (Friday, July 10) of the ‘Summertime Classics’ series, performed by the New York Philharmonic and a guest conductor, who this night also served as host: Bramwell Tovey. The classical venue, titled “Bolero and Other French Delights” included a fantastic performance of the Ravel masterpiece (a work that seems to be known by everyone, regardless of whether they are music fans) as well as selections from Bizet’s Carmen (including “March of the Toreodors” and the “Habanera”) and from Saint-Saens’s Samson and Dalila, including of course the work’s most sublime passage, one of opera’s greatest arias, “Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix.” Also included were Berlioz’s “La Corsaire Overture” and three encores of works by Cilea and Massenet. The soprano Denys Graves brought the house down with her singing, and the Philharmonic were in top form. A review will definitely appear at WitD later this week.
On the theatrical movie scene I saw the following:
The Hurt Locker **** 1/2 (Saturday night; Montclair)
Bruno ** (Sunday afternoon; multiplex)
Soul Power *** (Sunday night; Landmark Cinemas)
THE HURT LOCKER by Kathryn Bigelow is one of the best war films in years and it deserves the spectacular reviews it has received. It’s set in Iraq, and it chronicles the daily life within a bomb disposal unit, identifying improvised explosive devices. They either deactivate them or blow them up. The film is riveting, provocative and imbued with a human quality to the characters. Bigelow makes no political judgement here, just a consideration of war, which is in tune with the slew of anti-war films over the years, but this one is unique.
BRUNO starring Sacha Baron Cohen domonstrates that this humor has now worn out its welcome. Some scenes, like the appearance of Presidential candidate Ron Paul in a hotel room, and the improvising of a “blow job” as well as the final scene in a wrestling ring are very funny, but so much of the longish 90 minute running time is occupied by lazy humor, over the top insults, and some anal gadgetry that left one shaking their head. To say it’s insulting in one manner or another is to miss the whole point of the focus, but by and large it just isn’t very funny, and that’s the bottom line.
SOUL POWER is a documentary about “Zaire 74″ the music festival combined with the landmark boxing event “Rumble in the Jungle” which is basically an encore of When We Were Kings. This film was basically comprised of stock footage, and had little by way of filmmaking inspiration. The Ali bits were more of a hinderance than any kind of a worthwhile embellishment.
I watched two DVDs this week and both were excellent: Rossellini’s ravishing THE AGE OF THE MEDICI from the Eclipse set, and a French satire with black humor from the 40’s titled THE RED INN.
I definitely will Alison.
Along with Cheri (thanks to Miranda), Soul Power was also short listed this weekend (Thanks to Michael W) but I didn’t make it.
Sam you’re right about the improvised blow job. It was probably the one scene in Bruno where I actually laughed. I didn’t find the Ron Paul scene funny in the slightest. If you’re going to pick on conservatives, pick on that asshole Boehner or that other asshole Eric Cantor.
“If you’re going to pick on conservatives, pick on that asshole Boehner or that other asshole Eric Cantor.”
Or better yet, how about Mel Gibson, who was referred here as the “Fuehrer!” Ha! The Paul scene for me was funny because Paul himself completely digressed from the mayhem and referred to Bruno as a “flaming fag.” No shit! It’s the irony that got me.
There were moments in Borat when the targets seemed to react in rational ways, but were still presented as objects of derision (the dinner party guests, for instance).
W.J., I think I understand your general point — and I agree with it — although the example you cite (dinner party guests) I’m not so sure about. I’m unconvinced the guests were presented as objects of derision; certainly I didn’t react to them that way.
What Baron Cohen does in Borat and Bruno is to push people’s buttons and capture their reactions. Sometimes this really works. Other times, though, it seems like SBC is trying to capture a specific, pre-supposed reaction; this is where the moments fall flat for me. When Bruno goes to the Middle East and gets chased (physically threatened) by (presumably) conservative Muslims, that’s one thing. On the other hand, when he’s at the Alabama hunting/camping site making repeated, middle-of-the-night visits to occupants of other tents, that’s quite another thing — and I don’t really see how that scene truly contributes to any overall point.
The same holds true for the Ron Paul sequence. If SBC’s goal was to expose Paul as homophobic (and I don’t know that it was), the sequence didn’t work for me. If I had been the film’s director I would’ve cut the sequence altogether as extraneous. With Bruno’s running time of under 90 minutes, though, I can see why those scenes weren’t cut.
I also had problems with the early sequence at the fashion show. It’s harmless enough to disrupt an event such as this. To my way of thinking, however, the disruption was so physically destructive that the humor was largely lost.
All this makes me wonder why the film runs so short — could it be that SBC didn’t get enough usable footage? That his efforts and intentions weren’t altogether successful?
What made Ali G and Borat work for me was that these characters had sympathetic qualities. The Bruno character doesn’t seem to have any, and that’s a recipe for falling flat.
Skipped Bruno, didn’t miss it. Watched the Criterion DVDs of The Last Wave (Peter Weir, 1977) and The Spirit of the Beehive (Erice, 1973), plus re-watched Cocoon on cable and took in on the DVR a little horror flick called Jesus Camp.
Behive was awesome. Five stars. Beautiful, imaginative, wistful, dark, just lovely. Between my love of it and Pan’s Labyrinth, my husband’s convinced I really want nothing more than to be a little girl in Franco-era Spain. :)
The Last Wave had some great imagery, but was uneven and started out with much more promise than it delivered. 3.5 stars, I think. It had that problem of being both slow-paced and having rushed character development.
Cocoon was as I remembered. Not fantastic, but it sucked me in.
Jesus Camp was hard for me to watch. Partly because I grew up steeped in lesser versions of that sort of thing. Some of these people though really are Christian jihadists and they have no problem using children to do the work–even comparing it to teaching Arab children to be suicide bombers and the like. Skeery. The poor kids happily and self-righteously parroting their parents and leaders have no idea they are anything but the holiest and best people on the planet. Discouraging.
Thrilled to hear what you say of THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE. It’s certainly one of the greatest films about childhood ever made. Wonderful capsule assessment there!
Well, Craig, your thoughts on Whatever Works make me a bit more interested to see it, though my week is busy and by the time I have the chance it will probably be on its way out or replaced by something else. Anyway I was interested to see it anyways.
I saw The Hurt Locker and found it just about as impressive as everybody else has. Definitely from an acting and technical production standpoint it has to be considered among the year’s best to date (which may not be saying much, actually). I would give it an A instead of an A+, though, for being just on the verge of predictable.
***SPOILER WARNING***For example, it was pretty clear throughout that James was going to make it through in pretty good shape. Everybody else was fair game (and I was actually surprised Sanborn and Eldridge survived; that desert shootout was terrifying), but when your bomb defuser is seemingly invincible, well it takes the suspense down from debilitating to “just” unbearable. In other words, this was still the most tense movie I’ve seen since United 93. Beyond that, I wasn’t too fond of three things toward the end: a.) the shooting/fiasco with Eldridge helped establish James’ character a little further, but it was almost a cheap way to get Eldridge’s character out of the story, or so I felt; b.) I didn’t like Sanborn’s plaintive monologue – it just felt too obvious on their last or second to last trip out, and c.) I didn’t like how the “days left” number was really just a build-up the whole time for that totally-see-it-coming punchline/climax/final shot.***END SPOILER***
These minor issues aside, it’s still right up there in the top 5 movies I’ve seen this year.
Bruno I saw an hour later and while I chuckled here and there, it was generally a let-down, and the further I get from it the more I dislike it.
I loved:
- the charity discussion with the two blonde girls
- the photo shoot discussion with the parents
- the hunters’ campfire (the discussion, not the late-night hijinx)
- the back-and-forth with the gay converter
- the Gibson comment, since Sam reminded me!
But pretty much everything else was either stale or just stupid. As a straight guy I admit I was put off by so much penis and anal sex comedy, but I like to think I was disappointed more so because it wasn’t funny than because of any underlying homophobia. In other words, Baron Cohen can be so much funnier when he’s just talking to people (see the examples above), and I’d like to think he’s too smart for such dumb comedy. But I guess you really have to go for the lowest common denominator – making people squirm.
That’s all I saw this weekend…
Enough with the BRUNO. It’s JACKASS for NPR listeners. Ouch, I know. But enough SBC.
I needed to see a lot of new films, but stayed inside to watch old ones. Like AUSTIN POWERS: IMOM. The first, funny one. Myers is so charming in the role and the film actually has a point, which separates it from the rest of Myer’s wonky films. I still laugh out loud.
GUNHED: an unloved by most Toho sci-fi action flick from 1989 that was to be a Godzilla sequel. Instead, it’s like the love child of Cameron/Scott with Hawks/Carpenter. Seriously. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen Brenda Bakke (American female) talk in English Laura Bacall sultry slang with Japanese actors speaking Japanese. I love GUNHED.
OVERNIGHT: I can’t get enough of Troy Duffy. Where’s his reality show?
PAT GARRET AND BILLY THE KID: Just another great Sam Peckinpah western. I don’t even find Dylan too awful in it. He does throw a knife into somebody’s throat. And Slim Pickens….whoah.
“JACKASS for NPR listeners.”
You say that as if Jackass was a bad thing.
Craig, I commend you for not giving Michael Bay more money.
Oh, my weekend was:
Friday at the New Beverly, a triple feature: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, and Bare Knuckles. BK was the winner, a fun, very ’70s genre mash-up.
Then Saturday, Ivan the Terrible parts 1 and 2, which were pretty impressive. Too bad Eisenstein died before part 3.
And Sunday, I wrapped up my Eisenstein with October, which doesn’t have nearly as much energy on a TV as it does on a big screen.
Have you already seen ALEXANDER NEVSKY and POTEMKIN, Jeff?
Yes, Potemkin back like 15+ years ago when I was first becoming a cinephile, Nevsky maybe 7 or 8 years ago. Neither of those impressed me nearly as much as Ivan.
Well, I won’t take you to task there, as these are all masterpieces, and it depends on what day of the week you ask me, to know which one I would place first. But IVAN is a most valid choice of course.
Jeff wins the Watercooler Prize simply for combining Eisenstein with Don Edmonds. That’s genuine film nerdery right there ladies and gentlemen and something we should all aspire to at least a little bit.
Christian, I’ve only seen them once but my first impression was that if you combined the funny bits from Austin Powers 1 and 2, you’d have a good movie. In general though I think you’re right that 1 was the best of the lot and it was kind of downhill from there.
I saw Seth Green at Starbucks in Studio City a couple weekends ago. I’ve lived here long enough that such a thing shouldn’t be notable, but it’s no secret I’m a huge dork.
Pierre, I think SBC’s schtick would be more effective in the context of a cheap TV show where they could afford to be unplanned and unscripted. With millions of dollars hanging over their heads in a feature film, they have to be too careful and a certain staged quality is the result.
Like the Paula Abdul thing…amusing, but even more obviously staged than the Pam Anderson bit from Borat.
“A little horror flick called Jesus Camp.” hahaha…you’re going to hell. :)
Spirit of the Beehive is one of those gaping holes in my filmmography. I should fix that.
Daniel, I’m not sure if ***Spoilers**** I was so convinced that James would live. Killing off the big movie star at the beginning of the film sort of gave you the feeling that no one is safe…kind of like Janet Leigh in Psycho, though not quite as strong because he was on screen for less time.
Am I the only one here that thought BRUNO was drop dead hilarious?
I think you’re actually in pretty good company, Matthew. You’ve probably realized by now that my own sense of humor is broken.
I’m posting here because I didn’t want to muck up the Julius Shulman post with this news (Julius deserves his own thread). Walter Cronkite died. He was 92.
Awwww….that sucks. As the news has gone to hell, I miss him more than ever.
He really was the best of the best.