Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Greenberg

Rating:

Movie: Greenberg (2010)

Studio : Scott Rudin Productions

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 107 min

Website : here

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcupdf

Review:

Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) is the brother of Phillip Greenberg. The difference between them is that Phillip is a successful owner of a hotel chain with a healthy family with three kids and a dog in a large home in California. Roger Greenberg is a “do nothing” who lived in New York City as a carpenter with a mental breakdown who lives like an old man wishing it was twenty years ago.

Greenberg is a film about acknowledgement. Greenberg refuses to acknowledge people but wants to be acknowledged, particularly by those who had something to do with his past in California. As he attempts to find some way to bring back the things he loved in his high school days, he finds himself in a frustrating relationship with his brother’s personal assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), who is almost twenty years younger than him and strangely resonates with his eccentric attitude. She is one of the only people who acknowledges and admires him, and he hates her for it as he tries to get people in his past to acknowledge him instead.

The only member of his past who is willing to be a part of his life again is Ivan (Rhys Ifans), an old band member with a son and an ex-wife that Roger refuses to acknowledge. Roger insists that Ivan leave the things that has happened to him while Roger was in New York while plotting with him on how to get back the ex-girlfriend that left him during high school so long ago.

It was difficult formulating what to say about this film. It’s awkward and clumsy at times, much like Roger. We don’t really understand him, but slowly start to see the pieces of his past that made him this way. Like Florence, we are strangely drawn to his eccentricities, and only when we see him interact and care for these new figures in life do we start to really acknowledge him.

This is definitely a film for the Wes Anderson crowd. Initially, I was even tempted to call this film another Rushmore (and, no, not in a good way). But thankfully, unlike most Wes Anderson films I’ve seen, director Noah Baumbach is generous with his clues and willing to give you some slack in order to “get it”. As you go further into the film and study the pieces, you start to acknowledge that this film really is more than you originally may have believed.

-Donald Lee

Comedy, Drama, In Theaters acknowledgement, Ben Stiller, greenberg, greta gerwig, review

Invictus

Rating:

Movie: Invictus (2009)

Studio : Malpaso Productions

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 133 min

Website : invictusmovie.warnerbros.com

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xayoo0

Review:

In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison and by 1994, he became the first democratically-elected president of South Africa. One of his greatest achievements: making South Africa’s rugby team the best in the world?

There is some method in his madness. Just as Mandela recalls a childhood where booing the team was a sign of rebellion towards the Afrikaners, he sees that bringing a team that South Africa will cheer on as a nation will also bring a divided people together along the way.

You have to credit Clint Eastwood for originality. Not only did he choose a topic that is obscure, but also strangely relevant as well. Think about it: just a few months ago, Peter Jackson released a film centered on apartheid, and Morgan Freeman’s role plays a man whom the Afrikaners partially distrust for seeming more like a celebrity than a politician (a view quite a few Republicans hold in regard towards a certain politician of our own).

I should warn that this really is not a movie you see for the thrill of rugby. Matches have a tendency to be brushed over, and while you can see rules explained from time to time, I was left scratching my head wondering what was going on as the drama was edited into a handful of clips for most of the matches, likely for the sake of time and perhaps better edited out or shortened further.

I don’t think Eastwood knew where to go with this film overall, or what to keep or edit out, perhaps because he was balancing a sports movie with a political one. One plot branch that I thought was unnecessary, for example, involves a trip to Mandela’s prison. It’s significant, yes, but not necessary for Damon’s character at that point.

Freeman delivers the chilling accuracy of Mandela 90% of the time, (the other 10% of the time he sounds like himself). I have to also admit it’s impressive seeing Matt Damon go from his chubby role in The Informant!, into a chunky muscleman that could bench-press Jason Bourne. But acting-wise, undue credit should go to Tony Kgoroge, who plays a quiet, incisive, and eternally paranoid bodyguard for Mandela. When you see him crack a smile, even for a brief moment, it shows you all the inner depth that was implied despite his background role.

If you’re a Freeman fan, then you won’t be disappointed watching him in action. If you’re someone else? There’s always the DVD.

-Donald Lee

Documentary, Drama, In Theaters 2009, all blacks, clint eastwood, invictus, matt damon, morgan freeman, movie, nelson mandela, political, review, rugby, south africa, sports, springbokkes, springboks, springbox, Tony Kgoroge