Change Your Image
joecarroll-632-588318
Reviews
Touching Home (2008)
Decent
First off, I just want to say how much I admire the Miller Brothers for the trials and tribulations they were able to overcome in producing this film. That said, I was actually kind of disappointed after seeing Touching Home, I really was. After reading "Either You're In or You're In the Way", hearing about the awards Touching Home received on the film festival circuit, and absorbing a considerable amount of hype about the Miller Brothers locally, I was expecting to see something groundbreaking. Instead, I got to see a movie that just didn't quite live up to its full potential.
Now, I don't want to dock the movie too much, because, it was after all a valiant effort, and I think more low budget indie flicks like this should be produced. Although, if the Miller Brothers want to be considered respectable film makers, they need to realize this film wasn't pretty. So, rather than most of the people on here awarding 10 out of 10 sympathetic odes of praise to the Miller brothers, I hope to offer a more objective analysis for my fellow IMDb users to consider before seeing this film.
Visually, despite minor lighting problems, the movie was acceptable. In fact, there were several instances (such as the helicopter fly over of the Nicasio church) where I was actually somewhat impressed with the cinematography. However, in my opinion, the script lagged far behind. I felt like the movie didn't know whether it wanted to be a drama, baseball movie, or a love story. The thing is, the love story and baseball plot are left completely unresolved. That leads me to believe it was a drama, about their father. But, if it was a drama, it was kind of a corny drama, because there was several instances during the movie where I found myself laughing, and then realized that I wasn't supposed to be after the fact. For example, the excessive use of the line "Shut up!" in supposedly dramatic situations just wasn't having the chilling effect it should have had.
Don't get me wrong though, it's both tragic and inspiring what these guys went through. However, I just think that writing the book as well as the screenplay, and directing and acting in the movie, showed the Miller Brothers were perhaps a little bit too self indulgent. Especially when it comes to their acting in Touching Home; come on guys, leave the acting to the professionals, because that was awful. On the other end of the spectrum, one major redeeming factor of this film was the casting and subsequent performances by Ed Harris, Brad Dourif, Robert Forster, and Evan Jones (who I thought stole the show.) If the Miller Brothers do go on to direct more films (and I hope they do), chances are this won't be remembered as one of their best. I think, instead, it will probably be remembered as one of their most raw, and honest pieces of work, which is a nice addition to their portfolio. Cinematically, the Miller brothers could have done better on this one. However, If they keep working and making films with the same focus and determination they used to channel towards baseball, they will achieve success in the film industry.
Shutter Island (2010)
A thriller produced for an intelligent audience, imagine that. Absolutely a superb film.
Visually, Martin Scorsese is unparalleled. But, if you know anything about cinema, you already knew that. This film isn't a masterpiece, or a storyline we haven't seen before (think along the lines of Identity [2003]), what this film is, is a beautifully crafted thriller. If you enjoy thrillers, you will enjoy this movie, period. I'm not just referring to the twists and turns in the plot either. When you deal with Scorsese, you get quality, and this film is no different. The acting was phenomenal; DiCaprio, Rufallo, and Kinsley delivered, big time. This flick reads like a great novel, and yet, it refuses to take on that distinctive and predictable Hollywood style (that we have all too often been gratuitously subjected to.) In addition, this film has such a realistic quality to it, that never once did I feel as though I had been cheated out of my money. If anything, the previews for the film don't do it justice, they have promoted it as a "scary movie", and that couldn't be further from the truth. I can assure you that Mr. Scorsese isn't looking for the cheap "Boo! I got you!" moment. It's just simply not one of those kinds of movies. He realizes he is dealing with an intelligent audience, and thus, he provide us (the audience) with a clever intellectually stimulating film..
I commend Mr. Scorsese for not electing to go with a conventional ending, and although some people in the theater went "aaww" (in a bad way), I went "aahh!" (in a good way), because I understood the reasoning behind it. With so much humdrum useless junk in the theaters these days, and in particular so much junk in the thriller genre, it is truly a delight to witness a talented director like Martin Scorsese take on a project like this. As you can see, this was definitely my kind of movie, but I have a hunch that I'm not alone, and I have a hunch this thing is going to catch on very very fast.
One last thing, I urge you to see it in theaters, your really missing out if you decide to wait until DVD for this one, trust me on that.
Hide (2008)
Intriguing, until the script did a 180
I really thought this move started out good, and it wasn't having any problems keeping me glued to the screen...And then the script did a complete 180. It was almost impossible to know what was going on by the end. The thing that gets me is, it didn't have to be that way. The story had a good premise, with plenty of different avenues to go, and the way it was handling Billy's character arc after Betty broke him out of prison was fun and original. In addition, I really wanted to see what they would do with the money, and if Billy would eventually be able to change Betty's outlook on life. Instead, it felt like a cop-out. Either that or they ran out of cash. For example, once they hit the abandoned town, they never left that location. Sure they go in the "diner" and the "church" but those were both pretty lame settings. This, as opposed to the first half of the movie were we go from a jail, to a motel, to a long country highway, to an old gas station in the middle of the desert. Maybe I'm just bummed out because it had so much potential, and it hits act 3 and just craps out. In all honesty, even after reading other people's opinions and input, the ending just doesn't add up for me. I mean, if the directors intent was to make us realize that Billy is really dead, and he has to constantly relive killing the people he loves, well then, the director did a awful job. I say this because, he's completely cu cu and insane by the time he's killing Betty. For god sakes, the guys smiling, and obviously enjoying it! If he is supposed to be in agony, stop having so much fun, and being so sadistic about it. I think it would have been more effective if he would have been more emotional (maybe if he cried while killing Betty.) Also, we don't actually get to see him kill her either, and I was really looking forward to it.
Just a side note, everyone else has mentioned the Tarantino style being evident, and I'm not going to argue that . But, I just want to say that Quentin doesn't have a copyright on witty dialogue mixed with gritty violence. That said, the whole not showing Betty getting killed, reminded me of the cutting the ear off scene in Reservoir Dogs, when the camera pans away instead of showing the act itself, except, in the case of Hide, it was completely ineffective. If your going to throw us a curve ball ending like that, at least let us see the hot blonde get stabbed to death.