Movie Review

A Few Standout Movies in 2004

A Few Standout Movies in 2004

By Susan Frome

The year 2004 was a bad one for movies. Bad in the sense that Hollywood often settled for playing it safe, recycling familiar vehicles like The Stepford Wives and Oceans Eleven or tossing in some mindless vehicles for the likes of Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey and appealing to the questionable interests of the young demographic. Of the ones I was able to see before writing this list of Few Best Movies of 2004, there are only five that I can be strong about or recommend to you, the readers, to check out at the neighborhood video store.

The five movies are: 1.Collateral, 2. Bon Voyage, 3. Ray, 4.Finding Neverland 5.Motorcycle Diaries.

Of the five listed above, three are mainstream films, shown in mutiplexes in the Waterbury area: Collateral, Ray, and Finding Neverland. The other two, Bon Voyage (French) and Motorcycle Diaries (Spanish) are foreign films and may have only run in art house movie theaters.

Following are the reasons for choosing these particular movies for the Observers Best of 2004 list:

1. Collateral: This is a great movie for several reasons. There is the vision, shaping and impeccable choices that director Michael Mann made in this night-mare story of a contract killer, a beautifully focused performance by Tom Cruise, and a taxi driver, gently and believably played by Jamie Foxx. Another important factor is the dialogue written by Stuart Beattie, it is written like a two-character play which, by chance, brings a dramatically contrasting duo together who, by the end, must change and, in a sense, come to care about each other. That is a hard assignment, but Mr. Mann and Mr. Beattie somehow pulled it off. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect, and the movie sinks into a gratuitous chase scene at the end similar to so many action movies; a badly made choice. But, the rest is so well done, that we cannot fault it for 10 percent of the work when 90 percent is so good.

2. Bon Voyage: A nostalgic, romantic comedy/drama set at the beginning of WWII in France, this is an almost farcical tale about a handsome sweet young writer who gets caught up in adventures beyond anything he could think up himself. Frederic, played with real sincerity by Gregori Derangere, comes to the aid of a former girlfriend, Isabelle Adjani, who is a French movie star entangled in the death of a former boyfriend. Frederic then finds himself in jail, but, during the confusion of the German invasion, he escapes and, like everyone else, tries to get to Bordeaux in order to catch a last-minute boat out of France. You can see the problems mounting up and this is only the beginning. It is fun, it is beautifully filmed by director Jean-Paul Rappeneau, and it also stars Gerard Depardieu as a spineless French Government minister in love with Adjani as well. A movie for all ages though reading the subtitles is a requisite. No explicit sex, violence or bad language and its never boring.

3.Ray: Here is Jamie Foxx again in a tour-de-force performance playing Ray Charles. The man is the music, the music is the man, the movie is the man and the music. The music carries the film gloriously from the intimacy of down-home smoky rhythm-and-blues to the sold-out generic commercialism of orchestral pop and country-and-western. Flashbacks tell the intense story of his life, starting with his little brothers accidental death, his blindness at an early age and his mothers insistence that he learn to stand on his own and take pity from no one. Mr. Foxxs uncanny ability to inhabit Ray Charles moods, inimical movements, and moment-to-moment spontaneity is magical to watch. The movie is like a concert with narrative interludes, greatly enhanced by the cinematography which transports you deeply into the experience.

4. Finding Neverland: This movie is a softly stunning picture of Victorian London and tells the story of James M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan and other works. Mr. Barrie was a celebrated well-to-do playwright but needed inspiration for a new project. He found it upon meeting the Llewelyn Davies family, a widow and four sons. Director Marc Forster has said that this story is about imagination, creativity, and belief, and he and the production crew and the actors have certainly achieved this vision. There are wonderful scenes in Kensington Park, at Barries Victorian townhouse, and in and about Barries country cottage as well. Scenes transform into magical circus acts, dancing dogs, ventures on the high seas and sylvan fairylands. Johnny Depp as Barrie is subtle and subdued but still has moments of pirate play and derring-do with his four young friends whom he understands and respects. Needless to say, his new play, Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldnt Grow Up turns out to be a hit, treasured by young and old.

5.Motorcycle Diaries: This film depicts an early period in the life of Che (Ernesto) Guevara, revolutionary leader of mythic stature and author of two books on guerilla warfare. The movie version, however, shows us an entirely different persona: a young medical student working on his degree at the University of Buenos Aires who is sensitive, almost poetic, and compassionate toward the poor and sick of his country. Based on his own diaries and those of his friend Alberto Grenado, we have here a cinematic rendering of their adventures on a road trip from Argentina to Chile. They end up working at a leper camp, where young Che develops his deep commitment to helping others whom society has forgotten. Gael Garcia Bernal subtly expresses the growth and change in this character and makes us feel his evolving fervency on the path he will eventually take.

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