Drew Myler » Film Reviews

Ocean’s Thirteen

Drew — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:05:52 +0000

Well – at least they’re back in Vegas.

In a fashionable but humorless return, George Clooney and crew take on a nasty, one-dimensional casino developer (Al Pacino) who double-crosses their pal Reuben (Eliot Gould). Plenty of cons and sleights of hand ensue, but director Stephen Soderbergh has lost the formula that made Ocean’s Eleven such a great film; it was uber hip and enormously clever. Like Twelve before it, Thirteen looks slick as all git out, but it’s lousy fun. I might have laughed once.

In the film’s defense, I couldn’t understand much of what was said; we’re routinely treated to barely audible dialogue, an affliction that also plagued Ocean’s Twelve. Equally distracting, Don Cheadle tones back Basher’s accent while Eliot Gould appears to have gained one, wit dis and dat and da ting over dere. What is that?

Visually, the film pops. Soderbergh and his cinematographer light and frame every shot to painstakingly cool perfection, layering oranges, blues and yellows across the screen as if it were a canvas and each scene a still life.

But the franchise looks weary. The Clooney/Pitt back-and-forth is tired at best, Matt Damon’s character has gone from plucky bench player to pouting brat, and save for a bit in which they pose as security guards to evict a hotel guest, the Malloy Brothers are disappointingly unamusing. Al Pacino walks off with this movie in his pocket, which is no small feat given the collection of talent.

Hopefully we’re done with the Oceans for awhile; each lackluster sequel leaves me thinking woulda, coulda, shoulda. C-.

Michael Clayton

Drew — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:35:06 +0000

George Clooney plays a law firm ‘fixer’ whose latest assignment requires him to contain the leading partner’s descent into insanity-slash-moral-absolutism, which threatens to sabotage a multi-billion dollar case. Of course all is not as it seems, but just barely, which makes Michael Clayton an atmospheric, unsurprising film that’s good but not great. Fortunately we get to watch Tilda Swinton steal the film out from under Clooney’s feet. B-.

Stranger Than Fiction

Drew — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:06:17 +0000

Inventive and amusing, if a tad too long. Will Ferrell plays Harold Crick, a lonely IRS agent who wakes up one day to hear a voice narrating his life – and foretelling his imminent death. Ferrell gives an understated performance that is sweetly funny, as opposed to the lovable boobs he portrays in most of his films. The varsity cast includes Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah, who, despite having the best monologue in the film, is otherwise underutilized. Stranger Than Fiction is Kaufman-lite meta fiction, and it’s solid entertainment. A-.

Premonition

Drew — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:12:41 +0000

Worst. Film. Ever.

The minus on this failing grade is for the most glaring continuity problem I’ve seen in years. The F is for fantastically horrible. F-.

Casino Royale

Drew — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 02:38:48 +0000

Note to director Martin Campbell and screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis: you had me at parkour. The Bond franchise gets a complete overhaul with this retelling of 007′s first mission, and with top-notch results. The silliness of the recent Bond flicks has vanished; Daniel Craig plays the British spy as slick, rough and damaged. Crackling dialogue, high stakes poker and plenty of inventive combat scenes makes Casino Royale the best action movie I’ve seen this year. A.

A Year of Reviews

Drew — Mon, 21 May 2007 19:56:40 +0000

One A+ (Tsotsi). One F (The Family Stone). Everything else in between.

A

American Dreamz
Breach
Capote
The Last King of Scotland
Lucky Number Slevin
Shopgirl
The Squid and the Whale
Tsotsi
Vigils (local Chicago theater production)
World Trade Center

B

Born Rich
CachÃ©
The Departed
Inside Man
Mission Impossible 3
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Manâ€™s Chest
Spy Game
Training Day

C

Lord of War
Match Point

D

The Break-Up
Friends With Money
The Last Kiss
Superman Returns
Thank You For Smoking

F

The Family Stone

Superman Returns

Drew — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:52:50 +0000

The largest crime that unfolds in Metropolis is not Lex Luthor’s bizarre plot to re-create the world’s supply of viable real estate. Rather, it’s an ominous evaporation of character. Superman Returns emerges as the lovechild of the superb Superman II and the horrendous Superman IV: The Quest for Peace; it’s a mishmash of silly criminals, half-baked storylines and mere hints of the emotional core — and wreckage — of the second film in the series. Lois Lane, a cynical, self-assured, cigarette-smoking modern woman in the original films (played to perfection by Margot Kidder),Â is present only to advance the plot. Her lines are throwaways; she’s boring. Kate Bosworth is completely outgunned by her predecessor, as is Kevin Spacey (Luthor) and Frank Langella (Daily Planet Editor in Chief Perry White). Surprisingly enough, Brandon Routh’s Christopher Reeve impersonation works, though he looks a bit too waxy and — well — alien.

File this one under the Star Wars prequel effect: the best part of the film is the anticipation of seeing it. D.

Breach

Drew — Sat, 12 May 2007 18:54:03 +0000

Chris Cooper stars as FBI mole Robert Hanssen in the true story of the spy’s undoing in 2001. Ryan Phillipe holds his own as the young agent-in-training who helps catch Hanssen in the act of passing secrets to the Russians. Apparently Laura Linney thinks she’s acting in a 1930s gangster flick; I kept waiting for her to whip out a tommy gun. However, her peculiar performance is the only hiccup in this otherwise satisfying suspense flick. A-.

The Departed

Drew — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:07:27 +0000

All the elements are in place for an instant classic, but The Departed never fully congeals. We’re given tiny snippets of relationships between the characters in Martin Scorsese’s ‘competing mole’ flick, and so we don’t really care about them all that much. It’s a pity, because we won’t see a collection of talent like this again unless Scorsese agrees to direct Oceans 14. If so, please bring Alec Baldwin along for the ride; you could put that guy in a room for two hours, film the results and have a box-office smash. I’d watch him prune flowers. The Departed: B. Alec Baldwin: A.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Drew — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 14:37:39 +0000

Something about a debt, a key, a chest, a sea monster, the East India Company and – oh look, swordfight! It’s best to remain unconcerned with deciphering the plot in order to enjoy this visually stunning film. The standard twists have been deployed to keep the storyline afloat for two sequels with mixed effect (love triangle: yawn). But the stage has been capably set for Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, which releases this year. A little less dramatic tension to water down the swashbuckle this time, please. B.