It is fair to assume that most people walking into this movie would expect a quirky, humorous satire of the ineffectual, bureaucratic heart of the United States military. The trailer, available below, certainly forwards this message.

The military decides to begin a program designed to create super soldiers through the use of telepathy, telekinesis and other odd, unproven mental skills. George Clooney fronts the film which seems to have been made with a Coen Brothers vibe.

That vibe isn't there. Neither is the story.

Yes, some aspects of the story are true. The government did have a time when it delved into alternative concepts like remote viewing. Unfortunately, being true doesn't always translate into being watchable.

In all of its attempts at being zany and too cool for the room, this film commits one of the unforgivable sins: it is dull. It is open-mouthed, broadly announced yawn kind of dull. Start daydreaming about the household tasks that remain undone kind of dull. Kevin Spacey ten years past when he gave up trying kind of dull.

Have you ever seen a Coen Brothers movie like Burn After Reading or The Hudsucker Proxy where they just can't make it work? Their cobbled together plot is too creaky and loose to function properly? This leaves them with a bunch of scenes that feel under-worked? This whole movie is one of those scenes. Quirky jokes that aren't amusing. Not good.

Skip this one. It wasn't done cooking before they served it up.




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Labels: Ewan McGregor, film, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, movie review, Robert Patrick, Stephen Lang, Stephen Root

Actual science fiction is an uncommon thing to find in the cinema. Think of it, when was the last time you watched a science fiction film that didn't center on aliens, demons, zombies or hippies in bathrobes carrying light sabers?

Sam Rockwell portrays Sam Bell a worker on an isolated moon station. Bell is alone - totally alone. As one would expect, his solitude has its price. Slowly, Bell is losing his grip on reality. He is hallucinating and getting confused.

The only company Bell enjoys is a boxy computer named Gerty, voiced by Kevin Spacey. Gerty is an obvious throwback to 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 3000 with his passive voice and mechanic responses. Gerty is little more than a computerized butler and is incapable of overcoming Bells building loneliness.

This is a film that makes me hesitant to delve too deeply into its plot. There are too many ways for me to ruin what is a very thoughtful, delicate script. I am loathe to take anything away from your first viewing. I will say that director Duncan Jones handles Nathan Parker's script perfectly. Parker worked off of Jones' story idea, so its not shocking that their efforts blended so seamlessly. The end result is remarkably good. Rockwell gives what is easily his best performance and I do think much of his success is rooted in the sharp script he gets to deliver.

The first third of the film I thought I could predict what was happening. This is because 99% of the time I can. I've seen thousands of movies and after a while the patterns of story are just there for you to see. I am not an easy many to surprise or impress when it comes to movies. I misread this one and I did not know where it was going. That alone makes me recommend it. Unpredictability is a seriously rare commodity these days.

Bottom line: if you enjoy intelligent, patient science fiction this should be on your short list of films you need to see. I can't fathom you will be anything but satisfied.

This is what film should be: smart, meaningful and compelling.


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Labels: film, Kevin Spacey, movie review, Sam Rockwell, science fiction

This is a very good trailer. It does a wonderful job of selling the film and the performances. George Clooney does have a goofy comedic side which doesn't get utilized enough. As this trailer displays, he has a particularly good knack for double-takes.






Screenwriters: Jon Ronson (How to Lose Friends & Alienate People)
Director: Grant Heslov
Actors: George Clooney (Burn After Reading), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Jeff Bridges (The Fisher King), Kevin Spacey (21), Stephen Lang (Avatar), Robert Patrick (Terminator II: Judgment Day), Stephen Root (Office Space) and Waleed Zuaiter

Labels: Ewan McGregor, film, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, movie trailer, Robert Patrick, Stephen Lang, Stephen Root

Watching a bunch of West Coast mopes whine about how hard life is - well, don't get between me and the cinema, I can't wait.

I don't think this looks good. A cast of characters disconnected with real life, a story centered around depressed mopes, an unproven film director, and Kevin Spacey producing. All bad signs. I hope its a great film and my suspicions are proven wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.




Screenwriter: Thomas Moffett (The Last International Playboy)
Director: Jonas Pate
Actors: Kevin Spacey (21), Dallas Roberts (3:10 to Yuma) and Keke Palmer (Madea's Family Reunion)

Labels: film, Kevin Spacey, movie trailer

I do not trust Sam Rockwell's taste in projects. This one however looks like an exception. The buzz has been strong for this production and seeing the trailer, it looks like it has the goods. This is an effective trailer and plays off all the right elements. What at first looks like a 2001: A Space Odyssey rehash drags in aspects of The Shining.


Screenwriter: Nathan Parker
Director: Duncan Jones
Actors: Sam Rockwell (The Green Mile), Kevin Spacey (21), Matt Berry and Robin Chalk

Labels: film, Kevin Spacey, movie trailer, Sam Rockwell

Screenwriters: Christopher MacGuirre (The Way of the Gun)
Director: Bryan Singer (Apt Pupil)
Actors: Kevin Spacey (K-Pax), Gabriel Burne (End of Days), Benicio Del Toro (21 Grams), Stephen Baldwin (Midnight Clear), Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men), Chazz Palminteri (Yonkers Joe), Pete Postlethwaite (The Omen) and Dan Hedaya (Clueless)

Labels: benicio del toro, Bryan Singer, Chazz Palminteri, film, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, movie trailer

Film by the numbers. A group of too cool for the room MIT students uses their smarts to con millions out of Vegas. Sounds like an interesting concept for a low impact movie, right? What we get is a very conventional film that fails to impress. The direction by Robert Luketic (Monster-in-Law) is rudimentary in his approach and has created a remarkably bland work. There is never any question which path the story will take. There’s no invention, no surprises just narrative tumblers all falling as expected. It is all very comfortable and ultimately boring. Kevin Spacey fronts the cast and never shakes the feeling that he’s slumming for a buck. He produced this slab of blah, so I’m not sure why he didn’t secure a more adventurous director. Don’t bother with this one, life is too short for boring movies.


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Labels: film, Kevin Spacey, movie review

This adaptation of David Mamet's 1984 Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play of the same name, is brilliant. This is one of those films that reminds us of the power of cinema when used to its fully effect. The film follows a day in the life of a group of down-on-their-luck loser salesmen scraping together a living in a small urban office. When a new batch of leads is brought to the office, it seems like the salesmen's troubles are over. The catch? The new leads only go to closers. In addition, the company sends down a venomous sales executive to give the sales office an ultimatum: sell or die. Whoever sells the least will be fired.

The performances by Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin and Alec Baldwin are each Oscar worthy. It is difficult to cite another film with such a broad cast of talent that manages to pull great performances from each player. The masterful screenplay adaptation written by Mamet himself gives these actors some of the richest scenes put to film in the 1990's. Jack Lemmon and Alec Baldwin are the standouts in this film. Lemmon as the desperate salesman Shelley Levene is awe inspiring. Every moment on screen watching this man who's life and soul have been consumed by business is gut wrenching. From his babbling sales pitch, to his nervous quiet moments, Lemmon's Levene is one of the best performances of the decade. More would probably have been made of Lemmon's incredible performance if it hadn't been for Alec Baldwin stealing the movie in his brief bombshell performance as Blake the aggressive executive salesman sent down from corporate to shape up the struggling, small office. Baldwin has a small, but pivotal role and provides easily the best performance of his cinematic career. His sole scene is worth the price of admission. He defines how to handle a monologue, how to command a scene. For all of the trash the man has made over the years, this single performance places him in a rare crowd of actors. His work in this film is one of the great performances in film history.

I cannot recommend this film highly enough.

Please note that people who are sensitive to foul language will have plenty to be concerned about here. Mamet's characters expel the F-word like other people exhale air.


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Labels: adaptation, Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, David Mamet, Ed Harris, film, Jack Lemon, Kevin Spacey, movie review

Labels: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, movie trailer