Zero Dark Thirty - Review

Zero Dark Thirty
(2012 - January 11, 2013 USA)
Action | Drama | History
2 hr. 37 min.

Rated: R Language, Brutal Disturbing Images and Strong Violence Information for parents: Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+. Read More
Grade: B+

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal (screenplay)
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton and Chris Pratt | See full cast and crew

The Academy Award-winning duo behind The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal) reteams for this drama detailing the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and starring Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain as the intelligence expert who dedicated a decade of her life to tracking down the world's most wanted terrorist. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the CIA began interrogating suspected Al-Qaeda agents across the globe in a bid to locate the elusive bin Laden. Upon arriving at a CIA black site and witnessing the brutal interrogation tactics firsthand, driven CIA operative Maya (Chastain) aids her unpredictable colleague Dan (Jason Clarke) in gathering the intelligence that will help bring bin Laden to justice. Over the course of the next decade, numerous false leads and dead ends make the search seem more futile than ever. Meanwhile, numerous suicide bombings all across the Middle East and Europe hint that Al Qaeda won't go down without a fight. Then, just when it seemed as if the trail of clues had finally dried up, an old piece of evidence leads Maya to a suspect who may work directly for the man charged with planning the worst act of terrorism ever committed on American soil. Joel Edgerton, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Strong, Chris Pratt, and James Gandolfini co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Knowing the the team behind The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, was also the creative teams behind Zero Dark Thirty, I was skeptical. I hated the former film and was not looking forward to a 2 hr. 37 min. leftist propaganda film/Obama campaign video. I was pleasantly surprised. It is a serviceable, well made film and interesting once it gets going and far less political than I had anticipated (not to say that it isn't). Aside from the earliest scenes where it threatens to become a relentless liberal harangue over interrogation methods and torture, it ends up being somewhat ambiguous.

Zero Dark Thirty, is a small step above a good made for TV movie. None of the characters are written with any depth with the exception of the 'star' Maya (Jessica Chastain) and unfortunately her performance is hollow and forced and tends to drag the entire film down. What could have been a gripping story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden becomes bogged down in an all too repetitive 'I am woman hear me roar' whine-fest. The rest of the cast is pretty much cardboard cutout window dressing for Maya's single minded dedication. This operation could never have happened without the touch of a woman who acts like a man, illustrated by her climactic vindication with CIA Director (James Gandolfini) when he asks who she is and she responds, I'm the m*****f****r who came up with this plan. Classy eh!

Maya is certainly not the only one that has a tendency to use vulgar language in this film. It could have all been done without the foul dialogue but it still isn't as pervasive as it was in ARGO. It is not full of torture scenes as some have implied, certainly nothing approaching what can be seen by anyone on Al Jazeera and that torture is real, truly authenic not Hollywood theatrics (Thank you Al Gore for selling your network and becoming a lobbyist to and for the popaganda outlet for Islamic jihadists, but I digress). All that said, the film is still worth a look but leave the kids and younger teens at home.

Cast

    Jessica Chastain            Jason Clarke   

Maya                                             Dan

Kyle Chandler            Jennifer Ehle              Reda Kateb
Joseph Bradley                          Jessica                                    Ammar        

     Joel Edgerton            Chris Pratt      

Patrick                                    Justin

Squadron Team Leader             DEVGRU              

Alex Cross - Review

Alex Cross
(2012)
Action | Crime | Mystery
1 hr. 41 min.

Rated: PG13 Violence, Nudity, Disturbing Images, Language, Drug References and Sexual Content What parents need to know
Grade: C-

Director: Rob Cohen
Writers: Marc Moss (screenplay), Kerry Williamson (novel 'Cross'), James Patterson
Stars: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox and Rachel Nichols | See full cast and crew


Alex Cross follows the young homicide detective/psychologist (Tyler Perry), from the worldwide best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he meets his match in a serial killer (Matthew Fox). The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, but when the mission gets personal, Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in this taut and exciting action thriller. -- (C) Lionsgate 

I admit I have never read a James Patterson novel, so I came in with no preconception for this film. I was eager to see Tyler Perry do something other than his Madea characters. Critics have been extremely harsh on everyone involved in this film. I didn't love the movie but hate it either.

 

It is a very formulaic serial killer movie, but then I am assuming that would be the case with most of Patterson's novels. He does seem to churn them out with the regularity of a conveyor belt. How could they not be formulaic? The question is can a script be artfully crafted and directed with competent actors and production personnel into something that we just enjoy and don't get hung up on the formula. Does Alex Cross accomplish that goal...well, no, not really. Do you enjoy the plethora of crime dramas on TV?

If you do you will probably be satisfied with Alex Cross. I must admit that I was very often distracted by blatant product placement (mostly GM cars) and by the host city...Detroit, what a disgrace!  To see the skeletal remains of a once great city brought to the edge of the open grave by an unholy alliance of greedy union bullying and socialist philosophy looting. It is simply mind boggling, but that is and entirely different discussion for another time. Meanwhile back at the theater, if I found myself drifting off on such tangents then I guess the filmmakers came up a bit short of accomplishing their goals.

Tyler Perry is, I guess, OK as Alex Cross but I found myself awestruck at the banality of his 'profiling' monologues, certainly the script isn't meaty enough for any real character development beyond general stereotypes. Incidentally, while we're speaking of stereotypes, when is someone going to find Cicely Tyson a role for which she worthy? In this film she is reduced to playing the stereotypical stern, one dimensional, sage black grandmother. What a pathetic waste of talent. She does the best she can with what she has been given but you can't anchor an entire film with one great actor in a bit part.

Fellow detectives Tommy Kane (Edward Burns) and Monica Ashe (Rachel Nichols) are cardboard cutouts,  Police Chief Richard Bookwell (John C. McGinley) appears entirely miscast and unconvincing, and the villainous Picasso (Matthew Fox) is an over the top psychopath. All of the characters are written paper thin.

Another negative check for the film is in its resolution, it appears to suggests that even for cops at times it's justifiable to pursue morally questionable methods, to take matters into their own hands, to circumvent the law in search of personal vengeance. On the plus side of things, at least we aren't bombarded with 'F' words throughout the film as in the recently released End of Watch, an element which made that film almost unbearable to sit through, it certainly sullied any positive messages.

Alex Cross debuted in fourth place to an estimated $4.01 million from 2,539 locations, trailing Paranormal Activity 4 ($15 million) Argo ($5.09 million) and Taken 2 ($4.25 million). That's lower than Daddy's Little Girls ($4.58 million), which previously held the record for worst opening day for a movie Tyler Perry was associated with.

Considering the reception this film is getting from the critics across the board and the low box office showing, Tyler Perry had better not hang up his Madea dresses. I don't see a sequel in the future.

Cast

Tyler Perry             Matthew Fox

Alex Cross                            Picasso

John C. McGinley        Edward Burns           Rachel Nichols

Richard Bookwell                Tommy Kane                 Monica Ashe

Carmen Ejogo           Cicely Tyson

  Maria Cross                   Nana Mama

Argo - Review

Argo
(2012)
Drama | Thriller
120 min.

Rated: R Some violence, dead bodies, pervasive profanity especially the "F" word and its variations. What parents should know.

Grade: B+
Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Chris Terrio (screenplay), Joshuah Bearman (article)
Stars: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman | See full cast and crew

During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Islamic militants take 52 Americans hostage when they invade and seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Six of the embassy workers flee during the invasion and are hidden by the Canadian ambassador in his home. The CIA and its specialist, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), put together a very risky plan of rescue before they revolutionaries can discover them and extract them from Iran. Each of the six Americans are given cover identities as location scouts for a Canadian film production titled Argo. Tony has only 72 hours to turn them into convincing filmmakers so they can escape Tehran.

Argo is arguably Ben Affleck's best work to date. Starring and directing this film that is based on events nicknamed the Canadian Caper that took place during the Iran hostage crisis,  in which 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, after a mob of Islamist students and militants overran and occupied the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian/Islamic Revolution. The Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown and the Peacock Throne (symbolizing the the Persian/Iranian Dynasty) officially came to an end when Iran voted, by national referendum, to become an Islamic Republic on April 1, 1979. The end result being the trading one old despot for one new despot, Supreme Leader, Shia cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Shah-an-Shah [King of Kings] of Iran, Mohamed Reza Pahlevi, Prince Reza and Farah
(Incidentally, today October 14th is Farah's birthday)
Wearing the royal crowns, jewels and embroidered robes at the 1967 coronation in Tehran, Iran.
Photographer: Dmitri Kessel

To his credit the Shah attempted to increase nationalist pride in the Iranian past by looking back to the Achaemenid and Sassanid Persian Empires, going back to a pre-Muslim Iran. The Shah tried to restore the Iranian people's pride in glorifying Iran's historic legacy as a great world empire and civilization, claiming a royal dynasty stretching back 2500 years, mitigating its recent Muslim history in favor of a more secular pan-Persian past. To his discredit his SAVAK (The Persian acronym for the State Security and Intelligence Organization formed by Shah of Iran in 1967, was originally intended to root out communist activity, but eventually expanded to monitoring all forms of internal dissent and external opposition and to censorship of the press) were ruthless purveyors of torture, execution and murder. Under Khomeini in a pot/kettle scenario the savagery continued, basically all that changed were the names and the faces and the targeted victims.

Considering the current events in the world, Argo is a very revealing and educational film. I was a young actor in NYC when the events of the 'Iran hostage crisis' occurred. I remember well the events, watching them unfold in the papers and on television. The naive foreign policy of the Carter administration echos in the ineptitude of the Obama administration with disastrous ramifications.

Chris Terrio wrote the screenplay based on the 2007 Wired article "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran" by Joshuah Bearman. Mr. Affleck's film is very well crafted. Great detail was paid to the nostalgic 70s feel of the sets, hair styles and costumes. The acting is top tier. It seems a bit slow in the beginning but when it gets to going the suspense and tension is impressive especially considering that we know how it all ends.

I would have given Argo a better grade but for a few flaws.

One - Mr. Affleck and company took artistic liberties with the actual events in order to heighten the excitement and tension. Minor infraction but an annoyance.

Two - Mr. Affleck and company minimized the contributions of Ambassador Kenneth D. Taylor and the Canadian government, in order to bolster the role of Tony Mendez a.k.a. Ben Affleck. Wikipedia reports that:

"...criticism arose that the film unfairly minimized the participation of the Canadian government, particularly that of Ambassador Taylor, in the extraction operation. This included the addition to the film of several fictional events for dramatic reasons, as well as a postscript text indicating that the CIA let Taylor take the credit for political purposes, implying that he did not deserve the accolades he received. Affleck noted, "Because we say it's based on a true story, rather than this is a true story, we're allowed to take some dramatic license. There's a spirit of truth." However, Affleck did respond by changing the postscript text to read, "The involvement of the CIA complemented efforts of the Canadian embassy to free the six held in Tehran. To this day the story stands as an enduring model of international co-operation between governments."

A bit more egregious, taking credit for the accomplishments of someone else.

Three - This is simply stupid and onerous a very glaring and offensive way, the pernicious use of profanity particularly the 'F' type. I down graded the film for this specifically. The use of profuse swearing added nothing to the story, was distracting and restricts the audience from younger viewers that could learn some important history lessons from the film. As the old adage goes, if we fail to learn from the past we will be condemned to repeat it. 

Following are five clips from Argo.

The film ends with former President Jimmy Carter talking about the Crisis and the Canadian Caper. As the credits roll they the film incorporates screenshots from the film in contrast to images of the actual events and people involved in the crisis and the 'Argo' escape.

 Cast

   Ben Affleck           Bryan Cranston

Tony Mendez                Jack O'Donnell

 John Goodman            Alan Arkin

John Chambers                    Lester Siegel

Victor Garber

Ambassador

Ken Taylor