“Abduction” or the baby bourne identity

Well, I don’t have a ton to say about this one.  It was as cheesy as a double cheese pizza, with a stuffed crust.  The dialogue was pretty bad, not funny bad just kind of stiff and obvious. Even Taylor Lautner’s charm was no match for it. You may remember I mentioned in my blog about “Drive” not needing obvious dialogue or exposition, this movie was the complete opposite of that.  All of the dialogue was over explanatory and just, Duh!! That is so obvious!  

The acting in general was kind of flat, but I think that may have been a result of the bad writing.  Sigourney Weaver, and Alfred Molina, both fine performers were not that interesting.  The love interest, played by Lily Collins (Phil Collins’ daughter) seemed to be channeling Lindsey Lohan, or at least she stole her hair.  All of her acting seemed to be done with her eyebrows.  

The actions scenes were pretty good, but the story lacked mystery. They pretty much told you everything early in the movie.  The only thing that was really intense about the movie was Taylor and Lilly making out a bit hot and heavy.  It was actually a little jarring, how hot the kissing scenes were amidst all the rest of the blahness, it made them seem a bit inappropriate, especially if the audience was meant to be the “Twilight” crowd, which is what it seemed to be made for.

In the end everything about this movie was just too obvious, the dialogue, the music, even some of Lautner’s gestures seem overdone or over calculated.  The story was totally forgettable; I had lost most of it before I even left the theatre.  I like Taylor Lautner, he is awfully pretty, but even that was not enough to save this film from it’s bad script.

"Ides of March" or how to win with Ryan Gosling

     Once again, George Clooney delivers a solid political film.  However, Ryan Gosling, my lover boy ; ) steals the show.  The film itself is not a taut political thriller; it is more of a work-a-day guide to political campaigning. 

This cast is a solid troupe of Oscar winners and should be winners (I’m talking about you, Paul Giamantti), and all the performances are very solid.

The story is a very basic indictment of the modern political environment; how the system itself is designed to force candidates into dirty politics.  They only way to win, in our system, is to cheat, seems to be the message Clooney is sending us.

Gosling is wonderful as usual as a seasoned media consultant, who’s slight cynicism has been eclipsed by his enthusiasm for his candidate, whom he views as the real thing; a presidential candidate who really cares about the good of the country and is willing to stand up for what is right.  Gosling’s character really believes in what he is doing and is excited and optimistic about the future of the country.  That part is a bit derivative of the inspiration generated by Obama’s hope campaign.  The not too subtle allusions to Obama are everywhere, beginning with Clooney’s campaign poster straight from Obama’s graphic artist.

Gosling is drawn into a series of situations in which he tries to do the right thing, as he is slowly disillusioned by his candidate’s true behavior.  From there he is blocked at every turn and this leads him to act in desperation, becoming what he thought he was avoiding.  In the end he is willing to do all the wrong things to get his candidate into office, in the hope that Clooney will still do the right thing, despite his feet of clay.

Perhaps the most fantastical element of the story is Clooney’s character; a presidential candidate running, and winning with a platform based on education, no dependence on oil, freedom of choice and a refusal to kowtow to the religious right.  Oh how I wish it were true!