Doubt(2008)

An intriguing, disturbing, insightful and a power movie. It comes from the hit play on Broadway. Tells the story of a implied gay priest in the 1960's at Catholic school who takes an inappropriate relationship with a black boy at a recently integrated school. The principle, a head nun, takes a suspicion of him because she suspects he is a homosexual. One day, one of the nuns smells alcohol on the boys breathe after he comes back from a private conference with the priest.

The head nun, played by Meryl Streep, Sister Aloysius Beauvier, starts a crusade against the priest. In that process, she speaks to the mother who is more worried about her husband beating her son because he suspects his son is gay. The mother is complaisant to an inappropriate relationship her son and the priest, because, at least, someone is caring for her son despite the price.

The priest played by Philip Seymour Hoffman is obviously protecting the child and is aware of his situation, but he is hiding something. It is never clear what he is hiding. Is it that he is gay? Is it that something happened? Or is it that something happened in his past? Whatever it is he fights hard to hide from Sister Beauvier. She threatens to bring out some past allegation from a previous school he worked at. She doesn't really know anything, but she buffs and he resigns.

The story seems like a side bar of the real story of moral themes of kindness, doubt, fear, gossip and suspicion. The movie is filled with discussion of these themes.

The movie is heavy. You walk out unsure of a lot of things.

Merly Streep's performance is the best I have seen this year. She probably deserves another Oscar. There were are very strong performances by Philip Seymore Hoffman, and Amy Adams who's body language is still very girlie like in Enchanted despite being a troubled Nun.

Doubt is one of the few cerebral movies out this year. Definitely one of the best. I actually paid full price on this one!

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Miss Pettigrew Lives is a pop song like movie. It is enjoyable right from the start. It is quick, and has little substance.

There is really not much to the film, but it is a lot of fun. Ms Pettigrew, played by Frances MacDormand, is a down and out nanny in Victorian pre-war London. She is a Chaplin-like character in drab clothes and eating from soup charts while watching the upper class from a far. She meets Delysia LaFosse, played adorably by Amy Adams. Delysia is an actress/cabaret singer/gold digger. She lives with night club owner in London, is screwing a young theatre manager, and is singing with her love Michael. Michael plays piano.

While juggling her three men each with something to offer her, she meets Ms. Pettigrew who steals an assignment from Nanny Temp situation. She uses some quick thinking and gets Delysia out of one jam after another. Ms. LaFosse, not her real name, decides to keep Ms. Pettigrew as an asset. She takes her shopping, introduces her to her glamorous life where meets the “the bitch” and the love interest. It has all the makings of girl movie.

After this set up is over most movies spend sometimes milking what they can from the audiences’ attention before they reach the ending climax. This one doesn’t do that. After the set-up, the movie goes right the climax. Brilliant!

Never missing a beat, Delysia has to pick her man. They, of course, fight over her first. There’s fist fight. Think Bridget Jones diary. Delysia’s story gets resolved. Ms. Pettigrew finds herself in the same place where we first found her; again like a good Chaplin short, but this is chick-flick, and Ms. Pettigrew has her romantic ending.

Overall, the movie is very entertaining. It is taut in that very little is wasted. It draws you in very quickly then it’s over. Amy Adams is joy to watch as she plays her girly alpha-female role a la Enchanted. It is fun little throw-away film.

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

OK, here is another attempt to make an entertaining movie about relevant geo-political players in the post 9/11 world. Does it work? No.

Even if you throw Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Afghanistan or Pakistan, you still don’t have good movie.

The problem with the movie is that it tries to do too many things. It tries explaining to the audience who the players are and how the Unites States Government works, how the CIA works, a romance between Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, a bromance between Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and a Hanks charm movie. The real problem with these movies is that nobody really understands what is going on in the world. Eventually, I am sure Hollywood will get it right, but not here.

The movie very poorly tries to explain how Afghanistan went from a Cold-War success for the United States to a place which shelters America’s greatest enemies. If you blink, you can miss that.

Charlie Wilson’s war tells the story how one little known congressman personally got a cold war against the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980’s going with the help of Neo-Conservative woman from Texas and a CIA agent. Tom Hanks who plays Charlie Wilson tries to carry this movie as he does his Tom Hanks charm. He works well with Hoffman, and both are excellent in his role. Hoffman plays Gust Avrakotos, a CIA agent. Who must be some sort of play on former CIA director George Tenet, who is also a son Greek immigrants.

Hanks and Roberts don’t work. Roberts who seems to play her role as just a bitch, seems to be trying to out stage Hanks in every seen. The semi-romance just doesn’t seem believable. They seem like people who just use each other for whatever they need. not They care for each other out of gain.

It does do some things right. They capture the Islamic rage and suffering. The military scenes seem to have a fair amount of realism to them. The director, Mike Nichols, lets the actors do their thing. Hanks and Amy Adams were as charming as ever.

Overall, the movie seem is boring at times, uneven, and mildly entertaining. It needed more drama, more story, and maybe a little more style. The whole Texas thing just didn’t cut it.