This movie is the current “it” thing to see among the “in” crowd (the artsy type people, the ones that think they create all the “Oscar buzz”). It got my attention because I read it was “so unique”, and quite frankly, I needed a break after a few bad movies in a row. So I went in with some hopes.
Bill Murray takes the role of a guy named Bob Harris. Bob was once a big movie star, but is now reduced to filming liquor commercials in Japan. He heads over to Tokyo to do just that and right from the opening moments, we can see what a sad sack he is.
While Bill Murray off the screen comes off like a fun loving, silly guy, he can play the depressed guy too. And Bob Harris has reached a point in his life where he can’t figure out what matters, and, if anything matters, what if it did? He has a wife of twenty-five years and, apparently, a couple of young kids, but that isn’t enough anymore. His movie career put him on the road so long, he has almost no relationship with his family. Now, he’s a stranger in a strange land and things have really hit bottom.
That is until he meets Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johansson. She’s only in her mid-twenties, but she’s also stuck in Tokyo with a husband who is so involved with his photography career, he seems to have no time for her. Bob and Charlotte strike up a pretty weird friendship, based mostly on the fact that they are both miserable and lonely. It’s not sexual, it’s not father-daughter, it’s more like a two person support group for the emotionally detached.
I’ll warn you now, not a lot “happens” in this movie. In fact, not even much is said. There are many scenes showing Bob sitting on his bed watching TV and looking plenty bored. Or, Charlotte riding on a train staring out the window at the Japanese countryside. Now, I’m not so artistically inept that I can’t absorb the power of those scenes, because you can read much into a person without having them say everything they feel. But after a while, I grew restless. Charlotte and Bob aren’t in that many scenes together, and much of the rest of the film is an attempt at humor centering on Bob’s trying to comprehend the Japanese culture and language.
One scene will help me explain – Bob is on the set of his liquor commercial and the director is mouthing off rapid fire concerning his vision of what they are to accomplish. Of course, he is speaking Japanese. Bob’s interpreter, however, translates everything the guy says into maybe five words. So you hear this passionate speech that sounds like John Belushi in old Saturday Night Live Samuri swordsman skit, and then you have the lady telling Bob that “he wants you to turn right”. Yes, funny the first and second time, but I kid you not – this went on for over ten minutes.
At least Director Sophia Coppola (yes, Francis Ford’s daughter) didn’t portray the Japanese as emotionless robots. They are alive with clownish character, from the bowing and overly gracious hotel staff, to the wacky hooker, to the off-the wall TV talk show host who makes Richard Simmons look manly.
Having said all that, the movie really has to rely on Bob and Charlotte and because it was shot with so much style in mind, I grew frustrated. It started to resemble one long music video, short on dialogue, long on scenery. In fact, at times, you can’t even hear the people speak. They whisper or are drowned out by music and traffic. That’s not for my tastes. But Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson sure give it all they have and for that I’ll give “Lost In Translation” a “7.0” on the scale.
Friday, September 12th, 2003
This is another name for a con man. I figure that since “Flim Flam Man” and “The Grifters” were already used as movie titles and “Con Man” is kind of boring, they dug up this one. I had never heard of “Matchstick Men” before, so I learned something right from the start.
Nicholas Cage plays Roy, a “matchstick man”. He’s partnered up with Frank, played by Sam Rockwell. They’re pretty good, but it’s small time stuff. It’s funny, when I was headed in to see this movie, I thought of the only real con I know (besides persuading people to give you bank account and credit card numbers) and that’s the one where you get somebody to believe you have a winning lottery ticket and will split the proceeds with them if they’d only show you some good faith and give you some cash upfront.
Well, that one’s in here. In fact, the movie isn’t big on the cons themselves, but is focused on Roy and his mental problems. The guy may be a good con artist, but he’s got a bad case of obsessive-compulsive, anal-retentive disorder. He cleans the house constantly, demanding that people always remove their shoes before stepping on the carpet. With his facial tics and “Tourettes Syndrome” style outbursts, Cage puts on quite a show. It really culminates when he tells his therapist he daydreams about killing himself, but that would make the carpet all bloody and that will never work.
Roy’s life changes when a fourteen-year old girl enters his life. She’s the daughter he’s never met and may be the key to his controlling his mental illness. Alison Lohman plays Angela and soon becomes fascinated with Dad’s line of work.
That presents Roy with a moral dilemma – he loves it when Angela takes an interest in his “work”, but what about it being criminal? With that, Roy’s mental problems return.
“Matchstick Men” gets you to care about a low grade criminal like Roy because he’s struggling with his past and his mental problems. The fact that he’s a con man, well, that seem like such a small thing after a while. What’s both great and frustrating about these kind of movies is that you can never be sure that what you see is what you get. These are scammers, after all. I’ll just say that I get the gold star for keeping that in mind. Credit the writers for wrapping this movie up very nicely. I give “Matchstick Men” a “9.0” on the scale.
Thursday, September 4th, 2003
They say movies are supposed to take you places you can’t go yourself. In that case, this one takes you there and you will be glad to get out. But you will never forget this experience.
Tracey is a 13 year-old kid who has just started junior high. She lives with her Mom (Mel, played by Holly Hunter) and her older brother. Dad is, of course, absent. Watch Tracey closely in the first scenes – you’ll see she’s kind of a sweet, average, semi-nerdy kid. Hold on to that image because it’s going to change.
She becomes interested in a schoolmate – the cool girl who looks like she lives in the fast lane. This is Evie – she dresses hip, boys stare at her, and, most importantly, she’s popular. Tracey’s Mom, and this is important too, is clueless to the fact that Tracey is eager to become Evie. It’s a basic human weakness – we envy the social position of others, and when we are 13 years old, that position isn’t always the best one for our future.
This movie captures Tracey’s transition so effectively it’s almost eerie. Tracey starts with the shoplifting, moves on to the slutty outfits, the tongue piercings, the sex and then the drug use. Oh, and I almost forgot, the smoking and the self mutilation. Didn’t I tell you you’d never actually want to be in this house?
At this point the obvious hangs in the air – where are the parents? Well, Mom Mel is home all right, but as a former alcoholic with no clue until Tracey’s behavior is right in front of her face, she can’t deal with it. She tries – she gives Tracey opportunities to open up, but the kid won’t take them. It’s a sad truth you simply can’t sit a teenager down in a 12- step program and expect them to tell all. Clearly Mel needed to be tougher with Tracey, but she is too much of a softie.
It’s all the more difficult when this new friend Evie asks Mel to adopt her while at the same time corrupting her daughter. The performances here are Academy Award caliber- Evan Rachel Wood plays Tracey and Nikki Reed takes the part of Evie and both hold their own with the terrific Holly Hunter. By the way, Nikki Reed co-wrote the script, and just watch how fast on her feet the little slut is by covering up and deceiving people just in time. These performances are amazing.
“Thirteen” is a descent into adolescent “hell” and there are no clean, easy answers or endings. I like things that way. There are no better movies out there right now. I give it a “10.0” on the scale.
