Not Easily Broken

Posted on May 2, 2011 at 8:00 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for sexual references and thematic elements
Profanity:	Some mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Social drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Car accident, character injured, tense confrontations
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	January 9, 2009
Date Released to DVD:	May 7, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:	B001QUF7DS

This week’s release of T.D. Jakes’ “Jumping the Broom” is a good time to take another look at his earlier film about marriage and in-laws, “Not Easily Broken.”

If we believe the movies, the tough part of relationships is getting to the “I dos.” Everything after that is some vaguely imagined “happily ever after.” But “Not Easily Broken,” based on the popular novel by preacher T.D. Jakes, is frank from its very first moments that “happily ever after” requires a lot of work and a lot of prayer. It starts where most movies end – with the wedding. Before pronouncing them husband and wife, the minister tells Clarice (Taraji P. Henson) and Dave (Morris Chestnut) that life will try to knock them down and they will need to hold on to each other and their faith in God to stay together. He says there are three strands in a marriage – the bride, the groom, and God and that they must honor all three to keep the bond strong. But the newlyweds will not fully understand what that means until they learn some very hard lessons. Or, as one character says, “You’ve got to let life turn you upside down so you can learn how to live right side up.” Dave struggles with disappointment. He once hoped to play professional baseball but was injured and ended up working in construction. Now his greatest satisfaction comes from coaching a team of young boys and from his hopes for having children. Clarice struggles with pride and selfishness. Her ambition at work puts a lot of pressure on their relationship. Both of them feel neglected and dissatisfied. And then things really get bad. Clarice is badly injured in an automobile accident when Dave is driving. Her physical and emotional recovery is painful and it puts even more stress on the marriage, especially when her mother (the great Jennifer Lewis) moves in with them to help out. Unlike this season’s other movie about marital struggles, “Revolutionary Road,” this film makes no pretence of sophistication and has no literary aspirations. But its lack of subtlety turns out to be one of its strengths. Its narrative force is grounded in an emotional sincerity and open spirituality that creates an instant connection to the audience and deepens as the story unfolds. And it is good to see a film that is completely at ease in portraying the church as a sustaining force in the life of is characters and community. The movie also benefits from two exceptionally talented and appealing performers in the lead roles. Henson is an actress of such extraordinary range that audiences might not realize she is the same person who played the warm-hearted adoptive mother who ages over decades in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” half of an all-female team of hired killers in “Smokin’ Aces,” and the tough-talking woman with the enormous Afro and microscopic miniskirts in “Talk to Me.” Here Henson plays what is in some ways her most challenging role to date because her character is not an extreme one. She has to make Clarice careless and inconsiderate without losing our interest in making sure she is happy. Henson makes it work and makes us see why Dave loves Clarice even when he is not sure he still does.Chestnut (who also executive produced) has been too often relegated to “best friend” roles in big films (“The Game Plan”) and leading roles in smaller films (“The Perfect Holiday”). He is the essence of a leading man, a superbly gifted actor with effortless star power. Chestnut brings a depth and complexity to Dave that goes far beyond the script. Indeed, he makes Dave so sympathetic that he comes close to throwing the story off-balance by making it seem that Clarice is responsible for most of the couple’s problems. But Chestnut’s ability to make Dave’s integrity and devotion palpable shows us why the couple’s bond is important and, though often stretched, not easily broken. (more…)

Tikki-Tikki-Tembo…

Posted on April 25, 2011 at 8:00 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	All Ages
MPAA Rating:	Not Rated
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Mild peril
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the DVD
Date Released to Theaters:	NA
Date Released to DVD:	April 26, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:	B004HJ0ZM8

The DVD pick of the week is Tikki-Tikki-Tembo and More Stories of Asian Heritage, another from my very favorite series for young children and their families. This one arrives in time for May’s celebration of Asian Heritage Month in May, with some of the all-time greatest children’s classics, gorgeously illustrated and gently animated to encourage young readers. The title story is about a boy with a very, very long name — quite a problem when he falls down a well and someone has to get him some help.

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks (Written by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon, narrated by B. D. Wong) A compassionate couple risks their lives to reunite a pair of Mandarin ducks.

Grandfather’s Journey (Written and illustrated by Allen Say, narrated by B. D. Wong) A touching story about Grandfather’s travels from Japan to the United States and back again.

The Stonecutter (Written and illustrated by Gerald McDermott) Tasaku is a lowly stonecutter who longs for more power in this Japanese folk tale.

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (Written and illustrated by Ed Young, narrated by B. D. Wong) This Asian version of the classic fairytale brings lessons about strangers, trust, and courage.

Sam and the Lucky Money (Written by Karen Chinn, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, narrated by Ming-Na Wen) On Chinese New Year Sam meets a stranger who helps him make the perfect decision on how to spend his lucky money.

The King’s Speech

Posted on April 18, 2011 at 8:00 am

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language
Profanity:	One brief scene with profanity used as a vocal exercise
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Social drinking, smoking
Violence/ Scariness:	None
Diversity Issues:	Class difference
Date Released to Theaters:	December 17, 2010

One of the best movies of the year makes a king look like an underdog in the true story of a man who had to literally and metaphorically find his voice, with in a very real sense the fate of the world depending on it.
It wasn’t because she didn’t love him, she explains, when she turned down his proposal of marriage twice. It was because he was a prince, a member of the British royal family, and she did not want to live a public life. And then she remembered that she did love him. And that he had a stammer, so she concluded that would keep him on the sidelines. And then she married him, and they had two children. And then he became king.
The Duke of York (Colin Firth), known as Bertie to his family, was an almost-ideal second son in the royal family. He served honorably in the military and took his public duties seriously. He had no interest his brother David’s position as the heir to the throne. But then three things happened. First, radio was invented, and all of a sudden a dignified wave was not enough. For the first time, all of Great Britain (encompassing, at that time, one quarter of the developed world) could hear the voice of their leaders. Second, Hitler’s aggression was making war inevitable.
And third, Bertie’s brother David, by then King Edward VIII, would shatter precedent and become the first ruler in British history to resign, in royal terms, to abdicate, so that he would be free to marry an American divorcee named Wallis Simpson. Just at the moment when the British people most needed to hear their king, they had a king who could not TIFF-Kings-Speech-colin_firth_helena_bonham_carter_kings_speech4.jpg speak.
The best doctors had been consulted, and Bertie had been subjected to treatment that literally went back to Demosthenes. And then the Duchess brought him to Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian actor who had worked with the shell-shocked veterans of WWI. As an actor, he knew breathing techniques and other exercises to help make the spoken word smooth and compelling. And his work with the veterans showed him that the relationship between the therapist and the stutterer — and sometimes the opportunity to talk about the stutterer’s experiences and fears — could be very important.
And so Bertie has, for the first time ever, conversations with someone outside his family. He desperately wants to maintain his dignity, but he even more desperately wants to be able to play this increasingly more crucial role.
The movie may be sepia tones and British accents but it is not at all stuffy thanks to Firth, Rush and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife. Firth shows us Bertie’s struggles to locate his voice and define his role. In one scene, when he tells his little girls (including the current Queen Elizabeth) a bedtime story, it is almost unbearably touching because it means so much to him and the story is so self-deprecatory and loving. People who have trouble speaking spend a lot of time listening and observing. Bertie watches his father and brother with deference, a need for approval, and also a thoughtful evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses as though he is measuring them as a way of creating himself.
The heart of the film is Bertie’s meetings with Lionel, and they are a marvel. Screenwriter David Seidler, himself a one-time stutterer whose uncle was treated by Lionel, worked on the screenplay for decades (the Queen Mother asked that it not be produced until after her death), and it is a masterwork that merits all that went into it. At age 72, Seidler knows what it is to find one’s voice.

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Rio

Posted on April 14, 2011 at 6:00 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	G
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Mild peril
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	April 15, 2011
Date Released to DVD:	August 1, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:	B004HO6I4M

A South American setting and striking animation lend freshness to “Rio’s” otherwise much-traveled storyline about a pampered pet who has to learn to survive in the wild. We’ve seen this tale many times — “Madagascar,” “Bolt,” “The Wild,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,”and more. But this version is buoyed by local color — literally, with a vibrantly sun-drenched palette, along with a sensationally festive Carnival parade, and a slinky samba-liscious soundtrack overseen by Rio’s most enduringly popular musical export, Sergio Mendes.

Blu (voice of “The Social Network’s” Jesse Eisenberg) is a rare blue macaw who was captured by animal smugglers in Brazil as a tiny chick. His crate falls out of a truck in snowy Minnesota (identified onscreen simply as “Not Rio”) and is rescued by a little girl named Linda. He grows up blissfully domesticated and never bothers to learn to fly. Everything he wants is within reach. He brings Linda her glasses when she wakes up and she makes sure he has just the right number of marshmallows in his hot chocolate. As he explains, he is not a pet; he is a companion. And Linda says he is her best friend.

They are visited by an ornithologist named Tulio (voice of Rodrigo Santoro), who tells Linda (voice of Leslie Mann) there is just one last surviving female blue macaw (voice of Anne Hathaway as Jewel). Unless they mate, it will be the end of their species. Linda reluctantly agrees to take Blu to Brazil. But smugglers show up again to steal Blu and Jewel. Blu has to learn some survival skills and make some new friends to find his way back to Linda.

Blue Sky is the studio that produced the “Ice Age” series and it is obvious that they are glad to be done with the endless blues and grays of the ice, snow, and rock settings. Brazilian-born director Carlos Saldanha (director of “Ice Age” and co-director of the underrated “Robots”) takes evident pride and delight in bringing his home town to the screen, taking full advantage of 3D CGI so that we can swoop around the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue atop the Corcovado Mountain and hang-glide over miles of beaches. He has fun with Brazilian culture, too. When Carnival revelers cross in front of their car, Linda asks Tulio if a woman in a gold-spangled costume is a performer. “No,” he replies, “she’s my dentist.” As the woman in the spangles happily runs off to the celebration, she reminds Tulio to floss. And Blu provides a critique of samba music that will sound familiar to its fans.

Eisenberg’s tremulous voice is just right for Blu, giving him a neurotic, urban, understated wit. “You know how people say ‘it’s a jungle out there?'” he complains to Jewel when they find themselves in the middle of a rainforest. “Not a good thing.” He gets strong support from Tracy Morgan as a bulldog, George Lopez as a toucan, and Will.i.Am and Jamie Foxx as friendly birds. The story may not be new, but in fairness it is a theme that is very appealing to children, whose entire lives are about finding themselves outside their safe, domestic environment and trying to navigate the wild and sometimes scary unpredictability of real life.

The star of the show in every respect is a cockatoo named Nigel (voice of Jermaine Clement of HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords”), one of the most masterfully animated characters in movie history. Blue Sky Studios created a remarkable bird villain named Vlad three years ago in “Horton Hears a Who.” It was a daunting mechanical challenge to animate the infinite complexities of dozens of wing joints and thousands of feathers but Vlad was on screen only briefly. Here the Blue Sky animators take what they learned from Vlad much further. Nigel is a key figure with an even more complicated structure, at once menacing and shambling, who sings, dances, menaces, and fights, all in character. The algorithms necessary for what can only be called Nigel’s performance could probably have programmed a moon shot, and yet he seems completely natural and fluidly expressive. Clement’s voice work is a perfect balance of mean and funny, and Nigel’s musical tribute to his own villainy is pure pleasure.

Saldanha is at his best when there are dozens of characters on screen. Whether they are dancing or fighting, they are colorful, joyous, and meticulously choreographed. A battle between the birds and the monkeys is exciting and funny and the opening dance number is a kaleidoscopic treat. The climax, in the middle of a Carnival parade with massive floats and crowds of thousands is brilliantly imagined. Blu spends most of the movie trying to get off the ground, but with Nigel and these big, showy scenes, Saldanha makes the movie soar.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence, frightening images and brief sexuality
Profanity:	Some British swear words
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Constant intense fantasy peril and violence, some graphic injuries, major characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	November 18, 2010
Date Released to DVD:	April 12, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:	B001UV4XHY

Harry, Hermione, and Ron have to grow up quite literally in the gripping second-to-last installment of the “Harry Potter” movie series, based on the first half of the seventh and final book. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) take a swig of polyjuice potion to impersonate three nondescript middle-aged people so they can infiltrate the Ministry. Afterward, they shed the older personas like giant overcoats. But they know they must stay in the adult world in this powerful story that sets up the final confrontation between the boy who did not die and he who must not be named.

No more Hogwarts school for young wizards and witches. No more Quidditch, no more short-term Defense Against the Dark Arts professors or visits to Hagrid’s creatures or OWL exams or excursions to Hogsmeade for a cozy chat over butterbear at The Three Broomsticks. Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is dead. Hermione has had to erase her parents memories so that not even a photograph remains as evidence that they once had a child. The dreadful Dursleys have fled 4 Privet Drive. Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is stronger. The Ministry is under the control of his Death Eaters, who despise muggles (humans) and want to eradicate any witches or wizards with muggle blood.

Everything is on the line. Within the first 15 minutes of the film, an important character is seriously wounded and another is killed. Deeper, direr losses are ahead. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are out in the cold as they race from one remote, chilly location to another and try to figure out how to locate the seven places where Voldemort has hidden pieces of his soul.

Director David Yates and writer Steve Kloves return, again showing a deep appreciation for the material, especially in the way the vast, bleak settings reflect the overwhelming task facing the three friends. The book is not an easy one to adapt and like its source material the movie sometimes seems to lack direction as its heroic trio often has no idea what to do next. But its young stars have grown into able performers who hold up well next to what sometimes seems like a battalion of classically trained British actors. The scene of Hermione erasing her parents memory is very brief, but Watson makes it sharply poignant. Radcliffe’s quiet dignity shows us how Harry has matured. And Grint, too often relegated to comic relief, gets a chance to show us his pain as a piece of Voldemort’s soul begins to infect him with jealousy and mistrust. A tender moment between Harry and Hermione lends a sweet gravity that does as much to add urgency to our anticipation for the next chapter as the prospect of the final battle. (more…)