Phantom

Posted on February 28, 2013 at 6:00 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:

High School

MPAA Rating:

Rated R for violence

Profanity:

Mild language

Alcohol/ Drugs:

Drinking, drinking game, smoking

Violence/ Scariness:

Extended violence, characters injured and killed, suicide

Diversity Issues:

Cultural differences

Date Released to Theaters:

March 1, 2013

Amazon.com ASIN:

B00B635CPI

Submarine movies are immediately gripping because they are powerful microcosms that amplify conflict. A small group of people in very close quarters, highly trained and with an explicit mission are then completely disconnected from the rest of the world. When problems arise, they have to decide what to do with very limited information and no access to authority outside the ship. Great drama, when it works. This time, though, not so much.

Theoretically “inspired by true events” but more like “a massive flight of fantasy and speculation slightly tied to one possible thing that might have happened,” this submarine story begins with a promising twist. American actors play members of the Soviet navy during the Cold War. We might expect Ed Harris, William Fitchtner, and David Duchovny to be the Americans fighting the Soviets. It takes a few moments to get used to the idea that we are rooting for the guys in the striped shirts pushing the buttons with Cyrillic labels, or at least some of them.

Ed Harris plays Demi, a captain with a dark past (yes, we’ll find out what that’s about) who gets unexpected orders to ship out on a secret mission, his last, on a sub that makes the assignment somehow even more meaningful and ironic (yes, we’ll find out that, too). It is the sub’s last mission, too, before it will be sold to the Chinese.

Because it comes up so suddenly, he gets a new crew, along with two passengers operating under some higher authority but not revealing very much about what they are doing. The leader is Bruni (Duchovny), whose arrogance seems to outweigh Demi’s air of resignation.

Demi is still anguished about a mistake made early in his career and the sense that only his father’s high rank and prestige kept him from being discharged dishonorably. When he discovers that Bruni’s plans would put the entire world at risk, he has to become the leader he once dreamed of being.

Writer/director Todd Robinson clearly cares passionately about the material but he often loses track of the narrative. There are many scenes of people racing and chasing down narrow corridors and men staring and analog instrumentation. There are so many shifting power plays that it is difficult to keep track, and the story escalates so preposterously that it is difficult to care.

Parents should know that this is an intense Cold War story that deals with issues of nuclear war and includes extended sequences of peril and violence, with many characters injured and killed.

Family discussion: How should Demi decide which orders to follow? Listen to and discuss the “This American Life” story about the real-life notes provided to British officers in nuclear submarines to be opened in case of catastrophe. What should the note say?

If you like this, try: “Crimson Tide,” “The Hunt for Red October,” and “K-19: The Widowmaker”

Related Tags:

The Joneses

Posted on August 10, 2010 at 8:10 am

Why do we want what we want? I don’t mean world peace or for our school’s team to win the NCAA championship, but why do we want a particular brand of shoe or phone or perfume? Is it because we think we will be able to appropriate some of the glamor of the celebrities who endorse them or the happiness of the people in commercials who seem to be having so much fun? And how can companies sell products to consumers who skip the ads on television and use pop-up blockers online?

This provocative new film takes current marketing trends and tweaks them just slightly for a sharp, witty, and revealing take that shows us, among other things, that we never really leave middle school when it comes to wanting to be just like the cool kids.

A new family moves into a wealthy neighborhood. They are attractive, charming, and very friendly. They love to entertain and they are always helpful in suggesting products to help you feel better, smarter, and more successful. “What are friends for?” they smile when thanked.

They seem to have it all — and by that I mean every high-end, desirable, utterly enticing gadget, fashion, and accessory you might see in a luxury magazine or on a red carpet or in the SkyMall catalogue. Their name is Jones, as in keeping up with — and as in Jonesing for all of their goodies in an attempt to achieve their effortless glamor.

They’re not a family. They are “stealth marketers,” placed in wealthy neighborhoods to push products. Kate (Demi Moore) is in charge. She has been “Mrs. Jones” with six different “husbands” in different neighborhoods. The new “Mr. Jones” this go-round (David Duchovny) is a former golf pro and car salesman named Steve. Kate teaches him the power of ripple effects — you sell more by influencing the local influencers like the most popular hairdresser in town and the guy who works in the pro shop at the country club. Meanwhile, the fake Jones kids are in high school, pushing lipstick and a rum drink in a sack. “You can’t just sell things; you’re here to sell a lifestyle, an attitude,” their supervisor (60’s supermodel Lauren Hutton) crisply reminds them. “If people want you, they’ll want what you’ve got.”

All goes well at first, the smooth operation contrasting with their neighbor’s clumsy efforts to sell her Mary Kay-style cosmetics. Steve reassures himself that he’s only “making a match between great products and the people that want them.” But then things go very badly, with tragic consequences.

Duchovny and Moore are just right, both deploying and mocking their movie star glamor. In the past, both stars have traded on a talent for blankness (yes, that is a talent), allowing us to project our own feelings onto them. Here, both are a bit more vulnerable and accessible. The exceptional supporting cast includes Amber Heard and Ben Hollingsworth, as their fake children and Chris Williams as the hairdresser. And watch for the movie’s own stealth marketing through its product placements — almost all of the items used by the Joneses are real. If you leave the theater thinking you really should pick up one of those phones with real-time video or a Japanese toilet, ask yourself why.

CONTEST ALERT: I have three DVDs to give away to the first three people who send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Jones” in the subject line. Don’t forget to include your address! Good luck, and thanks very much to Fox for providing the DVDs.