STILL RECOVERING

STRANGER THAN FICTION


Roger Ebert is an icon. One would be hard pressed to find an American who doesn't know who he is or what he does. Ebert has my dream job and quit possibly possesses the most famous thumb in the world.

Ebert has been ill as of late. He has received cancer treatments over the past 5 months and is due back to his balcony seat on Ebert & Roeper shortly after the new year. However, he recently wrote his first movie review in 5 months. Click here to read his review on STRANGER THAN FICTION (STF).

Ebert's writing skills have always been top-notch...2 thumbs up! I disagree with his opinions often, but I always enjoy his columns. He gave STRANGER THAN FICTION three and one half stars...That's a half star away from a perfect film. Obviously, Ebert is still recovering from his cancer treatments and is heavily medicated, because STF is not a half star away from a perfect movie. Actually, it's 4 points away from a great movie...I give it a "6". Have you heard of a one joke movie? STRANGER THAN FICTION is a one concept movie. Once the concept is presented to the audience I quickly realized that this advertised plot twist wasn't going to improve the film as it progressed.

Harold Crick, played by Will Ferrell, is an IRS agent who lives a mundane life. He seems to enjoy the sameness of his days until he begins to hear a narrator describe his life as it happens as if his life is a book. He hears the narrator as he brushes his teeth. He hears the narrator when he walks to the bus stop. He hears the narrator when at work. It isn't until he actually "hears" his life being told to him that he realizes he isn't living life to its fullest. Eventually, the narrator officially becomes a nuisance when her voice gives Harold's life a plot twist...His death is near.

Crick doesn't want to die. He begins to realize how he has wasted his life and decides to try to change the "plot" of his life. He learns to play the guitar and flirts with a bakery owner he's auditing. The other half of the film involves the narrator, who actually exists, played by Emma Thompson. She has writers block and can't think of a way to kill off Harold Crick. Harold confronts her. So the question is does Emma finish the book by killing Click off, or does she make the plot a romantic comedy with Harold and the baker living happily ever after? See the movie for yourself for the answer.

The problem I had with the film is that STF is billed as a comedy. STF isn't funny. STF is a good drama with many light-hearted moments...Light hearted moments are no substitute for hilarity. When I see a Will Ferrell movie I want to see him running around in his underpants making a fool of himself like he did in Talladega Nights (7). In OLD SCHOOL (7) he played Frank "The Tank" and will always be remembered as the lone streaker.

Ferrell wants to be acknowledged as a serious actor. That sounds like a work of fiction.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

THE DEPARTED


2006 has not been a good year for films. Up until last month Mission: Impossible 3 was the only movie that I graded an 8 or higher. Although it received mixed reviews, M:I3 had lots of great action and an epic villain portrayal by Phillip Semour Hoffman. Summer was a major drag. Superman Returns?...I think not. The X-Men had the best showing but I couldn't call it a "can't miss summer flick".

...But there is always hope. Last year when Hollywood announced the ultimate acting trifecta of the legend Jack Nicholson, and the under-rated great actors of Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio agreed to team up in "The Departed" helmed by America's greatest living director Martin Scorsese...it was difficult not to get excited.

THE DEPARTED is a great film. Its not Scorsese's best mob flick but he does do a lot with a simple screenplay. THE DEPARTED is an example of a plot that seems complicated at first but in actuality is much simpler than it appears. Scorsese takes the simplicity and turns it into an operatic masterpiece. Scorsese gets the most out of his actors. Its almost as if he is off camera with a gun in one hand and a shovel in the other silently warning his thespians to "act like you mean it or you will be sleeping with the fishes".

The weakest part of THE DEPARTED is that it takes place in Boston with the Irish mob. Scorsese is best when sticking with his roots. If New York would have been the backdrop of this mob tale and the actors would have spoke with Italian accents, the film would have received a perfect 10. THE DEPARTED gets a "9".

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...Let's hope Scorsese earns an Oscar when for best director...it's about time he is awarded his professions top prize.