Walk the Line (2005)

Okay, this movie isn't actually out yet. The trailer is out, and I have been waiting for it for so long that I almost lost it when I noticed it on the date of my birth!

The reality is that I love Joaquin Phoenix and his "peculiar physiognomy" (tm, David Edelstein), and I've always had a soft spot for Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.

Will this be a Ray or a Beyond the Sea? I don't know. Phoenix learned to play the guitar and does all the singing himself, so it could go either way. I am impatient to find out. Until I can, watch the trailer.

Wedding Crashers (2005)

The double bill continues, and I do love a double bill.

Short: John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) are divorce mediators who spend the summer crashing weddings in order to pick up chicks. Jeremy convinces John to crash the "Kentucky Derby" of weddings, that of one of the daughters of secertary of state Cleary (Christopher Walken), where John meets Claire (Rachel McAdams), and Jeremy meets Gloria (Isla Fisher).

Yeah, you all know what happens. Everyone knows what happens. This isn't the kind of movie that you see for the story, okay? And that's okay.

It's more than okay, in fact, to see it for the comedy. I know I did. I loved it. At certain points, I was hysterical and laughed 'til I nearly cried.

Pretty much every review I've seen praises this movie for being "refreshing." You know what? It is refreshing. It is refreshing that Steve Faber and Bob Fisher have written an adult comedy. People swear! Women are topless! Deal with it!

Or better yet, don't deal with it. Laugh instead. Laugh it up. The real secret to Faber and Fisher's formula is their ability to play to Vaughn and Wilson's vastly different strengths. Vaughn's hyper loquacious delivery and offensive language suit him, and it allows for Wilson to play the straight man to that insanity, to sit back and sweetly drawl his way through the picture. Oh, Owen Wilson. I think I might love you.

It works on a physical level as well. Neither Vaughn nor Wilson are spring chickens anymore: Vaughn's no longer a Swinger, with his thickening waste and deep eye circles. Wilson's face is starting to line as well, suggesting that if an adult comedy like this is possible, maybe more adult roles are out there as well.

Until then, the true humour comes from the fact that these two don't just crash weddings, but that they manage to make themselves the centre of attention on the dance floor, with ballon animals for the kiddies, even giving speeches.

Of course, Faber, Fisher, and director David Dobkin do hit a few false notes. A delightful Jane Seymour cannot make up for a horribly underused Walken, nor can a hilarious granny excuse a caricature posing as an "artistic" brother character.

Taken altogether, though, I'd do it all over again just for that sensational cameo. A-

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

Owen Wilson double bill begins! Why not, after all?

Outline: Jacques-Yves Cousteau-esque Steven Zissou (Bill Murray) sets out to find the shark that killed his partner, along with his possible son Ned (Owen Wilson), reporter Jane Winslett Richardson (Cate Blanchett), and a host of other crew members aboard the Belafonte, including his wife Eleanor (Angelica Huston) and Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe).

I am really reluctant to review this movie. As we know, I generally swoon over co-writer/director Wes Anderson. I still haven't gotten the chance to catch Bottle Rocket, but I am sure I will. I am almost sure that swooning will continue at that point.

My reluctance in this case stems from my lack of swooning. I have considered declaring this Anderson's worst movie of the four. What went wrong?

The beauty of Anderson's creations springs from his ability to create perfect insular worlds, rich with detail, possibility, and the faintest hint of nostalgia. Watching these worlds grow out of believably bizarre premise, the audience falls in love with a humourous plethora of enticing and entrancing characters who very rarely, if ever, hit clichéd notes. Also part of the glory of Anderson's work is the moment when the bubble bursts, when reality comes whoosing in to fill the vacuum, and the protagonist must learn how to fit into the world he has been so cleverly avoiding.

The Life Aquatic certainly takes place in its own special world. It is funny. Murray continues in the understatement vein he has been rocking in his old age, while Dafoe practically steals every scene he's in with his crazy German accent and off-kilter one-liners.

The failure, from what I can tell, is the writing team switch-up. Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and Tenenbaumswere all co-authored by Owen Wilson. While he looks like and keeps up the persona of a stoned surfer dude with his shaggy blond hair and slow, Texan drawl, the potential conclusion to be drawn here is that he was the brains of the operation. To call Anderson imaginative is a gross understatement, but new partner Noah Baumbach seems to bring nothing to the table. Thus, while Anderson is off creating wonderful new alternate universes, there is no one left behind to bridge the gap between that world and the audience's.

Most recently, Anderson is attached to a Roald Dahl tale, The Fantastic Mr. Fox. There is no word yet on who, if anyone, will partner with him on the script. For the audience's sake, I hope he can woo Wilson back. B

Waking Life (2001)

Idea: On his way home from the train station, a young man (Wiley Wiggans) accepts a ride from a guy driving a boat car. After he gets out, he is hit by a car. When he wakes up, he discovers that he isn't really awake at all but in a dream state. Unlike the average lucid dream, the more he harder he tries to wake up, the less control he has over what happens in his dreams.

I didn't really give anything away there, I assure you. It's not really about the plot anyway.

So, the film was shot entirely on video cameras, mostly handheld, then rotoscope-animated on Mac G4 computers and later transferred to 35mm film. A bit technobabble-y, yes, but it helps to basically understand that what you are seeing is animation on top of live action. Otherwise it can be a little weird.

A technological marvel, yes, and a sight to behold aesthetically, but the rest of what Richard Linklater (writer/director, of course) is questionable at best. At first glance it seems like a deep and mysterious gem, as though the secrets of the universe are revealed to you. And they are, in a sense. People are telling the main character much more than they ever would in real life, answering questions that no one ever bothers to ask. More than that, he is somehow privy to private conversations that he wouldn't be part of if not for his (my best guess) coma.

In fact, I thought I was going to have to watch this movie again and maybe even a third time in order to start to understand it. And maybe that's still true. But I did feel up to writing about it after I had a few days to really digest it.

The reality is that while the movie contains new theories that I had yet to come across about life, death, and the meaning of existence, a lot of it seems like the pseudo-deep things we all come up with when we stay up way too late and veer away from the superficial.

And maybe that's exactly what this movie is - an attempt to get away from the superficial. By concealing every speaker's identity with animation, their speech becomes more important than their visage. It certainly helps give the film that crisp, close feeling of a 4 am talk.

Strangelove once said that universities breed liberalism (he meant that in a complimentary way, of course). That kind of liberty of the mind plays a large role in Linklater's politics that infuse the dialogue and my subsequent interpretation of it.

While intensely quotable and full of ideas to ponder, I'm not sure to what extent I am willing to assign true meaning to this picture yet. I will have to put it away for a few months, six even, come back to it, and watch again to understand what I saw. Until then, let it speak for itself: "Yes, it is empty, but with such fullness." B

Must Love Dogs (2005)

Plot: Months after her divorce, Sarah's (Diane Lane) family is trying to get her back into the game. Minutes after his divorce is finalized, Jake's (John Cusack) lawyer is trying to get him back out there. The lawyer answers the personal that the sister created, and Sarah and Jake meet. Sparks never quite get off the ground, but hearty attempts are made.

In my own defense, I thought this movie was going to suck when I went to see it. I wanted some John, though, so I didn't feel bad about dishing out $6.95.

Let's just get this over with: this movie sucked. Writer-director Gary David Goldberg couldn't write or direct his way out of a paper bag. I barely cared about a single character in this movie even though he worked with truly terrific people.

Lane generally snaps up every role worth playing offered to a woman "of a certain age", but this not one of them. The second the movie shifted focus away from Jake/Sarah to one of her not-in-the-slightest bit "funny" blind dates, her inappropriate behaviour with a grocery store employee, her inappropriate behaviour with one of her student's parents, or anything that wasn't Jake for that matter, I glared at the screen with unchecked disgust. Normally that's a look I reserve for Idiot Girl #1 in my English class.

There was one bright spot in addition to my beloved Cusack. Christopher Plummer swooped in as Sarah's father and completely owned that movie from start to finish. A faint chuckle, a devilish grin, and a hint of sadness were all he needed to transcend this muck. The solitary scene that Plummer and Cusack shared was the greatest thing that movie had to offer.

Goldberg has claimed that he asked Cusack for some notes on Jake. Rumour has it that 35 new pages of dialogue came back, allowing me to believe that anything worth hearing in this movie came directly from Cusack himself.

For those of you unclear about what makes Cusack so irresistible, check out this study. It's one of the better ones I've read. And I agree - the fact that he isn't traditionally good looking is part of his appeal. He has to work harder for it, and we get a better product. His charm lies in letting his insecurities bubble just below the surface, which is what prevents the charm from ever coming across as sleaze.

Of course, if you want some of that charm, don't look this waste. C