by George Wolf
CARRIE
Back in ’76, Brian De Palma brought Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, to the screen and a terrifying vision of persecution and comeuppance emerged. But that was almost twenty five years before Columbine, and the image of the bullied and confused wreaking bloody revenge at a high school has taken on a different tenor.
That’s no doubt why King’s tale made its way to television in 2002 with a fresh take on the horror. But things in high school have changed again, and the story of Carrie White takes on particular tragedy in a wired time where another innocent high school girl takes her life almost weekly due to bullying. Perhaps that’s what drew filmmaker Kimberly Pierce, whose Boys Don’t Cry also outlines the tragedy that befalls a young woman violently unaccepted for who she is.
In Pierce’s hands, Carrie offers more stripped-down drama – none of the scenery chewing of the De Palma original. There’s no humor to be found in the reboot, but realistic performances and updated context give the film enough bite to keep you watching.
Chloe Grace Moretz takes on lead duties as the youngster whose first monthly flow triggers all manner of havoc, from the most unconscionable bullying to telekentic powers. Oh, and her mom tries to kill her. So, not the blessing those Health Ed books try to say it is.
Moretz has a big prom dress to fill, and though she has always been a reliable talent, her turn here is unconvincing. Sissy Spacek truly was that innocent, a girl so repressed by her religious mother that she had no conscious knowledge of appropriate social behavior. Moretz is a cute, shy girl the mean kids dislike. It’s not the same.
The always exquisite Julianne Moore actually has an even larger task cut out for her. The role of Margaret White is a juicy one. Even the TV version drew the great Patricia Clarkson to the project. And Moore is characteristically strong, clearly defining role in a terrifying yet almost sympathetic way. But she’s no Piper Laurie.
Laurie brought such vitality and insanity to the role that the prom became almost secondary, and her chemistry with Spacek was eerily perfect.
The supporting cast of high schoolers is fairly unimpressive, though the ever-reliable Judy Greer adds some fresh depth to the role of Carrie’s sympathetic gym teacher.
This Carrie is a bit more faithful to the book, and actually delivers a more violent, bloody finale than the original film, which seems to fit with the tensions of today.
The updated context casts a truly saddening shadow over the film, making a major thematic adjustment without even trying. Stephen King wrote a story about hysteria over the dawning of womanhood. But today, the story carries an even darker message. Carrie is a cautionary tale about sending your kids to high school.
ESCAPE PLAN
As nonsensical, potentially offensive and completely ridiculous as it is, Escape Plan does enough things right to render it more entertaining that you might expect.
Think of it as residing in the Face/Off neighborhood, where a film embraces its outlandishness so convincingly you eventually surrender under the weight of the escapist fun to be had.
Of course, that film had two of the all-time greatest hambones, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, operating at maximus overacti. Escape Plan has Stallone and Schwarzenegger, two aging action stars trying to prove they still have box office juice.
To its credit, the film doesn’t even address the age factor, even though it is very easy to imagine stars such as Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg in the lead roles.
Sly is introduced as Ray Breslin, the leading expert in structural security. He routinely puts his skills to the test by assuming the identities of inmates in various prisons and then going full MacGuyver to expose security weaknesses by busting out with little more than toilet paper and a used carton of chocolate milk.
Breslin’s firm gets an outlandishly lucrative offer to test the limits of a…cough, cough…”off the grid,” black-ops type prison in an undisclosed location. Despite concerns from his co-workers, Breslin goes in, realizing almost immediately he’s been set up, and must enlist the help of a mysterious new friend on the inside (Arnold) to break out for reals.
Director Mikael Hafstrom (The Rite/Derailed) wisely chooses to keep matters focused on action and away from any cheesy attempts at tongue in cheek humor. Less successful are his depictions of Muslim inmates and scenes of enhanced interrogation.
Giving the film a “Blackwater” setting may have been an attempt by screenwriters Miles Chapman and Jason Keller to address a timely topic. Instead, they toss the dark realities of torture around so flippantly the film comes dangerously close to making light of the entire issue. Muslim stereotypes don’t help either.
Still, there’s action aplenty amid some clever twists, an effective supporting cast (Amy Ryan, Sam Neill, Vincent D’Onofrio and a surprisingly emotive Jim Caviezel), and Arnold, at least, seems to be having a blast getting back in the saddle.
Maybe they’re not too old for this….stuff.
THE FIFTH ESTATE
The Fifth Estate tries to be a lot of things: a character study, an international thriller, a magnifying glass on the eternally combustible definition of journalism. Had its focus been less fragmented, a powerful film might have emerged.
Back in 2006, an Australian Internet activist launched a website with the goal of sharing classified documents globally by making it impossible to trace sources. He believed he was protecting the whistleblowers. As Oscar Wilde and Julian Assange say: Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth.
Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) was that charismatic “hacktivist”, and he soon collected a handful of loyal underlings, as well as 1.2 million classified documents.
Within months, Assange and crew were in hot water with the US government, among others, as their unfiltered version of journalism begged the question: Are there things that should not be shared with the public?
It’s a fascinating debate centered around an intriguing figure, but director Bill Condon can’t manage what David Fincher made look so easy: tell a socially relevant tale about how technology is revolutionizing our lives, anchor the story with a fascinating yet oh-so-nerdy character, and keep away from the death trap image of a guy at a keyboard. Because The Fifth Estate and The Social Network are essentially the same story.
Sure, no one died because of Facebook, but otherwise, it’s the look-alike tale of a social misfit, his zeal and brains and toxic insecurities, and the friends he hurt in the name of success. But Condon’s story contains a built-in excitement the Zuckerberg story couldn’t hope to reach.
Perhaps Condon put too much faith in screenwriter Josh Singer, a scribe primarily known for work in TV. Singer adapts two nonfiction titles on the topic, which may account for the splintered vision. His script too often tells rather than shows, relies on the most obvious kind of shorthand to explain Assange’s personal baggage, and offers ham-fisted proclamations to drive points home.
Condon doesn’t help matters with unfortunate and thematically misplaced dream sequences.
To his credit, Condon certainly cast the picture well. Cumberbatch owns the film. He is characteristically wonderful, bringing life to the ego, charisma and insecurity that mark a zealot. The yin to his yang, Daniel Bruhl offers his second excellent performance of the season (after his award-worthy turn in Rush) as the level-headed line around Assange’s chaos.
The underused but magnificent Laura Linney and Stanley Tucci also help keep the film entertaining. In fact, the strong performances are reason enough to spend some time with the film, but given the source material, the pull should be more compelling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT1wb8_tcYU