Reviews

We loved Clint Eastwood's film about misjudged Richard Jewell's calculated trashing by the FBI and the media which robbed him of his actual heroism providing notice of bomb at 1996 Olympics and urging people to safety. The actor Hauser who plays Jewell deserves an Oscar big-time. He is magnificent. His attorney played by Sam Rockwell forms a very convincing, necessarily combative relationship with Jewell that enables him to stand up & be the hero he is. I always like Kathy Bates, actress who portrays Richard's mom, Bobby, and she has one scene that brought tears, but i like her better in other tough chick roles. Don't worry about the first few scenes setting the stage with people bopping around to Kenny Rogers stuff at Olympics venue, kind of fake, but trust me it gets a whole better when the bomb goes off! Intense film with some great performances, go see it!

This movie was a huge disappointment in every way except seeing the clouds snake through the mountains in Switzerland. We went to see the film because of Juliette Binoche, lead actress, who we have seen in other films (most notably "Chocolat" and "English Patient") and found her performances to be memorable. The film was promoted with the theme of an aging actress dealing with her demons, but it never delivered on that score. And with an 124-minute run time, they could have explored her character more. We hear a little about.her impending divorce, her failed relationships with men in her industry, disillusionment about aging, and her drinking. All obvious demons, but none of them explored enough to allow her to emote and make me care about her. Instead, the story focuses exclusively on her conflict on performing as the "older woman" in a play she did 20 years before when she was the "younger woman". This theme is developed through her relationship with her personal assistant, played by Kristen Stewart, who, as a much younger woman, challenges her views in a dispassionate way. In that context, the two drink, smoke, "eff" a lot, and generally look and act more like men than women. But, amazingly, with all the obvious lesbian tension going on between them, this is never explored, and the film just fizzles out without acknowledging what it seemed to be about! I have read that Binoche liked the idea of this film and asked to have it produced, but unfortunately, they didn't take the time or have the gifts to make it a good film. I have to especially "ding" the editing, there were so many scenes where things just "jumped-cut" and were jarring. And Binoche's over-the-top laugh in many scenes were like "why are you laughing, huh?"

This movie is as simplistic as its title "Black or White", and lacks authenticity in the writing, acting and plot development. In the beginning, there's on-screen mention of being inspired by a true story, but nothing provided at the end to identify whose story it was. The subject matter is timely and important in this race-baiting world we live in, but characters never developed enough to get beyond actors reading their lines, and doing the unlikely stuff they're directed to do. Three examples follow. First, the mixed race little girl, Eloise, who is the subject of the custody dispute, has lost her mother, father and grandmother, never shows in her expression or behavior any of the effects of the terrible tragedies that have befallen her. Second, her white Grandfather, Elliot, never exhibits the qualities that would make her want to stay with him so much. Played by Kevin Costner, he is unconvincing as both a grieving drunk guy and concerned grandparent. Swaying slightly through scenes and calling his long-time law partner's wife "Fudge" instead of "Fay" comes off as playing the role rather than really feeling the devastation of the recent death of his wife (we never find out why), the death of his young daughter in childbirth (again, we don't know why, and we see photo flashbacks of her, and would she ever be stupid enough to get pregnant by a crack-smoking criminal?) Third, the instigator of the custody battle, Rowena, the child's paternal grandmother, as played by Octavia Spencer, is a caricature of a bossy, controlling black Mama, with lots of wide-eyed officious bantering, demanding hugs and slapping her drug-addled son into submission. She's in danger of becoming "Medea" in a Tyler Perry movie rather than a first rate actress. Other scenes lacking credibility are the ones with the extended black family, all happy campers making dinner, watching TV, and playing instruments together one side of the street, while across the street, front porch crack-smoking is going on among Eloise's father and friends. At movie's conclusion, during the custody courtroom scenes, Elliott gets to unload in a moving speech, where Costner finally gets to use his acting chops. And, then turns over to his partner attorney a question to his granddaughter's shaky father on the witness stand, which is "how do you spell Eloise", and he botches it, so judge gives Elliott full custody. And all opposition fades away. Teary-eyed Elliott off to rehab, and Eloise visits cousins for two weeks. I wasn't bored,thank you, but this is a movie made for Lifetime TV, not the big screen. It's a subject that needs to be addressed, but could have been so much more thought-provoking and memorable!