Boogie Nights

Julianne Moore Pushes Freudian Implications to Limit in ‘Savage Grace’

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:05:59 -0700

CHICAGO – The national acting treasure Julianne Moore never shies away from a performance challenge. From her memorable exposure in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” to her willingness to go all the way in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights,” Moore has proven that true vulnerability in a role requires the ability to bare – and bear with – all.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

In “Savage Grace,” which is based on the true story of the eccentric Barbara Daly Baekeland, Moore once again puts the acting pedal to the metal.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Savage Grace” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Savage Grace” image gallery.

Moore plays Barbara Baekeland: the socialite wife of Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane). Brooks is the heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. With the birth of their son, Anthony (Eddie Redmayne), her wealthy lifestyle seems complete.

But signs of her early eccentricities morph into a darker psychological unraveling especially in the relationship with her son.

Barbara begins to notice Anthony’s gay awakening and tries to introduce him to women. Anthony soon takes up with a local girl near their home in Majorca, Spain. His inability to connect in the relationship leads to his father moving in on the girl.

Julianne Moore in “Savage Grace”.
Photo credit: IFC Films

Eddie Redmayne (left) in “Savage Grace”.
Photo credit: IFC Films

Read Patrick McDonald’s full “Savage Grace” review.

‘Deal’ is No Big Deal as Career of Burt Reynolds Fades Away

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:22:36 -0700

CHICAGO – Poor Burt Reynolds. As the No. 1 box-office star from 1978 to 1982, he revived his film career in 1997 with “Boogie Nights”. Since then, he has had the long, slow decline of “B” movies and bad remakes. Reynolds even tainted his own legacy by participating in the horrible 2005 redo of “The Longest Yard”.

Will he ever get the one last script that will return him to glory? The film “Deal” isn’t it. Reynolds plays Tommy Vinton: a mysterious stranger who begins observing young poker hotshot Alex (Bret Harrison).

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Deal” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Deal” image gallery.

Alex is from the Internet age and won an online contest to get to the World Series of Poker. Tommy is an old-school, professional poker player from the 1970s whose luck ran out shortly thereafter.

He hasn’t played in 20 years on a promise to his wife. Tommy sees something in the Internet hotshot, though, and on the sly begins to coach him and bankroll his run through the poker tournament circuit.

As it happens in old mentor/young hotshot films, the two must angrily part. When you throw in the subplot of Reynolds’ wife leaving him, it sets up the inevitable showdown between old professional Tommy and his former protégé. It has to be at the World Series of Poker, too.

Shannon Elizabeth in “Deal”.
Photo credit: MGM

Burt Reynolds in “Deal”.
Photo credit: MGM

Read Patrick McDonald’s full “Deal” review.