Evan O'Donnell

With Music its Star, Whole of ‘August Rush’ Greater Than Sum of Parts

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:23:22 -0700

CHICAGO – When you look at films critically, you sometimes spend too much time examining the pieces of the whole without stepping back from the picture and taking it as a complete work.

Keri Russell in “August Rush”.
Photo credit: IMDb
“August Rush” is the perfect case of studying the trees and completely forgetting about the forest. The film follows the orphaned Evan Taylor (Freddy Highmore) as he searches for his parents against seemingly insurmountable odds using music as his guide.

After escaping from an orphanage, he makes his way to New York City.

Evan falls in with a group of outlawed child musicians led by Maxwell “Wizard” Wallace (portrayed by Robin Williams). Evan is soon discovered as a musical prodigy and uses his music to continue his search for his mother and father.

Freddie Highmore in “August Rush”.
Photo credit: IMDb
The film only starts firing up after the first 30 minutes. The backstory of Evan’s parents (Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers) seems to be thrown together and so quickly escalated that you don’t have time to care about either one’s situation.

In “August Rush,” director Kirsten Sheridan lacks a clear voice. The direction cuts between so many stories, characters and periods of time that you can’t fully appreciate what you’re seeing when you’re seeing it.

At times, you’re left wanting more from a particular storyline. The acting in this film is up and down. Kerri Russell and Robin Williams both give performances that were neither exceptional nor terrible.

Robin Williams in “August Rush”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is at the same level in this film that he has been in every other movie he has made: terrible. His acting’s so awful that even his native Irish dialect seems forced and clichéd. The highlight of this film is Freddy Highmore.

Even at such a young age, he’s able to capture his character’s center better than any two people in this movie combined. He plays his role with a level of truthfulness and innocence that hasn’t been matched by a child actor in some time.

As with every film like this, the music is the ultimate star. The score by Mark Mancina is uplifting and fun and the guitar playing of the characters is almost worth the price of admission alone.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell in “August Rush”.
Photo credit: IMDb
If you’re going in with desires of realism, you may want to skip it. If you’re a fan of the musical fantasy genre, you may be pleased.

The film certainly has several faults. If you just sit down, watch and let it wash over you like a perfectly scored concerto, you won’t leave the theater disappointed. The whole of “August Rush” is truly greater than the sum of its parts.

“August Rush” opened on Nov. 21, 2007.
By Evan O’Donnell
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com

‘Southland Tales’ Starts With Bang, Ends With Sensory-Overloading Whimper

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:50:16 -0700

CHICAGO – Unlike the world, “Southland Tales” starts with a bang but ends with a whimper. Richard Kelly’s opus of a film is little more than sensory overload meant to look like a political statement on the state of privacy, the war, news, entertainment and celebrities.

Sarah Michelle Gellar in “Southland Tales”.
Photo credit: IMDb
The story is set in the near future after two Texas towns fall victim to nuclear attacks and throw the country into a new world war. The world is falling apart all around the citizens as the government sets up even more agencies to spy on the populace.

Kelly has stated that he was inspired by “Pulp Fiction” and “Dr. Strangelove” when he made this film. His choices and storylines prove it with its characters and arcs weave in and out of one other with reckless abandon.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Dwayne Johnson in “Southland Tales”.
Photo credit: IMDb
The main character – if there is one – is Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson). He’s an amnesia-stricken movie star who falls in with an ex-recovering porn star – Krysta Now – played by Sarah Michelle Geller.

The two get mixed up with twin brothers Roland and Ronald Taverner (both played by Seann William Scott). The ensemble cast is rounded out with Justin Timberlake, Miranda Richardson, Mandy Moore, John Larroquette, Jon Lovitz and Cheri Oteri.

At this point, I wish I could tell you more about the plot itself. In reality, it was just vignettes thrown together to make a film that tried to be a whole lot hipper and cooler than it actually turned out to be.

Mandy Moore in “Southland Tales”.
Photo credit: IMDb
While Kelly tried to do away with the traditional formula of telling a story, all that happened was storylines got lost and forced moviegoers to say to themselves: “Wait. What?”

However, the big surprise of the film was the performances by Dwayne Johnson and Scott. Both have shown they are now real players and have transcended the characters they portrayed at the start of their careers (The Rock and Stiffler, respectively).

Even though the narrative left something to be desired, the writing of “Southland Tales” was incredibly funny and dark.

The dialogue was sometimes so over the top and monumental that you have no other choice but to let out a little chuckle while hoping the people around you understood the joke as well.

Ling Bai in “Southland Tales”.
Photo credit: IMDb
The film did succeed in making a funny and poignant commentary on celebrities, news and commercialism. Even though it didn’t quite work the way it should have, it proved itself as a mirror reflecting our society to the nth degree.

Even though the movie did end with a whimper – and a confusing one at that – the stylized nature of the film can be appreciated at the price of a DVD rental.

“Southland Tales” opened on Nov. 16, 2007.
By Evan O’Donnell
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com

‘Wristcutters: A Love Story’ Inventively Imparts Life’s Story After Death

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:15:35 -0600

CHICAGO – The vision of life after death varies between the religious and the non-religious, the optimists and the pessimists and the believers and non-believers. There are few after-life stories, though, as unique and humorous as the one in “Wristcutters: A Love Story”.

Patrick Fugit in “Wristcutters: A Love Story”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
The story takes place in an environment populated solely by those who have committed suicide. It is described as being “almost completely the same only slightly worse”.

The film follows Zia (Patrick Fugit from “White Oleander” and “Almost Famous”). He recently killed himself and is trying to navigate his new reality. While at a bar, he befriends Eugene (Shea Whigham). He’s a Russian rocker who kills himself too but at his own show.

Zia learns his girlfriend also killed herself a few months after him. They set out on a journey to find her. Along the way, they meet up with Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon). She’s on her own journey to find the “people in charge” to plead her case that she’s there by mistake.

Shannyn Sossamon in “Wristcutters: A Love Story”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
The film is saturated with religious symbolism. One can get bogged down in trying to decode the meaning of every character and every situation while losing the greater, more meaningful message of the film.

Even though the movie is inherently dark and morbid, the feeling and sense that director Goran Dukic puts forth is all about humor, love and friendship.

While “Wristcutters: A Love Story” is an exceptionally comical movie, the laughs are dialogue driven and sometimes hard to spot. If you do, consider yourself lucky that you got the joke while the other people in the theater probably didn’t.

John Hawkes in “Wristcutters: A Love Story”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
Dukic made the bold choice to shoot most of the film on 16-millimeter stock. This gives the viewer the sense that the world you’re peering into is mostly the same as ours. Staying with the theme, though, it’s slightly worse.

The strongest part of this film is the acting and Fugit especially shows true talent.

Even though he’s dealing with dark issues, his timing and humor shine all throughout the film. Sossamon, who was brilliantly cast in this role, reminds me of a younger Helen Bonham Carter. Her deadpan (pardon the pun) delivery was spot on.

Shannyn Sossamon and Patrick Fugit in “Wristcutters: A Love Story”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
Even though some of the scenes drag on and the film could have been 20 minutes shorter, all in all “Wristcutters: A Love Story” is a beautifully told story of love and redemption set in a world we can all relate to today.

“Wristcutters: A Love Story” opened in Chicago on Friday at AMC River East 21, Kerasotes Webster Place and Goodrich Savoy 16.
By Evan O’Donnell
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com

Following ‘The Sandlot’ Home Run, ‘The Final Season’ Strikes Out

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:14:07 -0600

CHICAGO – Once a year, it seems a studio releases a film that tries to nudge its way into the almost-holy canon of American sports cinema. Most years, studios succeed. Recently, we have been lucky with the caliber of sports films offered up to us.

Rachel Leigh Cook in “The Final Season”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
You might think the recipe for a decent sports drama is easy: take two parts small town, one part coach no one believes in, three parts dramatic music and stir with just a dash of romance.

As “The Final Season” shows us, though, just because you have all the right parts doesn’t mean you will make the perfect dish.

“The Final Season”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
Sean Astin tries to bring some of the magic he had with “Rudy” to this story of a small-town Iowa high school baseball team as it competes in its final season before being consolidated into a larger school district.

The film is the true story of baseball coach Kent Stock (Astin) who leads Norway High School through its last baseball season.

Stock has to overcome his own shortcomings with replacing longtime coach Jim Van Scoyoc (Powers Boothe) and convincing his team that its conclusive season is worth playing.

“The Final Season”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
Director David Mickey Evans (“The Sandlot”) sets a tone of a very Norman Rockwellian small-town America that is over the top in just about every way.

The dialogue is stale and in some parts sounds like the actors are reading VCR instructions. The lines that are injected with some emotion are so poorly acted that they come across more as funny than serious.

The whole cast looks like they are just going through the motions. Even the extras appear as if they have better places to be. “The Final Season” just has way too much going on.

“The Final Season”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
There’s a school closing, a coach leaving, a new coach coming in (his love interest), the rebel kid (plus his love interest), the player who hates the team and the player who loves the team. You see all of this before they really get into any baseball.

The casting was particularly poor as Astin looks too young to be in charge of teenagers. By the way, where on Earth does a girl who looks like Rachel Leigh Cook fall in love with a guy who looks like Sean Astin?

Even though they were going for a delicious treat, the ingredients of poor acting, disastrous dialogue and bad casting made this a meal that needs to be skipped.

By Evan O’Donnell
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com

Despite Poehler’s Wit, ‘Mr. Woodcock’ Underwhelms With Wasted Thornton, Sarandon Talent

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:15:50 -0600

CHICAGO – Just from eyeing the “Mr. Woodcock” movie poster, you could suspect exactly what the movie will be. Just 90 minutes later, your suspicions would be confirmed.

Billy Bob Thornton in “Mr. Woodcock”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
You’ll shake your head, have a heavy sigh and release an expression that says: “Yeah. That’s about right.”

Set in Nebraska, the story focuses on John Farley (played by Seann William Scott). He’s a successful self-help author who comes back to his hometown to be awarded with the “corn cob key” at the annual corn festival.

Farley finds that his widowed mother (played by an utterly forgettable Susan Sarandon whose performance seems to mirror “In the Valley of Elah”) has started dating. In fact, she recently engaged his seventh-grade gym teacher: Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton).

Farley begins to relive his painful and humiliating memories of Mr. Woodcock. He decides to try to break up the relationship in a very formulaic way with a little help from his friend (Ethan Suplee).

While the film is overly boring, the few bits of humor there are come from pure physical comedy. At some points, you forget you’re watching a feature-length motion picture and start to think it’s an extended episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Susan Sarandon and Seann William Scott in “Mr. Woodcock”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
While Thornton excels as a malicious junior high gym teacher, taken out of that environment his expressions and mannerisms can be described only as listless.

A relative newcomer to the world of feature films, director Craig Gillespie tries to pack much too much into the movie’s 90-minute frame including but not limited to a love interest for Farley that is in all of two scenes and forgotten about halfway through the film.

The movie, however, does have some bright spots. Amy Poehler was delightfully wicked as Farley’s alcoholic literary agent. You were in for a good laugh or two every time she came on the screen. The story could have used more of her and less of Ethan Suplee.

Seann William Scott and Amy Poehler in “Mr. Woodcock”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
Suplee must have filmed this during a lunch break from “My Name is Earl” because it seemed he didn’t have time to immerse himself into another character.

You can tell Scott is trying to get out of the enormous shadow he created with Steve Stiffler in “American Pie”. Scott played Farley with a surprising amount of charm and maturity. Though he didn’t quite get it done in “Mr. Woodcock,” I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he’s seen as a bona fide leading man.

Overall, this film seemed to be a massive waste of the talents of Thornton and Sarandon. Even though Scott and Poehler did their best, the movie still left me with the feeling I had when I first saw the poster: underwhelmed.

By Evan O’Donnell
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com