A little something for everyone this weekend. Drama, Horror, Feel good….tragedy? This past week has been a busy one, folks. In just a week I’ve seen seven upcoming films, it’s almost a chore to keep them straight. But nonetheless, I shall do my best.
Three films opening this weekend aim to attract three types of moviegoers. Those that seek thills and scares will find them in Columbia’s 30 Days of Night, those seeking their serious drama dark will do so with the mystery Gone, Baby, Gone starring Casey Affleck and then there’s Sean Penn’s Into The Wild, a film that, for anyone unfamiliar with the book, starts out as a man’s uplifting quest to reconnect with the beautiful natural world around him and ends tragically in the final frontier, Alaska. (no not space, silly!)
30 Days of Night takes a stereotypical plot point that’s in every dime-store vampire novel and makes it the driving force behind the terror that ensues this refreshing and thrilling movie. A Stranger, played by Ben Foster, dressed like MacReady from the Thing as he wanders across the snowy terrain towards a small Alaskan town just as its residents are buckling down before the sun sets and the town will be immersed in darkness for a months time. Some leave for the season, while others stay behind because of work, family or because they have nowhere else to go. Those that get out are the lucky ones. Those that stay, have no idea what they’re in store for. Even as signs of something foul abound around them, several sled dogs are mysteriously murdered, the town’s power is cut off, nothing tips them off to the evil that is on its way except the rantings of The Stranger.
Soon a gang of Vampires descends upon the town, for a 30 day/24 hour buffet of the townsfolk. Their only hope rests in the hands of the stoic sheriff Eben, played by Josh Hartnett and his estranged wife, Stella. And they manage to do an okay job, considering. But this wouldn’t be good old fashion vampire flick if an unbelievable amount of people didn’t meet their neck-gouged demises. And this is probably where 30 days of night struggles the most. It doesn’t do anything new for the genre, or suppose any twist on the mythology. Instead its just a solid, highly entertaining, albeit different action/horror film. The film is directed in the competent hands of David Slade, who directed the vastly superior Hard Candy, a film that will make any man squirm in his chair while watching. 30 Days had some fun and exhilarating scenes, most containing different townsfolk trying to best the Vamps. One in particular had Mark Boone Junior, who looks like a disgusting bum in pretty much every role he does, driving what looks like a tractor with a giant chainsaw blazing through town hacking as many fanged fiends as he can before meeting his end.
I won’t be surprised to see this film be the big favorite until the next Saw installment comes out next week. This will certainly get people ready for the Halloween frightfest.
Up next we’ve got the directorial debut of Hollywood star Ben Affleck. Gone, Baby, Gone. With his first foray behind the camera Affleck takes on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Gone, Baby, Gone is about two Boston area private detectives investigating the disappearance of a 4 year old girl from her room in the rough and tumble neighborhood of Dorchester. The film is a rough-hewn tale filled with moral and ethical questions that sometime don’t have easy answers. Affleck and his co-writer Aaron Stockard do a great job of balancing intrigue and genuine suspense when it comes to the truth of the little girl’s disappearance and the twists and turns will certainly lead audience goers guessing the outcome, but will no less leave them conflicted with the conclusion. Where this film excels is in the natural and streetwise atmosphere Affleck evokes through his camera work and casting of locals, including his brother Casey. It also doesn’t hurt to have Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman supporting the cast along the way. In a recent article, Affleck said that he’s putting a lot of eggs in this basket of a film, go so far as to weigh his future career on it’s success. If that’s the case, then he shouldn’t have to worry for a while. Gone, Baby, Gone is a solid and captivating film that stands up to the quality of other thrillers like Michael Clayton and Mystic River, Clint Eastwood’s own interpretation of a Lehane novel. For folks wanting to avoid the bloodsucking at the theater then Gone, Baby, Gone will certainly be the way to go.
And then there’s Into The Wild.
Another drama from an actor turned director, Sean Penn. Penn based his screenplay on the book by John Krakauer about Christopher McCandless. McCandless was 22 when he graduated college with excellent grades and a promising future. A future he abandoned entirely to hitchhike across America and eventually to Alaska 2 years later, for one of the last natural refuges in Chris’s mind. During his Journey, McCandless crosses paths with a series of unique and interesting people including a couple hippies played by Katherine Keener and Brian Dierker, a grain farmer who runs afoul of the FBI played by Vince Vuaghn and a lonely former military type played with true sadness by Hal Holbrook.
Many will connect with the film’s message of abandonment and quest to reconnect with the earth we’ve so meticulously pushed away. And I’m sure that’s Penn’s intent. But what really shines about Into the Wild is Emile Hirsch’s portrayal of the doomed McCandless. At times he’s filled with joy and happiness with each new discovery of his journey, immersing himself in each place he stops while other times he’s holds a quiet rage towards his neglectful parents he left behind. An anger he holds on to till the very last breath. Hirsch’s eyes are filled with waves of emotion throughout this film and in his journey, affecting each character he intersects with, touching their lives more than they do his. Each one leaves changed by his presence. Keener’s desire to find her adult son, Vaughn’s whimsical excitement to go along with McCandless’s journey north and Holbrook’s acceptance of his loneliness and opening up to Chris as he would his own son. By the end of the film the audience will leave feeling affected as well. Whether they’ll take stock in their surroundings upon exiting the theater or leaving their cell-phone off a little longer just to breath in the air around them. Into The Wild will leave you saddened, but in that uplifting life can still be better sort of way.
All in all, a good bunch of films, nothing I wouldn’t recommend to see. Hope everyone has a great weekend at the movies, All three films are rated R, for various reasons, also opening this weekend; Rendition, The Comebacks, Sarah Landon and the paranormal hour (Halloween fare for kids) and Things we Lost in the Fire (a film whose title is far too long for any movie!)
That’s it for now, next week we'll have reviews for The Darjeeling Limited and maybe one other, till then, Enjoy
Chaz