Reviews and Editing by R. Allen Leider
with CJ Henderson, Andrew Johnson and Monis Rose

January 13th, 2012

"Contraband"

Reviewed by CJ Henderson

All right, here’s a movie worth talking about. If you’ve seen the trailers for Universal’s new release, "Contraband," you probably were thinking that it looked action-packed. And, that might be enough to put this one on your list. For those of you, however, who need a bit more than mere gunfire and flashing fists to get your attention, let me attempt to give it to you.

Trust me, in a year that promises a summer containing both the end of the latest Batman franchise and the new Avengers film, let alone a number of other high octane action flicks, to start out January with something this intense I consider a good sign. Maybe Hollywood just wants to make as much money as they can before the world ends (Dec. 21st, 2012). Frankly, as long as they keep delivering films this good, I don’t care.

The story: We start out in Louisiana, and the action is split between a wedding and a police action. At the wedding, we meet a lot of our main characters. Chris farrady ( Mark Wahlberg ) is introduced as a former smuggler--one of the best ever. He gave that all up for love of Kate ( Kate Beckinsale) , and now runs a company that installs security systems. His wife knows about his past, loves him because he gave everything up for her. They have two kids. Life is good.

But things change.

The police action introduces us to Chris’ young brother-in-law Andy ( Caleb Landry), a wanta-be smuggler. The ship he is on is boarded by the authorities, leaving the youngster with no choice but to dump his cargo. This does not go over well with Tim Briggs ( Giovanni Ribisi) who was expecting the drugs and who put him and his partner in the hospital. To make a long story short, the Briggs expects the shipment to be replaced. They want either the same amount of drugs, or they want their street value. Kate is against him going back to the business to bail out her brother, but she knows she has to, especially when Briggs lets it be known that if her brother fails to pay up, he will die, and then it will be her whole family that dies. And so, years out of the business, Chris has to come up with a plan to raise the street value of ten pounds of cocaine, execute it, and pay off his brother-in-law’s thug creditors in two weeks..............Or else.

There are a few things that elevate this film above your typical action/crime film. First, the plot is solid. The story is extremely believable, and told with a fierce intensity which ratchets upward from beginning to end. The characters all ring true. Their actions are real, their motivations are real. And, like people from the criminal classes, many of them are unlikable. This is one of the mistakes often made in Hollywood. For whatever reason, many of those creative types connected to filmmaking have trouble seeing criminal activity as a bad thing. So, they respond in one of two ways. They either find a way to make their drug-dealers cute, witty, philosophical, et cetera, or they go in the other direction and they make them over-the-top insane murder machines. In this film, people are just people, meaning that anyone is capable of anything. The reason this is important in story-telling is because once you establish that you’re telling a real story, then the audience becomes receptive to the fact that anything can happen. With stereotypes removed, everything becomes reality. And, the people in this movie are all too real. The alcoholics go to AA meetings. People smoke and no one lectures them on the dangers of cancer. Those who get hit in the face bleed, and they fall down. Fights go on as long as they do in real life, which is not all that long.

And yet, the tension stays in place here from one end to the other. The story unfolds with extra twists and turns all along the way. The cast does not boast much in the way of stellar names, but everyone does their job. Most of those behind the camera do as well. Sets, locations, costuming, cinematography, all competent work. The director and/or the editor had a disturbing habit of going in for monstrously large close-ups that seemed a bit out of place. And, the sound quality left a number of bits of dialogue garbled. But, otherwise, as I said, competent work.

Now, do you need to see this one in the theater?

No, not really. There are no "must see on the big screen" special effects. This one is a NetFlix film. It’s good. It’s fun, and it’s clever. But, it’s clever in that "Sixth Sense" fashion, meaning that once you see this one, you probably don’t need to see it again.
But, you probably will want to see this one sooner or later. And, if you need some action ... well ... it is a long time until either Batman or the Avengers are going to take to the screen. Our final word: 4 stars out of 5.

The Players: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, and Lukas Haas

The Filmmakers:
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur
Screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski and Arnaldur Indriðason
Released by Universal Pictures

"A Joyful Noise"

Reviewed by CJ Henderson

Okay, full disclosure time. I like musicals (which this is not) and movies that just happen to be filled with music (which this is). Yes, I don’t have television in my home, but when my niece comes to visit she brings her computer so we can watch episodes of "Glee." In other words, I wanted to see this movie--no questions asked, and perhaps it was going in all prepared to have a good time that left me ... no, not terribly disappointed ... but ... well maybe, a little disappointed. Just a little. Don’t get me wrong. This is not a bad movie. Not by a long shot. It’s just, well, as I said ... a little disappointing.

The story: In the small town of Pacashau, GA, things are tough. The place has fallen on hard times, and everyone is counting on their local church choir to cheer them up by winning the big National Joyful Noise Competition. This isn’t a false hope. The choir has placed high. They’ve just never made it all the way. And unfortunately for the fine folks of Pacashau, it looks like this year is going to be no different. You see, wealthy G.G. Sparrow (Dolly Parton) husband (Kris Kristofferson) is the choir director, but he dies, and that leaves G.G. expecting to be named the new director, but that honor goes to Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah), the co-director. G.G. is all for doing things to shake things up, but Vi is deeply religious and wants things time honored and traditional (thing Whoopie Goldberg and Maggie Smith in "Sister Act" but with the races reversed).

You see, G.G.’s wild grandson, Randy (Jeremy Jordon) returns to town. Did he run away, did his mom kick him out? Who knows? This is the mom that didn’t show up for her dad’s funeral like her four brothers did. But, that’s alright, because we never see her ever, her brothers never return after the funeral (or speak a line during it), and we never learn anything about Randy. Well, that’s not true. We don’t learn anything about his past. Hell, we never even learn his age. We know he’s old enough to not have to attend high school, like Vi’s daughter, to whom he is instantly attracted. We learn that he is a fantastic singer, and that he can play piano and guitar. And that even though he supposed to be some sort of trouble-maker, he’s actually the sweetest, most understanding, likable moody loner Hollywood’s ever created.

There’s more.

Too much more.

The film has literally a dozen other sub-plots running through it, all of which, just like the ones listed above, are not given adequate time to involve the audience. "Joyful Noise" was produced with the filmmaking equivalent of paint-by-numbers, and it’s a sad thing, for there are wonderful moments. The movie has a good, solid story at its core. It simply has far too much extra stuff draped all over it. It also suffers from fairly poor editing. Some scenes are well constructed, but many simply stagger across the screen, limping their way along to mediocrity. The sound work is much better, but at times perhaps too much better. Where as most movies anymore seem too quiet, this one booms down from the screen, even when there’s no need to do so.

Sadly, "Joyful Noise" was put together in the grand old Hollywood tradition of just throwing things on the screen one after another to fill time. There are no surprises. You know Vi’s husband is going to come back. You know the girl who thinks she’s cursed will get a man. You know the kids will end up with each other. That G.G. and Vi will become friends, that the choir will win the competition ...
And so forth. What we don’t find out is ... so what happens to Pacashau? The town is counting on the choir to win. As business after business closes, it’s just so desperately important for them to win ... for the town. So, when they do win, and nothing changes, the audience is left wondering what they’re supposed to feel.
I assure you, what most audience members are going to feel is let down. Yes, the actors do a good enough job, and the singing is excellent, but the entertainment value offered here is not much better than what one would receive by turning on their local gospel radio station for ninety some minutes.

This one is, ultimately, just a time waster. It doesn’t contain any shocking curses, there are no fart jokes or sex scenes. If you owe grandma a movie outing, this is the one to which you should take her. But, otherwise, wait for NetFlix. Or, just see something else.
Our final word: 3 stars out of 5.

The Players: Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Kris Kriostofferson, and Keke Palmer

The Filmmakers:
Directed by Todd Graff
Screenplay by Todd Graff

Released by Warner Brothers Pictures

"Loosies"

Can one night change your life? Bobby, a young New York pickpocket who must reevaluate a lifetime of missteps when the girl of his dreams announces her pregnancy following their passionate one-night affair. Ho-hum.

The Players: Peter Facinelli, Jaimie Alexander, Joe Pantoliano and Michael Madsen

The Filmmakers:
Directed by MIchael Corrente
Screenplay by Peter Facinelli,
Released by IFC Films

"Beauty and the Beast " in 3D

Classic French fairy tale about an arrogant young prince (Robby Benson) and his castle's servants fall under the spell of a an enchantress who turns him into the hideous Beast when he refuses her refuge from a storm. The curse will last until he learns to love and be loved in return. The spirited, headstrong, bookworm village girl Belle (Paige O'Hara) winds up at the Beast's castle after he imprisons her father Maurice (Rex Everhart) who got lost in the woods with wolves on his trail.

With the help of his enchanted servants, including the matronly Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), Cogsworth the clock (David Ogden Stiers) and Lumiere the canldabra ( Jerry Orbach) Belle, who has sworn to stay at the castle in exchange for her father's freedom, begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation and return him to humanity before the magic rose lose sall its petals and he dies. The sub-plot iinvolves a braggard hunter Gaston ( Richard White) who is determined to marry Belle at all costs.

Hit songs, great animation re-rendered in pop-up book-like 3D and a great story for the whole family.

The Players: Voices of PaIge O'Hara, Robby Benson, Rex Everhart, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angeela Landsbury, and Jo Ann Worley

The Filmmakers:

Directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Screenplay by Linda Woolverton (animation screenplay), Roger Allers
Released by Walt Disney Pictures