Drama, 2003
Director: Mike Newell
Score: ***

Mike Newell’s (Four Weddings and a Funeral) Christmas offering, Mona Lisa Smile, has the best of what he has offered in his past films – a dark horse making it good in a feel good melodrama filled with elaborate sets.  In Mona Lisa Smile the time is 1953 and the setting is the prestigious all-female Wellesley College in the States, when and where women’s roles were rigidly defined by how well they marry.  Enter novice art history professor Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) who challengies the administration and inspires her students to do more with their lives.

The trouble with the script is the depiction of Watson as the almighty know-it-all with everyone else being imperfect or silly sods.  This is no Prime of Miss Jean Brodie where sacrifice comes with a price for both teacher and student and where the period of the era affects the story.  Mona Lisa Smile is all good-goody Christmassy and though the script should be credited for some nice touches (Watson’s star student turns the tables and her initial failure makes good) and a few subtleties (Stephenson as the renegade lesbian) with neat performances particularly from the young cast (Kirsten Dunst and Julia Styles), the film ultimately gets bogged down by its good intentions.  Fantastic 50’s soundtrack though.

GILBERT SEAH was born in Singapore and moved to Toronto in 1982. He is an engineer by profession, with a passion for the cinema. Since the age of 10, he has been to the movies almost daily. Having been brought up in the Asian, British and Canadian cultures, he is able to bring a distinct perspective to film.    

Drama, 2003
Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Ken Kauffman, Thomas Edison
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, Evan Rachel Wood

After winning the Academy Award for A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard’s latest film is expectedly more ambitious.  The Missing (based on the book The Last Ride) is a strange mix of a western action thriller coupled a few supernatural touches and drama about redemption.  Tommy Lee Jones (Oscar winner from The Fugitive) plays a stubborn and conflicted man, also called Jones, who appears unannounced to his daughter, Maggie (Cate Blanchett) trying to make amends for abandoning her when she was a child to spend 20 years with the Apache people.  Maggie, now settled with two daughters and her lover (Aaron Eckhart), is unforgiving and throws Jones out.  But it is not until her lover is brutally killed (though not graphically shown) and Lilly (Evan Rachel Wood) kidnapped by a psychopathic Indian (Canada’s own Eric Schweig) that she desperately accepts his help.

The success of The Missing relies heavily on the dynamics of the relationship between Maggie and Jones – both highly different yet flawed characters. The idea works best during the action scenes when their courage pours forth and least whenever the script calls for confrontational banter. The overly long dialogue between the two near the film’s end is clearly indicative that the viewer has got the point already.  Though the story is supposedly told from the point of the younger daughter Dot’s (Jenna Boyd), the film ultimately hinges on adult territory, especially when the plot calls for many gruesome and violent scenes.

Fortunately the action sequences give the film a welcome boost whenever the pace staggers from the dramatic narrative.  The two best of these, Lilly’s attempted escape and Dot’s near drowning from the storm waters contrast not only the differences of the girls’ natures but ironically how fate could destroy their lives in different waves – the brave boyish one by an act of nature and the fragile one from a daring act.

Howard’s film is noticeably politically correct – the film pokes equal fun on both the white man and Apaches’ ignorances.  The script stresses, though once too often, the lack of modern devices as if to constantly remind the viewer of either the reliance of the film’s principals on each other.  (The camera and telegram were praised as wonders of technology.) To meet with Hollywood standards for a festive epic watchable by the whole family, most of the horrors committed by the Apaches are implied off-screen.

One complaint about Howard’s films is their forgettablilty. Can anyone really remember what either Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind or Parenthood were all about? The Missing will possible be best remembered of all the Howard films – primarily for the strength of the performances of the two leads - Blanchett and Jones.  Jones, reportedly spent quite some time with actual Apaches to learn their language and mores.  But the greatest star of the film is Salvatore Totino’s stunning photography of New Mexico, where the film is set.  From the sandy dunes to the icy peaks on the mountains, nature’s beauty is effectively captured on film.  And this is what makes The Missing so astonishing.

GILBERT SEAH was born in Singapore and moved to Toronto in 1982. He is an engineer by profession, with a passion for the cinema. Since the age of 10, he has been to the movies almost daily. Having been brought up in the Asian, British and Canadian cultures, he is able to bring a distinct perspective to film.    

Drama, Rated R. 
Director: Vadim Perelman. 
Writer: Vadim Perelman. 
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard.

House of Sand and Fog is a dark tale about a self-destructive woman, Kathy Nicolo, who is evicted from her quiet and scenic San Francisco home one day due to unpaid business taxes.  Though Kathy blames this all on clerical error, she is nevertheless removed from the premises, with kid gloves, by Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon and the house is put up for auction.  A down on his luck Iranian family man, Amir Behrahi, buys Kathy’s home hoping it will provide a second chance to restore the honor and dignity he once held in his native country.

Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) portrays the depressed, recovering addict Kathy who has nowhere to go, no money to live off of, and wants beyond desperation to reclaim the house she inherited from her deceased father.  Kathy futilely attempts to convince the bull-headed Behrani, Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List), to give back what is rightfully hers as he strongly reminds Kathy that the house is now legally his.  Deputy Sheriff Burdon, Ron Eldard (When Trumpets Fade), who was moved by Kathy’s story, and her beauty, decides to help her reclaim the house by any means possible so that the two of them can live happily ever after.  The movie becomes a tangled triangle between Kathy, Burdon, and Behrani, as all three struggles to do what they each feel is right, causing catastrophic effects for all of them and everyone around. 

Kingsley and Connelly are top-notch actors and add a lot of emotional depth and dimension to the somewhat melodramatic story.  Eldard does a decent job as the lust-driven deputy, but his character lacks due more to the script than his overall performance.  Shohreh Aghdashloo and Jonathan Ahdout nicely compliment the cast as Kingsley’s loyal wife and teenage son who are torn between their respect for Behrani and the pity they feel for Kathy.

First-time director Vadim Perelman, who also wrote the screenplay (based on Andre Dubus III’s novel), certainly uses his cast effectively and provides the audience with some strong character studies.  However, the overall story is slow and most audience members will probably find that “depressing” doesn’t quite capture how one will feel once the movie is over.  It’s a heavy-hearted drama to be enjoyed only by people who love such.  For House of Sand and Fog seems to take its notes from a Shakespearean tragedy with every character flawed, and all falling from grace, in a sad world with lots of remorse and very little redemption. 

Bottom line.  Should you see House of Sand and Fog?  Yes.

Review by Chad Goldich

Documentary, Rated PG-13
Director: Errol Morris
Cast: Robert McNamara.

The full title for Errol Morris’ latest documentary is The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. Who is Robert McNamara?  Though retired now, McNamara has held several prestigious jobs throughout his life.  He served as an Air Force Captain during World War II (1943), was the first President of the Ford Motor Company who was not a blood relative of the Ford family (1960), and was President of the World Bank Group (1968-1981).  But Robert S. McNamara is probably most famous for being the Secretary of Defense for seven years (1961-1968) during the Presidential administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.  To some, McNamara is an intelligent, philosophical, patriotic hero.  To others, he is an evil monster who is blamed for countless deaths, both American and foreign, especially during the Vietnam War.

The Fog of War examines McNamara’s full life through archival television footage, still photographs, recorded phone conversations, and McNamara’s own testament.  Born June 9, 1916 McNamara is now in his mid-eighties and seems sharp as a tack during his up-close, exclusive interviews for this movie.  Though he shies away from most personal aspects of his life, McNamara openly discusses other tougher issues like how many U.S. soldiers probably died because of his decisions during World War II and how even more died in Vietnam.  Never making excuses, or fully taking blame for anything, McNamara just tells his side of the story as he saw it then and how he sees it today. 

The movie’s director, Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, A Brief History of Time), is a silent observer/interviewer for the most part.  He remains off screen, only chiming in here and there with a quick question or comment, leaving most of the talking to McNamara.  The Fog of War nicely blends McNamara’s interviews between archival footage and audio conversations presenting the audience with an interesting timeline of history.  But some of Morris’ camera angles and editing choices during McNamara’s interviews are irritating and somewhat of a distraction.  Morris also chose not to interview other historians or people who had worked with McNamara for the documentary, making the film very one-sided.  The film’s title, though, says that it’s about lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara and that’s exactly what it delivers.  His life, his story.  For better, for worse.  The Fog of War shows that the decisions made during war are not always clear, but will be recorded in history regardless.  And that only time will tell whether those decisions were right or wrong. 

Bottom line: Should you see The Fog of War?  Yes.

Review by Chad Goldich

2004, Comedy, Rated PG-13
Director: Andy Cadiff
Cast: Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode, Mark Harmon

Anna (Mandy) is the only daughter of the president of the USA. It’s impossible for her to get any action because of that. While the president is visiting Prague, Anna escapes from the Secret Service and hops on a motorcycle with a mysterious stud named Ben (Goode). Little does she know that he is not what he appears to be. He is also a secret service who is assigned to watch her. Well, you can guess the rest.

It is very cute. Sure, it’s manufactured exactly following the romantic film recipe and has every single ingredient to make this type of film (understanding mom, over protecting dad, comic relief with their own subplot, annoying character that needs to be cut out completely and so on). So don’t expect twist or surprises. (Note: Wait, there is a surprise moment (Mandy’s butt)... but I learned that it’s a body double.) If you have seen the trailer, you have seen the film. But good thing about this film is it stars Mandy Moore. That’s right, Mandy Moore who has undeniable presence and unaffected charm that inspires everyone’s affection. Do you need any other reason than that to see this film?

Everyone in this film provides solid performances. No one’s performance is really forced. There are things that make you go “huh” a couple times (obviously the president of USA cares more about his daughter’s sex life than national issues, wait…that is realistic, never mind), but it is a cute date film to see for those teen couples and a cute film for grown ***censored*** men to see alone in the dark.

Although it entertained me, it is way too long. At least twenty minutes longer than it should have been.

Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Asian Fever is his weekly column devoted to Asian cinema and related topics.