Great Expectations (1946)

B

To translate a literary work into the screen is clearly not as easy as it sounds. Despite the probability of a real plot, the biggest conondrum brought by adapting from such distinguished and popular printed works is how much should be made into the screen. Watching Harry Potter the movies isn't much different from reading Harry Potter the books; indeed watching the movie felt like reading - one could sense the beginning and ending of the book chapter. David Lean's Great Expectations clearly encountered such troubles but manages on the whole to overcome them.

From the very beginning, Lean came clean that this is a screen adaptation of a novel. The opening sequence shows a copy of the Dicken's book opened and a voice reads out the first lines of the first chapter. This narration, mostly taken from the original text, continues throughout most of the film in order to smoothen out the time lapses considering the great chronological scope of the story. A 7 year-old boy, Pip (Anthony Wager, later played by John Mills), an orphan raised by his sister and her husband, the kindly blacksmith Joe Gargery (Bernard Miles) is summoned to go to the mansion owned by the eccentric old Ms Havisham (Martita Hunt) to play. There he meets a beautiful girl named Estella (Jean Simmons, followed by Valerie Hobson) who is nothing but rude and cruel and contemptuous to him, who he cannot help but love. Realizing that being a blacksmith's apprentice is without hope for winning Estella's heart, Pip craves to be something more, a gentleman. One day, Ms Havisham's lawyer, Mr Jaggers (Francis L Sullivan) comes to visit Pip and lays out an offer - that a benefactor has hired him to take Pip under his charge in London to be raised as a gentleman. And hence Pip's great expectations was in motion, to live the gentleman's life and win Estella's love.

The plot of the movie basically follows the book except for a few minor changes to avoid meanderings, and some characters are either greatly reduced in role or erased completely. I applaud Lean's great care in doing this; he understood the essentials of the story and the nature of cinema itself. In doing so, he deftly crafted a perfect pace for the story to unfold. The dialogue itself are mostly Dicken's. Lean's challenge is to pick out the best of them or those that are most relevant to the bare essense of the plot.

From the very first scene in the graveyard where Pip had a chance encounter with Abel Magwitch (Finlay Currie), the visuals are the first thing that most like will strike the audience. Done in colour and in 2005, the scene would have been too dark and messy. Yet cinematographer Guy Green found the right pallate to serve his scenes that they look better in black and white than technicolour can ever try to match. From Ms Havisham's enormous mansion to the bustling streets of Victorian London, set decorations and photography remain first rate. This quality would later become David Lean's signature.

Alas, the only thing keeping Great Expectations from soaring is the lack of strong scenes that shatter or resonate much with the heart or mind. Instead of being a moving experience, this is fast-paced fun. This same blemish also marred the Harry Potter franchise. In being faithful to the book, the blow to the audience is nonexistent. My point is supported by the only truly memorable scene in the movie - Pip's confrontation with Estella just before the movie ends. This wasn't in the book, and it arguably is a better ending to the story. This just shows that some ingenuity goes a long way.
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The Island

B+

After 5 movies to his resume, Michael Bay has finally grown up, sort of. Besides the eye-candy factor that signifies all his movies, viewers wouldn't be able to guess that this is a Michael Bay film, a list that includes hits (Armageddon) and misses (Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II). In fact, The Island is Bay's most mature movie to date, beating 1996's The Rock.

Ewan McGregor plays Lincoln Six-Echo, an inmate living on an offshore colony in the year 2090. Therein live about a thousand others who believe they are the lucky ones to have survived a "contamination" that supposedly wiped out the planet. They live lives as normal as can be in a big brother-esque system - they have their meals, have jobs and socialise - and their only break from this insipid routine is the hope that one will win the Lottery, and get transported to The Island, an safe haven out of the colony. When Lincoln Six-Echo wanders around the grounds late at night, he witnessed something he should not - a friend who was supposedly transported to The Island lied dead on a delivery-table after giving birth. Lincoln had just enough time to realize the truth about The Island when his best friend, Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson), won the lottery. Getting themselves out was easy, but surviving out there with a group of bounty hunters (led by Djimon Hounsou) hot on their tail is another story.

At 2 hours 15 minutes, The Island is not overlong. That's probably because the plot is thick and heavy, and the attention to details is clearly visible. From the population of the collony in their ubiquitous white uniforms, their jobs and their lifestyles, to the cityscape of 2090 LA (where there's an impressive car-chase), visually, The Island is on par with great scifi movies like Blade Runner and Minority Report, if not a notch above them. If not seen for anything else, this is at least worth the ticket price.

The script could have been more tightly wound. There are very little moments of characterisations or humour to break the long expositional run. Indeed, while the subject matter of the movie is provocative, the script is anything but. We have the situations, but somehow the forcefulness is diminished.

Indeed, if not for the charismatic leads and supporting players, The Island might have been Bad Boys II all over again. Ewan McGregor has once again shown his versatility (especially towards the end when he plays 2 characters); and Scarlett Johansson will only come out of this stronger than ever as she now shows that she can juggle action roles with her own kind of sex appeal. Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou play the villains with cool. Steve Buchemy has a small role as Lincoln's friend who helps after their escaped.

The Island might have some flaws and the impact of some parts of the movie might have been lost, but none are dentrimental and the movie is still always enjoyable. Michael Bay still has some milestones to cover before he realizes that what happens on the screen sometimes comes second to what happen beneath the layers, but The Island proves to be a step up for him. With his next project, the live-action version of Transformers, already in progress, I reserve the right to be sceptical. But if it happened once, it can always happen again.
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The Verdict

C+

Well this is a disappointment. I've reviewed every movie I watched in the last 2 weeks (that means I've only watched 3...) and none of them has been appealing. I borrowed The Verdict feeling exhilarated. This looked like the movie that would really be the first good thing I've seen in weeks. Paul Newman starring in a Sidney Lumet movie that is written by David Mamet, how bad can it get? Well, not as good as it could have been either.

Paul Newman plays Frank Galvin, an attorney at law close reaching rock bottom who spends his time ambulance chasing between shots of booze and handling the pinball machine. When a case of an impossible-to-lose medical negligence lands on him, he is ready to accept the handsomely offered settlement and bag his fees. However, a visit to his terminally dead client evokes his conscience and he obsesses to finally get back on his feet and go to trial. What he hasn't seen is that the impossible-to-lose case just becomes impossible-to-win as his star and sole witness bailed to the Carribean and the defendant is represented by powerhouse lawyers, not to mention that he is rusty at the wheels and deals of the court justice. Throughout all this, he is assisted by girlfriend Laura (Charlotte Rampling) and partner Mickey (Jack Warden); and Frank learns that reclaiming his character doesn't come with an easy case.

As a courthouse thriller, this movie offers nothing extraordinary. There are the usual cliches such as the throwing out of a key testimony, witnesses reluctant of testifying, the David VS Golliath set up and the less than impartial judge. As a character study, this isn't sharp or bold enough for us to really see into Frank's phsyche. As an underdog story, this works least of all with an ending that is too sweet to be believable.

Newman brings out a depth to Frank that maintains the movie from drowning. Frank Galvin is human, after all, and we believe and feel his inner turmoil as he uses this case to safe his soul. James Mason plays defense lawyer Concannon with the right mix of wryness and force. Rampling plays the romantic interest with ease. Other supporting cast, such as Jack Warden and Milo O'Shea are adequate.

There was a time when I held Sidney Lumet more highly than Steven Spielberg. But the disapointment of Power and Family Business (which was my 3rd and 4th Lumet movie) changed all that. And The Verdict constantly reminds me of Power. There are times when things just meander unnecessarily. And this movie could and should have been 20 minutes shorter, Lumet's pace in each scene is too self-consciously slow. After watching the movie, one has the distinct impression that the content of The Verdict is too lean to fit the 2hour plus running length.

I'm surprised to find The Verdict nominated for 5 academy awards. At least 2 of them are undeserved - best director and best picture. The Verdict is trying to say somethings. The redemption of a human soul, and the grey area that smears the whole justice system as well as the human heart. To some extent Lumet achieves what it aims for, only not as expressly and strongly as they could be presented.

The Desperate Hours

C

My second Humphrey Bogart movie and I'm disappointed. I'm not familiar with Bogart's track record, but seeing his brilliant performance in Casablanca, I couldn't help but to feel dismayed at his empty-shell of a performance here. Well, to be fair, he's not to be singled out. Everyone in this movie seem to be just like him - walking and talking empty shells. Hence, it's as much the screenplay's fault as Bogart's agreeing to take it up.

Family man Dan Hilliard (Fredric March) comes home to find that his family is being held hostage by 3 escaped prisoners, led by Glen Griffin (Humphrey Bogart), and his house used as their hideout until midnight. Dan's family includes his suburban wife Eleanor (Martha Scott), daughter Cindy (Mary Murphy) and irritatingly energetic son Ralph (Richard Eyer). When an accident delays the convicts' escape plans and the Hilliards is becoming an indefinite refuge for Griffin and his gang, Dan considers getting help from the police but fears that Griffin's desperation would lead his family into danger. Meanwhile, the police and the FBI are organizing a massive manhunt that would threaten to foil the convict's plans and unbalance the uneasy truce in the Hilliard's house.

Ironically, none of the scenes in the movie imply any desperation in the part of any character. If handled well, this movie could have been nervewrecking. But Joseph Hayes' screenplay simply refuses to allow the so called villains to do anything bad, other than ransacking furnitures. There's no power struggle, no life-or-death situation, no suspence. Not once do we worry about the fates of any member of the Hilliards (though I was secretly hoping one of them would actually just die). And for a supposedly psychological cat and mouse game, the film offers little food for the audience's brains.

Reviewing for this film proves to be a challenge to me. Not only am I not familiar with the key players (the only name I recognised out of the entire cast is Bogart), I am also not well versed with classic movies, much less those of the 40s and 50s. However, a bad film is a bad film, there's no denying that. Fortunately, The Desperate Hours never vered off bad into excruciating.
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Fantastic 4

C+

Fantastic 4 the movie is just like Fantastic 4 the Saturday morning cartoon. There's the interesting but superficial plot, the cardboard characters, the superpowers, the one-liners and the generic action sequences - all aimed at viewers no older than 16 years old. The end of the superhero-hype is imminent. I see this with a tinge of disappointment and sadness for potential superhero movies that will go against the grain and blow us away (like Batman Begins), but Fantastic 4 isn't helping.

The story is universally known. A group of astronauts in a spaceship are struck by some cosmic radiation and they soon learn that they possess super powers. The lead scientist, Dr Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), later branded Mr Fantastic, finds his limbs to elastic and stretcable. His ex-girlfriend, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), becomes the Invisible Woman. His partner and best-friend, Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), was exposed to an overdose of radiation and turned into rock, The Thing. Sue's brother, Johnny (Chris Evans), could generate fire, becoming The Human Torch. Richard's scientific and romantic rival, Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), also on the ship, turned into metal and can manipulate electricity and became Dr Doom, the Fantastic 4's nemesis.

The movie follows their accident on the spaceship and the learning of their powers back on Earth and how they deal with their newly acquired powers (the most significant being Ben Grimm's self-loathing that he has become a monster). The Fantastic 4 are the only superheroes brought to screen so far that do not have double identities. After performing some rescues on the Brooklyn Bridge, they became instant celebrities; and this is the only thing about the movie that is fresh. The only other enjoyable part of Fantastic 4 is Chiklis and Evans. One is tough but likeable, the other is immature but likeable. Their banters at each other are hilarious and their chemistry real - which is more than I can say for the script and the other actors. Ioan Gudruff is like putty (and at one point he really was), showing nothing that exerts any amount of force on screen. I love Jessica Alba, I really do, but she hasn't done a role that shows any acting ability. While McMahon may look the part (to perfection, I must say) with his beastly diabolical looks, he is nowhere scary enough to be a villain, much less Doctor Doom.

The special effects are great, but nothing above the standards that are today's norm. Not a single action sequence in this movie raised a pulse, not that there were many of them. Exposition-laden, the script was lacklustre. There was even a cheap shot (very very cheap!) to show Jessica Alba stripped (which was still pretty cool). Nevertheless, it was a mostly enjoyable movie, and with most of the introductory plots out of the way, Fantastic 4 2, if there'll be that, has the potential to be a slam-bang pure popcorn entertainment that I'm still eagerly waiting for out of a superhero flick.
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