RENOIR
With sumptuous sequences of sun soaked serenity set in southern France during the summer of 1915, Gilles Bourdos’ beautiful drama tells the story of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the great Impressionist painter who, in failing health at age 74, receives the return from World War I of his wounded middle son Jean. The elder Renoir is filled with renewed and unexpected enthusiasm and energy when beautifully radiant young Andrée becomes part of his world — and his last model. Convalescing Jean is also smitten by the carefree Andrée. Don’t miss this wondrous, sensuous film about the power of a determined muse to inspire and heal. Highest recommendation. Now Playing. Cinemas Palme d’Or.
TRANCE
Danny Boyle revisits this almost terrific remake of an obscure 2001 British TV movie written and directed by Joe Ahearne. It starts out great but about takes a dissatisfying turn in the last act. What begins as a top-notch thriller is way over-worked and over-extended by final fade-out. I think Boyle has spoken about starting this film before the Summer Olympics (he was a creative director) and finishing it after its conclusion saying he had a lot of time to think and re-think the ending. Sometimes too much time does not serve the art.
The fascinating story has James McAvoy employed at a London auction house and getting involved with Vincent Cassel, an art thief and Rosario Dawson, a seductive hypnotherapist. The twisty story cranks up after a daring art theft. So far so good, but then comes a bunch of ever-more unlikely events and then an ending that reveals more deliberately hidden info that changes the entire story – or at least makes one question everything that has just been seen. And not in a good way. The cheap cheats — on the audience as well as characters in the film — only serve to create a disappointing movie experience and not one of surprise and delight. Now playing.
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP
Robert Redford has a strong attraction to left-leaning, “socially relevant” films. As a director, he’s a genuine artist. For the most part, his films are beautifully composed and photographed. His last film “Lions for Lambs” had a message but died at the box office and was dismissed by most critics. Engaging, quality films for adults are rare. And we should welcome Redford, now in his mid-70s, return to the screen and behind the camera with a story about a young reporter (Shia LeBeouf) who investigates a three-decades-old “Most Wanted” Weather Underground radical group after a woman is arrested. Redford plays a recent widower and fellow fugitive who has reinvented himself and lived quietly under another name. His main concern is his 11-year–old daughter and, with pressure mounting, he hits the road to resolve some old business — reporter LeBeouf dogging his every move.
Lem Dobbs adapted his screenplay from a novel by Neil Gordon. An A-list cast does justice to the material and Redford’s direction is clean and intuitive. But I was a little unsatisfied when it was over. Kind of like I had been to a really interesting but very unemotional lecture on why some Americans behaved the way they did during a turbulent past. But there’s no question Redford’s charisma remains an on screen force. Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Julie Christie, Sam Elliott, Chris Cooper, Brendan Gleeson, Terrence Howard, Anna Kendrick, Stanley Tucci, Stephen Root, and Brit Marling round out the exceptional cast. Throughout the film, it’s hard not to be reminded of Sidney Lumet’s powerful, emotional “Running on Empty” (1988). Now playing.
EVIL DEAD
Incredibly gory and extremely bloody, this reboot of a cult classic is an homage to the genre while refreshing it in a quintessential “cabin in the woods” movie about five friends who go to a very remote place to help a girl shake her heroin habit cold turkey, but unwittingly unleash a demon hungry for their souls. This is probably what producer Sam Raimi envisioned when he made the original. Utterly horrifying. Climax is literally drenched in blood. Visually clever practical effects abound. If this is your cup of tea, don’t miss this super extreme vision of what the original could have been. Now playing.
Comments, questions? RobinESimmons@aol.com
