DVD Spotlight

By Joe Galm

Vantage Point

Distributor: Columbia
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Bruce McGill
Director: Pete Travis
Screenwriter: Barry L. Levy
Producer: Neal H. Moritz
Genre: Action/Suspense
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language.
Running Time: 90 min.

With Vantage Point, director Pete Travis offers us his big screen debut; he’s no Welles, Godard, or Truffaut. The film’s narrative, which uses an overlapping series of character perspectives, must have worked better on paper because in reality it’s poorly executed.

We are presented with thinly conceived motives, poor acting (especially from the usually tolerable Dennis Quaid), and an insulting amount of continuity errors. The movie’s meager 90 minute running time is not equipped for developing the personalities of its eight main characters, let alone a plot of any substance. Instead, Travis gives us a constantly twisting terrorist escapade that makes the mysteries on old Scooby-Doo cartoons look like intellectual soul food. That being said, the public did buy into the concept and this quick-paced “thriller” grossed $72 million domestically, making it a success.

Travis is already attached to a handful of projects over the next couple of years, and hopefully Point cast member Forest Whitaker, the lone bright spot in the film, has the sense to not return.

Drillbit Taylor

Distributor: Paramount
Cast: Owen Wilson, Leslie Mann, David Dorfman, Danny McBride, Josh Peck, Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley and Alex Frost.
Director: Steven Brill
Screenwriters: Seth Rogen and Kristofor Brown
Producers: Judd Apatow, Susan Arnold and Donna Arkoff Roth
Genre: Comedy
Rating: DVD Version is Unrated; Theatrical Version: PG 13 for crude sexual references throughout, strong bullying, language, drug references and partial nudity.
Running time: 102 min.

Director Steven Brill’s (Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds) paint-by-numbers teen comedy about a homeless man posing as a bully bodyguard fared surprisingly poorly in theaters and is looking to make ends meet with its DVD figures. From a quality standpoint, the movie is quite straightforward and certainly has enough fresh gags to keep its target audience entertained, hiding nothing in its trailers and previews. Still, I can’t help but think we have seen this before as it follows the same practical formula as the other films that producer Judd Apatow has attached his name to recently. My favorite effort from Brill (on either side of the camera) continues to be his portrayal of “Barfly” in Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, & Videotape.

Despite not doing much press for this flick, which was released after his much-publicized suicide attempt, Owen Wilson remains a solid comedic actor.

My Blueberry Nights

Distributor: Weinstein Co.
Cast: Norah Jones, Jude Law, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and Chan Marshall
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Screenwriters: Wong Kar Wai and Lawrence Block
Producer: Jacky Pang Yee Wah
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material including violence, drinking and smoking
Running time: 111 min.

Most of the American public, even those who frequent the cinema, would not have been familiar with the name Wong Kar Wai before My Blueberry Nights, his English-language debut. Sadly, it is not all that recognizable now either.

Having never seen more than 69 theaters domestically, Nights had a strong per theater average out of the gate but faltered after the cinephile crowd made their rounds. Despite the inclusion of bigger names such as Jude Law and Natalie Portman, a movie such as this is not tailored for mainstream indulgence. Yet Kar Wai deserves credit for making the film that he set out to make while transitioning into a more commercial market, even if Nights does not entirely work.

There is an identifiable stylistic presence in all of Kar Wai’s work, and even though many have labeled this latest effort overdone, there is more than meets than eye. Nights offers a distinct vision behind every angle, transition, and filter that, when put together, better serve the film as a whole. Many scenes are shot with a lens peering through windows or other glass fixtures in order to give off a feel of romanticized voyeurism. We are shown snippets of life through inconsequential eyes, and this in turn may draw complaints as it makes the material feel thinly drawn because it is not as omnipresent as the visuals. Instead the focus is on mood and choosing the shots that actually match what is being portrayed. Such an approach may not win over new audiences, but it doesn’t feel compromised.

Of course, the film is far from faultless. Some segments play as unnecessary vignettes that do not add to the whole. Others, in which the stylized photography doesn’t quite work, seem out of place. Singer Norah Jones, who has not acted before, is a bit shaky at times but holds her own rather well considering the weightiness of the picture.