Despite the uphill climb imposed on it, the movie IS very good. I could list about 10 high points and only one real misstep: the unfortunate and unhappy casting of Renee Zellweger. The character is an interesting variation on the western female and has some unexpected development, even when she intrudes a little more on the narrative than I’d like. However, I can’t imagine why anyone thought Zellweger was the right fit for the role.
The most interesting dimension of Appaloosa for me is that for most of its run-time, I didn’t really know where it was headed. For a film that plays so easily in the trappings of the western genre, the film follows no easy formula. The black-hat-white-hat showdown is set up in the early scenes, but ultimately doesn’t seem to be what the movie is really about. Instead, it’s sort of a buddy film between two cowboys: more Rio Bravo than High Noon and definitely more Ford than Leone. The plot takes a few unexpected turns (unexpected for how quickly they happen) and the final 30 minutes is a sort of detour off the main trail.
Performances (Zellweger aside) are uniformly excellent with the high-point being the easy camaraderie between Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. There’s also some really great beards (Viggo!), craggy faces (Harris!) and grizzle (Lance!)
A great little western that probably won’t be a favourite of anyone 10 years from now, but which is plenty good today. I love that Hollywood can still produce westerns like this.
***
It Might Get Loud ~ Rock on! The first real highlight of the film festival!
Ironically, this wasn’t even a movie that I planned to see, but one I picked up when I found out that I’d be in town for Appaloosa. The movie gods were definitely smiling on me.
I’m not much of a fan of Davis Guggenheim’s Inconvenient Truth which I think is a compelling presentation but a weak documentary (isn’t it mostly a point-and-shoot film relative to Gore’s Powerpoint presentation?) I’ve also never seen any of Guggenheim’s other stuff (which appears to be mostly TV) so colour me surprised: It Might Get Loud demonstrates that Guggenheim has tremendous instincts for exploring his subjects and a real knack for pulling interesting information from his interviews.
I should backtrack. It Might Get Loud is ostensibly a doc about the electric guitar but by focusing on three Rock Icons (Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White), it actually seems to me to be more about the drive behind making music. Truth is that I can’t think of another film which so elegantly and completely gets under the skin of what it means to live for making music. Each guitarist has a different perspective on their craft but their stories complement one another. Collectively, these pieces form a juggernaut. This is crucial viewing for anyone interested in music.
Jimmy Page is the gentleman guitarist of the film, elegant and soft-spoken but prone to some amazing insights. He dazzles every minute he touches his guitar but it might be one of the quietest highlights of the film to watch his sly smile as he listens to Rumblin' on an old record player and silently fingers the guitar licks to himself.
The Edge is the zen-like engineer with an eye to catching or recreating the perfect sound (which he describes as the sounds "he hears in his head"). It's great fun to watch him play a strong riff on the guitar and then strip away all the effects and pedals to learn that it's a basic two-note rhythm (hardly a hook at all). Guggenheim also follows him on a tour of the middle school where U2 first came together, visiting the specific spots where the band rehearsed and played.
But the clown of the movie is Jack White. Every minute Jack White is on-screen is amazing entertainment. From the moment he first appears en-route to meet The Edge and Page and confesses to the camera that he intends "to trick them and learn their tricks", it's clear that he's the x-factor in the group. Guggenheim dresses up White's section of the film with a clever conceit: a Little Jack (age 9) who serves as a virtual mini-me for the older White to teach guitar and blues habits through the film. The greatest highlight here is watching Jack White listen to his favourite song of all time, a soulful blues number. When the song finishes, he looks as though he may be returning to his body for the first time after a short vacation. (He gets the same look later in the film, listening to Page play live for the first time. All three play their instruments like it's the easiest thing in the world.)
It goes without saying that the film is overflowing with amazing music, both recognizable and brand-new. But what's not obvious is that there are moments when a familiar hook played in an unfamiliar way can open the film right up.
Overall, the film was a marvel but the screening was a blast. This being the world premiere of the film, the audience was more akin to a rock show than a movie. The crowd was plugged into every minute of the documentary cheering and applauding each time they recognized a hook or when someone played a song they liked. But even more surreal was watching The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White take seats in front of me (The Edge sat next to Jimmy Page and whispered throughout; What does a guy like The Edge say to a guy like Jimmy Page??)
Cool beans would seem to be an understatement.
No comments:
Post a Comment