Two reviews today: Elite Squad is from a couple years back but probably just made it's way up to America fairly recently...it may be hard to find, but you should find it. Invention of Lying is a new DVD/Blu-ray release, which just hit the shelves on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010.
ELITE SQUAD (07):
Fans of the brilliant Brazilian movie City of God (04) need to check this out stat. This flick takes the viewer on another harrowing journey into the slums of Brazil. Only this time, we are treated to a contrasting (or alternative) point of view: we see the action through the eyes of a high-ranking member of a special unit of the police force.
It’s 1997, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Captain Nascimento must select a replacement for his job as leader of the Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad), a unit composed only of the most talented (as in good at killing bad guys) and upstanding (as in good at killing bad cops) Dirty Harrys. In the mean time he must also take on dope dealers and criminal thugs in preparation for the arrival of the Pope.
This is like The Shield Brazilian-style, so seek it out if you dig intense crime dramas. Like City, this one’s got plenty of realistic action and bloodshed, yet also boasts great characters that are fully realized by good actors. In a way, this reminded me of The Hurt Locker (09), because we are presented with three in-depth characterizations, and the individuality and nature of each is well conceived and explored and utterly significant to the storyline, and ultimately to the chief insights and implications of the movie itself.
I expected a hardheaded action flick, but got more than I bargained for. Though it’s not quite on the same level of Supreme, Jaw-dropping, Cinematic Genius that I attribute to City of God, Elite Squad is another excellent expose on the Brazilian slums and the people and violence that exist there everyday. Hunt it down and see what the other half lives like, and what a different world it is for many of the folks down there who face or beget death nearly everyday.
8.5/10
THE INVENTION OF LYING (09):
I avoid romantic comedies like the plague or Scientologists, but this one had a promising premise so I gave it a try. It was a wise decision because I got quite a few laughs out of Ricky Gervais’ high-concept comedy. Imagine a world without lying: a world where everyone is like Jim Carrey in Liar Liar.
This alternative universe allows for ample hilarity, with the characters that inhabit it being brutally honest about everything from their immediate feelings about each other to the act of masturbation. The gimmick wears kind of thin eventually, especially because most of the jokes are aimed at poor genetics (what is this Gattaca?). But I could ignore this small weakness and the fact that the storyline gets rather predictable, because the laughs continue and boredom never set in.
In addition to a fine cast (Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Rob Lowe, Louis C.K.) the film is peppered with great cameos, serving up scenes with the likes of Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Bateman and Christopher Guest. It’s worth mentioning that the film has the gusto to insinuates that a world without lying is not in fact a better one, and that lying serves a valuable function in certain contexts. I rather appreciated this more comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of the fib, and not the black and white good or bad and no in-between line of thought that typical genre fare may espouse.
If you enjoyed Ghost Town (08) you’ll love Invention. If you’re looking for a rom-com that your lady will love but that isn’t so overtly melodramatic and schmaltzy as to induce vomiting (and will in fact tickle your funny bone as well), then pop this sucker in the DVD/Blu-ray player. If you are a Ricky Gervais fan or have a case of the Mondays and just want to smile and forget the frustrations and grievances of the day, then you should give this a whirl.
7.1/10
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment