Kim Gentes

Not so true. Not much grit.

Summary: I have to admit, I went to this film because it was directed by the Coen brothers. Their ability to take a story and turn its perspective upside down without ruining it is near legendary.  And while they certainly did take a seeming classic story and spin its viewpoint, the result is a placid, ineffectual, yarn with little drama and misuse of a star-studded cast.

The Coens had help in killing the life of this film, but not from Hailee Steinfeld.  Hailee plays Mattie Ross, a 14 year old girl who is left to deal with her murdered father's affairs. She takes it upon herself to hire two men to track down her father's killer and joins them in the pursuit.  Her acting is crisp and well set for the role and story.  It could be argued that she overplays the capabilities of a 14 year old, but that seems to be written into the story and not a misrepresentation in her acting.

Jeffe Bridges also does a reasonable job as the drunken, hard-nosed US Marshal, Rooster Cogburn.  Flashes of intensity in his character save the film from absolute boredom.  Matt Damon is ill-cast as the lucid, weakling Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf.  He provides a sympathetic, but nearly ineffectual character that neither fits Damon's intense style or helps the film.  Likewise, James Brolen's character is less than what you hope for as well. Neutered by a subjugated role to the "Lucky Ned Pepper" character, Brolen ends up in 2 strange and almost discardable scenes. All this leaves you thinking- "that's the villain?"  The real antagonist ends up being the "Lucky Ned Pepper" character, whose namesake is ironically similar to the actor, Barry Pepper, who plays him. Pepper (actor and character) is the only one who seems to take the film as a serious western.  If you're looking for "grit", Pepper is all you'll find.

The film fails, in my estimation because it lacks any chemistry between the characters. There is no intensity, no dialog and no attraction to speak of. Nothing relationally seems real in this film.  That would be fine if it contained actual and suspense to keep you going, but it fails there too.  In fact, the Coen's try to rely on humor to keep you interested.  Humor which, though occasionally seems helpful, is ultimately all that is left.

I wish I had more encouraging news on this film.  It is definitely not the best movie to see in this season. Both "127 Hours" and "Fighter" are much more worthy of your money, in my opinion.

Amazon DVD Link: http://amzn.to/nx8fdR

Review by Kim Gentes.

Bourne Again!!

Sometimes movies should stop at one sequel. They have a surprising debut with a relatively modest first episode. It grows a nice following in the rental market. Then usually episode 2 of a series is the normal payoff. Steam has built and you have a big box office run for the second installment. By the third revision, the series loses interest and people aren't willing to dump more cash into a one-trick pony (for the third time). As proof of this model, look at Matrix, Shrek (albeit a strong 3rd showing), X-men, etc etc.

Then along came Jason Bourne, Matt Damon's super-ops spy character that gets more and more believably unbelievable with each sequence. Damon is the most convincing actor to do his own stunts in the last 20 years. His choreographed fight sequences are the most interesting and surprising of all the modern age action heroes. He and Damon Caro (Fight Choreographer) have a master synthesis that makes what could be a normal fistfight become a jaw dropping, no-popcorn-eating event for all movie watchers. Taking out an assassin with a regular hard back book doesn't sound too interesting, unless you see it done by Jason Bourne! That scene alone was 100% better than every other action movie I have seen this year, except for maybe 300 (the movie), which was an amazing action feast for a whole other reason.

Anyways, Bourne Ultimatum is all about answers. You find out who Jason Bourne really is, why he was a part of all this stuff, why they are trying to kill, all the secret stuff. And, actually, it all makes sense. I mean none of it is really all that believable, but come on, this is a super spy movie-- 5% believability is all that is needed!

The movie pays off for action freaks and is engaging for people who just like a bit of a tale to unfold. There is a hint of relational drama with the beautiful Julia Styles playing a helpful agent in Morocco, but thankfully the movies stays the course and Bourne has learned that everyone he gets close to gets killed. So he stays clear.

If you can, rent the first two movies (even if you have seen them) to prime you up before going to Ultimatum on the big screen. Then the storyline will fit and you feel like you got a bit more from the movie. Without it, the action moves along so fast, you may not care that the storyline is also advancing.

For those considering ages and appropriateness, I would not recommend this to anyone under 15 years old, but the film is fairly focused just on action, so some might think I am being prudish with that. It has no sexuality and limited language offenses, so its a cleaner film than most of this intensity of violence.

Simply put- go see this film while it is still on the big screen. It isn't the most amazing thing ever, but it is easily the top 2 or 3 action films this year. Well worth the fare for entry, in my opinion.