* * * *
R, C-83m, USA
D: John McNaughton; Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold
Tagline: He's not Freddy. He's not Jason. He's real.
Michael Rooker plays the title character, a soulless murderer who preys upon victims at random. Unlike most movie killers, he does not choose particular types, like blondes, hookers, homeless people, executives, families, etc. All are fair game.
At least he doesn't play favourites.
After a couple of days of recreational mayhem, Henry takes up with Otis (Tom Towles), a dull-witted ex-con from his prison days. Otis is also a bad man, though several points lower in intelligence. He's mean, but weak without a leader. But when someone like Henry leads the way, he discovers a taste for torture and killing the innocent. He's a weak man who eagerly seeks out victims weaker than he so he can enjoy the temporary feeling of power. Together, they feed off each other's need for destruction. Becky (Tracy Arnold), Otis's sad sack sister, who is visiting after having run away from an abusive husband, can only hope she'll remain under their radar. Just watching them play house, with her doing the cooking and cleaning as if they're a normal family is disturbing. She is an example of what limited means, lifelong abuse and broken dreams can do to a person.
The gore is mostly off-screen and implied, but there's no doubt what is happening. Even the musical score is beyond creepy and hard to listen to - the jarring ping of piano keys just sets my teeth on edge. it's like a cold finger to the neck - with the nail filed to a point. And unlike most movies about serial killers, there is no mystery to solve, no clues to follow, and no one to unmask. There is one truly horrific scene of a home invasion that I cannot get out of my head, even years later. Fair warning - this is not a 'fun' scary movie where you can crack jokes at the idiocy of teenagers who wander around haunted houses and venture into the basement with a candle or a flashlight. Henry and Otis are not simply complex, flawed individuals. These are empty sacks of skin wandering the earth as human beings.
Michael Rooker, who usually plays sheriffs and good old boy types in supporting parts, is very good in this role and scarier than Hannibal Lector or Patrick Bateman (American Psycho), simply because he's so real and completely lacking in empathy or even introspection. He's not witty or colourful like a movie villain - he's simply there, snuffing out innocent people like bugs, without a thought before or afterward. You could pass him in the street and not notice him. This is a brilliant character study of a man with nothing to lose. He doesn't kill out of anger or revenge. The evil that he and Otis do is banal, more out of boredom than anything else, making it all the more horrifying.
Showing posts with label H. Show all posts
Showing posts with label H. Show all posts
November 07, 2009
June 22, 2009
THE HANGOVER (2009)
* * * 1/2
R. C-100m. USA.
D: Todd Phillips. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham
Tagline: Some guys just can't handle Vegas.
Two days before their buddy's wedding, four guys drive to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, check into an expensive hotel suite, and set out to go drinking and gambling. Several hours later, three of them wake up to find their room completely trashed with a wandering chicken, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, a hospital bracelet, a diamond belly-button stud, a missing tooth, and absolutely no memory of how they got into this situation.
Doug (Justin Bartha), the groom is missing, forcing his best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and future brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) to retrace their steps and find him before the wedding. Doug is more of a catalyst than a character, and is fairly nondescript. Actually, he's hardly in the movie; even the baby (who has a gnomish cuteness) gets more screen time than he does. Prospective father-in-law Sid (Jeffrey Tambor from It's Gary Shandling's Show!) lends him his prized silver Mercedes with a wink and a promise that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". He also makes Doug swear that he will be the only one to drive it, much to the others' chagrin.
Phil, good-looking and confident, is a teacher, married with a kid and itching for some excitement. He's so bored with his suburban existence that he thinks nothing of stealing funds for the students' field trip to fund the bachelor party, and constantly warns Doug that once he's married, all he'll look forward to is dying a little each day. But despite his cynicism, you sense that he is genuinely concerned, especially when Stu reverently takes his grandmother's ring out of his pocket (that she had worn in the Holocaust) and announces his plans to propose to his girlfriend after the wedding. Phil mutters, "I think you're making a big mistake." His hooded eyes and sudden silence afterward show that this warning isn't just another variation of teasing his buddy about losing his freedom to The Joys of Married Life.
Stu, a repressed dentist, is terrorized and dominated by his abusive girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris), and so cowed that he promises to answer his cellphone whenever she calls. He even lies that the bachelor party will take place in wine country, and that the guys will be staying in a quaint little bed-and-breakfast inn. We can’t blame Stu, whose conservatism threatens to snap along with him, because even if he was forthright, Melissa would have definitely forbade him to go to Vegas. She is a fingernail short of declaring, “You’ve lost all your Nevada privileges!”
It gets worse. Stu makes excuses for her cheating on him on a cruise with a bartender ("She was wasted."), and beating him ("To be fair, I was out of line."). She grimly plays on his insecurities in order to ensure her dominance, constantly keeping him off-balance, like coldly pulling away when he tries to kiss her cheek. I hated this woman - it's a credit to Harris's delivery that she makes Melissa such a toxic, verbally abusive bully, yet a caricature in sync with this comically vicious world. I couldn't figure out why these two were together, unless she'd clubbed and dragged his nerdy carcass to her lair. This witch is so vile that she could’ve sucked a guy's soul through a straw.
In contrast, Heather Graham brings a sweet sexiness and warmth to her role as Jade, a good-natured stripper/hooker who accidentally marries Stu. His rigid, fearful nature likely arrested his social development and attracted Melissa, who no doubt smelled chum in the water. He is initially unable to accept the possibility that he might actually be happy with Jade, despite her profession. I just wanted to say, "Dude, loosen up!" and feed him a few bottles of laxatives.
But compared to the other females in the movie, she's the embodiment of that impossible ideal: The Perfect Woman. You know, sweet, caring, uncomplicated, and hot. She does a topless scene, but it's hardly erotic. In fact, it will likely make a lot of people cringe.
The last member of the group is Alan, a tubby, socially backward schlub who is somehow very sympathetic. He's so desperate to belong and have 'a wolf pack' that he writes a speech about it in a toast. There's something off-putting, yet sweet about him. Understandably, the guys don't particularly want him around, though Doug tolerates him, since they'll be brothers-in-law soon. You just know this guy was bombarded with dodgeballs of one kind or another all his life. Thanks to Galifianakis' deft delivery, his potentially creepy man-child character becomes the heart of the gang... and the movie. He's so sincere that you just want to rip up that pesky ol' restraining order and invite him to join the fun.
Here is an example of his innate decency: When Stu wails, "I lost a tooth! I married a whore!", Alan is genuinely offended on her behalf. "How dare you! She's a nice lady!"
He has the best lines, which I won't reveal here because a) they're mostly tasteless and b) they're way funnier coming from Alan than me. Except this one:
Stu: She's wearing my grandmother's ring! The one that she had from the Holocaust!
Alan: I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust.
When he says this, he is not being sarcastic or disrespectful; Stu had shown the other two the ring earlier, before Alan had joined them, so he doesn't know about it until after Stu spots the ring on Jade's finger when they stop by her motel room. This is the first time the ring was mentioned in his presence, and he is honestly surprised that Stu's grandma had gotten a "souvenir".
I predict a successful career for him. He's sort of a sweeter version of Seth Rogen, and like Rogen, steals every scene he's in.
I don't usually like low-brow comedies unless it's 2:30 am and I'm so tired I'll laugh at anything, but this is much better than the limitations of this genre usually allows. Ed Helms, a longtime character actor who gets secondary roles, shines in his first time carrying a comedy. He has also found a niche for his real missing tooth. If you liked Wedding Crashers, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall or The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Hangover is a good bet. Obviously, this is not for children or the easily offended. It's a crude comedy, but redeems itself by actually being funny. In less capable hands, this would have turned into a bad frat boy fiasco. Unlike comedies of this sort, it's not so much mean-spirited as cheerfully hedonistic. And the real love story is the one between the guys who learn to value each other, no matter how stupid or disgusting they are. It's about celebrating those crazy friendships that some people are lucky enough to have - the stuff of fond memories. The girls back home, however, just don’t wanna have fun.
As one character declares, "This is what guys do."
R. C-100m. USA.
D: Todd Phillips. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham
Tagline: Some guys just can't handle Vegas.
Two days before their buddy's wedding, four guys drive to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, check into an expensive hotel suite, and set out to go drinking and gambling. Several hours later, three of them wake up to find their room completely trashed with a wandering chicken, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, a hospital bracelet, a diamond belly-button stud, a missing tooth, and absolutely no memory of how they got into this situation.
Doug (Justin Bartha), the groom is missing, forcing his best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and future brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) to retrace their steps and find him before the wedding. Doug is more of a catalyst than a character, and is fairly nondescript. Actually, he's hardly in the movie; even the baby (who has a gnomish cuteness) gets more screen time than he does. Prospective father-in-law Sid (Jeffrey Tambor from It's Gary Shandling's Show!) lends him his prized silver Mercedes with a wink and a promise that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". He also makes Doug swear that he will be the only one to drive it, much to the others' chagrin.
Phil, good-looking and confident, is a teacher, married with a kid and itching for some excitement. He's so bored with his suburban existence that he thinks nothing of stealing funds for the students' field trip to fund the bachelor party, and constantly warns Doug that once he's married, all he'll look forward to is dying a little each day. But despite his cynicism, you sense that he is genuinely concerned, especially when Stu reverently takes his grandmother's ring out of his pocket (that she had worn in the Holocaust) and announces his plans to propose to his girlfriend after the wedding. Phil mutters, "I think you're making a big mistake." His hooded eyes and sudden silence afterward show that this warning isn't just another variation of teasing his buddy about losing his freedom to The Joys of Married Life.
Stu, a repressed dentist, is terrorized and dominated by his abusive girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris), and so cowed that he promises to answer his cellphone whenever she calls. He even lies that the bachelor party will take place in wine country, and that the guys will be staying in a quaint little bed-and-breakfast inn. We can’t blame Stu, whose conservatism threatens to snap along with him, because even if he was forthright, Melissa would have definitely forbade him to go to Vegas. She is a fingernail short of declaring, “You’ve lost all your Nevada privileges!”
It gets worse. Stu makes excuses for her cheating on him on a cruise with a bartender ("She was wasted."), and beating him ("To be fair, I was out of line."). She grimly plays on his insecurities in order to ensure her dominance, constantly keeping him off-balance, like coldly pulling away when he tries to kiss her cheek. I hated this woman - it's a credit to Harris's delivery that she makes Melissa such a toxic, verbally abusive bully, yet a caricature in sync with this comically vicious world. I couldn't figure out why these two were together, unless she'd clubbed and dragged his nerdy carcass to her lair. This witch is so vile that she could’ve sucked a guy's soul through a straw.
In contrast, Heather Graham brings a sweet sexiness and warmth to her role as Jade, a good-natured stripper/hooker who accidentally marries Stu. His rigid, fearful nature likely arrested his social development and attracted Melissa, who no doubt smelled chum in the water. He is initially unable to accept the possibility that he might actually be happy with Jade, despite her profession. I just wanted to say, "Dude, loosen up!" and feed him a few bottles of laxatives.
But compared to the other females in the movie, she's the embodiment of that impossible ideal: The Perfect Woman. You know, sweet, caring, uncomplicated, and hot. She does a topless scene, but it's hardly erotic. In fact, it will likely make a lot of people cringe.
The last member of the group is Alan, a tubby, socially backward schlub who is somehow very sympathetic. He's so desperate to belong and have 'a wolf pack' that he writes a speech about it in a toast. There's something off-putting, yet sweet about him. Understandably, the guys don't particularly want him around, though Doug tolerates him, since they'll be brothers-in-law soon. You just know this guy was bombarded with dodgeballs of one kind or another all his life. Thanks to Galifianakis' deft delivery, his potentially creepy man-child character becomes the heart of the gang... and the movie. He's so sincere that you just want to rip up that pesky ol' restraining order and invite him to join the fun.
Here is an example of his innate decency: When Stu wails, "I lost a tooth! I married a whore!", Alan is genuinely offended on her behalf. "How dare you! She's a nice lady!"
He has the best lines, which I won't reveal here because a) they're mostly tasteless and b) they're way funnier coming from Alan than me. Except this one:
Stu: She's wearing my grandmother's ring! The one that she had from the Holocaust!
Alan: I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust.
When he says this, he is not being sarcastic or disrespectful; Stu had shown the other two the ring earlier, before Alan had joined them, so he doesn't know about it until after Stu spots the ring on Jade's finger when they stop by her motel room. This is the first time the ring was mentioned in his presence, and he is honestly surprised that Stu's grandma had gotten a "souvenir".
I predict a successful career for him. He's sort of a sweeter version of Seth Rogen, and like Rogen, steals every scene he's in.
I don't usually like low-brow comedies unless it's 2:30 am and I'm so tired I'll laugh at anything, but this is much better than the limitations of this genre usually allows. Ed Helms, a longtime character actor who gets secondary roles, shines in his first time carrying a comedy. He has also found a niche for his real missing tooth. If you liked Wedding Crashers, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall or The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Hangover is a good bet. Obviously, this is not for children or the easily offended. It's a crude comedy, but redeems itself by actually being funny. In less capable hands, this would have turned into a bad frat boy fiasco. Unlike comedies of this sort, it's not so much mean-spirited as cheerfully hedonistic. And the real love story is the one between the guys who learn to value each other, no matter how stupid or disgusting they are. It's about celebrating those crazy friendships that some people are lucky enough to have - the stuff of fond memories. The girls back home, however, just don’t wanna have fun.
As one character declares, "This is what guys do."
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