The Departed

Starring Leonardo Dicraprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Whalberg.
Directed by Martin Scocese.

Summary
This is a complicated and compelling crime drama. Frank Costello (Nicholson) is an irish mob boss, who took Colin Sullivan (Damon) under his wing when he was a child. Now he has put Colin into the police force as a mole for the mob. Queenan and Dignan (Martin Sheen and Whalberg) run a (very, very) undercover police unit and recruit William Costigan (Dicraprio) to infiltrate the irish mob. Only Queenan and Dignan even know that Costigan is a police officer.
Both Colin and William deal with the terror living double lives as they become increasingly paranoid that they will be discovered. Things began to come to a head as both Costello and Queenan discover that there is a mole within their organization. Choas reigns as both Colin and William look for a way out, and yet seek to continue to stay loyal to their duties.

Review
You probably know that this film was just crowned Best Picture at the Academy Awards. I thought this was a good choice (especially in competition with Babel). The movie was amazing. If you are thinking about seeing it, know that there is some pretty brutal violence and a truckload of language. I considered not reviewing it because I know many will have convictions that will keep them from seeing the movie. I totally respect that.
This movie was well-written and had a good story. But the story was made amazing by the story-telling job done by Scorcese. I was glad that he won Best Director because he took a good story and made it into an intense, amazing, compelling movie. It may have been the best crime movie I have ever seen (apart from The Godfather). The acting was amazing, especially by Dicaprio and Nicholson. They both gave powerhouse performances and their characters were incredibly memorable.
Best scene in the movie: The silent phone call. How did Scorcese make a silen phone call the most amazing scene of the movie (at least to me).

Question for Thought
This movie dealt with two men who were living double lives. While most of us do not experience to the extent of these two men, I think many of us do feel that we have some duplicity, whether it involves hiding certain sins or secret desire. What does living a double life do to us as humans? How can we get out of the spiral of living duplicitously?

Overall
As I already said, I thought this movie was amazing. It would probably be on my all-time top 5. . .but I thought the ending lacked a little bit. There was an explosive climax when the moba nd the police force clashed. Up to that point, I thought the movie was flawless and incredible. After this climax, I thought they were not quite sure how to end the movie. The ending was fine, but just fine. Not great. Whereas the rest of the movie was truly great.

Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5 possible.

Flags of Our Fathers

Starring Ryan Phillippe, Adam Beach, and Jesse Bradford.

Directed by Clint Eastwood.

Summary

This movie deals with the WWII attack of Iwo Jima. It follows a troop of men, and specifically those six men who raised the flag that was the subject of the famous picture seen above. The three flag-raisers who survive the raid on Iwo Jima are pulled out of combat to tour as heroes and inspire people to buy war bonds. The three deal with this fame and responsibility differently. One seems to be opportunistic, one cannot deal with being a hero, and another seems to hold down the fort. The movie is partly combat at Iwo Jima, partly the lives of the three men as they are touring, and partly the son of one of the flagraisers later interviewing survivors ofIwo Jima to learn more about his father.

Review

This movie was excellent. The combat scenes were amazing and terrifying. Much like when I watched Saving Private Ryan, when I watched the combat scenes I was struck with how long they went on. What I mean is that this was not just going in quickly and either winning or losing, dying or killing. It went on and on, constantly avoiding death and trying to help each other. It made me greatful for the men who served our country (and continue to do so) in this way.

The movie wrestled through the issues well, and I found it totally compelling to watch. It was not only the battle scenes, though. I was completely engaged in the lives of the three men who survived and in watching them wrestle through being viewed as heroes when none of them really felt that this was an accurate assessment.

As war movies have more and more realistic and visually stunning battle scenes, I thought Eastwood did an amazing job telling the story. He did not try to do too much. He did not so much try to shock us with extra-gory death or extra-cool explosions. It was meticulously done, but also a bit understated. You see something amazing or heartbreaking and then Eastwood moves on. This has the feel of giving us a picture of battle, in that we cannot sit around and be stunned by the carnage of war.

Question for Thought

This movie dealt with questions surrounding heroes. What is a real hero? How should you respond when you are called a hero? Is it a matter of either capitalizing on it or rejecting it? Or is there a third option? Can it be embraced in some way that is right and good?

Overall

I don't think I will ever see a war movie that is as good as Saving Private Ryan. However, Flags of Our Fathers is now my second-favorite war movie of all time. It was poweful, interesting, and inspiring to me. And there was an amazing father-son scene near the end in which I think Eastwood powerfully dealt with how WWII impacted a generation gap. Even there I saw him bringing hope that, despite generational differences, we can learn to appreciate, admire, and respect each other.

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5 possible.

Pan's Labirynth

Starring Carmen Vidal, Ivana Baquero, Segi Lopez, Maribel Verdu.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

Summary
This is a foreign film. Spanish is spoken and subtitles are used. It takes place in Fascist Spain in 1944. A pregnant mother and his young daughter to go live with the mother's new husband, Captain Vidal, who oversees a local fortress of the Fascists. The daughter, Ofelia, loves fairy tales, and ends up being invited into an amazing fairy tale world as the Facists deal with rebels who continue to fight for their cause. As the mother fights for her failing health, the rebels continue to try to stay alive and retain hope against the sadistic Captain Vidal. Meanwhile servants in the Fascist fortress aid the rebels, and Ofelia attempts to accomplish tasks given to her by a Faun who believes her to be a princess in need of restoration to her kingdom.

Review
This movie was truly unique. I had major aspects of fantasy, but I would not call it a fantasy movie. It was dramatic, intense, heartbreaking, terrifying, and overwhelmingly moving. As you watch, you wonder about the things Ofelia is experiencing. At times you are certain that she is imagining everything, and at other times you wonder. In fact, in the end there is still a little part of you that wonders.
The movies deals powefully with pain, loss, and, most of all, hope. Hope is really powerful when it has a lot to overcome, and, in this movie, hope had a lot to overcome. I have to say that every time Captain Vidal was on the screen, I was squirming in my seat. I was so scared that he was going to hurt someone (he did hurt many people). He was downright scary to me. I feel sick to my stomach even writing about it because it really did deal with the reality of human cruelty and of oppression. Ofelia was beautiful, sacrificial, and hopeful. The mother was tender and tragic. The rebels were inspiring. The performances were good. The imagery was amazing. The story was incredibly compelling. It was a unique and powerful movie.

Question for Thought
This movie dealt powerfully with the reality of hope and pain. It even posed the question of whether or not we find meaning through pain. This is not just in a Matrixesque, we-want-to-be-miserable, way. It was a way in which we make sense of the world. Perhaps pain and meaning are not opposed, but somehow connected.
Do we find meaning through pain? Not just in spite of pain, but because of pain. Specifically, does the reality of hope in the midst of pain, teach of real meaning? There is a lot in the Bible about suffering as believers (Romans 8:17 comes to mind). Think about it.

Overall
I have to commend this movie. It was unique and I was very glad that I saw it. It moved me throughout, although I wanted it to be over at times because it was so gut-wrenching. The portrayal of hope, though, was so powerful. Maybe only The Shawshank Redemption is a more powerful movie about hope. The final scene made me cry and made me smile at the same time. I really admired the director, Guillermo Del Toro on this one.

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5 possible.

Stranger Than Fiction

Starring Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Directed by Zach Helm

Summary
The concept of Stranger Than Fiction is that of a man finding out that his life is the part of a narrative. Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) begins to hear a woman's voice narrating his actions. She describes his actions, his feelings, his longings, and his intentions. The problem is that he is the only one who hears the voice. All of this is midly annoying until the voice divulges that events are in motion that will lead to his imminent death. In response to this Harold recruits of the help of a literature professor in order to help guide him through the narrative of his life, and, in the process, learns about what it means to truly live.

Review
This was a very original and interesting movie. It could certainly be marketed as a comedy, but it had a very serious undertone to it. Similarly, Will Ferrell is a very talented comedic actor, but had a very serious undertone to him in the film. He did a fine job. Dustin Hoffman as the literature professor and Emma Thompson as the author are both great. Maggie Gyllenhall adds a great energetic flair to the film in her character (with whom Harold falls in love).
The strongest quality to the film is its story. Now, you might be thinking, "Isn't that the way it always is." No, no, no. Many times a film is driven by strong acting performances, eye candy special effects, or entertaining characters. This film had good acting and engaging characters, but it was plot-driven. The story was original, and the story dealt with, wait for it, stories. A man is in a narrative, and this begins to make us think about the idea of stories, the stories in which we are characters, what kind of character we are in our stories, and what kind of character we would like to be.
The movie is always building toward its ending, and I felt tension the whole time over how it would end. Interestingly, the tension was twofold. First of all, I wanted it to end well for the characters. Secondly, I wanted it to end well for the story. For the second part, I mean that I wanted the story to have an ending that was not just "happy," but also satisfying in light of the rest of the story. The ending is good for discussion. Some will probably love it, and some might be let down by it. Strangely enough, this is one of the only movies you will ever see that will acknowledge that some won't like the ending. This makes it more tolerable for those who will be disappointed.

Question For Thought
For the question to think about, I will quote my favorite exchange in the movie. It takes place between the literature professor and Harold. The literature professor concluded that Harold may just have to resign himself to the fact that he will end up dying. Harold then asks what he should do if he is going to die.
Professor: Well, Harold, you could just eat nothing but panckakes if you wanted.
Harold: What is wrong with you? Hey, I don't want to eat nothing but pancakes, I want to live! I mean, who in their right mind in a choice between pancakes and living chooses pancakes?
Professor: Harold, if you pause to think, you'd realize that that answer is inextricably contingent upon the type of life being led. . .and, of course, the quality of the pancakes.
This exchange begs the question, "What is life? What makes life worth living? What am I willing to die for?" Are we willing to die to be "memorable" characters in God's story? Is this a bad question to be asking? Think about it.

Overall
You can probably tell that I really liked this movie. Very moving, very funny, and very, very thought-provoking. In a time when so many movies are formulaic, it was fun to watch a movie that had a very real flair of originality to it. See it with someone so that we can discuss it afterwards. There are a couple of comments made that are not appropriate, but overall it is a movie you can watch without feeling like you have to turn away or fastforward.

Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5 possible.