Best of 2011: My Top 10 Movies of 2011

The list below is of my favorite movies of 2011. I wrote the other day how determining the best movies in a given year can be tough because you can’t always tell whether or not a film will age well. Some movies get better and better the more you watch them. Others make a great first impression but might not hold up to multiple viewings. This list is a collection of first impressions. These are all movies that left a mark on me the first time I saw them. I’ll check back with them a few years down the road and see how they hold up.

In the meantime, most are on DVD or will be soon (and The Descendants is still in theaters now). So use the on demand/online streaming/DVD-in-the-mail service of your choice and check them out. (I’ll also share with you a well-kept secret of where to rent movies that I use all the time: the library. Most local libraries have large movie collections and get all the new DVDs. You might have to fight with the woman down the block who has a crush on Ryan Gosling in order to get your hands on a copy of The Ides of March but, hey, it’s free.)

Before we get to the Top 10, here are five films I admire that didn’t make the list: Another Earth, The Future, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball, Terri

10) Midnight in Paris (Original review)

Woody Allen’s globetrotting continues with Midnight in Paris, a breezy, time-traveling comedy starring Owen Wilson who, in a fine performance, splits the difference between his own comic persona and the neuroses of Mr. Allen. Those familiar with the major figures of art and literature in 1920s Paris (Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and Salvador Dali, to name a few that appear here) will be delighted but you don’t have to get all the references to enjoy the film. Mr. Allen’s own love of these artists shines through every scene and Mr. Wilson is great fun to watch as he marvels at being transported to the bygone era he adores. A love letter to the city and a bittersweet (though mostly sweet) study of how nostalgia afflicts us all.

9) Take Shelter

Take Shelter is an absorbing psychological thriller about a blue collar Midwesterner, Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon), on the cusp of a schizophrenic breakdown. Or is he? He begins having horribly realistic nightmares of an apocalyptic storm but are the dreams premonitions of some rapture to come, or is his mind descending into madness? Neither option bodes well for him and his family. The film, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, is engrossing because Curtis’s supernatural fears have real world consequences. When he becomes obsessed with renovating an old tornado shelter in the backyard, the expenditure puts a significant financial burden on his family. This is a beautifully shot, gradually paced and absolutely gripping movie.

8) A Dangerous Method (Original review) 

A Dangerous Method follows the professional and personal relationship of psychologists Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) but this is not a typical historical biopic. This is an exceptionally talky film; Jung and Freud’s discussions on the subtleties of psychoanalysis are only occasionally broken up by scenes of kinky sex between Jung and his patient-turned-student-turned-lover, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). Despite the dry nature of the material though, there is a current of excitement running through A Dangerous Method. These were intellectual innovators on the verge of changing the way the world thought about the human mind and director David Cronenberg elegantly captures that moment in this fascinating film.

7) The Descendants (Original review)

Alexander Payne’s films tell wonderful, human stories. Like previous Payne features Sideways and About Schmidt, The Descendants depicts a man facing a personal crisis, and does so with compassion and humor. After a boating accident puts his wife in a permanent coma, Matt King (George Clooney) is left alone to father his two daughters. Meanwhile, as the lone trustee to a huge estate, he faces pressure from the other side of his family to find a buyer for the property. The movie, set against a gorgeous, Hawaiian backdrop, has a keen sense of culture and history. It also ends on what might be my favorite final shot in a movie this year.

6) Attack the Block

The definition of what is cool is always changing and often we can look back and identify what sparked certain trends in coolness. Attack the Block is the sort of movie we’ll look back on and say, “Oh, yeah. That’s cool because Attack the Block did it first.” The movie follows a teen gang in inner city London who unwittingly find themselves fighting off an alien invasion. What’s kind of brilliant about it is that they react to this extraterrestrial contact precisely how you’d expect a bunch of fifteen-year-old boys to. When they kill their first alien, what do they do? They drag its carcass through the streets and show it off to a few girls before bringing it to the guy they buy weed from. Fast-paced, funny, sometimes gory, and featuring impressive creature effects. A promising debut from writer/director Joe Cornish.

5) Margin Call

An analyst for a powerful financial investment firm is laid off but before he leaves the building he hands a flash drive to one of his employees. “I think you should take a look at this,” he says. “Be careful.” That’s the set-up of Margin Call, which mostly takes place over one night as the gravity of the information on that drive sinks in – it contains calculations that predict the firm’s doom – and news travels up the ranks to the CEO. This is a tense film inspired by the 2008 financial crisis and successfully makes complex concepts accessible without dumbing them down. Writer/director J.C. Chandor seeks to do nothing less than question the morality of capitalism but never demonizes his characters. Instead, he invites us to ask ourselves: What would I do in this situation? Is jumping ship and saving myself the right thing to do? Characters in the film are always asking this but the notion of what is “right” turns out to be a very murky concept indeed.

4) Warrior

This is a powerful story about two estranged brothers – tormented Iraq War veteran Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgarton), a physics teacher and father of two – who return to their roots as mixed martial arts fighters. Tommy enlists the help of his father (Nick Nolte), a reformed alcoholic and Tommy’s former trainer, to prepare for an upcoming tournament. Brendan, meanwhile, starts participating in pickup matches to make quick cash and stall foreclosure on his house. You might be able to guess where this is going but Warrior is impressive in the way it does not simplify its characters’ complex relationships while still adhering to the crowd-pleasing formula of the fight genre. Audiences largely dismissed Warrior because of seeming similarities to The Fighter, an unfair fate considering it is even better than that film. This one blew me away.

3) Higher Ground

Higher Ground chronicles one southern woman’s relationship with religion, from her tenuous beginnings with evangelicalism and following her as she is born again and subsequently questions her faith. Though it features a fair amount of preaching, the movie itself never preaches. It approaches its characters with a critical eye and its subject matter with an open mind. Vera Farmiga, who stars in the film and makes her directorial debut, is careful not to condescend. Some members of the congregation are naive and old-fashioned but all of them are complex individuals, not stereotypes. The film shoulders big topics – sex, marriage, family, church and the role women play in all of those – but does so gracefully and without passing judgment. This is a quiet movie about the process of self-discovery; there are few grand, dramatic moments in it. Yet, in its subtle way, the film uncovers something true and leaves a lasting impression.

2) Beginners

Tone can be a delicate thing. Mike Mills’s Beginners finds just the right one though; it has an emotional frankness that does not soften its more tragic moments but also has a certain whimsy and love for life that is infectious. We meet Oliver (Ewan McGregor) at the start of a new relationship with Anna (Mélanie Laurent), a French actress he meets at a party. This is intercut with remembrances of his late father (Christopher Plummer) who, in the last years of his life, was diagnosed with cancer and came out of the closet, living as an openly gay man for the first time. The tender relationship between father and son is at the heart of the film but its best moments are in the embellishments Mr. Mills adds. Oliver has conversations with his father’s dog (who talks back through subtitles), recalls childhood memories of his mother (­­­­­Mary Page Keller) and reflects on the differences between his father’s time and the present. A loose, almost free associative structure helps to avoid melodrama. The film opens with the father’s death and moves backward, retracing the end of his life while also moving forward with Oliver’s developing romance and ending on a thoroughly optimistic note. This is a film with style and wit that left on me an imprint of its uniquely pleasant mood.

1) The Tree of Life (Original review)

Terrence Malick is one of the few filmmakers today making great literary art. His latest, The Tree of Life, has a poetic style, chasing moods, emotions and ideas rather than following a straightforward, linear narrative. The film is a major achievement, which is also to say it is not the most accessible or traditionally entertaining of films but here’s my advice if you are interested: Brace yourself for the abstractions of the extended cosmic prologue, which dramatizes the beginnings of the Universe. Know that the domestic scenes set in 1950s Texas suburbia that follow are rich in emotion and feature compassionate performances from Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and newcomer Hunter McCracken. Let the mosaic of imagery and music wash over you. Don’t expect a conventional plot but look instead at the small, familial moments Mr. Malick creates and find parallels in your own life. The Tree of Life can be a profoundly moving experience if you’re in the right frame of mind for it. Terrence Malick has crafted a landmark in contemporary American cinema and, for my money, the year’s best film.

- Steve Avigliano, 2/25/12 

Best of 2011: My Favorite Performances

The following are my favorite performances of 2011. They are the men and women* who stood out to me, who were vital to the success of the films they were in, who I thought about weeks and months after seeing. They are presented in alphabetical order by last name except one that I have chosen as my absolute favorite of the year.

Joel Edgarton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte – Warrior

There is a lot to love about the rousing fight drama Warrior but its cast is especially impressive. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgarton give understated performances as estranged brothers, one an angry Iraq War veteran (Hardy); the other, a devoted father (Edgarton). Together, with Nick Nolte, who plays their recovering alcoholic father, they form a fractured – and believable – family whose complex relationships elevate the film beyond the ring.

Michael Fassbender – X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method

Michael Fassbender had a great year. He starred in a new Jane Eyre as Rochester, a plum role for any brooding actor, and got a lot of attention playing a sex addict in Shame (both films unseen by me). His intensity was a standout of X-Men: First Class where he played the young, Nazi-hunting Magneto, and he gave a more nuanced performance as psychologist Carl Jung in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method. I don’t doubt we will continue to see strong work from him in the future.

Ryan Gosling – Drive, The Ides of March

Speaking of great years, how about that Ryan Gosling? After the romantic comedy Crazy Stupid Love, he had two killer leading roles. I wasn’t as wowed by Drive as some were but I admired Mr. Gosling’s work as the nameless protagonist whose silence hints at a deeply troubled past. And in The Ides of March, he held his own sharing scenes with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. I’d be hard pressed to name a better young star.

Jeremy Irons – Margin Call

The financial thriller Margin Call boasts an exceptional ensemble cast (including Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey and Stanley Tucci) but I want to single out Jeremy Irons who plays John Tuld, the CEO of an investment firm facing certain doom. Mr. Irons has a voice well suited to villainy (his voice will still be familiar to many as that of Scar from The Lion King) but his portrayal of this cold, calculating billionaire is not one-dimensional. Tuld conveys the gravity of their dire situation without wavering from his brutal, capitalist morals, and Mr. Irons delivers some potentially heavy-handed monologues forcefully and convincingly. He is a compelling, absorbing presence in every scene.

Hunter McCracken – The Tree of Life

So few children in movies actually act like children but Hunter McCracken’s performance as Jack, the young protagonist of Terrence Malick’s cosmic opus, The Tree of Life, has astonishing depth and complexity. The film is, among other things, about a boy’s transition from carefree, childhood innocence to the emotional burdens of adulthood. Since the film has minimal dialogue, Jack does not feel like the artificial construction of a screenwriter but, rather, a living, breathing kid. He throws angry fits, is dependent on his mother’s love, and runs through the quiet, suburban streets of his home, unaware of the impossible hugeness of the universe he lives in.

Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method

Viggo Mortensen takes on the weighty role of Sigmund Freud and makes it his own with characteristic ease. His Freud is a highly intelligent man who knows full well the scope of his influence and intellect. He exacts his powerful, analytic mind not only on his patients but also his peers and even himself. He speaks with absolute certainty and clarity. This is Mr. Mortensen’s third collaboration and in each film he has turned in a strong (and very different) performance – a rural family man with a past, a Russian mobster. Few actors are so adventurous in their selection of roles and so consistent.

Christopher Plummer – Beginners

The heart of Mike Mills’s warm, autobiographical Beginners rests in Christopher Plummer’s performance as Hal, a feisty old man who responds to his cancer diagnosis with a continued, unflinching zeal for life. Having only recently come out of the closet, Hal is enjoying a newfound freedom in the lifestyle and Mr. Plummer expresses a wealth of happiness behind the smallest of smiles. The last act of life need not be a bittersweet goodbye and Hal’s optimism is contagious, both to his son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor), and to us.

John C. Reilly – Cedar Rapids, Terri, Carnage

John C. Reilly continues to prove how versatile his skills are. He is a gifted comedic actor whose lovable schmo persona was a joy to watch in Carnage, Roman Polanski’s comedy about bickering couples, and his insurance salesman with a rockstar-sized ego was a highlight of Cedar Rapids. He also gave the high school coming-of-age story Terri some laugh out loud moments as a jovial assistant principal. He is the rare actor who is as comfortable in a Will Ferrell comedy as he is in more “serious” fare, stealing scenes wherever he goes.

My Favorite Performance of the Year:

Vera Farmiga – Higher Ground

Faith is a very personal thing and though it is often celebrated in the company of others, such as in the evangelical community in Higher Ground, the process of exploring and discovering one’s faith must first happen internally. Vera Farmiga has the difficult task of playing a woman, Corinne Briggs, who wrestles with her faith, believing at first that she has found it only to question the role the Lord truly plays in her life. These are delicate feelings that are rarely displayed externally and yet, in the film, there is never a moment when we are unsure what is on Corinne’s mind. Mrs. Farmiga expresses Corinne’s hopeful optimism, her disappointment when her marriage and her church let her down, and her unflagging desire and willingness to open her heart to religion. This is a breakthrough performance from an immensely talented actress and is not to be missed.

* Looking over the eleven names above I notice there is only one woman. A sexist oversight on my part? Perhaps. Worth noting, however, is how few substantial roles there are for women in movies today. The majority of movies I saw this year were absent of female leading roles that were not romantic interests to a more heavily featured male character or sexualized. Also worth noting is that the one woman on my list, Vera Farmiga in Higher Ground, also directed the film. Whether or not women need to be behind the camera in order to get quality parts in front of it is a discussion for another time but these are issues worth thinking about.

(Two notable exceptions from this year are the box office hits Bridesmaids and The Help, both directed by men and featuring female ensembles. I wasn’t a fan of either film but in neither case do their faults lie in the acting, which is strong across the board. And I am happy the popularity of Bridesmaids may open doors for more female-centric comedies.)

- Steve Avigliano, 2/23/12

REVIEW: Safe House

Safe House (2012): Dir. Daniel Espinosa. Written by: David Guggenheim. Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga and Nora Arnezeder. Rated R (Stabbings, shootings, blood and bruisings). Running time: 117 minutes.

1 ½ stars (out of four)

There are two kinds of scenes in Safe House, a new thriller cobbled from used parts of the Bourne movies and TV’s 24. There are action scenes (I’ll get to those later) and there are tense exchanges between its two leads, Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. We’ve seen movies like this before. Where two stars go mano-a-mano, one playing a cop, the other a criminal. The formula is very effective when you have two equally compelling actors playing off each other and much less so when one half of the duo is lacking.

Ryan Reynolds plays Matt Weston, a low-level CIA agent stationed at a “safe house” in Cape Town, South Africa. A safe house, apparently, is a run-down building disguising a high-tech interior filled with surveillance equipment and those interrogation rooms with the two-way mirrors. The CIA uses these stations to temporarily house detainees before shipping them elsewhere.

Weston is terribly bored with his work and desperately seeks a promotion. He pleads on the phone with his superior (Brendan Gleeson) to be considered for a more active position but is told he just doesn’t have the necessary experience. One can imagine a similar conversation between Mr. Reynolds and his agent:

“What about that new romance with Rachel McAdams? I could be great in that.”

“I’m sorry, Ryan. The studios just don’t think you can carry the film. But give this action movie a shot. If you can hold your own with Denzel, I’ll see what I can do for you.”

Mr. Washington is the wonderfully named Tobin Frost, a former star of the CIA who went rogue years back and started selling sensitive information to America’s enemies. We see him in a secret meeting with a British agent who hands him a flash drive that contains a file worth untold millions. When someone tries to kill Frost (causing quite the traffic mess in downtown Cape Town), he flees to the American embassy for safety and allows himself to be arrested.

Government officials are understandably skeptical about this. Why is he turning himself in now? What’s he got up his sleeve? Until they can get answers to those questions, they bring Frost to Weston’s safe house. Weston, who spends a typical shift throwing a tennis ball against the wall and listening to a teach-yourself French tape (his girlfriend (Nora Arnezeder), seen in few scenes, is French), can hardly believe such a high-profile target is in his presence. He is even more surprised when the safe house is attacked and he must escape with Frost in custody.

Now on the run together, the two men have an opportunity to get to know each other and Frost wastes no time in starting his mind games. He taunts Weston and flashes him some of those menacing smiles Denzel Washington is so good at. In turn, Weston is mostly a nervous wreck and I found it hard not to interpret Ryan Reynolds’s performance as the actor’s own intimidation in having to play opposite the Oscar-winner. Weston makes for a lousy protagonist; as an inexperienced field agent, he is in over his head and so is Mr. Reynolds. Honestly, is anyone in the audience rooting for him over Denzel?

As previously stated, these scenes only make up one half of Safe House; the remainder of the film’s time is relegated to disorienting shaky-cam action. Director Daniel Espinosa is adept at making the events in his chase scenes unclear and at pushing an already complicated plot into the realm of the incomprehensible. Determining who a given shot is focusing on is often difficult and forget trying to understand why anything in the movie happens.

The higher-ups at the CIA don’t know either and Mr. Gleeson and Vera Farmiga, a resilient actress who gets stuck playing a lot of government agent types, spend a fair amount of time speaking in faux-technical lingo and debating whether or not Weston has gone rogue like Frost. Weston, meanwhile, screws the pooch time and time again, letting Frost get away, then capturing him, then letting him get away once more. Few thrillers are this frantic and yet tedious.

Safe House must have been a walk in the park for Mr. Washington. He is very good in it but by now he is a pro at playing the “so bad he’s good” part. He does little here that he hasn’t already done in better movies. Poor Mr. Reynolds, on the other hand, struggles to keep pace with him. In one of the final scenes, Weston is seen bloodied and bruised after a fight, panting and crawling on the ground while a cool and collected Frost watches from the next room. Rarely do films summarize themselves so neatly and so perfectly.

- Steve Avigliano, 2/12/12

REVIEW: Source Code

Source Code (2011): Dir. Duncan Jones. Written by: Ben Ripley. Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright. Rated PG-13 (some violence including disturbing images, and language). Running time: 93 minutes.

3 ½ stars (out of four)

Source Code is a superb thriller that presents a simple premise, delivers fully what it promises and then, amazingly, keeps going into unexpected but entirely satisfying territory.

That simple premise is of course explained in a lot of sci-fi mumbo jumbo that is not as complicated as it sounds. A U.S. solider, Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal), wakes on a train to find that he is not himself. The woman across from him (Michelle Monaghan) knows him as a friend from work despite his insistence that they have never met. After eight minutes of understandable confusion, the train explodes and he wakes once more, this time strapped into a cold, steel box filled with wires and computer monitors.

With the help of a fellow military captain (Vera Farmiga) who communicates with him through one of these monitors, he realizes he is part of a special mission. He must investigate a train bombing that has already happened, and he does so by entering the body of one of the train’s passengers. A military scientist (Jeffrey Wright) has found a way to recreate the last eight minutes of a person’s life so that a soldier may enter that body and interact with the world as it was during that time.

What follows is a sort of fast-paced take on Groundhog Day. Stevens must relive those eight minutes until he is able to find the bomber. As though he needs the pressure, he is told he must do so before a second attack is made later that day. In the mean time, Stevens is free to interact with the recreated passengers on the train, altering the course of those eight minutes until, as always, the train explodes.

Don’t examine the film’s inner sci-fi workings too closely. In its brief 93 minutes, Source Code grazes over a number of technical details but thankfully uses its time to pursue of more interesting things. The implications of this technology are explored in a number of fascinating ways. How real is this alternate reality? If Stevens successfully stops the bomb and saves the passengers onboard, will the simulation continue beyond eight minutes?

This is the second feature from director Duncan Jones, whose wonderful Moon (which he also wrote) asserted him as a new talent, bringing the smarts and science back into science fiction. Working from a script by Ben Ripley this time, Jones again delivers a thriller that is both big on ideas and terrifically entertaining. The script, equally indebted to Hitchcock and Phillip K. Dick, is brainy but finds a nice balance between its metaphysical ponderings and its explosions. Source Code has its share of action but these scenes are out of necessity of the plot; the story dictates the action here, not the other way around.

The cast is strong too. Jake Gyllenhaal has become a reliable leading man in recent years and does solid work here as a thinking man’s action hero. Like the heroes of Hitchcock who are unaware of what they are getting into until they are already well into it, Gyllenhaal gains the audience’s sympathies early on and keeps us on his side as he figures out what is going on. Farmiga and Wright have the tough job of hinting at the film’s secrets (and there are a few) without giving them away. Neither character is terribly complex or deep, but both actors give strong, nuanced performances.

When more often than not, today’s action movies prefer to numb our minds rather than stimulate them, Source Code is a welcome break from the noise. The film as is thrilling as it is thoughtful, and its cerebral finale turns out to be even more tense and exciting than the excellent action that precedes it. What more could you ask for?

- Steve Avigliano, 4/04/11

BEST OF THE DECADE - #4: The Departed

The Departed (2006): Dir. Martin Scorsese. Written by William Monahan, based on the film Infernal Affairs. Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin. Rated R (strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material). Running time: 151 minutes.

The Departed is the third of three excellent Martin Scorsese films released this decade, each starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Scorsese reasserted his versatility with Gangs of New York and The Aviator, bringing his characteristic energy to a historical drama and biopic, respectively. The Departed has been labeled a “return to form” for the director, returning to the subject of his most acclaimed films: gangsters. While that statement underrates the stellar work he’s been putting out, The Departed is particularly noteworthy for bringing a youthfulness to the world of organized crime Scorsese is so familiar with. In his fourth decade of filmmaking, he hasn’t lost any of his fervor for making kinetic cinema, and The Departed is a rapidly paced, gleefully stylized gangster story.

Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson, opens the film with a voiceover that provides some context to organized crime in Boston, run largely by the Irish as opposed to the Italians who dominate Scorsese’s usual New York. The monologue primarily serves as an introduction to the man who looms large over the film: a racist, vulgar, and psychotic mobster played with over-the-top zeal in a way only Nicholson can get away with. The montage then establishes the two main characters, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a recently promoted state trooper and Costello’s inside man in the state police, and Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) an undercover cop who works his way into becoming one of Costello’s main men. Scorsese packs the opening twenty minutes with necessary exposition and subtle characterizations, introducing us to the main players and, ingeniously, two minor characters that play significant roles in the final scenes. Much is explained in a short amount of time, and Scorsese conveys it all in a stylistic blur of montages, flashbacks and crosscutting.

The Departed’s style is largely indebted to editor Thelma Schoonmaker, a frequent collaborator with Scorsese. Monahan’s script flows beautifully onscreen, every scene transitioning seamlessly into the next. No doubt many scenes were cut, but the final product is so polished, it’s difficult to imagine a single shot out of place. The editing also brings out some revealing contrasts by frequently intercutting scenes of Costigan’s terrifying and violent life undercover, with scenes of Costigan enjoying a cushy job and an upper-class lifestyle. The constantly moving camera also brings much energy to the film, panning and zooming to follow the rhythms of the dialogue and to underscore the character dynamics.

The attention to detail in the film elevates it beyond the expectations for the average gangster movie, and Scorsese’s use of sound plays a large part in bringing out these details. The first time we meet Costigan, we understand his intelligence by hearing his quick pencil scratches on his police exam. Another scene uses only the sound of screeching car brakes as a transition between scenes, conveying the immediacy of the moment without wasting the few seconds it would take to have an establishing shot of the car. Throughout the film the two double agents communicate with their superiors via cell phones, and phone vibrations and rings play a major role in creating tension. One of the tensest scenes in the film is comprised of little more than close-ups of Costigan and Sullivan and the sound of a vibrating phone.

As is expected with a Scorsese film, The Departed also features an excellent soundtrack, with nearly every scene in the film accompanied by music. The Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter,” a favorite of Scorsese’s, appears more than once, as does Dropkick Murphy’s “Shipping Up to Boston,” which becomes something of an anthem for the film. John Lennon’s “Well Well Well” appears moments before Costello humorously misquotes the music legend, and a great live version of “Comfortably Numb” ironically accompanies a scene between Costigan and Madolyn, his pain killer supplier. Howard Shore’s score, performed mostly by Spanish guitars rather than an orchestra, fills in the gaps with a few memorable themes.

Adapted from the Chinese thriller, Infernal Affairs, William Monahan’s script uses dark humor much as Scorsese’s Goodfellas does, providing some unexpected laughs in an otherwise dense crime drama. Much of this humor comes from the banter of Costello’s cronies and the state police, men whose daily exposure to crime have caused them to take a cavalier approach to violence. The script features a slew of vulgar but undeniably funny one-liners, most of which are uttered by Mark Wahlberg in an Oscar-nominated performance. The heart of the film, however, revolves around Sullivan and Costigan, and DiCaprio and Damon express a range of anxieties as the two men lose track of their identities by pretending to be other people. Vera Farmiga makes a complex character out of a supporting role, Dr. Madolyn Madden, a therapist who becomes involved with the two men, and her dialogue with them provides absorbing interludes to the main action.

Watching the film again, The Departed’s complex plot holds up, and its thematic layers continue to reveal themselves after multiple viewings. Scorsese packs every shot with small details, visual jokes and foreshadowing. The result is that of supreme craftsmanship, and one of Scorsese’s most vibrantly entertaining films to date.

REVIEW: Up in the Air

Up in the Air (2009): Dir. Jason Reitman. Written by: Sheldon Turner and Jason Reitman. Based on a novel by Walter Kim. Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick. Rated R (language and some sexual content). Running time: 109 minutes.

4 stars (out of four)

There’s a sense of exhilaration that comes with independence. Moving at your own pace, doing what you want to do, setting goals and accomplishing them without the help of others. Being on your own might be the only way to truly learn about yourself, to find your identity underneath the mess of personal, social, business and all other relationships. This philosophy is one shared by Ryan Bingham, whose motivational speeches encourage attendees to imagine their life in a backpack. The fewer things and people in the backpack, the faster you move. But there’s a blurred line between independence and loneliness not addressed in Bingham’s speech, and it is this line that Up in the Air examines.

Ryan Bingham, played with characteristic cockiness (or is it charm?) by George Clooney, works for a company that serves as the middleman for corporations across the country who seek to lay off their employees. Men and women like Bingham meet with the soon-to-be-terminated employees, inform them of their company’s decision and present them with a self-help packet of new opportunities available in life after the pink slip. Bingham has perfected his job to an art. He enjoys it. He loves the constant movement of traveling, informing us that he’s on the road over 300 days a year, and he’s a great talker. Bingham, from his brutal profession to his self-isolating ideology, has all the components of an immensely unlikable character, and yet we’re drawn to him, even admiring him for his calculated efficiency. Clooney’s casting is key and without it, the humorous asides, the self-congratulation and all of Bingham’s narration would fall flat. Director Jason Reitman understands the importance of casting a charming actor as his unlikable protagonist. Aaron Eckhart’s performance as a tobacco lobbyist in Reitman’s 2006 film, Thank You For Smoking, succeeds in making an otherwise despicable man a delight. Clooney’s performance isn’t anything new for him as an actor – Clooney knows a thing or two about turning up the charm – but the script allows for a more complex characterization than Danny Ocean. There’s truth in Bingham’s motivational speeches, but there’s more to him than his lecturing lets on.

These hidden layers start to reveal themselves with the help of Bingham’s two foils: Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), a fellow corporate travel addict who presents the possibility to Bingham of finding a soulmate, and young Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a new employee at the company who steps on Bingham’s toes by suggesting the company go online to cut travel costs. Farmiga, whose fine performance in The Departed was overshadowed by that film’s stars, exudes a cool confidence in her early scenes with Clooney and gradually reveals real compassion. She brings more to the table than simply being the romantic interest by creating an honest portrayal of a businesswoman closing in on middle aged. Kendrick plays Natalie just under a caricature, balancing her ruthlessness with romantic naiveté as Bingham takes her under his wing to show her the ropes of the business. Jason Bateman proves himself reliable as always in a supporting role as Bingham’s boss, and character actors J.K. Simmons and Zach Galifianakis have memorable cameos as well in a scene apiece.

Much of the film’s success comes from Reitman’s style as a director. Every stylistic choice he makes enriches the themes and characters. He uses quick cuts as Bingham explains the packing process to emphasize his efficiency and moves the movie along at a brisk pace without sacrificing more tender scenes. Too often so-called “dramadies,” such as Up in the Air, treat the tone of a scene as falling in either the comedy camp or drama, and they lurch back and forth between the two genres until the movie ends. Reitman, however, understands the need to show how the two tones intertwine, crafting moments that are simultaneously humorous and poignant.

The film also makes good use of its soundtrack, using pop songs to underscore themes of travel and isolation. The opening title sequence, for example, pairs aerial photos with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings’ funkified version of “This Land Is Your Land” as a way of introducing Bingham’s pioneer attitude while providing an ironic introduction to corporate America’s industrialized land.

Some might argue that the film’s theme of downsizing and its topical references to a poor economic climate might keep the film from attaining a timeless status, but its emotional core remains the primary focus. Reitman creates a dialogue between Bingham’s backpack philosophy and the more romantic belief in the importance of building an emotional connection with another person. Up in the Air successfully gives us a capsule of our moment in time and shows us the humanity of it. And isn’t that what all films should do?

- Steve Avigliano, 12/30/09