So What On A Gigantic Scale

There are movies with a lot of hype and famous actors, but they end up being very disappointing. Then there are others with less famous actors, adapted from a true story, but are equally disappointing. In fact, both The Place Beyond The Pines and The Iceman belong to these categories.

The Place Beyond The Pines came with a lot of hype - Canada's golden boy Ryan Gosling all tattooed up and People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive last year, Bradley Cooper, collaborating in a movie for the first time. Director Derek Cianfrance made Blue Valentine after more than 10 years of hard work and produced an excellent work of art. He and Ryan Gosling worked together again in their latest movie and naturally I have huge expectations. After all, Gosling is also Hollywood's 'it' boy at the moment and he can pick any script he likes. Apart from The Hangover sequel, Bradley Cooper was also seldom in a bad flick.

So how come The Place Beyond The Pines is a big disappointment? Because at the end of the movie, you'll ask, "So what's the point?" Are we supposed to have empathy for Luke the motorcycle stunt rider turned bank robber (played by Gosling)? Or is Cianfrance trying to tell us that DNA is the most important component of the second generation - like father like son? Or are we supposed to feel bad for the guilty cop Avery (played by Cooper) trying to make up for what he did wrong to a bank robber ages ago? Cianfrance always focuses on small-town, blue-collar folks, but somehow in this movie, I just don't see the point.

What makes The Iceman even more disappointing is that it's based on a true story. Pollack Richard Kuklinski (played by the very talented Michael Shannon who was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in Revolutionary Road) spent his entire life as a contract killer while being a family man at the same time. So I get it that Kuklinski has a double identity but because he's so violent and morally chilling, I don't end up empathizing with him or his family at all. His wife Deborah (played by Winona Ryder), particularly, seems to be primarily motivated by material things in life.

The only pleasant surprises are Friends' David Schwimmer who's almost unrecognizable in his role as gangster Josh; and James Franco, playing a very minor role in the film. I've never heard of the director Ariel Vromen who should, perhaps, have made a documentary instead of producing an entire movie sporting violence with no connection with the audience at all.
A movie adapted from a true story of a contract killer - so what?

Mud: A Contemporary Huckleberry Finn

The very southern movie Mud was very misleading in its trailer as it could be misconstrued as just another fugitive-hunting thriller. In fact, it's a very poetic, modern version of a Huckleberry Finn story.

I wasn't familiar with director/writer Jeff Nichols's previous works as this is only his third feature film and I've never seen his other two - Take Shelter and Shotgun Stories. But the Arkansas-born director has totally earned my confidence after this latest work of his. The film was shot throughout Arkansas and the beauty of the river, the animals, the birds and the weather are as important as the principal characters. The movie is ironic and poetic at the same time. Set against a southern town with a dishevelled fugitive, powerful bounty hunters, a mysterious ex-vet loner, a messed-up female white-trash, and two teenage boys, the flick oozes dirty masculinity and childish sentimentalism at the same time. The teenage boy wants to be a romantic, heroic adult and the adult fugitive is actually a romantic kid at heart.

Matthew McConaughey continues to surprise me as he ages. Here's an actor who was once voted People's Magazine Sexiest Man Alive and gained popularity via numerous roles in romantic comedies. But recently, he's turned into a character actor and dazzled us with his performance in Magic Mike, Killer Joe  and, now, Mud. The 43-year-old actor with Paul Newman's eyes is definitely having a ball and entering new territories with his film career. I've never paid any attention to his acting until Magic Mike  and Mud just confirms that McConaughey is comfortable in his own skin and no longer relies on his good looks.

All the supporting actors are excellent in this movie, particularly Tye Sheridan who has matured since his acting debut in The Tree of Life. I was quite shocked to see Sam Shepard aging so badly in this movie. What has happened to the handsome, rugged Renaissance man who's had Jessica Lange's heart for so song?

The recently omnipresent Michael Shannon (who's nominated for an Academy Award in his supporting role in Revolutionary Road) has a minor, ordinary part in this film; and apart from confirming that he can play a normal, average guy, his huge talent as an actor is really wasted in this movie.

Mud is a very pleasant surprise, but a very memorable one too!