Film Facts: 4.22.16
A perfect combination of pathos, comedy, depression and romance hooks up Tom Hanks with one of his Cloud Atlas directors Tom Tykwer.
A Hologram For The King has Hanks as a mild mannered businessman who travels to Saudi Arabia. Hanks is under pressure from his bosses to clinch a deal that involves high tech conferencing that utilizes holograms. The King of Saudi Arabia doesn’t do deals on Western time. Hanks works out his frustration by getting bombed on (illegal) alcohol.
Hanks befriends a driver/guide, attends a decadent party at the Danish embassy, meets an attractive lady doctor (Sarita Choudhury), and even attempts to self-lance a huge boil on his back. There is a constant back and forth between the high and low aspects of the country.
Tykwer keeps the viewer off balance in the sense that at any given moment you don’t really know if Hanks’ character is happy or dying. The film opens with Hanks talk singing to the audience the lyrics to a Talking Heads song. “This is not my beautiful wife.” A Hologram For The King opens in area theaters.
Louder Than Bombs observes the dynamics of two sons brought together with their father after the death of their mother. A tony cast includes Jesse Eisenberg, Isabelle Huppert, and Gabriel Byrne.
Direction by Joachim Trier focuses on the psychological state of the characters and to what degree they can handle the truth of the situation. Overall the drama stagnates and Louder Than Bombs never delivers the kind of fireworks its cast would suggest.
When it rains it pours, and this week offers not one but two films that deal with jazz legends who played the trumpet. Born to be Blue, opening at the downtown Sundance Cinemas Houston, follows the trajectory of horn player and lead singer Chet Baker during a mid-career resurgence.
Baker’s life was dominated by drug addiction and by the late-60s his legacy was all but forgotten. Flash back to the ‘50s and Baker was at the top of his game winning Best Vocalist from DownBeat Magazine.
Ethan Hawke captures the inner turmoil of the artist. On one hand gangsters have pistol-whipped him, breaking his teeth and all but putting an end to his career over debts incurred over drugs. On the other hand his muse and girlfriend seems to offer a way to the straight life. Hanging over everything like the scales of justice is the feeling of escape Baker gets from being high on heroin.
At its best Born to be Blue recreates some wonderful performances of songs that defined Baker’s persona, including the title and “My Funny Valentine.”
The only thing to recommend The Adderall Diaries is a stupendous performance by James Franco as novelist Stephen Elliott, based on Elliott’s memoir of the same name. But does Franco ever not deliver?
Elliott’s agent (Cynthia Nixon) demands he come up with pages to meet the requirements of his contractual obligation. Elliott has too much on his mind; mainly an increasing masochistic relation with his girlfriend Amber Heard (brunette for a change) and his love hate relation with his father (Ed Harris, another actor who always delivers). Elliott also gets involved in the murder trial (Christian Slater as the defendant), as he feels a book on the subject could redefine his image.
Overall The Adderall Diaries has some fine points but it also feels like the filmmakers didn’t leave the whole concoction in the oven long enough. The film’s distributor A24 has had some critical success with previous releases this year like The Witch, Krisha, and Remember. But The Adderall Diaries is being dumped in a handful of AMC theaters that suggests that A24 didn’t have the faith to book the movie into one of Houston’s more prestigious art houses.
Alex De La Iglesia not only has a cool name but he’s hands-down one of the best international directors currently making films. Anything this guy touches deserves your attention.
His latest import My Big Night takes place behind the scenes at a television broadcast recording of a New Year’s Eve show (being shot in October). In a typical Iglesia twist Spain’s most renowned songster Raphael (imagine Kenny Rogers, Frank Sinatra and Willie Nelson all rolled up into a ball) plays a diva performer who will stop at nothing to sabotage his protégé, the sexy pop singer Adán (Mario Casas). Hilarity ensues despite deadly on-set accidents, groupies trying to procure rock star semen, riot police trying to stem protesters of the production, and other hosts of the show who are at each other’s throats.
My Big Night unwinds exclusively at the Alamo Drafthouse Vintage Park. There’s never a dull moment in this delicious comedy.
— Michael Bergeron
