SANDY GARNETT ART BLOG

I am a Redford and Morgan Freeman fan, and I am developing a respect for Josh Lucas, who has come quietly into his own in the past several years, notably in Undertow of 2004, but nothing can ruin a picture faster than the acting nightmare that is Jennifer Lopez.  At the pinnacle of An Unfinished Life Ms. Lopez fails at her task so terribly that I turned the movie off and had to start again the next day.  This scene recalled Halle Berry’s horrendous acting job when she plays drunk in Monster’s Ball, which is when I stopped believing that movie.  Alas, she received an Acadamy for this effort, which suggests to me that many in the Acadamy have an agenda or are blind to bad drunks.  I have nothing against Ms. Lopez; she’s pretty, she seems sweet and makes every scene she’s in come off like a cheap B movie unfortunately, unless she’s not speaking.  The story is a big set piece like the Truman Show, a clumsily overly lit direction effort that plays like Life As A House, another piece of piffle I didn’t buy.  There are moments in the movie; waitress Camryn Manheim’s reflection is powerful and noteworthy, Becca Gardner’s Griff displays an earnest pride I want to see more of.  Redford and Freeman have trouble finding their groove together in a movie where every tangential character or symbol is playing for forgiveness in crusty lockstep as the main characters work their thing out.  Although director Lasse Holstrom tries to use Redford as he was in the Natural and Freeman as he was in The Shawshank Redemption, this story had potential but the direction lacks heart, cool, nuance and Ms. Lopez should never be used in a drama that intends to move an audience.

I enjoyed this meandering film which moves between Tristram Shandy THE MOVIE and the fictional production of the movie, its actors, writers, and production.

This work is its own animal, very English historically and therefore untouchable in certain ways before declaring ‘CUT’ and moving into the soap opera style documentary of the film’s production. The movie manages to meld the working lives of actors with their respective material in an original, humorous and engaging way.  Actors are the big joke all movie which is refreshing.  I was reminded of Being John Malkovich.

 This is a good one for the film set and humor fanatics, a weird cool riff like the Aristocrats or something, an insider’s movie.

A Prairie Home Companion is one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. Robert Altman brings Garrison Kiellor’s brainchild longtime famous running radio show to the silver screen with humor and poignance. The venerable director pied pipers a brilliant cast wherever he goes and Kiellor spins characters into yarn with hysterically consistent Americana mastery, so these two are a match made in heaven if your mind bends this way. Meryl Streep is particularly powerful as fragile Yolanda Johnson, skating between laughter and tears with blades which move through the audience at her whim. Her sister is played by Lily Tomlin and this pair make heartbreaking moments while Woody Harrelson and John Reilly provide rawhide slim jims of comic cowpoke relief. Kiellor is an impeccably timed creature to observe as with binoculars from a platform, and his effortless segues from one act into another fall right into Altman’s trap. The metaphysical moments are strange, almost Cohen brothers like and questionably unnecessary. Anyone who has been on or behind a stage in any capacity will appreciate this insightful eye into the slippery sloping whirlpool of performance life.

Cast and Movie information at imdb.com

Best Films 2006

 The History Boys

Apocalypto 

Prairie Home Companion 

The Illusionist

The Departed 

Little Miss Sunshine 

Invincible - so far best sports picture 

TOP 10
Best Film - Grizzly Man(remarkable documentary)
Murder Ball, Walk the Line, Match Point , Pride and Prejudice , Capote, Cache , History of Violence, The Upside of Anger, The New World
SHORT LIST
King Kong, Memory of a Killer, 40 Year Old Virgin
ENTERTAINING
The Beat That Skipped My Heart, In Good Company , Wedding Crashers, Star Wars III, Cinderella Man, Batman Begins, Good Night and Good Luck, Junebug, Look At Me , Greatest Game Ever Played , Penguin Movie, The Constant Gardener

(Please note that I see what I can as a nonpaid enthusiast)