Eastern Promises

It's always with hesitation that I go to my next movie, after a film like "3:10 to Yuma". I didn't go see "Shoot 'Em Up" or "The Brave One" for that very reason. It's been a couple of weeks, and I kind of wanted to get back in the theater, hopefully to see something good. "Eastern Promises" was a good next movie. Like so many films it would be easy to sum up the general plot of the film in a few sentences, but to do so would almost belittle what made the film good. Now I could tell you that it is the gentle love story between a kind woman and a brutal man. Yes, that would capture the essence of the film, but it would miss all the other pieces of the puzzle. The bad guys in this film get more than equal time, they are people too. Some of our initial impressions, just like in real life are sometimes not quite right. There are relationships between people who would rather not even know each other, and sometimes those are the most interesting. I feel that it is my obligation once again to point out that when I review a rated R movie, and I mention that one of the characters is "brutal", I can't be held completely responsible for people watching this film who probably would rather not. As I see these films, including "3:10 to Yuma", I understand that the violence is there for a reason, in many cases to jolt us and contrast good against evil. At the same time, I believe that it almost always is overused or misused. Maybe another time we can discuss some examples and exaimine this closer, but right now I've got to get some sleep. Goodnight.

Rescue Dawn and 3:10 to Yuma

Chistian Bale is one of the best actors of my generation, and also one of my favorite. In the last few years he's been in "The Machinist", "Batman", "The Prestige" and "Harsh Times". Of course that's not even mentioning "Little Women", "American Psycho" or "Shaft". Can you think of another actor with that kind of range? Neither can I. Now we can add "Rescue Dawn" and "3:10 to Yuma" to his list of accomplishments. Both characters have strengths and weaknesses, but they are so different at the same time. I am fascinated to find out what his technique for preparing for roles is. He seems so effortlessly to become the character, and I don't even think about it being Christian Bale, I accept him as the person he is portraying. I mentioned to Jess how this was different from Russell Crowe's role in "3:10 to Yuma", just about the whole movie, I was like "that's so typical Russell Crowe." or "I bet that's what Russell Crowe is like in real life". Now that isn't bad, just like Pacino, DeNiro or Nicholson, sometimes the actor's persona actually contributes to the character they are playing. But I have a great deal of respect for Bale, to select such a wide range of roles and then to disappear so wonderfully into each one.

"Rescue Dawn" was an interesting look at a group of POWs at the beginning of the war in Vietnam. I wanted to see the film because Christian Bale was in it, and because I had heard that it was a beautiful film, with the jungle landscapes actually being a character in the story. Maybe because I heard that, I focused so much on the cinematography and the emphasis on the locations. It was lush, green, wet, hot, forbidding and Christian Bale did a good job too. The stroy itself wasn't anything new, and I don't think there were any deep messages. It was a good thing, as it always is, to be reminded of what men have done in service of this country. I think that even with a war going on today it is so easy to not notice since most of our lives are unaffected. There also was the basic premise of friendship, and the need for human contact, that's always a good thing too, so if you are in the mood for a trip into the jungles near Vietnam, this might be a good choice for you.

"3:10 to Yuma" isn't a great Western. Of course the greatest Western of all time (The Searchers) wasn't great because it was a Western, it was great because it rose above any genre. "3:10" does the same, in it's own way. The overall story, and the characters it contains mostly have been done before, but not quite like this. Christian Bale is a hero that represents what we would be like if we were hereos. Flawed, inadequate, unsure and afraid. Sure, we've all seen movies about reluctant heroes, but rarely do we see someone play it like it's who they really are, struggling between their heart and their will right there onscreen. Then we get the Russell Crowe character. I could compare his perfomance to another famous actor, but in doing so I migh unintentionally give awy too much about the film. Let's just say that seldom do you see a truly wicked bad guy who we actually get to know as the film progresses. What I liked was that the stroyline allowed us to see Crowe's personality and motivation, without it being an excuse for him or an attempt to convince us to like him. The film wasn't a great Western, just like "Brokeback Mountain" wasn't. This was a good movie, with well developed, brilliantly acted characters, in a Western setting.