The Counselor and The Rainmaker

Alright, so I misled you with the title, this is really only a review of "The Rainmaker" with a peppering of commentary regarding "The Counselor".  One of these movies is inspiring and thought provoking, while the other is simply depressing without a ray of hope.  I would suggest that both films accomplish exactly what they set out to do, and that is a compliment to their respective cast and directors.  Yet after seeing "The Counselor", I had an intense desire to see a good movie with some redeeming values, so I watched "The Rainmaker" again; and I thought it would be good to share that film with you.

Francis Ford Coppola directed this adaptation of a John Grisham novel, in which a fresh out of law school lawyer takes on a huge insurance company.  Had I not included the first three words of the previous sentence, this movie would have inevitably succumbed to cheap clichés and sleep inducing courtroom scenes.  Grisham's other filmed works all have more action and intrigue than this story contains, yet Coppola understands how to captivate an audience; never do we feel that what's missing here is a scene of Tom Cruise running...  My math teacher told us the other day that "a pessimist is simply a well informed optimist".  I'm not sure how that fits into the context of this review, except to say that the young lawyer in this film (played by Matt Damon) began his pursuit of law with eyes open.  He makes statements throughout the movie acknowledging that lawyers aren't supposed to get personally invested in their clients... "but there's all kinds of lawyers" he notes.  I would ask two questions about Damon's young lawyer:  Is he successful because he cares about his client?  Is he able to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds because he is passionate?  In the cliché ridden movie directed by anyone other than Coppola the answer would instantly be "yes" to both questions.  What I like about "The Rainmaker" is that I came to the conclusion as to which characters I would despise, and which ones I would admire all on my own (or at least Coppola let me feel that way).  As "The Counselor" comes to a close, if you find yourself admiring any of the characters (living or dead), then I'm afraid you weren't paying attention.  In "The Rainmaker" you'll get at least five, and as far as Hollywood goes, that's as uplifting a film as you'll ever get.

Captain Phillips

After making his mark directing the second two Jason Bourne movies, Paul Greengrass has taken on some interesting projects.  "United 93" was about the heroes aboard the plane that ultimately went down in a Pennsylvania field on September 11th.  "Green Zone" starred Matt Damon as an agent in the Middle East looking for weapons that may or may not exist.  And now comes "Captain Phillips", a modern day pirate story in which "pirate" is simply a technical term.  Greengrass is just as interested with the men who turn to piracy, as he is with their victims.  The opening dialogue between Captain Phillips (played by Tom Hanks) and his wife foreshadows the bloody conclusion:  Phillips is worried about their children as they come into adulthood, noting the declining opportunity in his specific line of work.  The next scene takes place in an impoverished Somali fishing village, where piracy seems to exist out of necessity.  For the rest of the film Greengrass gives much screen time to the leader of a small band of pirates named Muse (played by Barkhad Abdi ), making special note of his intelligence, sense of humor, and drive.  Phillips' character is naturally more refined where these qualities are concerned, but he realizes that Muse's desperation is what ultimately trumps all else.  It is to Tom Hank's credit that there are no real surprises in his performance.  From the conscientious captain in the early scenes, to the powerful final moments in which basic human emotions overwhelm him, Hank's portrayal of Phillips feels spot-on.  What causes this film to stand out is Barkhad Abdi's role as the untraditional antagonist.  I was rooting for him in certain situations, felt compassion at other times, and in the end honestly feel that his punishment is too severe.  There aren't any cheap shortcuts taken, we don't see any starving Somalis or even know whether these men have families back home.  Greengrass allows Phillips (and in turn, the audience) to become sympathetic towards the pirates, not because he believes that they're right, but because they are men like him.

Monsters University

"Monsters University" lacks a certain element which made "Monsters Inc." great; Boo.  While Boo was not the primary focus of the first film in this series, she was the glue that held everything together.  The genius of "Monsters Inc." was in its creative approach towards the audience.  To sympathize with monsters who scare children for a living, the monsters must have a comparable fear of children.  I can imagine the original pitch for "Monster's Inc." was a difficult sell, there were so many ways that this movie could go wrong.  Yet the team at Pixar was able to successfully walk the narrow line between scaring children, and not taking them seriously.  A pivotal scene was the moment in which Sulley shows off his ability to scare, and unintentionally frightens Boo.  The look on his face, followed by his attempts to reassure her (he is persistent) was masterfully executed; the scene did not need to be disturbing to children viewers, yet they could understand why Boo was scared.  And the icing on the cake in "Monsters Inc." was the beautifully coordinated door warehouse sequence.  When something so intricate can be visually represented smoothly and clearly, that is something special.

"Monsters University" does not have a character to fill Boo's shoes.  Yet it still contains the humor and creativity which filled the first film.  I think this movie may actually have been funnier (Ashley told me afterwards that I had been laughing a lot).  I especially liked Don, a monster returning to school after years as a salesman...  I think his situation was somewhat identifiable to me.  As I look back on this review, I realize that the bulk was devoted to "Monsters Inc."  I didn't mean for that to happen; it's not my fault that it was the better movie.