Quick takes on 5 films

I should have listened to the critics (and my instincts) and avoided the film Radioactive. But I thought, Rosamund Pike is a good actress and I tend to like biopics, so why not? The story of Marie Skłosowska Curie, it follows her marriage to fellow scientist Pierre Curie, their initial pioneering research into radioactivity (and discovery of 2 new elements, radium and polonium), and subsequent heath problems from being around such elements for so long. Despite being a fascinating person, the first woman to win a Nobel prize (receiving 2 in her life), the movie is a jumbled mess. It jumps around way too much in both story and themes, telling Curie’s life, but also inexplicably showing disasters in the future which resulted from her research, like nuclear bombs and the Chernobyl disaster. And even events in her life are hit willy nilly, bouncing around worse than an errant ping pong ball. Pike does her best with the material, but no one could save this disaster. The only thing the film did for me was get me to look up Curie’s life, and learn more than the film told me, including some fascinating tidbits. Did you know all of her research and papers, even her cookbooks, are still so radioactive today that they are stored in lead containers, and can’t be handled without protective gear? ★½

Sweet Bean is a lovely film from Japanese director Naomi Kawase. It is about a man, Sentaro, who runs a small dorayaki (traditional Japanese sweet) shop, frequently visited by local students but not many others. He is visited one day by an older woman in her 70’s, Tokue, who begs for a job as his assistant, even though he really doesn’t need one. He tries to say no, but she woos him with her delicious bean paste, the central ingredient to dorayaki. Tokue has disfigured hands, so she teaches Sentaro her secret recipe, and the new dish is a hit, drawing huge crowds. However, Sentaro learns that Tokue’s deformity was caused by leprosy, and when this is recognized by others, business takes a nose dive. Sentaro must balance his friendship with Tokue and his obligation to the people who own his shop. Some films like this can get sappy, or very introspective, but this one isn’t neither, so even though you have to be good with subtitles, it is a very accessible picture. Really nice film. ★★★½

The Invisible Man is a tale of two halves. The first half is great, the second, not so much. It certainly starts out right. Cecelia is running away from an abusive, controlling boyfriend, Adrian, in the dead of night. Total silence creates a completely suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat escape, and even when it shifts 2 weeks into the future, you still feel her fear when she walks to the mailbox. Cecelia finds relief when she gets news that Adrian has been found dead of an apparent suicide, and as a bonus, he left her a bunch of money. However, she begins to experience strange things, such as feelings that she’s not alone in a room, or a wisp of wind against her neck. It’s a good scary flick through this. Then when the “invisible man” is unveiled, the movie becomes something else. It loses the scares and becomes like a sci-fi thriller. There’s some good moments still, but there’s some weird stuff in there that feels out of place from the earlier set-up. I enjoyed the ending ok, but I can’t say the movie is as good as the critics made it out to be. Nothing really groundbreaking here, though props to Elizabeth Moss for showing off her acting chops on the big screen in a leading role after so many supporting parts, and years of successful stints on TV. ★★½

1BR is a decent, low budget horror flick from first-time writer/director David Marmor, and featuring newcomer Nicole Brydon Bloom in the lead as Sarah. Sarah is new to LA, running away from something at home. She’s working as a temp and has just landed her first apartment out there, with a tight, friendly community in the building. She has trouble sleeping at night though, with strange noises coming from the plumbing, and other weird bursts throughout the nights after dark. She also starts getting threatening letters slipped under her door, due to Sarah having snuck in her cat despite the building’s no pet policy. A few of her neighbors, who seemed nice and welcoming at first, start to come off as a bit weird, and there’s obviously more to this community than what Sarah was first aware. When the reasons become clear, the viewer is rewarded, not to a paranormal spooky story, but to a (could be?) plausible thriller. Bloom’s not bad in the lead, and is more than just a pretty face, which is obviously the trap many of these kinds of movies lure you in with. ★★★

The Way Back is a sports drama film about a man finding his way back to life. Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) is a local legend in his area but has never followed up on the promise of his high school basketball star days. His marriage is on the rocks and he’s a high functioning alcoholic, working construction but clandestinely drinking throughout the day and hitting it hard at night. When the basketball coach of his alma mater, Bishop Hayes, becomes ill, the Father of the school approaches Jack about coaching. The school hasn’t made the playoffs in 25 years, since Jack led them to state championships. As Jack starts to rebuild the program, he has to rebuild himself, and we learn what brought him to this place in his life as the film goes along. The movie is unsurprisingly chuck full of cliches, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. Affleck shows again that he can really act when he gets the right part (or, more likely, invests himself in the role). The film doesn’t break any new ground in the genre, but it is a good sports film with a lot of heart. I’m a sports nerd and tend to overrate sports movies, so take that as you will, but still, I really enjoyed it. ★★★★