Quick takes on Nine Days and other films

Inspired by the events of the Amanda Knox arrest, Stillwater is about a single dad, Bill Baker, who is trying to prove his daughter’s innocence after she’s been jailed for murder in France. Allison has already be in jail for 5 years and still have 4 more to go, found guilty for killing her girlfriend Lina. One day in jail, she hears a fellow inmate talking about a man who admitted to the murder for which Allison has been incarcerated. Her father Bill, a working class man from Stillwater OK, who’s been visiting his daughter regularly since her time in jail, makes the permanent move to France to help dig up evidence in the case, hoping to find enough to make an appeal worthwhile. Matt Damon as Bill is OK, Abigail Breslin as Allison is very good, and the story is alright, but it all doesn’t come together great. It tries hard to push the needle but I never felt all that invested in the characters, and in the end, it comes off as a fairly average crime mystery. ★★½

Nicolas Cage is good for churning out 4-6 movies a year, most of questionable, or downright bad, quality. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile, and sometimes Cage lands a good role where he can showcase his considerable acting chops. This is one of those rare gems. In Pig, Cage plays Rob, a loner with a pet pig who forages for truffles, selling them to a local young entrepreneur, Amir, who in turn flips them to high-end restaurants in nearby Portland. Rob’s pig, his only companion in this world, is stolen from him one night, and Rob calls on Amir’s help to try to track down the thieves. Asking around lands them with some junkies, who were paid to nab the pig, but from there the trail leads into the city. While they are hunting the true culprits, Amir learns more about the mysterious Rob, who seems to be very well known in Portland every where they go. A movie about loss and heart, and living the life you want, the path you choose, this is a subtle and nuanced film which will move you, if you have the patience to let it breathe. ★★★★

I’ve been burned by Rotten Tomatoes enough times that you’d think I’d learn my lesson. Coming Home in the Dark is the latest dud that website made me try. It’s about a family of three who goes out to do so fishing out in the boons, only to be attacked by a duo of sadistic young men. They brutally kill the boy, and then gather the husband and wife into the car for a little drive. Only over the next couple hours do their motives become clear, and we see that it was no coincidence that brought them together. 92% of so-called critics have given this movie a fresh rating on the aforementioned website, but I just don’t see how. It’s a dumb B movie traipsed to seem like it has some deeper thought-provoking core at its middle, but it’s just wall dressing. Not even scary enough to be called a thriller. ★

Thankfully my day turned around with Nine Days, which is just the sort of gem that keeps me watching small budget indie films. It’s a fantasy drama about a man, Will, who spends his days watching a wall of TV’s in his living room and taking notes. Shown on the various screens are the viewpoints of the people Will has selected to live a life on Earth. Will is an interviewer of souls, and it is his decision which souls get to be born and live. Will is most proud of Amanda, a musical prodigy on violin with a bright future ahead of her, but she dies in a sudden car wreck, which appears to possibly be a suicide. Will is shaken, but it is now his task to fill that blank screen on his wall with a new soul, so the nine day interview process begins. He begins interviewing a half dozen new souls, each with an individual personality, to see who will get his approval to be born. While he is weeding out the one who he thinks is worthy, Will continues to re-watch Amanda’s life tapes, trying to find the one thing he missed that drove her to her end. He is accompanied by his boss, Kyo, who is there to oversee and make sure Will is making the right choice, but ultimately, it is Will’s decision, as he once lived a life on Earth, and Kyo never did. With all this responsibility, Will takes a very emotionless attitude, and wants to pick the one soul that will live by the rules and have a good life. His normally easy interview process is thrown into disarray by Emma, a soul who doesn’t play by the rules and is very much a free spirit. Nine Days is just a beautiful film, about letting go of pain and remembering to enjoy the moments you have. Despite its setting, this is not a religious film though. No explanation is given about where the souls come from or where the dead go, or how Will got this job or who is pulling all the strings. Will is not perfect, in fact, he has a lot of flaws that are exposed by Emma, but that makes the movie that much more “human.” ★★★★★

Swan Song is another good one too. This one stars the legendary Udo Kier as Pat, an old stylist relegated to a nursing home. Once the hairdresser to all of the wealthy and socialites in town, his flamboyant dress and attitude earned him the nickname “the Liberace of Sandusky.” Those days are long gone, as he dresses in sweats and seems to have been forgotten. That changes when Rita Parker Sloan dies, and in her will, asks for Pat to style her up one last time for her funeral. But first, Pat has to sneak out of the nursing home and make it across town, with just a couple bucks to his name. On his mostly walking tour, Pat visits the grave of his longtime partner David, the site of his former business, and runs into old friends and enemies alike, including his former protege who opened her own place and put him out of business. Along the way, Pat picks up a hat here, some gaudy jewelry there, and regains his attitude, so by the end, he has transformed himself back into the proud gay man he once was. There’s a lot to unpack here, and I don’t want to give any of it away, because taking the journey with Pat is what makes this movie so great. Here’s a man who’s held grudges all of his life, and has carried hurt buried deep down, but needs to let it all go if he’s going to find solace. Tremendous acting by Kier, and such a heart-wrenching film. ★★★★½

• TV series currently watching: Titans (season 3)
• Book currently reading: The Wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks