Land of Gold is an intriguing movie that can’t overcomes a couple of its faults. The movie follows a man named Kiran Singh, the son of an Pakistani immigrant, who is carrying around some baggage from his dad, yet followed in his footsteps as a cross country truck driver. His wife is about to have their first child but Kiran can’t shake the worries of not being a good father, and has been dragging his feet to do things like paint the bedroom, etc. Kiran takes one last trucking job before the kid’s birth, but runs into a problem on the trip: a stowaway. A young girl, no more than 10 or 11, snuck into the haul of his truck in order to get to Boston. Elena is the daughter of immigrants too, from Mexico, but her undocumented parents were nabbed by the authorities while Elena was away, and now she’s trying to get to an uncle, the only other person she knows in this country. At first Kiran doesn’t want anything to do with her situation, but unable to leave her alone, he agrees to get her to her uncle. Along the way, Kiran will face those memories of his father and do a lot of learning. There’s some good moments, but honestly the acting is not so good, and not just from Elena (readers of my blog know that, generally, I am not a fan of child actors). A lot of the emotions are forced and there are some wild leaps of faith to get from where Kiran begins to where he ends up. ★½
You Hurt My Feelings is a very nice comedic drama which is light on the drama but has plenty of good laughs. There is an overarching plot about a wife who hears her husband criticizing her new, as-yet unpublished book to a friend, but mostly the film is a lot of light humor, which isn’t a bad thing. The main star is Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the wife, Beth, who wrote one mildly successful memoir and who has been working on a followup. Her day job is as a college literary professor whose students haven’t read her book. Her husband is Don (Tobias Menzies), a therapist. Lots of funny little moments throughout the film, such as Don’s therapy sessions with some zany clients, or Beth’s class, or just their daily activities in a (hate to say it) Seinfeld sort of way. Making fun of the little things in life. Obviously the big takeaway is how honest you should be in your relationships (Don is always telling Beth her book is good, but behind her back admits he doesn’t like it; there’s also a big subplot about each parent supporting their son with sometimes unwarranted praise). It’s that fine line between honesty and not hurting those you care for, and the ramifications of not treading that line carefully. The plot is thin, but the laughs are real. Seinfeld lovers will find plenty to enjoy. ★★★½
No nice way to say it, Brother’s Keeper is just a dumb movie. It opens with shots over the protagonist’s (a young boy) shoulder, so my first thought was, “Someone’s been watching a lot of Dardenne brothers lately.” But this is a poor copy. The film follows Yusuf as he takes care for his very sick friend, Memo, for a day, inside an extremely harsh boarding school in Turkey. Memo is practically comatose, unable to walk or even open his eyes, and everywhere Yusuf goes for help, he is either given the run-around or flat out turned away. The school’s staff is made up of completely unbelievably idiotic, bumbling, and sadistic adults who care only for themselves. The movie repeats itself constantly and the “big surprise” at the end is nowhere near worth sticking around for. Complete waste of time, but it gets one full star because I did go through to the end rather than stopping early (which is what I should have done). ★
BlackBerry is better, but unfortunately it pales in comparison to its obvious similarly veined films, The Social Network and Steve Jobs, both of which I really loved. The film follows a decade-or-so in the launch and collapse of the eponymous company, beginning with its co-founders as they pitch an idea to a cell company for funding. They don’t land that deal but do grab the attention of a power- and fame-hungry executive who knows the duo are on to something. With his business expertise, BlackBerry is launched, and becomes, at one time in history, the dominant product for businessman-on-the-go. That is, until the iPhone launched in 2007, and then it very quickly comes crashing down. It’s Always Sunny’s Glenn Howerton is over-the-top as the bombastic executive (who apparently is nothing like his real-life counterpart), and his vitriol is absolutely absurd for this movie. No one acts like that all the time. His character aside, the movie is fun, but like I said, this kind of movie, about a product in the tech industry, has been done better. ★★★
After Love is a quiet and endearing film about finding your place in the world when you seem to have lost your anchor. The film begins in England and the camera starts on Mary, an English woman who converted to Islam to marry, and her husband Ahmed, returning home from a family get-together. As Mary is in the kitchen making tea, she’s talking to Ahmed in the background, in their living room. We see him sit down and then it gets quiet, and when Mary brings Ahmed his tea, she learns that he has suddenly died. It’s a heart-wrenching moment in the first five minutes, but the ride is just starting for Mary. Going through his things a couple days later, she finds his cell phone, and discovers an unknown number with whom he’s had a lot of contact. She traces the number to a woman in France, just across the English Channel from their home. Turns out Ahmed has led a second life there, with a French woman, and they have a teenage son together, Solomon. When Mary goes to the woman, Genevieve, to confront her, she can’t get her words out, and Genevieve mistakes Mary for a woman hired to clean their apartment in preparation to move. Over the next few days, Mary gets to know this other family of her late husband, who does not yet know that Ahmed is dead. When she does admit who she is, and she does indeed finally come clean near the end, everyone involved will learn more about the man they loved and the people who now have to live without him. Just the kind of quiet, indie film I love. ★★★★
- TV series recently watched: Somewhere Boy (series), Justified (season 4), Curb Your Enthusiasm (seasons 1-2)
- Book currently reading: The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
Jons Movie Takes 