Primal Fear (1996) (R)

I've never been a big fan of Richard Gere. His acting is usually frigid and his usual choice of roles is wrong to say the least. Primal Fear is one of his very few films which I actually like.

In Primal Fear, Gere plays the role of Martin Vail. An arrogant, high-powered criminal lawyer who takes on the case of a poor and seemingly harmless altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who had taken him in. While Vail believes that the boy did not murder the bishop, the case gets a lot more complex when the boy reveals that there may or may not have been a "third person" in the room during the murder.

This is an old-fashioned court-room thriller with fairly decent performances by both Richard Gere  and Laura Linney who convincingly plays the role of a clever prosecuting lawyer who holds a grudge against Vail. Director Gregory Hoblit does a somewhat mediocre job on keeping a dark atmosphere, but manages to build tension. The script is quite good, even though there are a few plot holes. The real star of the movie, though, is Edward Norton. In his first full-length feature film, he creates a fascinating multi-dimensional character who is at the same time, both terrifying and pitiful. He creates 2 extremely convincing personalities and delivers a truly fantastic performance, which may be (along with American History X) the high-point of his career. Plus, the film features one of the best twists in cinematic history.

VERDICT: A gripping court-room thriller with a shocking twist and a flawless performance by Edward Norton.

SCORE: 3.5/5
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The Social Network (2010) (PG-13)

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

At first, I thought that this was gonna be one of the most boring films of the year. I thought: "How can you make a movie about FaceBook?" I went to see the movie with somewhat low expectations and I walked out of the theatre thinking that this could be the best film of the year. First of all, this movie featured some of the wittiest dialogues I've seen. The performances were top-notch. Especially Eisenberg's performance as Mark Zuckerberg. I was stunned by Eisenberg's precision and punctuality and I believe that he's performance was even better than Firth's in The King's Speech (hence, he should've won the Academy Award). I also thought that Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake delivered excellent performances in their supporting roles. The soundtrack is a truly innovative mix of techno and soft music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (there's also a great techno remix of In The Hall Of The Mountain King). Fincher's direction is a knock-out as usual. In this film, he manages to build tension in almost every scene and makes the viewer feel like he's part of the world the film depicts.

VERDICT: An excellent film by David Fincher, that got robbed at the Oscars.

SCORE: 4.5/5
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Burn After Reading (R) (2008)

Osbourne Cox, a Balkan expert, is fired at the CIA, so he begins a memoir. His wife wants a divorce and expects her lover, Harry, a philandering State Department marshal, to leave his wife. A diskette falls out of a gym bag at a Georgetown fitness center. Two employees there try to turn it into cash: Linda, who wants money for elective surgery, and Chad, an amiable goof. Information on the disc leads them to Osbourne who rejects their sales pitch; then they visit the Russian embassy. To sweeten the pot, they decide they need more of Osbourne's secrets. Meanwhile, Linda's boss likes her, and Harry's wife leaves for a book tour. All roads lead to Osbourne's house.

This may be the "lightest" of all Coen brothers' films. It features a lot of witty and funny dialogue, but there are several plot holes in the script and the story never really takes off or goes anywhere. One thing I loved about the movie, were the performances. The entire cast delivers a recital of stupidity and I personally felt very lucky to have the opportunity to see actors like John Malkovitch and George Clooney make fools out of themselves. The direction is pretty neat. The Coens maintain their trademark dark atmosphere and add a satiric and uniquely comical tone. Their direction may be the best aspect of the entire film. Overall, I believe that this is a fun, but somewhat unimportant film that won't really stand out in the Coens' filmography.
VERDICT: A light and fun movie with hilarious performances and superb direction.
SCORE: 3/5
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127 Hours (2010) (R)

127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he can be rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers, family, and the two hikers he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet?

James Franco began his career as the "pretty-boy of the 21st century" and many thought he had more muscles than brain. With 127 Hours, Franco proved them all wrong. He lifts the film to his shoulders and gives an acting recital by shouting, crying, cursing and hallucinating. Eventually, he creates a terrific portrayal of extreme sport athlete, Aaron Ralston. Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) manages to keep us hooked from the very first second of the film and builds the tension even more when Aaron gets trapped with his arm stuck under a rock. The film also features a great score by A.R. Rahman (Liberation In A Dream). Only disadvantage may be that before Boyle blows us away with the finale, he slows the tension down and the film become a bit slow.

VERDICT: A great and very intense film with a terrific performance by James Franco.

SCORE: 4/5
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) (R)

Two mutant brothers, Logan and Victor, born 200 years ago, suffer childhood trauma and have only each other to depend on. Basically, they're fighters and killers, living from war to war through U.S. history. In modern times, a U.S. colonel, Stryker, recruits them and other mutants as commandos. Logan quits and becomes a logger, falling in love with a local teacher. When Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker's crew, the colonel sends the murderous Victor. Logan now wants revenge.
I've never been a big fan of X-Men and superhero movies, generally. I managed to enjoy X-Men 2 and First Class, though. Origins starts off as an entertaining film and I actually liked the opening scenes. But after the opening... the movie just goes downhill. It becomes full of cliche lines and takes itself so seriously, it becomes unintentionally funny! And I don't mean that in a good way. It becomes boring and full of dull plot twists that just leaves the audience uninterested. The entire plot is just: battles, special effects and cliche lines. And this procedure goes on through the rest of the movie. The direction is also mediocre. The good things about this movie is Hugh Jackman's over-the-top, but decent performance and the special effects. I was uninterested in Wolverine's backstory and I didn't think the direction was anything special. But that's just me. If you're a big fan of the X-Men films, you may like this film.
VERDICT: Mediocre and somewhat dull superfhero flick with a decent performance by Hugh Jackman.

SCORE: 1.5/5
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