CRIME NOVEL

Original title: Romanzo Criminale
In rapid fire Italian with English subtitles
Crime

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Pierfrancesco Favino: Lebanese, the leader of the group
Kim Rossi Stuart: Freddo, aka Ice
Claudio Santamaria: Dandi

REVIEW
If you got 2½ hours to spare and want to see a litany of criminal activities including terrorism, kidnapping, corruption, drugs, prostitution, murder and hit-jobs all executed with heavy-handed tactics holding back none of the gruesome details then this is the movie for you.

It’s not for me and so I walked out.

CLASSIFICATION
for disturbing images, violence, nudity, language and some drug references.

ZODIAC

True story crime drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Jake Gyllenhaal: Robert Graysmith, editorial cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle
Robert Downey Jr.: Paul Avery, crime reporter for the same newspaper
Mark Ruffalo: LAPD Detective Dave Toschi
Anthony Edwards: his partner Bill Armstrong
John Carroll Lynch: suspect Arthur Leigh (Lee) Allen
Brian Cox: famous attorney Melvin Belli

REVIEW
Had they edited it down somewhat, this would have been a really great movie. As it stands though, 2 hours and 43 minutes is far too long and requires a great deal of patience to sit through to the very end.

What a shame because it is finely acted with some nice cinematography and several chilling moments.

CLASSIFICATION
for some strong violence, language, drug use and brief sexual images.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Although the producers have gone to great length to accurately recreate the ambience of the time (smoking at your workplace, people wearing plastic pocket protectors, IBM computers with huge tape drives, Rolodex files etc) a couple of mistakes got past them:

The calendar posted on one of the pillars in the newsroom changes to match the different time periods except when it gets to be July 1972 and the 1971 calendar is still on display.

When Robert slams down the receiver on the green telephone, the curly wire is draped across the numbers. His wife comes in the room and they talk briefly. When she leaves we can see the wire has been put right although neither of them came near the phone.

ALPHA DOG

= zero stars


Drama based on a true story

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Bruce Willis: Sonny Truelove
Emile Hirsch: his son Johnny, a teenage drug lord
Justin Timberlake: Frankie, one of Johnny’s gang
Shawn Hatosy: Elvis, Johnny’s gofer
Ben Foster: Jake Mazursky, a neo-Nazi skinhead
David Thornton: his 15 year-old brother Butch
Anton Yelchin: their father Zack
Sharon Stone: their step-mother Olivia


REVIEW
The acting is terrible, the dialogue is infantile and replete with the f-word, the sex is rampant and the violence is graphic. The group’s attitude towards women as merely sex objects is reprehensible. And the tough guy (Johnny) looks like a 10-year old choirboy and completely unbelievable as a ruthless drug dealer who is supposed to inspire fear and dread. What a laugh.

But that alone was not the reason I walked out: I simply do not want to be in any way associated with people like that.

CLASSIFICATION
for really strong language, nudity, drug use, extreme violence.

P.S.
Alpha: First letter of the Greek alphabet often used to describe the highest ranked or most dominant individual of the group particularly the ranking of social animals (chimpanzees, lions, wolves etc). Example, “the alpha male of the wolf pack.”

BON COP BAD COP

Crime/Comedy
Bilingual (French and English) with English subtitles

BACKGROUND
The plot involves people and events associated with Canada’s national game, hockey. As such it is good to keep in mind the following:

Peter Pocklington is a Canadian business man who made his fortune in the meat packing industry. He is the former owner of the National Hockey League team Edmonton Oilers.

Wayne Gretzky, nicknamed "The Great One," is described in The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL as "the greatest hockey player of all time.” He played for the Edmonton Oilers and wore #99 on his jersey.

In what became known as “The Trade”, Pocklington traded Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings. This upset Canadians to the extent that a member of Parliament demanded the government block it. To many hockey fans, Pocklington became the most-hated man in the NHL, if not in all of Canada. Pocklington was burned in effigy in many parts of the country.

Gary Bettman has served as Commissioner of the NHL since February 1993. He has come under heavy criticism from many Canadian hockey fans for his attempts to increasingly Americanize the NHL and has the reputation of being anti-Canadian. A diminutive man, this has also been a subject of derision.

Don Cherry is a hockey commentator for CBC Television and co-hosts the "Coach's Corner" intermission segment on the long running sports program Hockey Night in Canada. Known for his outspoken, opioniated comments he is not well liked by everyone.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Patrick Huard: Quebec Provincial Police Detective David Bouchard
Lucie Laurier: his ex-wife Suzie
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse: their 15-year-old daughter Gabrielle
Colm Feore: Ontario Provincial Police Detective Martin Ward
Sarian Boylan: his sister Iris
Rick Mercer: Tom Berry, bombastic hockey television commentator
Peter Pickleton, owner of a hockey team
Harry Buttman, Hockey League Commissioner

REVIEW
To quote the official website “a feature film where the cultural differences of our country are at the heart of the story. It is a film where Anglophones speak French, where Francophones speak English and, in perfectly Canadian fashion, nobody can understand one another.”

They could have also added “nobody can understand the plot.” It’s all rather confusing but perhaps not all that important since clearly there are good guys and bad guys at odds with one another. Lots of clever lines and some outright chuckles as they poke fun at the stereotypical English and French Canadians.

A couple of scenes are a little too graphic and several jokes may be offensive to some.

CLASSIFICATION
for some sexuality and violence.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
When Tom Berry is interviewing the two detectives, he starts out with his tie nicely centered but part way through it’s off to the side.

P.S.
Tête carrée: literal translation square head. Historically viewed as derogatory term for an Anglophone (an English speaker in the province of Quebec), nowadays often used in a humourous manner.

THE EDUKATORS

Crime
Original title Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei
In German with English subtitles

BACKGROUND
Though unconnected to its American counterpart that had the same name (Students for a Democratic Society), the German SDS shared a similar place in German society. It was the leading left-wing student organization throughout the sixties.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Daniel Brühl: Jan, an anti-globalisation activist
Stipe Erceg: his roommate and pal, Peter
Julia Jentsch: his girlfriend Jule, a server in a upscale Berlin restaurant
Burghart Klaußner: "Hardi" Hardenberg, an affluent businessman

REVIEW
Although it’s a bit too long and sometimes becomes bogged down expounding the principals of idealism, the movie has enough going for it that it’s worthwhile sitting through these things. The acting is first class and the story moves along at a good clip, sometimes taking unexpected turns.

CLASSIFICATION
(but in my opinion hardly deserved) for some profanity, one brief scene of sexuality and drug use.

LAYER CAKE

Crime thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Daniel Craig: a self-described "businessman, whose product happens to be cocaine”
Kenneth Cranham: major crime lord, Mr. Price (Jimmy to his friends)
Colm Meaney: Gene, Mr. Price’s right-hand man
Michael Gambon: Edward Temple, an associate of Jimmy who wants a favour done
Jamie Foreman: Duke, one of the many low-life gangsters
Sienna Miller: Tammy, girlfriend of one of the gang members

REVIEW
Definitely not a “date movie”. In fact, unless you like brutal gangster type movies this isn’t for you.
Beautifully acted (sometimes too real, if you know what I mean) with plenty of double-dealing to complicate the plot. In fact, that is only one of the problems most people will have with the film. The other two are trying to sort out who all the characters are (keep in mind the list above to make life easier) and trying to understand the dialog when they revert to "gangster-slang" with a strong Cockney accent. At best you can only guess what was said. For those willing to make the effort, the payoff is worth it.

CLASSIFICATION
for graphic brutal violence, strong profanity, sexuality, nudity, pervasive language, and drug use.

P.S.
It’s not giving away too much to mention the fact the Ecstasy pills were apparently stolen from a Serbian crime lord, who has sent his best hit man to London to get them back. Duke, the hothead who stole them, could mess up the whole deal.
Although they do have a layer cake for dessert after one of the private meetings, the title refers more to the layers of people within the crime business.

OCEAN’S TWELVE

Crime thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Brad Pitt: ever-snacking smart-talking Rusty Ryan
Catherine Zeta-Jones: Rusty’s girlfriend Isabel Lahiri, a policewoman
Andy Garcia: Terry Benedict, the victim of the gang’s $160 million heist three years ago
George Clooney: Danny Ocean, charming con-artist and thief
Julia Roberts: Danny's wife Tess
Matt Damon: Linus Caldwell, a bumbling wannabe crook
Elliott Gould: Reuben Tishkoff, an old-school Las Vegas entrepreneur
Carl Reiner: Saul Bloom, a retired con man
Vincent Cassel: François Toulour, aka “Night Fox”, the world’s most elusive jewel thief

REVIEW
The problems with sequels are twofold: they tend to suffer from déja vu (characters, plot etc) and by their very nature, lack originality. Consequently more often than not, the original is better. Such is the case with this one.

In addition, the story is muddled and convoluted. Adding to the confusion are the rapid-fire explanations of their planned heists. One good thing though: the happy-go-lucky tone of the original is much in evidence.

CLASSIFICATION
for language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
According to Danny, the theft of four paintings included one called The Blue Dancer by Degas. Dancers were often the subjects of his paintings, but none was given that title.

Walking towards her father, Isabel is carrying a handbag in her left hand. She then wraps her arms around him but clearly there is nothing in her hands. Her handbag has disappeared.

P.S.
The title of the movie reflects the addition of Tess to Oceans' original gang of eleven thieves.

One bonus is getting a travelogue of Europe: we get to see Amsterdam, Paris, Rome and Lake Como (one of his residences when Clooney is not making movies).