Reviews

There is some sweetness to Humpday, and that is perhaps it's greatest quality.

I am not a big fan of the mumblecore movement because it seems to attract and be made up of a lot of young people who don't know what to do with themselves. Out of that comes a defensive cleverness that I find dull and uncreative. That said, this movie has some heart and doesn't take itself too seriously. So, good. Hopefully others will follow suit.

I don't think there is much more to be said. Duplass and Josh Leonard are solid. Lynn Shelton holds up an interesting mirror to her group: Self-conscious anal control freaks posing as relaxed hep cats. Yes, true that.

Hopefully this will be the last porn movie for a while, because not much interesting has come out of the subject matter.

Then again, I'm an old man(44), and what do I know?

After seeing "Neal Cassady" at the Woodstock Film Festival last year, I was interested to see what young director Noah Buschel would do with the noir genre. I was not disappointed.

Like his beat "biopic," Buschel turns the genre right on it's head and makes something completely fresh and new. "The Missing Person" has very little to do with it's surface elements, and much more to do with innovative and original film-making.

Michael Shannon delivers his best performance to date. It's him in full movie star wattage. He looks great, he sounds great, and he makes a great damaged hero. The rest of the cast is so superb you almost wish there was more of them in the film.

Perhaps the best use of jazz music I've heard in a film.

There will be those who want a faster paced movie. More violence and quickness and loudness. They should just watch "Brick." That was a good example of a shallow neo-noir. This is not "Brick." This is a deep and unique film about loss. And also, somehow, a hilarious film about loss.

Geoffrey Gilmore, the festival director, introduced "The Missing Person" the night I saw it at Sundance. He said that it was the first film accepted at Sundance this year and that Buschel was doing something no one else was doing right now, which was going back to old forms and making them new again. A lost art, he said. Something that 70's directors used to do a lot.

The key point he made was that "The Missing Person" was an utterly unique film in the guise of a noir film. I couldn't agree more.

I find it hard to believe this is the same director who directed the masterful "Million Dollar Baby." Perhaps Clint has gotten old and lost in touch in the last year or so? That is all I can think of, as this movie is so tremendously off. Scene after scene, it just doesn't work at all. It's as if an utter hack was directing it.

Angelina Jolie's performance is truly terrible. Watching her also, I thought, how can this be the same talented actor from "Girl, Interrupted"? But the truth is, Jolie is no longer an actress. She no longer takes risks. She just sits there, trying to look like Joan Of Arc(she does this in real life too now.) I don't like comparing someone's on screen persona with their offscreen persona, but Angelina Jolie invites it. I don't think we will see her anytime soon as a character that is vulnerable. And that's the problem. She is so busy playing strong(Marianne Pearl, Tombraider) that we don't feel anything for her. When she is sent into the mental ward, we know she will get out and endure. It's never a question. Contrast that with Jessica Lange in "Frances" and you see what Changeling could have been with a better actress and a director on his game.

The acting time and time again doesn't work. The screenplay doesn't help anyone. Amy Ryan's character tell us a bunch of things about oppression against women that feels woefully extra... WE GET IT! Doesn't need to spelled out by a prostitute in a mental ward. Holy cow!

The few decent moments come from Michael Kelly and Clint's opening jazz guitar.