Reviews

Halfway through Open Hearts, it becomes more obvious that you're watching a fictional account. The plot becomes slightly predictable, which is a good thing. For the most part, this new Danish film feels like a reality documentary and pulls you in like reality itself. Director Susanne Bier follows the technical requirements to earn a Dogme 95 certification, which means the film has to be devoid of any unnatural camera movement, lighting and sound among other rules. As a result, Open Hearts is also devoid of superficial movie cliches and full of heartfelt human situations.

The film follows a young, newly?engaged couple and a married couple with kids, whose lives are interrupted and complicated by a road accident. Bier stays clear of the external effects of the drama and instead focuses on the characters' inner effects. Her protagonists lose emotional control and appear ill?equipped to handle the consequences of an unexpected tragedy. The film's appeal is not only universal, but timely as well, shattering the modern belief that everything is controllable. Once tragedy strikes, our lives seem far more fragile than we thought.

Stephan Paschalides

Terry Gilliam had visions of Don Quixote. The accomplished director, of Brazil and Twelve Monkeys fame, had spent ten years dreaming and planning his cinematic version of Cervantes' benevolent hero. Gilliam's dream was about to come true after securing financing for his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. In Lost in La Mancha, Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe document the pre-production stage of Gilliam's daring endeavor.

It could have ended up like another `Making the Movie' special, but the documentary filmmakers keep their cameras rolling after Gilliam's are forced to shut off. Besides the numerous problems with the actors, financiers and the set, certain `acts of god' prevent his film from materializing. What we see is a comprehensive insider's view of the absurdist aspects of filmmaking, combined with Gilliam's bad luck.

"There is," Gilliam says in the midst of pre-production hell, "a lot of potential for chaos here." Soon enough he'd be tilting at windmills of his own. But unlike Don Quixote, there were cameras present to document Gilliam's battle.

Stephan Paschalides

At the end of Irreversible, a title forewarns that `Time destroys everything,' the screen turns white and climaxes in furious flickering. It would be an understatement to describe as 'unconventional' what happened up to that point. Writer/director Gaspar Noé recounts a simple story in a cinematically complex and emotionaly harrowing manner. He lays out his story backwards, in ten minute long shots, dizzying at first, peaceful at the end.

We meet Marcus (Vincent Cassel) at an underground S&M club, rabidly seeking revenge from his girlfriend Alex's rapist. An über violent skull bashing scene will only test your stomach for what ensues. We meet Alex (Monica Bellucci) in an underground passage, as she is brutally raped and assaulted during an unbearably uncomfortable nine minute steady shot. The film progresses in reverse, while the audience familiarizes with the characters, pieces together the storyline, and ends up feeling emotionally paralyzed after already knowing the final outcome.

There will be walkouts during the violent scenes and some will accuse Noé of sensationalism, but when the film's effect flickers furiously in your mind and under your skin for days to come, you'll be thankful you endured it.

Stephan Paschalides

Spike Lee has built his career on films centered around New York. In 25th Hour, his most compelling work in years, he goes a step further in using the vulnerable post-9/11 city as backdrop for the engrossing storyline. The film chronicles the last day on the outside for Monty Brogan (Edward Norton), a convicted drug dealer who's headed to the brig for seven years. The straightforward premise could have been crammed with innumerable cliches. Instead, David Benioff's script creates a fascinating character study of a desperate man coming to grips with his predicament. Lee patiently follows Monty about town and builds up the narrative by employing seamless flashbacks. At points, the director suspends the plot as he tears through the unhurried pace with rapid surreal sequences. His cameras sweep down bustling streets, fly by gritty basketball courts and swing through sultry nightclubs. Lee's latest feels edgy and yet spirited, much like his beloved city.

Back in his familiar Midwest, after tackling such life-and-death issues as abortion in Citizen Ruth and high school politics in Election, Alexander Payne wanders through the flat landscapes as he follows an ordinary man's journey of self discovery. The director's latest, About Schmidt takes its time to develop as it introduces us to Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson), who at 66 is retiring from a lifetime of service as an actuary, is coping with his wife's sudden death and has to stomach his only daughter's marriage to a halfwit. Schmidt's excellent adventure aboard his 35-foot motor home climaxes in an impassioned attempt to stop the wedding after meeting the groom's boorish family. Kathy Bates is a hoot as the free-spirited mother-in-law, but this is all about Jack. His understated performance is heartbreaking as he embraces his physical maturity to solidify the character's distress. His crossroads happen to be Midwestern in kind, but Payne's sharp comedy reaches beyond the plains.