I received this issue of Film Capsules by Dr. Ed McNulty as an EMail from the Presbytery of Cincinnati and thought it interesting to pass along as information for all who did not have an opportunity to see it. ~ R.Lowry
in this issue
Invictus
The Serious Man
Brothers
The Young Victoria
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
Men Who Stare at Goats
T. Fantasic Mr. Fox
Invictus
Rated PG-13. Romans 12:18-21
Clint Eastwood continues, even in his 80th year, his string of excellent films, this time venturing far beyond the borders of the USA.
He recaptures the euphoria of the days in South Africa during the early 1990s when Nelson Mandela was released from prison and then, a few years later was elected head of the government that had imprisoned him for 27 years. As we see in his efforts to unify his deeply divided nation, Mandela was God's man for the times, appealing to his close followers to let go of their grudges against the whites who had so brutally treated them during the dark days of apartheid, and to the whites, assuring them that they had nothing to fear from the new government now in the hands of the blacks whom they had once oppressed.
Morgan Freeman is inspiring as the man who lived forgiveness and reconciliation, and Matt Damon is convincing as the captain of the rugby team that Mandela sees as the key to bringing whites and blacks together during their uphill struggle for the World Cup.
The old sports genre is brought to new heights by this talented director and cast, giving us a film that shows what great leadership can accomplish.
The Serious Man
Rated R. Job 2:1; Psalm 10:1.b
Although the Coen brothers can always be counted on to give us each year a film with provocative ideas (remember Raising Arizona; Barton Fink; The Big Lebowski; O Brother, Where Art Thou; or Fargo?), they have outdone themselves with this dark comedy, which in its profoundness can only be compared to Woody Allen's masterpiece that explores similar theological territory, Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Like a modern day Job, Professor Larry Gopnik is beset on all sides by troubles-at work he might not attain tenure because a failing student who had tried to bribe him is sending anonymous messages denouncing him; his wife has told him she wants a divorce so she can marry a mutual friend; his daughter wants a nose job so she will not look so ethnic; a bill collector is hounding him about a purchase he never made; his son is in trouble and might not be able to read the Torah passage at his Bar Mitzvah; his doctor has what could be bad news for him, and-well, you get the picture. And none of the three rabbis to whom he pleads for help is the least bit of comfort for him: indeed they appear to about as helpful as the three so-called friends of Job.
The film ends with lots of questions, leaving the audience very much up in the air (you will see what I mean by this when you watch the very last scene) wrestling with the same questions that beset Larry-and Job.
Brothers
Rated R. Ezekiel 37:1-3; Psalm 10:1
A powerful story coming out of the Afghan War, this is another tense film helmed by Jim Sheridan about a Good Brother and a Bad Brother that refuses to accept such labels. Just as Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets out of prison, his brother Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is about to be deployed to Afghanistan for the fourth time. The film shifts back and forth between the horrendous ordeal of Sam when he is captured by Taliban insurgents and Tommy and Sam's wife Grace.
Tommy, striving to clean up his life, helps Grace cope and enjoys being uncle to Sam and Grace's two daughters. When the Army informs Grace that her husband has died in combat, Tommy stands by but carefully not imposing himself. His relationship with is disapproving ex-soldier father begins to improve. Then they receive word that Sam is alive. Sam's body survives his captivity, but his guilt over a decision that no human being should be forced to make cripples him emotionally, and his gratitude toward his brother for helping his wife and children while he was away turns into suspicion and hostility, threatening to explode in violence. The question posed by God to the ancient prophet in the Valley of Dry Bones is very much like the one that concludes this parable of loyalty, grief, and clinging to hope.
The Young Victoria
Rated PG. Romans 12:2 (J.B. Phillips)
You do not have to be an Anglophile to enjoy this lavish production starring Emily Blunt as the young heir to the British throne whose stepfather and mother tried to bend to their will.
Like most Americans, I had no idea of the harsh attempts and schemes to force the teenaged princess to sign a paper giving her ambitious stepfather and her mother the power of regents, thus enabling them to rule on her behalf. Such was her mother's attempt to dominate her that she kept her from seeing her uncle the King, except on a few state occasions, and she would not even let her daughter go up or down the stairs without holding the hand of an adult. (Talk about "smothering love"!) An exhilarating and dramatic moment in the film is the scene in which Victoria is informed that she is now Queen, whereupon she refuses her mother's order to take her hand as she ascends the stairs. We see not only a strong-willed young woman, but also one who, when her romance with the socially progressive Prince Albert flourishes, takes a deep interest in the welfare of her people.
If you love the Masterpiece Theater productions, you will love this film.
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
Rated PG. Colossians 3:13
This is much more of an adult comedy than most inane releases this year-you know, the ones that have to resort to human anatomy and gaseous emissions to elicit laughs.
Although it is a familiar fish out of water tale, Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker play well together (and off each) other to make us laugh at the predicament of two New Yorkers who had almost decided to head for the divorce court, now forced to live in close quarters in a tiny Wyoming town because they had witnessed a gangland murder, and the Feds had placed them in the witness protection plan for their safety. Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen contribute greatly to the enjoyment as the small town US Marshall and wife who provide the warring pair room and board and, more importantly, advice and a good example of what a marriage can be.
Despite the stereotypes of small town and big city characters, this is an enjoyable parable about forgiveness and reconciliation.
Men Who Stare at Goats
Rated R.
Almost as wacky as Joseph Heller's anti-militarism Catch 22, this film starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Jeff Bridges is a fictional version of the US Army's experimentation with paranormal phenomena to come up with non-violent war tactics during the decades following the Vietnam War. Sort of a Zorba the Greek meets St. Francis and Gandhi by way of Catch 22, the film will leave you laughing at some of the New Age antics of Bridges and Clooney, but also wondering, and maybe even, as it did this reviewer, thinking of Gandhi's proposal for an army of non-violent warriors that he hoped India would adopt when it became independent. What if...?
T. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Rated PG. Proverbs 17:20
George Clooney and Meryl Streep lend their voices to Wes Anderson's first animated film, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel. Mr. Fox is much more of a rogue in the film than he was in the book, stealing chickens, turkeys, and cider from the three near-by farmers with no qualms of conscience, and desiring more spacious living quarters than his cramped underground lair provides. How he protects his wife, children and other denizens of the underground when the three farmers mount an intensive campaign with machines to excavate the hill and exterminate its creatures makes for exciting viewing.
Film Capsules is the Rev. Dr. Ed McNulty's synopses of current films plus suggested scripture readings with similar themes. Ed, an honorably retired member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati shares his work at the request of those who attended the Ministers Retreat held in October 2008. Fuller descriptions and discussion questions are available by subscription at http://www.visualparables.net/.
