Summer Movies

The early summer movies have been pretty disappointing, as has been the case for several years. Wolverine was episodic without any real heart and lacked substance beyond the explosions, special effects and salivating scenes of Jackman’s body (for women that is). The Proposal had some funny moments, but lacked genuine chemistry between the two leads Bullock and the likable Reynolds and sufficient time building up the budding romance so we cared about the de rigeur break up and reunion. Terminator Salvation was interminably long and again lacked sufficient character development to make me care (see below).

Maybe most disappointing is the downward turn in Mann’s talent that Public Enemies seems to hint at. Mann’s best work includes contemporary crime dramas set in Los Angeles (Heat, Collateral), historically compelling films like Last of the Mohicans and the politically charged The Insider. Here he follows his Miami Vice redux with another dud, on the heals of the disappointing Ali. Only Collateral saved a general decline in his work following the success of The Insider. Mann has certainly succeeded in the past with pensive, moody pseudo-thrillers like Manhunter and Heat (that seem to reference De Palma while moving beyond his aesthetic sensibility and adherence to Hitchcock-envy), but here there is little to back up impressive cinematography and acting by the two leads. The story lacks a coherent plot line, sufficient character development and a reason to like Dillinger, besides the fact that he’s played by the aging heartthrob Depp; that both men and women seem to equally love. The movie languors on much longer than needed, placing too much focus on enlongated shoot outs and not enough on what Hollywood has gotten better at – asking the why question regarding our favorite heroes and villains (too much with superheroes in my estimation). And the love story also lacks sufficient development to explain the depth of their connection. Like much of Hollywood mainstream fare these days, the film has all the elements to entertain us but none of the substance to keep up interested. Only Star Trek has really lived up to the hype so far, and this may be because I’ve always liked the series.

Veteran TV executive Barry Diller was recently quoted in Salon as saying “"Talent is the new limited resource . . . There's just not that much talent in the world, and talent almost always outs." (http://www.salon.com/books/excerpt/2009/07/06/scott_rosenberg/print.html) One wonders if he’s right. There seems to be far too many scions of the powerful acting, directing and producing in Hollywood, huge budgets for subpar films and a general decline in quality even as moviemaking itself improves. The troubling trend I see in American society in general is a growing distance between quality and success (film, business, etc.). What makes it more troubling is the quality that continues to exist on the edges. France’s Tell No One was a great thriller without most of the shortcomings we find in Americans films these days and a great plot twist at the end. The Brothers Bloom, while self-consciously derivative (particularly of the fading talent Wes Anderson), was fun, smart and engaging entertainment. And the crass, stupid The Hangover was downright funny, if nothing else. With so much talent swimming around, one wonders how Hollywood keeps finding ways to make money out of complete crap. But maybe that's because financial success is the only talent America truly esteems.

Side note: I did like Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell, which did have a $30 million budget. It was compelling film with a clever intermingling of spine-tingling surprises, over the top blood and gore and humorous mocking of itself.