Independent Fall Fever: Drive (2011, Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn), Restless (2011, Dir. Gus Van Sant), & Machine Gun Preacher (2011, Dir. Marc Forster)

Sorry for the hiatus! College life has returned and consumed all my time, which I’m sure is much healthier than putting it into this blog. Nevertheless, I was able to catch three independent films the past few weeks that are worth noting–one is amazing, one is okay, and one is a huge red flag.

Ryan Gosling is nameless and moody in this outstanding action-art film.

Drive–Believe it or not, the heist movie is becoming a bit of a tired genre. Chase scenes and bank robberies can only take an audience’s interest level so far; but when it’s done impeccably well, it can be rich and just thrilling. Nicolas Winding Refn’s gorgeous Drive stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt driver by day and getaway driver by night who is suddenly caught up in the aftermath of a heist gone terribly awry that involves ruthless gangsters (Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks), his mentor (Bryan Cranston), and the woman he loves (Carey Mulligan). Infused with beautiful cinematography, rapid editing, and a haunting techno-pop score, Refn’s film is an atmospheric, dreamy, bloody ride that takes highly ambitious risks that pay off incredibly. The screenplay and Refn’s visionary direction take the audience on a journey through both dark mafias and a budding and innocent love, creating a cerebral tone that is unmatched and striking. Gosling and Mulligan are excellent and share authentic chemistry, while Brooks’ mobster is chilling and frightening. As an entire film, though, Drive is a film that can’t really be summed up in words–it’s too hallucinatory and visceral, making it one of the best, most heart-pounding films of the year. A

 

Gerard Butler finds redemption in Sudan in Marc Forster's true-story pic.

Machine Gun Preacher–Marc Forster’s film traces the real-life story of Sam Childers, a drug-addicted biker whose violent exploits land him in a personal and moral turmoil. Seeking a second chance, he’s baptized and embraced by the Christian religion and agrees to volunteer in Uganda building homes. Soon after he’s there, he sees the need for an orphanage in neighboring Sudan, home to thousands of homeless children and child soldiers. The story and man behind it are utterly fascinating, though the film does suffer from a rocky execution. Jason Keller’s screenplay has a handful of scenes that are lost in bad and contrived dialogue, while the story deviates into a few unneeded subplots that don’t fully focus on Childers’ mission. Furthermore, Foster’s direction doesn’t drive the story into the complex territory it needs to be in (in other words, it should have dived deeper into Childer’s internal conflicts). Nonetheless, Gerard Butler gives a compelling and powerful lead performance that makes the film interesting and watchable. It may be imperfect, but Machine Gun Preacher has enough heart and intrigue to fill up a two-hour film. B-

Dressing strange and riding on busses aren't really building blocks of a unique romance...

Restless–It’s a big shame when a well-known filmmaker who has his own distinctive style and voice slips up and makes something borderline unwatchable. Ron Howard (um, The Dilemma?) and Steven Spielberg (the fourth Indiana Jones) are past offenders, but now we can add Gus Van Sant to that mix. Granted, it all stems from Jason Lew’s quirk-fest of a screenplay that follows Enoch (Henry Hopper, the late Dennis’ son) and Annabelle (Mia Wasikowska), two peculiar lovebirds in Portland, Oregon whose bond is tested by Annabelle’s cancer diagnosis. Though terminal, Annie is full of life, love, and happiness while Enoch pouts and is obsessed so much with death that he crashes funerals and wears black on a daily basis. How sweet. Oh, and Enoch is haunted by the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot because that totally makes sense. The film never grows out of its stubborn insistence to pain these characters with ugly archetypes recycled from every bad quirk made in independent cinema, making this a predictable, boring, and emotionally vacant waste of time. I can see Gus Van Sant’s intention of capturing young love, but this is one failed attempt; Wasikowska, a very gifted actress, also deserves better. Restless is incapable of voicing something substantial because it’s cinematically redundant and offensive with its sheer lack of originality and resonance. D

Review: The Whistleblower (2011, Dir. Larysa Kondracki)

Rachel Weisz stars as a UN peacekeeper who uncovers a horrifying secret within diplomatic corporations in Bosnia.

The Whistleblower–Rachel Weisz is a tremendously talented actress whose work I’ve really enjoyed over the years, especially her Oscar-winning role in The Constant Gardener. Here, she tackles similar politically-corrupt territory as Kathy Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who takes a high-paying job from a private contractor to be a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia during its turbulent, war-torn period in the late ’90s. Getting extra money needed to move closer to her daughter while also experiencing a new world, she uncovers a terrifying cover-up involving sex trafficking and members of the local Bosnia police, military, and United Nations as a whole. As all her professional allies either ignore her claims or tell her to keep her mouth shut, she persists to save the suffering local girls and let the world know about this awful corruption. This independent film impressively resists from purely exploiting the really disturbing hardships the girls go through while being trafficked, while still displaying the shocking acts they experience to realistically situate the film in the time and place of the setting as well as point to how unforgivable a tendency it was to get paid off on this crime on behalf of members of the UN and the private corporation that employed Bolkovac. The movie does, at times, get lost in the muddled, basic story-telling of true events (some scenes follow one another without much excitement and are a bit simple and unnecessary to a film, even if they happened. These are minor events, like Kathy getting lunch or helping with other crimes, that do little to augment character and narrative). But this is Kathy’s story and in the midst of the 112 minutes we follow her, there’s a gripping and thrilling tale of persistence and redemption that mostly shines through. Weisz is commanding as Bolkovac as she fights for what she believes in without being deterred by naysayers and persuaders within her environment who slander her or force her to confront the risks she’s taking–one scene in particular is harrowing but so subtle, when a UN-employed counselor tries to convince Bolkovac to take a break from the job to visit her estranged daughter who she loves in place of uncovering the trafficking conspiracy. Vanessa Redgrave and David Strathairn are also effective in small but key roles as supporters of Bolkovac’s plight, while the script mostly strips from ‘true story’ conventions to flesh out Bolkovac and her journey with grit and reality. It’s a very tough film to watch, but an important one that will enlighten, anger, shock, and move you. B+

Here’s the trailer:

Review: The Future (2011, Dir. Miranda July)

Miranda July and Hamish Linklater star in July's second stronger and wiser film.

The Future–You hear the term “love it or hate it” tossed around a lot, but it’s rarely applied as heavily as it is to artist Miranda July. Her debut, the independent and consciously quirky Me and You and Everyone We Know, was inventive but a bit indulgent and contrived. Her new feature, The Future, is a bit more beguiling and rewarding because it (mostly) sacrifices obnoxious inserts to tell a dark and funny story. Sophie and Jason (Miranda July and Hamish Linklater) are an LA couple whose decision to adopt a dying cat changes their perspective on the years to come, creating a sense of urgency within the characters to change their lives for the better through long-delayed decisions and passions. Sophie attempts to create a multi-media dance project while Jason gets in touch with his nostalgic and environmental side. Of course, things go awry as these plans fail to come to fruition and their paths lead off into dark, different directions. The film’s premise is a bit simple and thin, while aided by signature July quirk (a high-pitched talking cat narrating the film is charming but gets old fast). Yet what seems like a repetition of overwhelming indie-cliché for July molds itself into an interesting study of motivation and unpredictability. I have to say, July did surprise me—The Future takes unexpected turns that are jarring, a bit disturbing, and at times, painfully funny. July is a better writer-director than actor, but gives a rounded and witty performance as Sophie while Linklater matches her well as Jason. Other than its occasional tendencies to over-quirk (a talking moon? Really?), The Future is a stronger sophomore effort from July that poses interesting questions and concepts in a welcome ambiguous fashion. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you can persist you will be rewarded. B

Here’s the trailer: