60/60 Review #19: Saving Private Ryan.

You might not know this, but this film was one of the primary inspirations for doing the 60/60 List in the first place. After listening to an episode of Reel Insight, there was a discussion about Saving Private Ryan. Of course, I soon admitted that I hadn't seen it, which opened a personal floodgate of other must-see films I hadn't seen. It's too bad this film didn't end up #20 on the list, as that would have been cool. Alas, we'll stick with #19.

For those who are like myself and hadn't yet seen the film, it follows Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) during World War II. After a horrible round of battles, 3 of the 4 Ryan brothers are killed in action. In order to stop their mother from the ultimate devastation of losing all of her children at the same time, orders come down from the government to send in a team to extract Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) from the war and send him home to what's left of his family. Joining Miller's team are Sgt. Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Private Reiben (Edward Burns), sniper Private Jackson (Barry Pepper), Private Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Private Caparzo (Vin Diesel), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), and translator Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davies). Also showing up for bit cameos are Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, Leland Orser, and Nathan Fillion (who wasn't really a name at the time, but was a fun spot now).

Like Black Hawk Down (BHD), this was one of those "who isn't in this movie?" movies. The acting chops were top notch, though I personally enjoyed Barry Pepper and Jeremy Davies the most. It took me a while to realize it was Jeremy Davies--I recognized the actor, but I had to look it up before realizing it was Faraday from LOST. Anyway, Pepper was pretty awesome as the sniper, but it was Davies that had the most character development.

And that's what I was totally missing from BHD. This film is superior in every way. The cinematography is really good and very gritty. And while the visuals and gore in the aforementioned film were, well... there... this one took it to an upsetting level. I'm a fan of horror movies, and gore doesn't bother me all that much. But the realism in this film very nearly made me sick to my stomach. When a certain character dies from a shot to the torso, and all you're seeing is blood continually pouring from the open wound as he begs for morphine and cries for his mother... yeah, it's intense. And the violence starts off almost immediately. There's a brief intro that leads into a flashback, but after they hit that beach, the body count starts to skyrocket. I think my jaw was open for almost the entirety of that first 30 minutes. And it didn't shy back from there.

The movie is slightly shy of 3 hours, but it didn't feel it. I was captivated the entire time, despite feeling uncomfortable through the majority of that time span. It was able to keep things fresh by continually moving on to different side-missions while they traveled the countryside looking for Private Ryan. From liberating a town and taking down a sniper to removing a hidden threat from a radar station to setting up a final line of defense at a bridge (and more), you're continually kept on your toes on what's going to happen next. And you know that nobody is safe and any of them can die at any time, which only helps build the tension and unease.

What I really enjoyed was the fact that there was character development. It wasn't just a bunch of empty shells going on a rescue mission like in BHD. These were real people. You came to like or care about them. And even if you didn't know them that well, they had personalities that you could latch on to. As I said before Davies goes through the most change, starting as a guy who hadn't handled a gun since basic training to, well... I don't want to spoil it. He's no Rambo or anything, but when he realizes an earlier mistake has come back to haunt him (a fact I didn't catch at first), he has to face his conscience. It's a painful moment for him.

This film has been touted as one of the most realistic war films ever made, and I can definitely see why. By the end of the film, I was emotionally drained. And I'll be honest, I don't cry very often in movies--and I still didn't here--but the notion crossed my mind on multiple occasions. The film had some of the best and brutal war scenes I've seen, and that mixed with really good characters, a good story, and... good-to-great everything, that makes this, honestly, one of if not the best war film I've seen. Of course, I still have a handful of films left for the rest of this month, but I'm not sure if any of the ones I have lined up will top what this one accomplished.


Royale With Cheese

TRUE GRIT.

Warning: Mild spoilers.

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As I come to the end of Western Month, I'd like to end with the film all of this was leading up to (though not as a part of 60/60, mind you). True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), a 14-year-old girl whose father was killed in cold blood by Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). With quick wit and a sharp mind, she eventually hires Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to hunt Chaney down and bring him to justice. Along for the ride, however, is Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) who wants to bring Chaney in for the death of a politician back in Texas. The film also includes Barry Pepper as "Lucky" Ned, the outlaw that Chaney is riding with.

The most notable thing about this film is how it showcases the humor of the Coen Brothers. There is a lot of dialogue in this movie, and at least half of it (if not more) is quite funny. The interactions between the characters, particularly between Mattie and, well... anyone else... was always delightful to watch. The first 2/3s of the movie didn't really have any action at all, but it just flew by thanks to the sharp writing and great acting.

And the acting really is fantastic. The three leads of Steinfeld, Bridges, and Damon are superb. I don't typically pay attention to awards until the final nominations are revealed for the Oscars, but I have heard that Steinfeld is only up for supporting actress, which is ludicrous. The girl was in practically every frame of the film, more than any other character. She is not only the lead actress, but the lead character. To grant her supporting actress is like a slap in the face. And she deserves that lead nomination. She was absolutely fantastic. However, despite the fantastic acting here, the acting (and partially directing) is where the film falters.

Like with the Coens' other western--No Country For Old Men--this film sinks in its third act. Once Tom Chaney and gang are introduced, everything just starts getting... strange. Now, I haven't seen the original, so I can't compare. But here, Brolin acts Chaney like he'd rather be playing Lennie in Of Mice And Men. It doesn't go (to quote Tropic Thunder) "full retard," but there's something amiss with Chaney that completely threw me off. And then you have another member of his outlaw gang that walks around making animal noises... and that's it. That's his sole purpose in the movie: animal noises. Chickens, cows, you name it. It wasn't funny... it was stupid, and I'm not exactly sure what the Coens were thinking. Then, to top it off, the film's antagonist switches to Barry Pepper's Lucky Ned, despite having only heard of the guy maybe twice in the entire film prior and never in more than an offhand comment or question (the most we hear about him is during the "cabin" sequence, and we're only hearing about him because he's riding with Chaney, their main target). But the big showdown in the film isn't even with Chaney, but between Cogburn and Lucky Ned. Granted, Pepper does a great job with the character, but it just feels strange spending the entire movie going after Chaney and then having a finale hardly focusing on the guy (which might have been for the better anyway).

Still, the third act wasn't a complete waste. Unlike No Country, there were some redeeming factors in its finale. And the overall film was definitely worth seeing. Between the writing and humor, the good cinematography, and the (mostly) great acting and directing, True Grit is a fine western. Was it my favorite western I'd seen this month? No, but it wasn't the worst, either. I say it's pretty far up there in the most enjoyable, though.


A Keanu 'Whoa'

LKMYNTS: Unknown.

So a few years ago, I believe, I see this trailer in theater and think it looks pretty awesome. I saw the trailer in theater maybe twice ever. And then I never hear anything about the movie again. I never saw it released to theater. I never heard it advertised for DVD. I’ve never seen it in a store. Almost as if the movie itself is defined by its title, the thing is freakin unknown. And it was so strange, as it has a pretty decent cast and is even relatively well-scored on imdb. So now that I got Netflix, I was able to track the dang thing down and finally watch it after all this time. So was it all worth it? I think so.

The movie kinda reminded me somewhat of Reservoir Dogs, but only if it were hostages instead of a robbery, and all of the involved was stuck in the warehouse all together without remembering who they are or what’s going on. Like I said, five seemingly random men wake up in a very secure warehouse with short-term memory loss and no idea what’s happened or who they are. The first is Jean Jacket (Jim Caviezel), who soon discovers a man tied to a chair (Joe Pantoliano). But before JJ can untie him, Rancher Shirt (Barry Pepper) shows up and says they might not want to trust him because he is, after all, the only person tied up so he has to be on the opposite side of whatever side they’re on. Then there’s also a man with a broken nose (Greg Kinnear), and another man who is shot and bleeding to death while handcuffed to a rail (Jeremy Sisto). After working together a few clues, the five men realize that two of them are hostages while the other three have to be the hostage takers. Unfortunately, none of them know which is which. Meanwhile, Eliza Coles (Bridget Moynahan) is working with the police to send out the ransom money for her husband and track the people who kidnapped him, two of which are played by Peter Stormare and Mark Boone Junior.

So with that lengthy plot description given, let’s first talk about the acting, since we have quite the cast. Everybody does really well, honestly, but the two best were Barry Pepper and Jeremy Sisto, which is almost ironic. It’s ironic because, even though Jim Caviezel is clearly the main character, Barry Pepper almost has the most screen time (or at least the better presence), while Jeremy Sisto has the least screen time and fewest lines. Though the performance Sisto is able to give is a really, really good one.

The plot, on the other hand, can be a bit confusing. It moves very fast, so if you even blink or you have trouble with auditory learning (say, if they do the plot exposition really fast and only in one scene, leaving you behind on what you just heard), you’ll miss it. I was able to catch the gist of it (hostage situation), but the whole scenario behind it with bankers or whatever was totally lost to me. I’ll have to watch it again to catch it. And then comes the ending, which has so many twists you’ll be lucky not to have your neck snap. And this is where I have my almost-issue with the movie. It has those types of twists where they just kinda pull them out their ass in order to pull one on the viewer, and never really sets up any clues whatsoever. So within the span of about 5 minutes, you’re thrown fifty ways from Sunday and have no idea what to think about what just happened. But at the same time, I still found the twists to be pretty cool (for the most part). I don’t know. I was really close to just having this be an ‘un-scorable’ movie because I was left unsure of how I actually felt about it.

But I think in the end, the acting and the basic story won me over. It’s a good little thriller/mystery piece that almost feels like a heist-gone-wrong film (a la Reservoir Dogs), but without any actual heist. So I guess I’ll just leave it at that. It’s just one you gotta see yourself.

I Am McLovin!

(P.S. Coincidentally, this is the second LKMYNTS I've done that involves both Jeremy Sisto and Peter Stormare).