"Becoming Jane" Movie Review

Movie Review

Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane is a biographical drama which concentrates on the early life of Jane Austen, (1775-1817) the famous English novelist. The film concentrates on Jane Austen the woman and not so much on Jane Austen the writer. The plot of the film centers around Austen’s romance with a young Irishman named Tom Lefroy, who is completely dependent upon his Uncle, a judge, for his support and that of his family.

The movie is slow paced so if you are looking for an action thriller, this is definitely not the movie for you. I found the focus on the woman rather than the writer to be refreshingly different. In most biographical movies about famous people, the person’s career takes center stage. In this film, Jane, the woman, takes center stage. Anne Hathaway gives a reasonably good performance as Jane Austen. Her acting is not great in this film, but good enough to carry the role. James McAvoy gives a creditable performance as Austen’s love interest Tom Lefroy while James Cromwell gives a very good performance as Jane’s father, the Reverend Austen.

Austen and Lefroy are torn between what they want as individual people, and what they must do for the sake of family. Today’s society is very much a me first society in which the wants and desires of the individual take center stage. In 18^th and 19^th century England, however, this was not the case, particularly among the upper classes. Lefroy must choose between his love for Jane and his need to provide support for his family. Meanwhile, Jane faces the prospect of a loveless marriage to someone else in which she would have little independence, set against the remote possibility she might achieve independence (rare for a woman of that time) as an accomplished novelist. In the end Jane Austen did achieve this rare independence but in her early years, this seemed a far away hope at best so the choices she faced were difficult ones. Jane Austen had a mind but more importantly, she had a desire to cultivate that mind. Many women of her time also had good minds, but society and family provided poor environments for them to cultivate their intellect. Jane Austen was definitely the exception rather than the rule.

Today, Austen’s novels are considered classics. Her writing is extremely good and her use of language and irony puts her in the class of excellent writers. She was, however, for the most part, a romance novelist. She wrote stories in the genre of today’s Johanna Lindsey, a best selling romance novelist. I can hardly imagine the harlequin novels of today, or novelists like Johanna Lindsey being studied as classics in tomorrow’s High School Literature classes despite the fact Lindsey’s writing is polished and entertaining. In some ways, Austen’s works are considered classics not because of her writing, but because she was a woman writer of the early 19^th century. In other words, Jane the woman is what puts her writings in the category of classics more so than does her actual writing.

This is why I found the movie Becoming Jane’s focus on Jane Austen, the woman, a very good approach. This movie will not smash any box office records and it certainly will bore most children and teenagers to tears. It is, however, a good movie in its genre and well worth two hours of your time.

"Ghost Rider" Movie Review

Ghost Rider

Movie Review

Ghost Rider is an adaptation of the Marvel Comics series by that name. Because it is a comic, the story line is not believable. Anyone who expects to find a believable story line in a comic adaptation probably has difficulty distinguishing between reality and fiction anyway. I mean, what are the chances of someone developing super human powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider?

I found Ghost Rider to be a very entertaining movie. The story line, while not believable, is interesting and kept my interest without difficulty. Johnny Blaze, a daredevil motorcycle stunt man, is chosen by the devil to become the devil’s bounty hunter. The special effects are very well done and if you have always wanted to be a super-charged motorbike rider with a flaming skull and the ability to kick butt, then this movie is for you.

Nicholas Cage gives a good acting performance for the role and I was especially impressed with Peter Fonda’s portrayal of Mephistopheles. The movie also makes very good use of light and shadow throughout the film to provide the backdrop for the darker nature of the super hero.

The plot, as far as comic adaptations go, is somewhat standard but not bad really, all things considered, and the story does discuss some interesting notions of good and evil and of whether “fighting fire with fire” is really saying the ends justify the means, or whether it is a legitimate tactic of good. This movie is worth seeing for the bike stunts alone, but all in all, provides a good way to spend a couple of hours which does not require much brain power but provides enough entertainment to make the viewing experience worthwhile.

I have one last comment about the movie before I start rambling about comic book heroes in general. This movie has done the world a great service. If nothing else, this movie shows that you can be cool, and a Carpenter’s fan at the same time!! For years I have been in the closet, worried that one day the world would discover I like the Carpenters. And now, it’s ok. I can come out. I can let the world know without fear of being branded a sissy. And speaking of The Carpenters, I blame my sister for this. She is four years older than I and when I was little, I was a clone of my sister with respect to music. Whatever she liked, I liked. In fact, I defined coolness by whatever my sister told me was cool. She loved The Carpenters so I did too. Perhaps this movie will lead to a Carpenters renaissance.

Now some thoughts about comic book heroes. I have always been fascinated by the propensity of comic book heroes to be very dark characters. Most comic book heroes operate principally by night, have dark pasts, and spend as much time preserving their secret as they do fighting evil. Comic book characters are good, but they live in a world of shadow, deceiving most people to conceal themselves. They fight violence with violence and are sometimes tempted to evil.

Why is this? Is there some rule somewhere which says comic book heroes have to be dark characters? I do not believe so. Instead, I believe those who create comic book heroes intuitively realize that super powers come from our dark nature. They also realize that power comes at a cost. Comic book movie adaptations allow the hero to find love, as in Spiderman 2 allowing Peter Parker and MJ to get together. But in the originals, comic book heroes lived a lonely misunderstood life. Take Superman for example. Lois Lane never realizes what a good and strong person Clark Kent really is.

Comic book heroes fascinate millions of people because, deep down, I think we all want to be extraordinary. Human beings want to matter. We who live ordinary lives long to do extraordinary things and the typical comic book hero is just that – an ordinary person who for some reason is gifted with super powers and who must become extraordinary. Often, the comic book hero is not given a choice, but he accepts the inevitable. I think all of us want to be the reluctant hero. Comic book heroes are therefore not complete fantasy tales with no bearing whatsoever on reality. They are, in fact, about each and every one of us and this is why they are so popular.

My favorite comic book hero is Thor, but I also like Spiderman and Conan. Now, if only Odin would stop falling asleep all the time. . .

Music and Lyrics Movie Review

Music and Lyrics
Review

The movie Music and Lyrics is, OK, I'm not sure I should say this, it's a romantic comedy. OK, OK, it's a romantic comedy. :-) Seriously, it was actually quite a good film. It's about a semi washed up British pop star named Alex Fletcher, played by Hugh Grant who is asked to write a new song for a mega star and who, through an unlikely set of circumstances, teams up with a girl who waters plants named Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore). Like most romantic comedies the twists and turns are about as realistic as the sun rising in the south-west, but it is actually quite a fun movie, particularly as it kind of makes fun of 80's music and it is actually done very well.

The mega star, played by Haley Bennett, is worth the whole movie (if you're a guy). As far as I'm concerned, they could have just showed pictures of her and dropped the plot, the sound effects, the music, and everything else, but since a movie has to have a plot, at least it was a good one. Still, if they had just shown her I would have given the thing five stars anyway. This is a typical Hugh Grant role but he plays it well and actually shows he has talent, playing the piano himself. The real acting accolades go to Drew Barrymore and to Kristen Johnson who plays Sophie Fisher’s sister. Johnson has some funny lines and her facial expressions make her scenes even more humorous.

Not all romantic comedies are entertaining, but this one is. If you are in the mood for a pleasant two hour fantasy, then this movie is for you. And after all, what is wrong with fantasy now and then?

Rocky Balboa Review

Rocky Balboa Review

At last, the Rocky saga comes to an end. I do not mean this derisively as in “thank goodness it’s over.” I have always enjoyed the rocky films, some more than others, but overall, all six have merit. For the record, I rank them in the following order from best to worst: 1, 2, 6, 3, 5, 4.

Most movies demand the audience suspend disbelief and this movie is no exception. Stallone is clearly too old to step into a boxing ring with any kind of competence. Nevertheless, if you can suspend your disbelief, this is worth seeing.

The plot centers around a computer simulated fight sponsored by ESPN between Rocky Balboa in his prime and the current champion Mason “The Line” Dixon played by Antonio Tarver. This generates a good deal of public interest and leads to a showdown between the two real fighters.

The movie focuses on Rocky the human being and this is a feature of all the good Rocky movies. Some, like Rocky 4 and 3 to some extent, were simple revenge plots of good (Rocky) vs. evil (his opponent). But in the tradition of the good Rocky films, we see a man struggling with life. He is not particularly intelligent, but he has a good heart.

The fight sequence at the end is very good, as are most of the Rocky fight scenes throughout the series and the acting is of good quality as well. Particular note goes to Burt Young who plays Rocky’s brother-in-law Paulie.

OK, let’s face it. No one is interested in boxing any more. Tyson was the last fighter anyone really cared about and what a career gone down the tubes. Tyson in his prime was the best fighter I ever saw, just nudging out Roberto Duran. There are so many boxing federations these days, it’s hard to keep interest in a sport where each weight division has 500 champions. So unfortunately, we have to turn to fiction to find a real people’s champion once more.

Rocky is almost an institution. He has been with us through part or all of four decades. When the first Rocky came out, he inspired a generation of young boys to eat raw eggs, get fit, and talk like a retard, but hey, in my case, who knew the difference anyway? The thing I like best about the character of Rocky is the life lesson that true champions do not always win. True champions follow their heart and maintain their integrity. Winning is certainly nice, and I don’t think anyone would have lived through six of these movies had not Rocky become champion at some stage, but the character’s emphasis on maintaining his center is what makes Rocky worth following.

If you have lived through the first five, this is a must see. If you haven’t seen any of them before, you can live without it. I liked it.

One final note. Only trumpet players like myself will really care about this, but the theme song for this movie blended the original theme music with Maynard Ferguson’s version. Maynard Ferguson, one of the greatest trumpet players ever, did a version of the Rocky music which far outweighed the original in popularity. Since Maynard passed away I do not know who played the trumpet solos for the theme music, but at first I thought it might have been Maynard himself, it was that good. I would like to think the makers of the film wanted to pay tribute to this fantastic musician and song writer who did a great deal to increase awareness of jazz among young people. I could never play Maynard’s rocky because if I tried to sustain those high notes, I would probably suffer a stroke. The guy was a freak and the acknowledgement of Maynard’s version provides a fitting back drop to the end of the Rocky saga.