The Sapphires — 3.5 stars — One Word Review: Fun!

ONE WORD REVIEW: Fun!

SUMMARY: Based on a true story, an Indigenous girls band from Australia earns the opportunity to travel to Vietnam to entertain the American troops during the war.

DETAILS: The Sapphires is That Thing You Do meets soul music and the Vietnam War. A group of Indigenous singers in Australia catch the attention of a makeshift music promoter (Chris O'Dowd) who helps them transition from country to soul music and take their show to Vietnam. Loosely based on a true story, their new manager secures an audition in Melbourne that will change their lives. The girl singers (Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, and Miranda Tapsell) change their name to The Sapphires, and head to war-torn Vietnam to entertain the American servicemen. The Sapphires contains romance, laughter, and a fantastic soundtrack of 1960’s soulful music. The film deals with issues of race, belonging, and the universal language of music. Although I mentioned That Thing You Do to create a mental picture, this film doesn’t quite reach the same mark as that Tom Hanks classic. Ultimately, The Sapphires wants to soar at great heights, but instead settles for a low, but elegant glide across the screen… but regardless, this film does have a great soundtrack and is worth watching.

WATCH THE TRAILER
SCORE: 3.5 out of 5 stars
RELEASE: 2012
RATING: PG-13
FOREIGN FILM: Australia

The Terminal — 3.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Fun!

 
SUMMARY: Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is forced to live in an airport terminal at JFK when he unknowingly becomes a man without a country.

DETAILS: This fun film by Steven Spielberg is full of wit, humor and poignant moments. If you haven’t seen it, you should. And if you have seen it, I will encourage you to watch it again. While Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is flying to America, his country (the fictitious Krakozhia) is overthrown, making his passport invalid and in turn causing Viktor to learn that for him, “America is closed”. His passport and return ticket are revoked by customs agents making him a man without a country who can’t enter America and who can’t return home. So he begins living at the unfinished Gate 67 in the international terminal at JFK. He learns to speak English, makes friends with some of the employees of the airport, becomes a matchmaker, falls for a beautiful stewardess (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and never gives up on his purpose of why he wants to come to America; a secret he carries with him in a can of peanuts.

WATCH THE TRAILER
SCORE: 3.5 out of 5 stars
RELEASE: 2004
RATING:PG-13

The Way, Way Back — 3.5 out of 5 stars

TWO WORD REVIEW: Growing Up

SUMMARY: Duncan is a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. At least that’s what his Mom’s new boyfriend thinks, but that’s before Duncan spends the summer discovering who he really is.

DETAILS: Duncan’s Mom has a new boyfriend (Steve Carell) who owns a house at the beach and Duncan (Liam James) will unwillingly spend the summer there… and in the process he will become himself. The beach community is “like Spring Break for adults” where the parents party every night and Duncan and his neighbor Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb) are left to while the summer away. Soon Duncan sneaks off to Water Wizz, the local water park where he finds purpose and a father figure (Sam Rockwell) who cares for him and helps him realize he has value and self-worth. The Way, Way Back is a fun, funny, and painful reminder of those awkward years transitioning from childhood to adulthood. The film has a great vibe and the cast does a fantastic job telling this story of a boy coming of age.

WATCH THE TRAILER
SCORE: 3.5 out of 5
RELEASE: 2013
RATING: PG-13

Unbroken — 4 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Powerful!

SUMMARY: A U.S. Olympic athlete turned WWII Airman survives a plane crash, 45 days on the open sea, and the remainder of the war in a Japanese prison camp… all the while remaining unbroken.

DETAILS: Based on the true life experiences of Louis Zamperini, Unbroken tells the story of a U.S. Olympic athlete turned WWII Airman (Jack O’Connell) who survives a plane crash in the ocean, 45 days on the open seas, and the remainder of the war in a Japanese prison camp. Zamperini continually hears his brothers words of encouragement though all of his trials, beatings, and torturous experiences. In the end he remains unbroken and eventually chooses to forgive his enemies. This screenplay, written by Joel & Ethen Coen (and others) contains several scenes that portray strong themes of faith and redemption, including a “crucifixion” scene, and a beautiful baptism scene where Louis and all the prisoners ultimately receive their redemption. Directed by Angelina Jolie, the story doesn’t cover the entire novel by the same name, but certainly is an inspiring telling of Zamperini’s early life.

SCORE: 4.0 out of 5 stars

RELEASE: 2014
RATING: PG-13

Quartet — 4 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Rich

SUMMARY: A famous operatic quartet finds themselves living together in a home for retired musical stars… but will they ever perform again?

DETAILS: Dustin Hoffman directs this fantastic story about life in a retirement home for aging musicians. When the fourth member of an operatic quartet moves into Beecham House, three of the four decide to get the quartet together again for a final performance of their famous Rigoletto. But an aging diva who worries about her voice along with her failed marriage to one of the other members of the quartet are obstacles that may be insurmountable. A brilliant performance by Billy Connolly (A Series of Unfortunate Events) tops this great cast of fun, rich characters.

SCORE: 4 out of 5

RELEASE: 2012
RATING: PG-13

The Giver — 3.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: 1984ish

SUMMARY: In a world where all emotions have been neutered, a young man sets out to free them all.

DETAILS: Based on the 1993 novel by Lois Lowry, The Giver tells the story of a young man in a world free of emotion. Each individual is assigned work based on their giftedness, but Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is special. He’s given the responsibility to carry the history for the people, an extremely rare assignment that literally places the emotional weight of the world on the one who carries it. The Giver (Jeff Bridges) shares his gift with Jonas who soon learns that he has the opportunity to help bring emotions back to his world.

They say I should have read the book before seeing the movie. I wish I had. I really wanted to like this more, but certain parts of the story (i.e. the boundary being crossed to restore emotion) just fell flat for me.

SCORE: 3.5 out of 5

RELEASE: 2014
RATING: PG-13

O Brother, Where Art Thou? — 5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Brilliant

SUMMARY: From Chain Gang to Soggy Bottom Boys three men search for redemption in this retelling of The Odyssey.

DETAILS: George Clooney leads the escape of his chain-gang from the prison in the south on a journey toward redemption. It’s brilliant, funny, classic, Coen Brothers at their best.

SCORE: 5 out of 5

RELEASE: 2000
RATING: PG-13

Zoolander — 0.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Awful

SUMMARY: Mr. Zoolander, please give me my 2 hours back

DETAILS: I give this film a .5 instead of a zero in order to recognize that some filmmakers gave of themselves to make this. If filmmakers weren’t involved I would have given it a zero.

SCORE: 0.5 out of 5

RELEASE: 2001

RATING: PG-13

The Client — 3.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Grishamish

SCORE: 3.5 out of 5

RELEASE: 1994
RATING: PG-13

Captain America: The Winter Soldier — 3 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Marvelish

SCORE: 3 out of 5

RELEASE: 2014
RATING: PG-13

The Fault In Our Stars — 3 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Sad

SUMMARY: A depressing ride to death through the lives of people with no hope to hold onto.

DETAILS: Sad… this film is sad on a couple of levels. Sad in that it deals with death and dying. Our main characters are on their way to the grave. But more sad in that no one in the film has a hope to hold onto… there is no afterlife, no heaven, no God, no hope. The brief glimpse of any Christian influence is done in a mocking manner of a cancer support group leader who makes a hook rug of Jesus and is portrayed in a very cheesy way. The part that I did like was the Willem Dafoe character… who really is the God character in the film. He is the author of book that our heroes love… but the book literally ends in the middle of the sentence. Our characters must travel across the sea to meet this author and ask him why and what really happened next. When they arrive they are sorely disappointed and they learn that “God doesn’t care about them or for them” or so they perceive. But in the end this God character comes to our heroine and leaves letter that she won’t read until later, a letter that brings an element of redemption. The farther I get from this movie, the more I like it… or at least parts of it. Or maybe I just like being far from it???

SCORE: 3 out of 5

RELEASE: 2014
RATING: PG-13

Beyond the Farthest Star — 3.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Complicated

SUMMARY: A family and their hidden secrets shake up a small Texas town.

DETAILS: Complicated…. This is probably one of the best “Christian” films I’ve seen. It’s gut-wrenching honest dealings with issues of hidden pasts, parenting difficulties, and troubled relationships are sure to hinder the profitability in the traditional “Christian Market” for this film, but hopefully it will help it find a much broader audience who are hungry for this style of honest filmmaking. A pastor and his family move to a small town to start afresh. The pastor was once sold as the “next Billy Graham” but something has obviously changed. His daughter is dark and into cutting and burning herself, his wife hides deep secrets of their past, and his story is about to thrust into the national spotlight due to a civil liberties case. The denouement of this film is way too long, but almost necessary to unravel all the threads that make up this complicated, yet compelling storyline. Look for it next Spring in select theatres. My good friend (and editor of two of my own films) James Burgess did the editing on this film and it’s definitely worth a watch.

SCORE: 3.5 out of 5

RELEASE: 2013 - Not Yet Released
RATING: PG-13

Music and Lyrics — 3.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Fun!

SUMMARY: A has-been pop star and the girl who waters his plants work together to write a new hit for today’s current hot act.

DETAILS: Fun!… Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore star in this romantic comedy about an unlikely pair who team up to write a song. Grant’s character can write the melodies but lyrics are not his strong suit… and his previous solo album (and its failure) are proof of that. Barrymore has a gift with words, but lacks the confidence needed to write them down. Together they create a great song and of course, they fall in love along the way. It’s lighthearted and fun, yet still teaches us about overcoming our pasts as well as our failures and shortcomings.

SCORE: 3.5 Stars out of 5

RELEASE: 2007
RATING: PG-13

Duplex — 2.5 out of 5 stars

Ben Stiller & Drew Barrymore move into a Brooklyn duplex with a noisy, crazy, but charming upstairs neighbor who they can’t get to leave. They soon realize that their only option is murder.

SCORE: 2.5 out of 5

RELEASE: 2003
RATING: PG-13

Blue Like Jazz — 4 out of 5 stars

Donald Miller's story of college and christianity. At an extremely secular campus he gains a sense of what is real about his faith in spite of all the hypocritical christians he knows.

SCORE: 4 out of 5
RELEASE: 2112
RATING: PG-13