Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Crisp Criticism - "Like Father, Like Son", "Joe", "Belle", "Walk of Shame"

by
Julien Faddoul














Like Father, Like Son **

A successful businessman learns that his biological son was switched with another after birth and must decide whether to choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.
With each succeeding film, Kore-Eda has been becoming increasingly sentimental. Despite the schematics of the material here, every move and gesture is accomplished with total precision, with an excellent ensemble cast.


wd – Hirokazu Kore-Eda
ph – Mikiya Takimoto
pd – Keiko Mitsumatsu
m – Takeshi Matsubara, Junichi Matsumoto, Takashi Mori
ed – Hirokazu Kore-Eda

p – Kaoru Matsuzaki, Hijiri Taguchi

Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, Rirî Furankî, Jun Fubuki, Shôgen Hwang, Keita Ninomiya, Isao Natsuyagi











Joe **

An ex-convict turned lumberjack takes the 15-year-old boy with a troubled family under his wing.
Mood and milieu are unerring here, typical of both its director and star, but a nucleus is missing.


d – David Gordon Green
w – Gary Hawkins   (Based on the Novel by Larry Brown)
ph – Tim Orr
pd – Chris L. Spellman
m – Jeff McIlwain, David Wingo
ed – Colin Patton
cos – Karen Malecki, Jill Newell

p – David Gordon Green, Lisa Muskat, Derrick Tseng, Christopher Woodrow

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Gary Poulter, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Adriene Mishler











Belle *

The true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral.
Detached, expository and ultimately rather didactic depiction of historical socioeconomics; lushly decorated.


d – Amma Asante
w – Misan Sagay
ph – Ben Smithard
pd – Simon Bowles
m – Rachel Portman
ed – Victoria Boydell, Pia Di Ciaula
cos – Anushia Nieradzik

p – Damian Jones

Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, Alex Jennings, James Norton











Walk of Shame

A reporter's dream of becoming a news anchor is compromised after a one-night stand leaves her stranded in downtown L.A. without a phone, car, ID or money.
Shrill comedy; waste of time, money and a talented cast.


wd – Steven Brill
ph – Jonathan Brown
pd – Perry Andelin Blake
m – John Debney
ed – Patrick J. Don Vito
cos – Lindsay Ann McKay

p – Sidney Kimmel, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg

Cast: Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Gillian Jacobs, Sarah Wright, Ethan Suplee, Bill Burr




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