Netflix And Chill: Runaway Jury (2003)

Note: I watched this film yesterday on UK Netflix, ready for thos review to be written today. Yesterday was the last day that Runaway Jury was available on the service here in the UK. Such is the fickle nature of streaming services.

Like many films from the '90s and 2000s, Runaway Jury now feels like a more comforting watch today than it did when first released. It's based on a John Grisham novel, coming along as seemingly the last major attempt to wring more money out of his legal thrillers (until they inevitably come back into fashion at some point), it has a fantastic ensemble cast anchored by two star turns from a couple of acting legends, and it delivers some tension and thrills without needing to shoehorn in any major action set-pieces.

Everything revolves around a trial that sees a woman trying to win a case against a firearms company. Nobody ever wins when they take on the gun industry, but some people hold on to the hope that this case could turn the tide. The one with the most hope is attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), although that becomes harder to hang onto as he battles against tactics used by jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman). Fitch and his team are bemused by one particular juror though, Nick Easter (John Cusack), and it soon becomes clear how important he is when they are contacted by a woman (Marlee, played by Rachel Weisz) who claims that she can deliver whatever verdict is needed for a big fee.

Adapted into screenplay form by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Rick Cleveland, and Matthew Chapman, Runaway Jury is full of enjoyable lines of dialoge that are uttered with plenty of energy and power by leads clearly enjoying themselves in their roles. Director Gary Fleder may not put any stamp on the visual style of the film, but he does well to simply stay out of the way of his cast as they do their thing.

What can be said about Hackman that hasn't already been said many times over the years? The world of cinema was undoubtedly better while he was a part of it, and he's absolutely fantastic as the devious and relentless Fitch. Hoffman steps up his game for the scenes shared with Hackman, but he also spends a lot of the runtime focusing on his accent and trying to be almost childishly idealistic. Cusack is a lot of fun in what may well be the last film to make good use of the charm and wit that he used to have in every role, and Weisz enjoys herself in scenes that show her scheming and working hard to maintain an advantage against the powerful people she is dealing with. I won't go into detail on their characters, but the supporting cast includes the likes of Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Cliff Curtis, Nick Searcy, Rhoda Griffis, Leland Orser, Nestor Serrano, Jennifer Beals, Gerry Bamman, Bill Nunn, Rusty Schwimmer, Orlando Jones, Luis Guzmán, and Dylan McDermott. If you don't recognise all of those names, trust me, you should recognise most of their faces.

Okay, it's not the best of the Grisham blockbusters (I think we all know that the "first wave" of movies adapted from his work gave us the best films), but this is a fantastic bit of entertainment. It's polished, it's intriguing, it has some obvious twists and turns that prove satisfying by the time everything is resolved, and the 127-minute runtime never drags, thanks in no small part to the feeling that you're never too far away from another great moment for Hackman, Hoffman, or Cusack. It's not one I think about too often, but it's one I am surprisingly happy to rewatch whenever the opportunity arises.

7/10

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Noirvember: Confidence (2003)

It sometimes strikes me as wild that Edward Burns had (has?) a decent acting career, to the point where he was considered a viable leading man for some movies that have very strong supporting casts. I don’t hate Burns, that would be far too strong a reaction, but he is never someone who I would consider a first choice for any movie role, even the ones that he wrote and directed himself. There’s just a whopping great lack of charm, which makes it even harder to accept him in his lead role here, playing someone supposedly smart and charming enough to lead a con team on a number of successful jobs.

Burns is Jake, the leader of a group who have honed their craft over a number of years. His crew includes Gordo (Paul Giamatti), Miles (Brian Van Holt), Al (Louis Lombardi), and even a couple of cops (played by Donal Logue and Luis Guzmán). Things get sticky when the team con someone out of a load of money that actually belongs to a crime boss named King (Dustin Hoffman). Coming up with a way to appease King isn’t easy, but Jake thinks he can manage it, with the help of a woman named Lily (Rachel Weisz). There are so many ways things could go wrong though, especially with federal agent Gunther Butan (Andy Garcia) snooping around.

If you have seen any con movie then you will know how this film plays out. I could easily name you a dozen con films right now that are better than this, but that isn’t to say that this is a bad film. Director James Foley and writer Doug Jung may feel as if they are just going through things mechanically, but the mechanics of any con movie can end up being the most appealing aspect. Knowing how things are playing out just keeps viewers closely onside with the con artists, which is satisfying enough when they are trying to get one over on someone who deserves to be fleeced. A lack of surprise in a con movie doesn’t automatically equate to a lack of enjoyment, not for me anyway.

With the exception of Burns, the cast all help to make this more enjoyable than it otherwise would be. Hoffman is an enjoyable villain, and just about manages to feel like a real threat, and both Giamatti and Weisz are easy highlights. There are more people to keep an eye on though, including Morris Chestnut, Tom Lister Jr, Robert Forster (sadly onscreen for seconds), John Carroll Lynch, and Leland Orser. Alongside the other supporting players already mentioned, it’s almost as if someone was savvy enough to realise that a lot of talent was required to compensate for the bland leading man.

Nobody here will put this at the top of their C.V. This is a lesser film in almost every department. It manages to avoid being bad though. That is mostly due to the cast, but it is also partly due to the innate charm of the con movie format, which always tends to appeal to me. You could even say that I’m a sucker for them.

6/10

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Sphere (1998)

Although not released at the same time as the big underwater thrillers that battled it out in the late 1980s (those main three titles being Leviathan, DeepStar Six, and The Abyss, of course), but Sphere is nicely in line with those films, and any other underwater thriller that tends to mix horror or sci-fi with our fascination/fear of the deep waters that cover so much of the surface of our planet.

There's an alien spacecraft found at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, which understandably requires some investigation. That leads to the standard assembling of a group of smart people who might be able to get to the bottom of things. There's a marine biologist (Beth Halperin, played by Sharon Stone), a psychologist (Norman Goodman, played by Dustin Hoffman), a mathematician (Samuel L. Jackson), an astrophysicist (Ted Fielding, played by Liev Schreiber), and a U.S. Navy Captain (Harold Barnes, played by Peter Coyote). Once at the main site, our assembled team discover a number of strange details, and then a large and impenetrable, perfect sphere. And things are about to get much stranger, putting the group in danger as sanity is worn down and people start to turn on one another.

Michael Crichton has written numerous best-sellers, and his name has been involved with a number of enjoyable blockbuster movies, but he hasn't always been adapted well to the big screen. Sphere is one of the better Crichton adaptations of the past few decades, although it suffers from the fact that the finale probably isn't as satisfying as viewers want it to be. Adapted by Kurt Wimmer, the final screenplay by Stephen Hauser and Paul Attanasio is a decent attempt to mix in some spectacle, thrills and tension, and some solid psychological horror (albeit mild horror). As with so many Crichton tales, there are a number of great ideas, and the script at least executes many of them very well.

Director Barry Levinson also does good work here, making the most of his all-star cast and the chance to provide a number of set-pieces that build and build on the way to the grand finale. The weakness seems to be in the source material, but only in the way that it doesn't feel designed to provide the most obvious type of third act resolution that so many of us are used to from these kinds of movies.

There's nobody here who feels out of place when it comes to the cast. The leads are just superb, all bringing certain qualities to their characters, which is obviously why they were picked. Stone is another strong female here, although one with a vulnerability that ends up being exploited. Hoffman is a bit arrogant with his intelligence, Jackson is more relaxed and open to seeing how things play out, and Schreiber is, well, just fun to have onscreen alongside the others. Coyote is as dependable as ever, and there's even a good little turn from Queen Latifah, playing one of the few other characters to have actual dialogue.

It may not quite do enough to warrant me making a pun like "the only thing you need to fear is Sphere itself", but this is a sorely-neglected blockbuster from the late '90s that tries to weave between entertainingly dumb and entertainingly smart.

8/10

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Little Fockers (2010)

The third, and final (and I assume it is going to stay that way), instalment in what we can now refer to as the Fockers trilogy, Little Fockers is a perfect example of something perfectly competent, yet also perfectly in line with the law of diminishing returns.

All of the main cast members return. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and Pam (Teri Polo), his wife, now have some children of their own, and father/grandfather Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) visits to discuss the potential of making Greg the next family patriarch. This comes about after Jack has had a "mild" heart attack, the timing is as bad as it can be, making things more stressful for Greg as he tries to juggle a number of different responsibilities.

Paul Weitz takes over the directing duties, a talented director in the field of comedy who I wish would recapture the touch he had when dealing with 3/4 of his first four movies, and he seems to be happy enough to go through the motions set out by the script, written by a returning John Hamburg, and Larry Stuckey (who was an associate producer on the previous instalment). That wouldn't be so bad if the script had any life to it, but it's almost as if everyone knows they used up all of the gags in the first two movies. All that is required is to get everyone into place, to set up a couple of comic misunderstandings, and to let the actors all do their thing. And that's what happens. It's not funny. It's not entertaining. It's just dull. Really dull. It's even worse when it sets up obvious strands that don't play out to anywhere near their full comic potential (such as potential chemistry between the lead and a character played by Jessica Alba).

What saves it from being completely unwatchable is the cast. Although the leads look like they could sleepwalk through the whole film, and some might say they do, there's still some fun to be had from just watching De Niro and Stiller play off one another. Polo and Danner are sidelined even more here than they were in the previous films, Hoffman and Streisand are also underused, and the same can be said for a returning Owen Wilson, as well as newcomer Alba. The second instalment in the series added more characters in the mix, but at least it had things for them to do. This one just hopes that having enough names in the cast list will distract from the . . . redundancy of it all.

Everybody knows how easily pleased I am, it's clear from most of my reviews, as well as the fact that I repeat that statement often enough, and I know that I enjoyed both Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers more than most people. So you should probably bear that in mind when deciding whether or not to give your time to this, a relatively innocuous mainstream comedy that somehow made me determined not to seem too generous with my rating of it. It's the epitome of Hollywood laziness from start to finish.

3/10

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Meet The Fockers (2004)

Having taken the lead characters on a full journey in the first movie, what would be the best way to craft another tale around Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and his humourless new father-in-law (Robert De Niro)? Well, it's time to meet the other parents. Greg's parents, both of whom are about as far removed from his in-laws as it is possible to be. Of course.

That's the whole plot right there, basically. Greg and Pam (Teri Polo) travel with Jack (De Niro) and Dina (Blythe Danner) to meet Greg's parents. Bernie Focker (Dustin Hoffman) is a very open and caring male, and Rozalin Focker (Barbara Streisand) is a lively and sensuous woman who is used to batting embarrassment aside as she helps people in her role as a sex therapist. When these two worlds collide, hilarity is set to ensue.

Following an established formula for any successful sequel (take what people enjoyed the first time around, then try to add some more of it), Meet The Fockers is a lot of fun for anyone who is a fan of most of the cast members. And how can you not be a fan of most of the cast members? Stiller and De Niro work as well opposite one another as they did in the first movie, while both Hoffman and Streisand have an absolute blast with their effervescent characters. You also get some time for Owen Wilson, albeit little more than a cameo role this time around, Alanna Ubach as a housemaid who may or may not have given birth to a Focker child, and a running strand about the way Jack is trying to look after his grandson (who is also along for the journey, because it was necessary to add more disagreements and gags).

As well as those returning in front of the cameras, everyone also returns to their main roles behind the cameras. Director Jay Roach stays well within his comfort zone, working well enough with the script by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg to create more laughs and add a new, but familiar, set of obstacles on the path to enduring happiness. While there's not as much subterfuge this time around, people are still trying to hide their true natures, with the Fockers being begged by their son just to rein things in slightly as their newest family members become accustomed to them.

If you liked the first film then you're probably going to like this. It's not setting out to push any boundaries or reinvent comedy. It's just trying to entertain viewers, and it succeeds in that regard. While that may be more down to the exuberance of the cast than the actual script, the end result is the same. You even get a similar end credit sequence, showing Jack reviewing some of his "secret" camera footage.

Successful enough to lead to a third instalment a few years further down the line, Meet The Fockers is easygoing mainstream entertainment. If that's not your thing, you can easily ignore it forever. But those who don't mind it, and I include myself there, will find this a suitable viewing choice when looking for some simplistic fun.

7/10

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Bonus Review: Chef (2014)

It's hard to think of anything that's really wrong with Chef. I tried, I really did, but I just ended up realising that it was almost a perfect little gem of a film. Okay, there's maybe an ending that feels both too tidy and also a bit rushed, but that's about it.

Jon Favreau, who wrote and directed the film, stars as Carl Casper, a chef who has a major meltdown when he locks horns with a food critic/blogger (Oliver Platt). This leads to him reassessing his values, which in turn leads to him getting a van and making the kind of simple, tasty food that he thinks other people will enjoy as much as he does. He takes his son (Emjay Anthony) along with him, and also benefits from the help of his colleague, Martin (John Leguizamo). Perhaps this simpler set-up can help the chef to remember what he loved about cooking in the first place.

Alright, I guess predictability is another flaw I could mention. If I wanted to. Yet I'm not going to. Chef is comfort food, much like the creations made by Carl when he gets his van rolling. The whole movie feels like a perfect blend of form and content, in the same way as The Wolf Of Wall Street, despite the two movies being worlds apart in many other ways. Favreau has spent some time delivering huge, glossy, blockbusters, and with no small amount of success, so it's hard not to see his move back to a smaller, more intimate, movie as an obvious parallel between the man he is behind the camera and the character he portrays onscreen.

The cast are all pretty perfect, and seem to be enjoying the whole experience from start to finish. Favreau is believable and earnest, without ever being far too innocent and wholesome, while Leguizao has one of his best roles in a long, long time. Young Emjay Anthony is a likable kid, and if you can tell me a single occasion when Platt hasn't been worth watching then I will call you a liar and blow raspberries at you. It's just a shame that he doesn't get more screentime here. Sofia Vergara is yet another delight, in a movie full of them, as Casper's ex-wife, and the mother of his son. She still has his best interests at heart because when he does well then it makes life better for their son. But she also just wants him to recapture what used to make him so happy. Bobby Cannavale does well playing a character who could have been all too easy to dislike, and there are small roles for Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr, with the latter on fine form during the entirety of his cameo appearance.

There's a wonderful soundtrack accompanying many scenes, a solid script, so many shots of tasty food that you'll be hungry by the time the credits roll, and lots of sunshine ensuring that this is a light film, in almost every sense of the word. It has a little something for everyone, and I highly recommend it. And chefs, it goes without saying, will probably LOVE it.

9/10

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Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Will Ferrell may not be the kind of comic actor you can imagine moving smoothly into more dramatic roles, but he does a very good job playing Harold Crick in this movie, a gentle comedy that mixes in some wonderful ideas and a few nice twists and turns.

Harold Crick works for the IRS and lives his life in numbers. He always brushes his teeth a set number of times, he can always answer any mathematical problems thrown at him by colleagues and he stays on quite a predictable, some might say boring, schedule. This all changes completely when Harold starts to hear a voice narrating his every move. Harold seeks help from Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), who endeavours to help him find out what kind of story he is being made a part of and how it might end. Meanwhile, Harold also falls for a young woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) that he's been tasked with auditing and starts to really enjoy his life for the first time ever. This doesn't register with writer Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), who is busy trying to get over her writer's block with the help of an optimistic assistant, Penny Escher (Queen Latifah). Karen doesn't need optimism. She often gets inspiration from sickness, from pain. From death.

Director Marc Forster uses a number of great little tricks to make the most of Zach Helm's smart and gently amusing script. Measurements and numbers appear all over the place in the first section of the movie, allowing viewers to get caught up in the details that govern the life of Harold Crick, the narration provides comedy and also tension and there are many enjoyable callbacks to little details throughout the film.

As already mentioned, Ferrell does well in the lead role, but he has the benefit of a superb supporting cast around him. That's not to sell him short though. His everyman turn here may be the best that he's ever done, in my view, and he makes for a likeable and sympathetic lead. Gyllenhaal is a lot of fun in her role, a woman who wants to choose just where her tax dollars go, and Hoffman is even more enjoyable as he gets to grips with Harold's problem and tries to tick off a variety of literary possibilities. Thompson and Latifah are, for the most part, separate from the central story strand, but they're important characters, of course, and both do very well in their roles.

Overall, Stranger Than Fiction manages to please a lot of different people; those looking for something a bit different from the norm, those looking for something clever, those looking for something with warm humour to it, those looking for something with a bit of romance and those looking for a film that will remind them, funnily enough, of the power of a good book.

8/10

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The Graduate (1967)

It doesn't matter how many times it happens, I am still consistently amazed at my own ability to underestimate the sheer joy available from watching classic movies. I'd seen The Graduate before, many years ago, but lined it up for a rewatch without remembering just how great it was from start to finish and now a review seems pointless. Of course, I'm still going to try to do it justice but be prepared for something completely superfluous when coming along after the praise and respect that the film has already garnered over the years.

Dustin Hoffman, in a role that remains the one that defined his career, is Benjamin Braddock, a young man who has just returned home to very happy parents after graduating from college. Unfortunately, despite the good intentions and advice of everyone around him, Benjamin doesn't know what he wants to do next with his life. He's quite confused and things get more confusing for him when a family friend, Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft), intimates her willingness to have an affair with him. It's definitely a fun way to kill some time but a major problem arises when Mrs Robinson's daughter (Elaine, played by Katharine Ross) comes home and Ben is asked by his parents to take her out on a date.

Perfect, just perfect. That's what The Graduate is to me. If you've not seen it in a long time then reacquaint yourself with it as soon as possible. If you've never seen the movie before then stop reading this review and get your hands on it right now.

Hoffman and Bancroft are just superb, whether they're stuck in solo contemplation, interacting with other people or sharing the screen together in the moments of their affair that mix humour with a certain eroticism. Katharine Ross is very sweet as a young woman unwittingly caught in the middle of a horrendous situation. William Daniels and Elizabeth Wilson aren't onscreen for all that long but still do well as Benjamin's parents - proud of their son and showing him off to their friends and neighbours before trying to motivate him to start planning his future. Last, but by no means least, there's a great turn from Murray Hamilton AKA Mr. Robinson.

Of course, the cast get most of the praise (as well as Simon & Garfunkel, who provided the music that would make the soundtrack as perfect as any other aspect of the movie) but the people behind the camera deserve a fair few compliments too. The script by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry overflows with great lines and exchanges. Having said that, even the dialogue-free moments have plenty to "say" thanks to the direction of Mike Nichols. It's not always that subtle - Hoffman is often shown literally drifting through this time of his life - but every frame has plenty of information and detail in there, all conveyed through mise-en-scene. A better man could probably post a screenshot from every scene online and examine and dissect it to show the importance of almost every decision. I am not that man, you'll just have to trust me.

There's so much to say about The Graduate, including the way it hops around tonally without ever feeling inconsistent and messy, but I'll leave the longer essays to others with more time and intelligence at their disposal. I have to go and listen to some Simon & Garfunkel albums.

10/10

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