The Very Thought of You (1998) [PG-13] ***

Martha (Monica Potter) meets Daniel (Tom Hollander) at the Minneapolis airport. She's escaping from a boring, meaningless life, and London is the least expensive foreign destination. Daniel is a successful British record producer returning to London from a business meeting in Minneapolis. Fascinated by the lovely Martha, he buys her a first-class ticket upgrade and a night at an expensive London hotel suite. However, after Martha disembarks at Heathrow airport, she accidentally injures Laurence (Joseph Fiennes) with her luggage cart.  And still later, while she is sightseeing in a London park, Martha meets Frank (Rufus Sewell). So what are the chances that, in a city of ten million people, Martha would meet three men who were all life-long friends, and who would each be irresistibly attracted to her?

Originally titled Martha - Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence, the film is both highly predictable and totally unbelievable. However, it does have a very British kind of warmth and charm, without any emphasis on sex. With an inventive screenplay by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, Hereafter), and a plot that unfolds both forward in linear time as well as in flashback, this comedic romance smoothly develops the unique personalities of each of the four of the leads, portraying Martha as curious, naive and innocent, Laurence as confused, indecisive and lovesick, and both Daniel and Frank as opportunistic lovers. While this film is not as rewarding as Monica Potter's later romantic comedy I'm With Lucy, if you enjoyed that film, as well as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and While You Were Sleeping, you might enjoy The Very Thought of You. 

Labels: comedy, romance   
Internet Movie Database   
Metacritic 43/100   
Tomatometer (critics=33, viewers=61) 

A Hologram for the King (2016) [R] ***/****

A film review by Ann Hornaday for washingtonpost.com on April 21, 2016.

Tom Hanks plays a globalized version of Willy Loman in A Hologram for the King, Tom Tykwer’s intriguing, if uneven, adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel.

Hanks brings all of his native, optimistic can-do attitude to his character, Alan Clay, an aging corporate executive working for a communications company in Boston. Thanks to a chance encounter years ago with a nephew of the king of Saudi Arabia, Alan’s been tasked with traveling to the kingdom to sell the government some interactive holographic conferencing technology. Jet-lagged, frequently hung over and perpetually out of his depth, Alan is true to his last name: a man in the process of being formed, in this case by a world that’s changing around him with dizzying uncertainty, beauty and speed.

As Alan tries to navigate the opaque inner workings of Saudi politics and culture — the endless waiting for decision-makers who never appear, the polite non-answers to direct questions, the heat and food and confounding cultural contradictions — he’s grappling with an angry ex-wife back in the United States, as well as a mysterious cyst that has appeared in the upper middle of his back. Meanwhile, he keeps missing the shuttle from his hotel to the desolate industrial park where his hologram presentation is supposed to take place any day now, putting him at the mercy of a genial driver named Yousef (Alexander Black), an American-educated bon vivant who reflexively disables his car in order to avoid being bombed by his girlfriend’s suspicious husband.

Alan and Yousef’s friendship accounts for the least-satisfying plot line in A Hologram for the King, which boasts many — most of them clumsily metaphorical. But the viewer comes to see Saudi Arabia through Alan’s eyes: first as an exotic, forbidding geographical and cultural other, eventually as a quasi-familiar embodiment of economic and social realities that are collapsing into each other faster and more dramatically than ever.

These encounters — some might call them collisions — can be violent or delightful, fraught with both danger and romance. Written and directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), A Hologram for the King conveys all of these possibilities with a combination of classical realism and bursts of surrealism. Bringing his all-American persona with him, Hanks makes an appropriate foil for Alan’s own regrets, naiveté and dawning sense of self-discovery, especially when he meets a quietly competent Saudi doctor played by Sarita Choudhury. His is the sentimental education of a new cosmopolitan.

The hero’s journey in A Hologram for the King is mostly interior, and it’s ultimately gratifying. In one brief scene, signs for Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken lie unused, either the portents of Western imperialism or the ruins of its decline. A Hologram for the King leaves viewers with the sense that neither one matters as much as the attempt to adapt and connect. It’s that rare fish-out-of-water story in which the fish miraculously manages to stop needing water, and learns to crave air instead. [Hornaday’s rating: 2.5 stars out of 4 = 62.5%

Blogger’s comment: In 42 years of acting in 93 films Tom Hanks has only made two cross-cultural, romantic dramas. The first one was Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986) an Israeli production set in Jerusalem in 1942 during WWII. In that film he played an American pilot flying for the RAF who falls in love with a Sephardi Jewish girl. In this film he plays an American businessman who falls in love with a Saudi Arabian Muslim physician. So, in the two films he has love affairs with Semitic women living in neighboring countries (Palestine and Saudi Arabia), appears with them in tastefully done love scenes, and makes long-term commitments to both of them. Could it possibly be that he made A Hologram for the King as an homage to Cristina Marsillach, his co-star in Every Time We Say Goodbye?

Labels: comedy, cross-cultural, drama, romance, Tom Hanks
IMDb 61/100
MetaScore (critics=58, viewers=58)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=62, viewers=70)
Blu-ray

 

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) [PG-13] ****

A film review by James Berardinelli.

Every once in a while, a movie surprises me. Such is the case with Andy Tennant's Ever After. Based on the lackluster previews, I was prepared for the worst, but, instead of getting a juvenile, pointless re-telling of the classic Cinderella fairy tale, I was confronted with a delightful re-interpretation. While I won't claim that Ever After is the best cinematic version of the fable, this is deft storytelling, and sure to be a hit with almost everyone who sees it (except, perhaps, unromantic cynics).

One of the most curious things about this movie is the PG-13 rating bestowed upon it by the MPAA. This is the third would-be family film in less than a month to carry that classification, and, while it is understandable in the case of the other two, Dr. Dolittle and Small Soldiers, I am at a loss to explain why Ever After was treated so harshly. Aside from a couple of mild sword fights, the evidence of a whipping (the actual event is not shown), and an inconsequential instance of profanity, there's nothing remotely objectionable about Ever After's content. Parents made wary by the PG-13 need not fret; this picture is entirely suitable for viewing by children of all ages.

Ever After's twist is that it's telling the real Cinderella story from which the Brothers Grimm fable was derived (the two famous fairy tale scribes make a brief appearance in a prologue that also features a cameo by the incomparable Jeanne Moreau). Consequently, there are no pumpkins, mice, magic spells, or fairy godmothers. The love story between a peasant girl and a prince is still at the core, although, in this case, Cinderella (whose name is Danielle), has the kind of progressive attitude that would be more at home in the 1990s than in the 1500s.

The broad strokes of the story are certainly familiar. After the tragic death of her father (Jeroen Krabbe), Danielle (played by Anna Maguire as a little girl, and Drew Barrymore thereafter) is consigned to a life of servitude for her cruel stepmother, Rodmilla (Anjelica Huston), and vain step-sister, Marguerite (Megan Dodds). Danielle has an ally in the household, her second step-sister, Jacqueline (Melanie Lynskey, last seen opposite Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures), but she's too meek to stand up to her mother. While Rodmilla, Marguerite, and Jacqueline enjoy as much luxury as their farm house provides, Danielle (dubbed Cinderella by Marguerite for the cinders that always stain her clothing) is forced to scrub the floors, cook the meals, and feed the animals.

One day, when Danielle is picking apples, she spies a man stealing one of her step-mother's horses. It's actually Prince Henry (Dougray Scott), the heir to the throne of France, in the process of running away from his father because he is unwilling to be trapped in a loveless, arranged marriage. Mistaking Henry for a common thief, Danielle knocks him from the horse with a well-aimed apple. After she realizes who he is, she is apologetic, but the meeting leaves an impression on both of them. At the time of their next encounter, Danielle is posing as a countess in order to rescue a family retainer from debtors' prison. She engages the Prince in a spirited debate, and, although he thinks he recognizes her, he can't put a name to the face. Soon, he is scouring the countryside looking for her, and, although Danielle is attracted to him, she avoids contact, fearing that if he learns that she isn't a member of the nobility, he will shun her. Through all of this, there is a fairy godmother of sorts -- Leonardo da Vinci (Patrick Godfrey), who uses science, not magic, to smooth the path of true love.

Movies like Ever After, if fashioned with little skill, become curiosities for pre-teen girls looking for a summer afternoon at the movies. However, Tennant takes this familiar material and crafts a charming, captivating motion picture. He gives the villains a few human qualities, but still manages to make them despicable enough that we feel justified in cheering when they receive their comeuppance. The all-important romance is nicely-developed. Danielle and Henry are clearly fated to be together, but they have to overcome a number of obstacles along the way, including her dishonesty, her step-family's duplicity, and his prejudice. Of course, everything turns out happily ever after (hence, the title), but, as in all romances, our enjoyment lies in observing the games played by the two smitten protagonists en route to that ending.

As good as the costumes and setting are, Tennant does not craft a flawless period piece. In fact, Ever After transpires in a pseudo-16th century that bears only a passing resemblance to the historical reality. Anachronisms abound, both in attitudes and in speech. The characters talk as if they are products of the 1900s, not the 1500s, using idioms that, at the time, were centuries away from making their way into the language. Tennant doesn't appear to be bothered by these inaccuracies, but those who are sticklers for period detail may be distracted by this sort of thing.

Drew Barrymore, continuing to rehabilitate her once-tarnished image, proves that her winning turn as a romantic lead in the otherwise-dreadful The Wedding Singer was no fluke. As Danielle, she radiates tremendous appeal. Like Prince Henry, we are immediately taken not only with Danielle's beauty (which shines through the dirt on her face) but with her spirit. Speaking of the Prince, Dougray Scott (who can also be seen in this summer's Deep Impact) manages the difficult feat of making Henry likable rather than bland (blandness is often the unfortunate fate of the male leads in movies like this). Anjelica Huston and Megan Dodds turn on the bitchiness as step-mom and step-sister, and veteran actors Timothy West and Judy Parfitt have comical turns as the King and Queen of France. Patrick Godfrey's wise-but-humorous da Vinci is a delight.

Tennant, who showed skill at the helm of a romance with his last film, Fools Rush In, has found the right tone for this effort. The love story is wrapped around interludes of comedy, adventure, and drama. It never seems to matter that we know the entire story from the beginning -- the characters, not the plot, capture our attention. One concern I have about this film is that, because it's not high-profile, it has the potential to become lost in the summer crush. Here's hoping that enough viewers discover Ever After to give it a happy ending at the box office. [Berardinelli's rating: *** out of 4]

Labels: Cinderella-story, comedy, drama, fantasy, period, rom-drama-faves, romance  
Internet Movie Database 7.0/10
Metacritic 66/100  
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=75, viewers=70)  
Blu-ray1  
Blu-ray2

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) [PG] ****

Star Trek: Insurrection opens in the village of the Ba’ku - six hundred people living in balance with Nature on a remote planet. Their planet's rings bathe the Ba’ku in a metaphasic radiation that suspends aging, like a fountain of youth. This radiation is coveted by an off-planet group called the Son’a, who suffer from a rapid aging illness. The Son’a have a technology that concentrates the radiation and can reverse aging, but it will render the planet uninhabitable. So the Son’a have made a deal with the Federation to move the Ba’ku off the planet in exchange for the Son’a technology. Discovering the plot, Picard (Patrick Stewart) reminds his superior that they are ignoring the Prime Directive (no interference with the natural development of any culture), and that Earth's history contains many tragic examples of a native population being wiped out or relocated by a powerful group intent on stealing its land or other resources. Picard cannot stop the plot, so he and the Enterprise crew are forced to take desperate measures to protect the Ba’ku and their planet.

Besides being great science fiction, Star Trek: Insurrection uses the Ba’ku and Son’a as symbols to make a statement about geopolitics. Baku is actually the name of the capital of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea. It's the center of an oil-rich region that has been coveted for its energy resources for centuries. Imagine that the metaphasic radiation symbolizes oil, the Ba’ku symbolizes the oil-rich, militarily-weak Caspian region, the Son’a symbolize the greedy, rapacious U.S. multinational oil companies, and the Federation symbolizes the powerful, energy-hungry U.S. government. In the same way that the Son’a and the Federation formed an alliance to exploit the helpless Ba’ku, so does the U.S. government work with the U.S. multinational oil companies to exploit oil-rich, militarily-weak nations like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and others. We may predict that, as global demand for petroleum increases, and exceeds global production, competition for the Caspian region's oil resources will grow even more intense, and this strategic region, bordered by Iran and Russia, could be where the next oil war erupts.

Labels: action, adventure, sci-fi, thriller
Internet Movie Database 6.4/10
MetaScore (critics=64, viewers=58)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=58, viewers=64)
Blu-ray

James Berardinelli's review (3 stars out of 4)