Cold War Neurosis

 

 

     Opening this weekend is the indie film Ginger and Rosa, described as a coming of age story set against the backdrop of 1962 and the claustrophobic mindset of the Cold War.  Starring Elle Fanning (little sister of Dakota) and director Jane Campions' daughter Alice Englert, Ginger and Rosa are life long best friends who navigate perilous waters of impending womanhood.  Along the way their relationship becomes strained as the process of growing up has a way of pulling people apart.  Each character is very different but held together by the love they have for each other.  This film really brings nothing new to the coming of age film.  They experiment with smoking cigs, picking up boys, skipping school, and many other behaviors that you have seen time and time again.  Rosa's mom was abandoned by her husband early on and is a single mother who struggles to raise her daughter. Ginger has a mother who tries as best as she can given her husband is a professor/intellectual who is vastly flawed as a man. A womanizer who it is related, contiunually leaves, then re-enters the home depending on which student he can lure into his seedy little web.  I found this particular character extremely unsympathetic and sort of hated the guy.  Why does Ginger and her mother keep forgiving him and taking him back?  You know he is just going to do it again.  The rest of the cast are basically throwaways.  The film is an awesome showcase for the acting talents of Elle Fanning.  Without which this movie would be boring and very nearly terrible.

     The underlying tension of this film is Gingers' very real fear of nuclear annihilation which peaks during the Cuban missile crisis.  Ginger seems to be slowly sinking from understandable neurosis to becoming seriously disturbed.  I kept wondering if this poor girl is ever going to find a slice of happiness in life.  An ambiguous ending leaves it all up in the air.  One can be hopeful but I found little to be hopeful about.  Of course we all know now that the Cold War never did turn hot, thank goodness, but that doesn't lessen the unspoken horror of the era.  So maybe eventually she does what everyone else did back in those days.  Just didn't think about it too much.  If you didn't, going crazy with worry could have been very easy.  In the final analysis, Ginger and Rosa is a character study that could have used more interesting characters.  Beautifully filmed with a breakout performance by Fanning this movie is interesting.  With more focus on delivering a message,  believable supporting characters, and normal reactions to bad behavior: Ginger and Rosa could have been elevated from a good movie to a great one.  This is an OK date movie. 

I give Ginger and Rosa a grade of:  B



This Wizard Comes Up Short

 

 

     Before I begin my review I have to say that on My list of all time great movies, the original Wizard of Oz, is on my top five.  Of course to try and expand on a near perfect story would be nearly impossible which is why it will never be remade.  To avoid obvious pitfalls, this prequel tries to fill in the back story of how the Wizard got to the Land of Oz in the first place.  The promotion for this film began months ago with spectacular trailers highlighting the CG special effects which are, well, pretty spectacular.  So I made a mental note that I would "have" to see this film on opening day.  You can view this film in 2d, 3d, and IMAX 3d.  If you want to save a few bucks, 2d is just fine.  (a little cinema trivia:  The very first IMAX film was introduced at the World's Fair in Spokane back in 1974!)

     Now on to the movie.  In a nod to the original, the film opens in black and white, at a small travelling circus in Kansas.  (is Kansas really that drab?)  Oscar Diggs is the resident magician and erstwhile conman who's specialty is stealing women's' hearts.  He has a routine whereby he makes a present to a woman of a music box that belonged to his dear departed grandmother.  In actuality he has dozens.  These opening scenes should be very funny but James Franco, who plays Diggs/Oz, just can't pull it off.  It's not for lack of trying but the harder he tries the less humorous it becomes.  I think that may be the underlying problem with Oz, it just tries too hard.  Through a series of events he ends up being chased by the circus strongman and makes his escape with the help of a hot air balloon.  Of course he gets sucked into a twister because that is, after all, the only way one can get to the Land of Oz.  Oz is a world of incredible color and surrealistic beauty thanks to the computer graphics. 

     I think that may the be the real star of the film.   I found all the actors to be flat and miscast.  The evil witches, not very scary.  Glinda, while beautiful, boring.  Even the Wizard himself, not very wonderful.  This made the movie plod along as if it were following the yellow brick road.  The final third of the film really picks up the pace but by then I really didn't care.  It was just too late to elevate the movie beyond it's eyecandy status. I also found the story to be just too simplistic as an attempt to fill in the back story. The broadway musical Wicked does a much better job of that. I don't want to spend time comparing this to the original but what really made that film a classic was the characters and the songs.  This film really has none of that going for it.  With flat lifeless characters, one song that lasts about a minute, and a sagging script: the most compelling points of the movie are the special effects and the animated characters.  That is sad considering the potential to make a memorable movie.  With a more engaging story arc Oz should leave the viewer with a sense of joy, hope, and wonder.  Instead I thought it was a fun experience but in the end disapointing.

Not a bad date movie.

I give this film a solid: B