Movie reviews: ‘American Sniper,’ ‘The Wedding Ringer,’ ‘Blackhat’

January 16, 2015 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

“American Sniper” 4 stars (out of four)

Clint Eastwood brilliantly directs the best film of 2014 with “American Sniper,” a compelling big-screen adaptation of the autobiography of late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. An emotionally charged and brutally honest portrayal of the most prolific sniper in American military history, the film is honorable in that it’s not necessarily about heroics, but a heartbreaking, warts-and-all portrait of Kyle during his four tours of duty in Iraq, and the effects the war has on his loved ones at home.

A God-fearing military man who loves his country, Kyle, played with layered subtlety by Cooper, is taciturn, and appears to take no great joy in what he does. Forgoing any sort of “oorah” chants, his duty as a sniper behind the long barrel of an M40 rifle is one that he’s humbled by. If he does his job, his fellow soldiers live. If he doesn’t, they die.

Interview: Sienna Miller talks ‘American Sniper’

While “American Sniper” features perhaps the most authentic Iraq War scenes ever filmed, Cooper hauntingly brings the war home in his head, dealing with the psychological torment of a man operating on an extremely high, adrenaline fueled level, who is forced in the course of a day-trip home to downshift to the seemingly mundane life he leads at home in America.

It’s here where “American Sniper” becomes a well-rounded story, where Chris’s wife, Taya (Sienna Miller), tries to tap into the conflicted mind of her husband who can’t seem to embrace his duties as a family man because he’s too preoccupied with how many lives of soldiers he could be saving if he were back on the battlefield. He only finds his peace in other soldiers worth saving – the men and women physically and psychologically wounded in VA hospitals on the home front – a path that ultimately leads to his untimely death.

Whether it’s recreating the chaos of the battlefield or the monotony of Kyle sitting at home in front of a blank TV screen, Eastwood is in complete command of “American Sniper.” The film, naturally, is at its most poignant at its conclusion, where the director showcases real-life photos and videos of Chris and Taya Kyle, and the ultimate salute he received by his country after his death. Ultimately, Eastwood and Cooper humanize the man the enemies feared, and rightfully so, called “The Legend.”

Reviewed in brief:

“The Wedding Ringer” (R) 3 stars (out of four)

Kevin Hart and Josh Gad are hilarious in “The Wedding Ringer,” a predictable yet cleverly conceived comedy that is funny throughout despite some very disgusting, over-the-top gross-out moments.

Gad stars as Doug Harris, a loveable loser who realizes two weeks before his wedding to his high maintenance fiancée, Gretchen (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting), that he has no friends: a big problem, considering he needs to come up with a best man and six groomsmen for the big day. Lucky for Doug, there’s a service for such quandaries, run by the fast-talking, silky smooth hustler Jimmy Callahan (Hart), who for $50,000, assembles a rag-tag bunch of “friends” for his client – a group, that along with Doug, makes him realize that he just may be lonesome himself.

Hart and Gad provide a perfect comedic one-two punch in “The Wedding Ringer,” and thanks to unlikely comedic turns by Ken Howard as Doug’s future father-in-law and the always adorable Cloris Leachman as Gretchen’s grandma, it thankfully avoids becoming a one-joke movie. It’s even charming if not a tiny bit poignant at times, bringing a strange sense of balance to the movie, considering it’s about as politically incorrect as a comedy gets.

“Blackhat” (R) 1 1/2 stars (out of four)

What should be a timely film about cybercrime is mostly just a cy-bore.

“Blackhat,” without a doubt, has all the right elements to construct a top-notch thriller, from director Michael Mann to “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth and a solid supporting casting including “The Help” Oscar nominee Viola Davis, but in the end, simply fails to connect with its audience. It starts out with promise and intrigue with a cyber-attack on a Chinese nuclear plant and the Mercantile Trade Exchange in Chicago, but quickly takes a sharp dive into a lumbering, aimless chase film where the feds spring a dangerous, imprisoned hacker (Hemsworth) to help ferret out the bad guy.

Mann, the “Miami Vice” TV director who went on to helm such modern classics as “Heat” and “The Insider,” never seems to find the right pacing and sense of tension with “Blackhat.” Try as he might to carry the film, Hemsworth, speaking with an American wiseguy accent, goes through the action movie motions on his way to the Mann-like one-on-one confrontation with the villain – an underwhelming development in that is played by the largely-unknown Yorick van Wageningen. So much for another Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro “Heat”-like confrontation that made the crime thriller such a nail-biter.

Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11” and various Minnesota radio stations.

Film, Interviews

Interview: Sienna Miller humbled by playing Taya Kyle in ‘American Sniper’

January 15, 2015 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

Film nominated for 6 Oscars Thursday including Best Picture

By Tim Lammers

It’s been a whirlwind year for heralded actress Sienna Miller, landing not one but two pivotal roles in two of the year’s most acclaimed films: “American Sniper” and “Foxcatcher.”

In oddly timed bits of casting, though, Miller plays the eventual widow of two real-life men who met tragic deaths early in their lives. Even in the face of tragic storylines, it’s hard to say no when acclaimed directors come calling, especially when it’s the likes of Clint Eastwood for “American Sniper.”

“I would have been happy to make the tea on Clint’s set much less be a part of the actual film,” Miller told me, humbly, in a recent call from New York City. “He’s phenomenal. As a young girl dreaming of being an actress, he’s one of the people I dreamed of working with. I still can’t believe this has all happened.”

Sienna Miller in 'American Sniper' (photo Warner Bros) — Sienna Miller in “American Sniper” (photo Warner Bros.).

Opening in theaters nationwide Friday, “American Sniper,” based on Chris Kyle’s best-selling novel of the same name, tells the harrowing true story of the Navy SEAL (played by Bradley Cooper), who is credited with being the most prolific sniper in American military history. The film nabbed six Oscar nominations Thursday, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Bradley Cooper and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Miller stars in “American Sniper” as Taya Kyle, who unwaveringly stood by her husband’s side as he endured the stress and danger of the battlefield in Iraq over four tours of duty; and found herself challenged by the deep, psychological effects the war had on Chris when he returned home to be with his wife and two young children.

“Ultimately, the title is ‘American Sniper’ is story about Chris Kyle, but I think his and Taya’s relationship is a huge part of the book and the film,” Miller observed. “I do think by looking at the relationship, it grounds the war. It helps you find the human behind the Navy SEAL. It shows what the man faced while trying to raise a family and be a husband, but it also shows the immense sense of duty he felt to serve his country when he wasn’t in active service. He felt that there were people dying that probably wouldn’t be dying if he had been there. I think that dynamic is really interesting, because his relationship with his family was a huge part of his life and was well-represented in the film.”

Bradley Cooper in 'American Sniper' (photo Warner Bros) — Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper” (photo Warner Bros.).

Miller, who was cast in the film last March and began shooting in May, worked very closely with the real-life Taya Kyle during the production, gaining access to communication between the couple when Chris Kyle was serving abroad.

“Taya is so unbelievably open, and so wanted this film to be a good representation of his and Chris’ relationship. She was just the easiest woman to talk to and so generous,” Miller said. “She kept all of their email correspondence while he was on his tours, and let Bradley and I have access to them. There were hundreds of really interesting emails, and she let us go through them so we could get a sense of what their relationship was like.”

In addition to the emails, Miller said Taya Kyle was open to any question she wanted to ask.

“Of course, there were questions you have to ask and you have to be really forensic in your examination of someone if you want to do them justice, but at the same time, she never made me feel uncomfortable at all,” Miller said. “She said, ‘Just ask me anything. I want to help. I want you to get this right. Please don’t be shy or worry about me getting upset.’ She told me almost everything, and we became really close as a result of that. So, while by nature I feel uncomfortable to ask those sorts of questions, I felt I had to serve the film and serve the performance and do my work.”

While she naturally respects Taya Kyle immensely for what she endured while her husband was alive and the harsh circumstances she’s faced since — including a defamation suit filed by former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura transferred to the widow after Chris Kyle’s untimely death in 2013 — she also feels a greater sense of appreciation for members of the military and beyond.

“I have such a new-found respect not only for the men and women in the military and who are serving in combat, but the spouses left behind,” Miller said. “I think in a way they’re making as much of a sacrifice because it’s impossible to raise a family and not know every day whether your husband is going to live or die. It has to be an unbelievable situation to find yourself in. Of course, Taya Kyle understood who her husband was, but at the same time, it’s an enormous sacrifice on both sides. Before I started the film, I hadn’t given enough thought to that.”

MORE: Sienna Miller talks about Jesse Ventura lawsuit against Taya Kyle

Film, Movie Reviews

Movie reviews: ‘Taken 3,’ ‘Selma,’ ‘Inherent Vice’

January 9, 2015 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

“Taken 3” (PG-13) 2 stars (out of four)

It Ends Here, the tagline on the poster for “Taken 3” promises — and thank God.

“Taken 3,” presumably the last in Liam Neeson’s “Taken” saga that arrived with a bang in 2008, is the perfect example of an unnecessary sequel in a franchise being milked for all it’s worth. The first film – about Neeson’s daughter (Maggie Grace) being kidnapped by sex traffickers – was a spectacular action thriller; and its 2012 follow-up, where Neeson and his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) were taken as a revenge for his actions in the original, was average at best.

The newest installment doesn’t fare any better. At least no one is taken in it, which would have been an utterly ridiculous. Instead, it’s a chase movie and revenge thriller that isn’t any better or worse than any other films in the action genre. The big benefit here is the brand recognition and a likeable trio of leads with Neeson, Janssen and Grace, and the addition of the always great Forest Whitaker as detective who pursues Bryan Mills (Neeson) throughout the film.

The trailer and the TV spots pretty much let the cat out of the bag as far as the driving element of the plot is concerned: Ex-CIA operative Mills’ (Neeson) wife, Lenore (Janssen), is murdered, and Mills is framed for it. Wanted by the CIA, the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department, Mills puts his “particular set of skills” to work to elude the authorities and find the real killers.

Interview: Famke Janssen talks “Taken 3”

From there, “Taken 3” goes on auto-pilot, employing the same sort of high-kinetic action and adventure that juiced up the prior two films in the trilogy. Stocked with Russian bad guys who are after Lenore’s suspicious husband (Dougray Scott), “Taken 3” has one semi-clever plot twist, but in the end, it just feels like a boring retread of umpteen films we’ve seen before.

If you don’t want to be, well, taken, for a lackluster ride, do yourself a favor and watch the original again, or check out Neeson’s under-rated detective thriller “A Walk Among the Tombstones” from earlier this year. Neeson is still one of the most charismatic actors out there, and with the right material, his “particular set of skills” work quite well.

Reviewed in brief:

“Selma” (PG-13) 3 stars (out of four)

It’s about time that the story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s voting rights march in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, be told on the big screen – and it’s a big shame the film is being mired in controversy.

“Selma,” director Ava Duvernay’s unflinching depiction of the brutality marchers sustained in 1965, presents a huge quandary. On one hand, it’s an expertly-directed film that features brilliant performances by David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, respectively; but on the flip side, former aides, historians and even one King’s associates are crying foul over the portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkenson) — who comes off as more of an obstructionist in the events leading up to the voting rights act than a partner in the efforts.

Minus the objectionable material, the bulk of “Selma” remains an important and necessary film for our times. Having said that, Hollywood still needs to be held accountable for the leeway filmmakers take when bending historical fact for the sake of creating drama on the big screen.

“Inherent Vice” (R) 3 stars (out of four)

Joaquin Phoenix stars in what is easily the biggest disappointment – and worst film – of last year.

The film’s top-shelf talent, which also includes Josh Brolin, is completely wasted by Paul Thomas Anderson’s pretentious direction, and a nonsensical script that’s virtually impossible to grasp.

Dreadful and plodding, this movie should have been called “Incoherent Vice.”

Film, Interviews

Interview: Famke Janssen talks sacrifices, emotional impact of ‘Taken 3’

January 8, 2015 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise to anybody with an interest in “Taken 3,” mainly because of the big plot reveal in the trailers and television spots for the final installment in the “Taken” franchise: Things do not end well for Famke Janssen’s beloved character, Lenore.

In a phone call from New York Wednesday, Janssen told me not only did she know before she read the film’s script that something tragic was going to happen to Lenore – the ex-wife of former CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) – she wholeheartedly embraced the idea instead of getting depressed by it.

Quite simply, the charismatic actress said, the gut-wrenching event was a necessity to drive the plot of “Taken 3” forward.

“It was a smart decision to make to kill off Lenore, especially given the fact that we have spent two movies with them as a family and have rooted for Lenore and Bryan to get back into a romantic relationship,” Janssen said. “Because of that, the emotional impact of what happens to Lenore is much greater than if a random person had been picked to be taken. It’s more powerful to have somebody Bryan’s becoming close to again in his life be killed.”

Famke Janssen in 'Taken 3' (photo - Fox) — Famke Janssen in ‘Taken 3’ (photo: 20th Century Fox)

Opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, “Taken 3” finds Bryan framed for the murder and on the run from the CIA, FBI and police authorities, and trying desperately to clear his name amid the devastation. Also never one to back down, Bryan once again employs his “particular set of skills” to find the real killers and protect his and Lenore’s daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), from any harm.

The “Taken” franchise has been a thrilling ride for viewers since 2008, starting with the kidnapping and liberation of Kim by her father in the first film; followed up the targeting of Bryan and Lenore by Kim’s captors in the second installment of the trilogy in 2012.

Janssen believes the reason the “Taken” movies are so popular with audiences is, despite all the extraordinary action and intrigue the characters experience, moviegoers can still relate to it on a human level. Most people, after all, are driven by a primal instinct to protect their family members from all harm no matter the cost.

“They all probably hope that they have somebody in their lives like Liam Neeson, who is going to go out and protect and fight for them — and avenge for them if needed,” Janssen said. “That’s why the films have struck a chord with people.”

In “Taken 3,” it appears that Neeson’s character’s passion to protect his family has no doubt had an effect on Lenore, as the two are on the verge of getting back together before the tragedy. Their possible re-coupling was a well-thought out plot development, Janssen said, and she’s glad the filmmakers didn’t throw the two back together willy-nilly after Bryan’s heroics in the first film.

“Revisiting the first film, it’s pretty clear that he hadn’t been there for years for his daughter,” Janssen observed. “Of course, everybody still loved him when he appeared on screen and hated me, but he clearly hadn’t been the greatest father — we have to remember that. He tries really hard to make up for it, even though it’s by giving his grown-up daughter a stuffed panda.”

Future/past
Despite her untimely demise in “Taken 3,” one thing that Janssen has discovered — at least in the “X-Men” films — is just because it seems like it’s all over, doesn’t mean it’s over. After her character, Jean Grey, met a tragic end in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” it didn’t seem possible we’d see the telepath’s streaming, fiery red locks on screen again — that is until some unique, dream world storytelling in “The Wolverine” and her revival in “Days of Future Past” revealed a world of new opportunities for the character.

From what’s been reported so far, it appears that franchise will carry forth for the time in being in “X-Men: Apocalypse” with the younger, prequel version of the characters. But in the event writer-director Bryan Singer calls her for a future “X-Men” film, Janssen said she’ll jump at the opportunity to play Jean again.

“Of course, I’d love to be back, but I think, realistically, with the way ‘Days of Future Past’ ends, is that it’s going back to the 1980s and there will be a much younger Jean Grey,” said Janssen, 50. “The great thing about ‘Days of Future Past’ is you don’t know where the next story lines are going to lead.”

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As for this casting a younger Jean Grey business, I told Janssen not to sell herself short about the filmmakers finding somebody 20-30 years junior taking over the role. Despite hitting the milestone birthday in November, the stunning actress still gives the appearance that she stopped aging at 30.

Besides, Janssen said, people should take note of their surroundings, and only think of age as a mere number. Maybe, in a sort of way, the way Lenore’s life is cut short in “Taken 3” makes Janssen’s point all the more poignant.

“As far as it comes to aging, I always say, ‘It’s better than the opposite.’ We should feel lucky to be here, and there are many worse things in life than aging,” Janssen said, humbly. “I think aging makes us wiser than ever before, and more thankful to be alive.”

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Monthly Archives: January 2015

Movie reviews: ‘American Sniper,’ ‘The Wedding Ringer,’ ‘Blackhat’

Interview: Sienna Miller humbled by playing Taya Kyle in ‘American Sniper’

Movie reviews: ‘Taken 3,’ ‘Selma,’ ‘Inherent Vice’

Interview: Famke Janssen talks sacrifices, emotional impact of ‘Taken 3’

Original Interviews, Reviews & More By Tim Lammers