sberg-7 Reviews

Hugo (2011)

The universe is a machine that has no extra parts

[9/10 · 14 June 2014]

"Hugo," the story of a young boy, Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) who lived in the Paris train station and kept the clocks running. He got acquainted with a toy store owner there, Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley) and discovered the man's history as a famous movie maker whose career had been derailed by the War. Melies in real life was famous for his technical advances in movie making, and the story line is the recovery and celebration of his work. Hugo is dogged by the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) whose main job seems to be apprehending orphans and sending them to the orphanage. He was also injured in the war and has a prosthesis in place of his left leg, which often locks and leaves him unable to move. One of Melies' inventions was an automaton that was able to write and draw. Hugo's father finds the automaton in disrepair and brings it home, and after his death in a fire, Hugo finds himself with the task of completing the repair. He does this and needs only a heart-shaped key to unlock the mechanism so that it will work. This he finds on a chain around the neck of Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) the god-daughter of Melies and his wife Mama Jeanne (Helen McRory) whom Hugo meets when he follows Melies home to retrieve the notebook that came with the automaton that Melies had taken. The mechanical machinations – the train station, the clocks, the automaton, the inspector's leg – become a metaphor for the universe – it's a big machine, and there are no extra pieces. Every one of us has a purpose. And they can all be made to work! The movie ends with a dance scene at the party after the reclamation of Melies' work. The heart-shaped key is required to set the whole machine in motion.

Philomena (2013)

Critique of institutional religions

[10/10 · 5 May 2014]

Judy Dench and Stephen Coogan present a powerful rendition of a heart-breaking and heart-warming story. The social commentary is about the penchant that institutional religion has for self-preservation. The price it pays it its very soul, the compassion for which it purports to stand. This is portrayed by the statuary of the Jesus showing his heart, and the hypocrisy of an organization that failed that heart miserably. Human compassion is shown in the relationship that develops between Philomena and the world-weary journalist Martin Sixsmith, as he engages in this search for justice, and in the same-sex relationship that her son, Michael Hess, had with his partner Pete Olsson. The contrast between the two couldn't be more stark.

All Things to All Men (2013)

British crime story pulls it off

[7/10 · 3 May 2014]

"All things to all men", a British film about the underworld and the involvement of corrupt police in it. In the end, almost everyone is dead, both the good and the bad, except one novice policeman who captures the sense of the movie. The closing scene brings a rather disjointed and difficult to follow story together with several notable quotes: "There's no right or wrong, only winners and losers." And the closing dialogue: Police Commissioner: "Can you be trusted?" Attorney General: "He means, 'Are you loyal to the system?'" Dickson: "what I don't understand, if a cop doesn't commit perjury, you'll never get a conviction. The undercovers on the street cause more damage than those they're trying to catch. The only way to take a criminal off the streets is to take away all their cash, because if you don't somewhere down the line they're going to buy their way out. Even now, it feels like I'm lying even when I'm telling the truth." Attorney General: "Something like that." Police Commissioner: (with a smile, acknowledging Dickson's desired promotion) "Detective". The closing dialogue constitutes a stinging critique of the "system," the subtle and dangerous symbiotic interplay between the forces of good and evil, and how the line between them in practice is invisible. The British accent made the dialogue extremely difficult to follow at times. The story slowly builds a plot that comes to a satisfying climax with the final denouement.

Being Flynn (2012)

Family systems and addictions: a good movie for therapists

[7/10 · 19 April 2014]

We had thought we were getting a comedy. The story however is compelling enough to maintain interest. Some of the sex scenes at the beginning are gratuitous and don't add to the story itself. The relationship between Jonathan and Nicholas is the central theme, and as Nicholas makes sense of his own story through his encounter with his father, and he gradually differentiates his own life. The relationship between Jonathan and Nicholas provide a good family systems theme along the lines of family systems pioneer Murray Bowen. The theme of addictions, single parenthood, and absentee fathers add to the poignancy of the story. Veteran Robert De Niro is masterful as Jonathan Flynn, and inspires the work of the younger and lesser known actors as well.

August: Osage County (2013)

A vivid story of family dysfunction

[9/10 · 12 April 2014]

The movie depicts the power of family secrets, the dependence in our society on substances to manage emotional attachment issues, and the medical system's willingness to keep prescribing. In one scene, Barbara is meeting with Violet's doctor and throws the empty pill bottles at him and promises a law suit. In another, Violet recounts the story of the Christmas that she wanted cowboy boots and her mother wrapped up a pair of old, dirty worn-out work boots, and then laughed for days at her disappointment. The fact that it's the native housekeeper who maintains what order there is provides a striking counterpoint to our culture's dominant narrative about natives. The line where Violet pooh-poohs the idea that Johnna is native ("She's no more native than I am") is a depiction of the ignorance of general European society about our native neighbours.