May 16, 2003

Silly rabbit, Matrix isn’t just for kids…

New materials on The Matrix Reloaded will continue to turn up on Movie City News over the weekend, including a deconstruction of perhaps the worst piece of alleged film criticism in the checkered history of film criticism and the rage that seems to be the new vogue for so many critics.  On Monday, I’ll have a page of Reader’s ideas about the film (and a regular column) up here.  On Tuesday, we’ll start the Matrix Revolutions discussion in earnest.  And by then, even I should be Matrixed out for a while.

Down With Love is also opening this weekend.  It opened on one screen in New York City last weekend after a premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.  And now, it is at a theater near you.

I’ve been sitting on my Down With Love comments because I am kind of lukewarm on the whole thing.  Peyton Reed did a nice job.  The production design is dead on the 60s sex farce style on a light amphetamine.  Ewan McGregor hits the ball the way Reggie Jackson used to… you hear the crack of his wit and you can just stand back and watch, knowing that it is going to be just right.  David Hyde Pierce and Sarah Paulson do yeoman’s work in the sidekick roles. 

Unfortunately, there is one giant problem with the film… Renee Zellweger.  The risk of appearing to be a Renee Basher is strong.  But I don’t think it is her fault.  I like Renee Zellweger as an actress.  I think the most interesting work she’s ever done was in White Oleander last year, pushing the outer edge of her emotional range.  But like any movie star, she has movie star boundaries.  Very few stars can play range and still have the veneer of being movie stars.  Hoffman & Pacino were actors first, movie stars second.  Robin Williams has shown, I think, a fairly remarkable range.  Streep is Streep. 

But Renee Zellweger is the great movie underdog.  Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon all have a tough edge that they can go to, playing the over or the under.  But Zellweger’s thing is being petite and sweet and shy.  Even seeing her doing The View the other day, dressed in black with pearls, I was struck by how not her that visual conceit was.  (She was also continuing to claim that the deal for Bridget Jones Diary 2 is not yet struck, pending a script, even though rumors in London claim a start date has been set.) 

Zellweger’s character in Down With Love has to be able to pull off a certain stridency while still remaining sexy.  The late great Natalie Wood played the style repeatedly, most pointedly in Sex & The Single Girl, in which she played a fictional version of the real life Helen Gurley Brown opposite the wolfish Tony Curtis.  Zellweger feels like a kid playing in her mom’s clothing.

I tried to think of the actress who would fill the slot more effectively than Zellweger, but I have had a hard time.  Bullock would do this role as a klutz.  Julia Roberts isn’t funny when doing the earnest form of strident… she does it as a low-rent girl really well.  Reese Witherspoon probably could have pulled it off.  Robin Wright Penn would have been brilliant.  You know, Jennifer Garner might have been good in this… I have no evidence, but I have a feeling.   Naomi Watts is in that same category.  Ashley Judd might have been great.  Julianne Moore might be a touch old for the role. 

It’s a tough role to fill.  It’s funny.  The role of the female love interest in Arthur was similar in style.  And they never found the great choice, settling for Liza Minnelli, who managed fairly well, but was always a little off. 

Thing is, I really did enjoy the picture.  It’s cute fluff and there is enough there to make up for the weight that keeps it from flying.  If you like the commercials and other marketing, you are certainly going to find things to take happily away from the experience.  But I was looking for a jewel… a Funny Bones or even a Bring It On.  Both of those films had some flaws, but they were always moving steadily in the right direction.  For me, Zellweger kept taking me out of the spirit of the movie.  There are some third act cop-outs, feeling almost tagged on to calm test screening audiences who wanted an ending that would now be politically incorrect. 

WEEKEND PREVIEW: The Matrix, The Matrix & The Matrix.  Rinse. Reload. 

So it is now clear that The Matrix Reloaded is looking at a mind-boggling start.  Even for those of us who really like the film, this is more impressive than Trinity flying through the air, guns blazing.

But the real question for the weekend is not how HUGE the final number is going to be.  The question is, how badly will Reloaded decimate the films that are trying to breathe in the same demographic space.  X2: X-Men United has a reasonable second weekend and Identity has been holding well.  I expect both to take bug hits this weekend and restabilize next weekend and over Memorial Day Weekend.

On the flip side, I expect the kids pictures in the marketplace to hold strong, with Daddy Day Care and Holes getting the biggest benefit.  Also, art house films like Bend It Like Beckham and A Mighty Wind should survive the warp, along with new art releases L’ Auberge Espagnole and Sweet Sixteen, both out in limited release.

WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES

1. The Matrix Reloaded – 3603 venues (8517 prints) – new - $129 million 4 1/4-day/ $94 million 3-day
2. Daddy Day Care – 3408 venues – off 32 percent - $18.8 million
3. X2: X-Men United - 3489 venues – off 63 percent - $14.8 million
4. Down with Love - 2124 venues – new - $12.2 million
5. The Lizzie McGuire Movie - 2658 venues – off 50 percent - $3.6 million
6. Anger Management - 2476 venues – off 41 percent - $3.4 million
7. Holes - 2232 venues – off 35 percent - $3.2 million
8. Identity - 2196 venues – off 59 percent - $2.7 million
9. A Mighty Wind - 770 venues – off 25 percent - $2.3 million
10. Bend It Like Beckham – 553 venues – off 20 percent - $1.3 million

READER OF THE DAY:  THE JOUSTING TOOL writes:  “Just got back from the Chinese after the first public showing.  People cheered, but I got the sense they weren't impressed.  I heard some people bitching about CGI in the fights, etc. 

Did they see the same movie?  What the fuck is wrong with these people?  And with Harry Knowles and all the other haters?  I feel like I'm on another planet.  I feel like this is a monumental divide, not unlike the pro-war and anti-war battle we just saw (but obviously infinitely less important).

When have we ever got action and sci-fi this good and this thought provoking?  My God.”

E ME:  I’m putting this here so you can avoid the spoiler-laden X2 letter below if you haven’t already seen the film….

 

 

X2 SPOILERS COMING

 

 

JOHNSON IN THE MIDDLE writes:  “I keep hearing titles like "Empire Strikes Back" and "Superman II" being thrown around in comparison to X2.  I even heard someone mention Godfather II once...somewhere.  But what amazes me is the lack of mention for X2's true ancestor.  Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Now, not to say that I was paying too much attention or anything, but if you get a chance...pop in the DVD of Star Trek II, roll to the last ten minutes, and you might get these two movies confused.  Beat for beat.  (almost) Shot for shot, and music cue for music cue.

Lets see, Spock at the controls making his decision, cue soft violin music.  Cut to Spock on one side of a glass wall, while everyone screams for him to get out of there.  Final shot of Kirk looking wistful as we move through the stars as Spock reads the lines from the opening of the original TV series.

Hmmm.  Let's pop X2 into the DVD player shall we?

Close on Jean's face as she makes the decision, cue soft strings.  Cut to Jean on one side of a glass wall making her ultimate sacrifice, while everyone screams to get out of there.  But the real eye opener was the last minute or so...which the slow movement over the water while Jean repeats the same lines Patrick Stewart read off to open X1.

Now, I can't really crack down on Bryan Singer because when he ripped off Star Trek II, at least he ripped off good material.  Although, dramatically, I don't quite get why Jean had to die in the movie.  Couldn't she have done from the inside of the Jet what she wound up doing on the outside?

Oh, wait a second, that's right...she set up the X3 sequel.  Never mind.”\

 

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