August 29, 2005

Who'd a figured… Four Brothers… hmmm…

We should have seen it coming when House of Wax opened the summer. 2005 was The Summer of The Bs. And a pretty successful run of them at that. Star Wars… War of the Worlds… The Longest Yard… Monster-In-Law… The Dukes Of Hazzard… Herbie: Fully Loaded….Sky High… The 40 Year Old Virgin… Red Eye… Hustle & Flow… Stealth… George Romero's Land Of The Dead

The first three don't really count because their price tags are so high. But they definitely have the spirit of the B movie. People now forget that George Lucas' inspiration for Star Wars and for Indiana Jones were the cheesy movie serials of his youth. Ironically, Star Wars: The Next Generation has been beaten up by the chattering class for being too good… for the effects being too good… not personal, like he originals, which now look as period as The Ten Commandments, but have the heart of something with smaller intentions.

War of the Worlds had big cheesy effects (state of the art ones) that were left in the background to highlight a small family story… just like Corman might have done it to save money.

The Longest Yard was essentially a B remake of a B movie that Burt Reynolds made during his Early Redneck period that happened to star Adam Sandler, who seems to be forever chasing B movie status… except when he has top directors or co-stars.

Stealth is the one example of a true B movie that was exaggerating into something better… which of course made it much, much worse.

Even XXX: State Of The Union… not a very good movie… but damn it, it is a really fun blaxploitation, action, B programmer. It is absurd. And, of course, it cost way too much. And whoever decided to 2Fast2Furious XXX missed the multi-cultural part and just made it a true black movie, which forced Sony to sell it as something it wasn't, which led to an ugly, ugly demise. But "the first tank jacking," the mocking of Sam Jackson's scar, the terrible running gag about Ice Cube wanting fries more than sex, the supertrain coming out of the White House at silly supersonic speeds, scenery chewer Willem "If DeNiro Can Do It, I Can Do It" Dafoe, even the anonymous blonde actress who seemed like they found her wandering around Brett Ratner's bedroom looking for her missing bridge. Cheese-O-Rama… but a wonder of the form that might have done some business had it any sense of its own absurdity.

Four Brothers, I am amazed to say, is a good, old fashioned time at the movies. It is so clearly a The Sons of Katie Elder rip-off, coming out of the studio that owns Katie Elder, that it is surprising not to see any credit to the original, though the studio had it slated as a remake as late as last November. I don't know what the issue is, but my guess is that it has something to do with the very, very difficult and demanding estate of John Wayne, which may well have remake rights that allow the Waynes to vet production choices. Regardless, John Singleton and the youthful credited writers - David Elliot and Paul Lovett - did a nice job of maintaining the spirit of the original while adapting the whole notion to the modern era.

I went out and rented The Sons of Katie Elder so I would know what I was talking about on this issue. And the differences are distinct. The roles that each brother plays in the family and in the story are varied, with one Four Brothers brother sometimes seeming analogous to one Katie Elder brother… and 20 minutes later, not. Of course, central to the variation is the idea that they come home because mom's been murdered, while in Katie Elder, they seek their father's killer, even though the funeral is what draws them home in the first place.

In any case, I like Mark Wahlberg in this film and I believe him as a hothead loser. I like Tyrese and believe he would follow Li'l Tyrese. Andre 3000 is a beginner, but will find his way to being a real movie star. And Terrence Howard always delivers, though his scene with a black turtleneck and gray jacket makes you wonder what kind of cop he really is.

But the real breakthrough here is Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays the bad, bad, bad guy and shows, once and for all, that he is a real challenge to the Guy You Can't Not Watch In A Supporting Role crown that Jeffrey Wright has been wearing for a while. (The fact that they are both black did occur to me… but I am oddly sure that it is not a factor in the comparison. Who else is there in their age range that carries the weight that these guys carry. Maton Csonkas is pushing for it, but isn't quite there yet. Ed Norton could be there, but he thinks he is a movie star. Joaquin Phoenix would be there, but he is about to become a full-fledged star.)

There is a scene in the third act… no spoilers here. But beyond the scene itself, there is a John Wayne beat that really makes little sense in the context of the sequence… but when it occurred, I could barely stifle a giggle. It takes some big, hairy, silly people to go with a moment like that. And it takes a silly B movie to make an audience love it.

Even as we head into the fall, there are two very fine films - The Constant Gardener and A History of Violence - that come from filmmakers who have the feel of the B… but who reach far, far beyond it in their work here.

Part of what irritated some critics about Fernando Meirelles' City of God was that is was so giddy about violence. (I took it a ironical honesty, but no accounting for taste.) In City of God, his political and oral intentions are clear. And his filmmaking skills are overwhelming.

As for David Cronenberg, this film feels like a culmination of his entire career and his acknowledgement of the bloody past he has created. His films have always been more than the gore fests they are best known as, but he, like his characters in this film, are really taking stock.

For all the hum about DVD and the death of theatrical, all of these movies have been successful financially, made for the dollars that these movies call for… simple and clean in concept and execution.

B all that you can B!

E-ME.