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Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield: Poetic, Brutal and Beautiful

Posted on December 5, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Teresa Palmer. Directed by Mel Gibson.

UPDATED: HACKSAW RIDGE Awards, Nominations and Box Office

Hacksaw Ridge is currently (as on January 1st, 2017) is rated at 8.5 on ?MDB voted by over 42,000 people. It’s Metascore is 71, and is currently at number 90 on IMDB’s Top 250 Films list.

The budget is about 40 million, and its current box office (domestic and international) has surpassed 136. The movie was nominated for 3 Golden Globes: Best Motion Picure (Drama), Best Actor (Drama, Andrew Garfield), and Best Director (Mel Gibson). It won AFI for Movie of the Year, and won several Australian Film Institute Awards including Best Actor, Best Direction and Best Screenplay.

Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn & Sam Worthington

Based on the incredible true story of Desmond Doss, Hacksaw Ridge is a movie about how a young combat medic didn’t bend his pacifist beliefs for anyone, and ended up being a war hero without having fired a gun or used a weapon (with the wonderful exception where he used a rifle to make a makeshift sliding stretcher for his wounded sergeant).

Plot Summary

Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) grows up in a violent home. Even though he has a loving mother (Rachel Griffiths), his father (Hugo Weaving) frequently uses violence on them, including his brother Hal (Nathaniel Buzolic; Kol from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals).

Their father is not necessarily evil; he is just a war veteran dealing with survivor’s guilt and PTSD horribly.

Doss boys seem to have a violent streak themselves. During one fight, Desmond almost injures Hal beyond repair, which triggers Desmond to embrace the peace-loving nature of his religion.

Desmond Doss grows up to be a loving, caring and determined man. He falls in love with beautiful nurse Dorothy (Teresa Palmer), which further ignites his love for medicine. Not having been educated well, being a paramedic seems to be his only option. Fuelled to serve his country and do something while others are also risking lives, he enlists. However, he objects to doing any weapon training and gets treated horribly by most of his fellow soldiers in training and superiors.

However, he eventually manages to get what he wants. And as horrifying violence and mayhem surround them, everyone who ridiculed him gets to see what he is truly made of – again and again and again.

rsz_hacksaw-ridge — Actual scene. Image via The Independent.

Hacksaw Ridge was directed by Mel Gibson. Unlike his other directed films, he is not a producer this time. He also doesn’t star in it either, unlike Braveheart, or The Man Without a Face.

I haven’t seen Apocalypto or The Passion of the Christ. However, I have seen Braveheart (and The Man Without a Face, which is not a war film.) – and while Hacksaw Ridge isn’t quite there, it is pretty damn impressive.

Hacksaw Ridge is also understandably more violent. Braveheart had swords and arrows. Hacksaw Ridge doesn’t shy away from any shot that might make you cringe or want to look away. It has more blood, more severed limbs, and people in more pain. It makes you uncomfortable, and not for the sake of show or art. War is hell, and Mel Gibson makes sure you feel that in your veins.

Many people, including the cast argue Hacksaw Ridge is both a love story and a war story; you might consider it one or the other. But I disagree. Hacksaw Ridge is an epic anti-war movie with beautiful romantic scenes and horrifying war scenes. But it is more a respectful, albeit glorious, biography of a humane man of faith than a war film or a romance.

Teresa Palmer and Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge.

I’m agnostic. I don’t like religious motives or messages much. But you see, Hacksaw Ridge might show a Bible, but anyone with a heart can’t disagree of how Doss has interpreted the message: “Don’t harm anyone. And absolutely, do not kill.”

And he does exactly that. He doesn’t fight back when people hit him, which might be considered extreme. But he is proving a point. He is proving his principles. And he ends up saving 75 people in the course of about 12 hours. He helps a lot more.

He gets shocked and wounded and tested. But he doesn’t give up. He prays to be able to save another man. And then prays to be able to save the next.

Comparisons to Saving Private Ryan

Comparisons are being made for better and worse, and it’s only natural.

– Like Saving Private Ryan (aff. link), Hacksaw Ridge asks some very hard questions about humanity.

“Is the life of 8 men more or less important than the life one 1, if the mother of that one kid has lost three of her four kids in the same war.”

vs.

“Is it ever okay to kill and go against your beliefs? Or is it okay to risk everything to make the world a better place?”

– Both films have disturbingly realistic battle scenes. Both films have great casts, though SPR’s might have been slightly more famous. Both are critically acclaimed; both have amazing directors.

– Both films have solid anti-war messages.

– Both films must be seen as movie lovers, and people.

– I liked them both. I just liked HR a bit better.

Mel Gibson is my favorite actor, and he is one of my favorite directors. So there is a positive bias. But HR assaults your emotions for a shorter time. It’s ultimately less depressing despite being equally terrifying at times.

It’s a matter of personal preference. I’m pretty sure I can’t sit through SPR again one more time, just like I’d have to fast-forward HR’s battle scenes. Once is enough.

– Both movies have achieved greatness at shockingly low budgets for movies this size: Saving Private Ryan at 70 mil and Hacksaw Ridge at 40 mil.

Some more reasons to see Hacksaw Ridge

– The training scenes have some good humor. I loved the sergeant’s (Vince Vaughn) reaction to the naked soldier “Hollywood.” Also, Vince Vaughn is in a dramatic role again.

I have loved Vince Vaughn as an actor since Return to Paradise, which is one of my favorite films. It provides one of the most humane, enthralling and impossible-to-make decisions ever, and Vaughn shines in a dramatic role. Sure, he almost always talks fast, but he is as good as drama as he is at comedy. HR takes him to deeper lengths than The Interns ever could or wanted to (which is really entertaining film). The point is, Vaughn has more substance than just being the king of R-rated comedies.

– The romance is very well-done. It’s not sappy or corny. It has a pureness to it we haven’t quite seen since the relationship between Wallace and Murron. It feels real (and well, it was real.) So if like me, you really didn’t enjoy The Choice, here’s Teresa Palmer’s second chance to win you over in a romantic story.

Hacksaw Ridge is a must-see war film. It’s, in my opinion, not the best movie or the best war movie ever made. It’s however a very exquisite one that deserves to be seen on the big screen. It’s not always easy to watch, but you will feel intensely. You will occasionally escape your reality and the depressing things going on around the world. However, you’ll also be faced with the uncensored ugliness of war. I’d say it is great entertainment, but that’d not be the best choice of words. I wasn’t entertained. I felt. A lot, and all the time.

Written by Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight. Also featuring Luke Bracey and Milo Gibson (one of Mel Gibson’s 8 kids). Directed by Mel Gibson.

How about you? Have you seen Hacksaw Ridge? What did you think?

Prime starring Uma Thurman, Bryan Greenberg & Meryl Streep: A Good Romantic Comedy That Becomes Better With (Your) Age

Posted on October 16, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Prime 2005 movie poster — Prime (aff. link) poster via flixter.

Beautiful, recently divorced, emotionally raw 37-year-old Rafi (Uma Thurman) works in fashion and heals herself through therapy sessions with her psychiatrist Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep).

Lisa is a devout Jew in her personal life who’s not thrilled that her 23-year-old son David (Bryan Greenberg) wants to be an artist, holds menial jobs and lives with his maternal grandparents. David also seems a bit more lax about his religion and doesn’t have a serious girlfriend.

Not knowing their connection, Rafi and David start dating. Rafi says she is dating a 27-year-old to Lisa, and David also tells his mother that he is also dating a 27-year-old. Happy for Rafi, Lisa encourages her relationship. However, as a mother, she is really upset David is dating a non-Jewish woman “4 years older” than him.

As Rafi shares their most intimate moments, they start falling for each other. But with more details and Rafi admitting his real age, Lisa puts it all together. So what the hell is she going to do now?

*
Prime is a thoughtful, sincere and hilarious romantic comedy. You have the classic disapproving mother-in-law conflict tripled by making the potential in-law from a different religion and the therapist. Add 14 years of age difference, and we’ve all got some thinking to do. Especially sometimes since David acts his age (and not in a good way), and Rafi is craving for a baby.

I sincerely recommend it. And Meryl Streep is just hilarious.

*
Spoilers Ahead: More About Prime (and Why It Gets Better As You Age)

When I first saw Prime (2005), I was about David’s age. And like David, I was a lot more optimistic. And unlike Rafi, I didn’t really want kids, so I was disappointed by the ending. And being a romantic impaired my judgment. I thought the film was okay, but it needed a happy ending.

But seeing it again it at 31, closer to Rafi’s age than David’s, I think the movie is great as it is. Honestly, I’m a bit freaked out at the idea of dating a 23-year-old even though I’m younger than Ravi, don’t mind a fling and still don’t want any kids!

As much as age is just a number in theory, and we are likely to break or bend our own rules when it comes to strong romantic connections, it is easier to see the ending as “right” and not as a disappointment.

Then there is the fact that this is Lisa’s story, as much as it is Rafi and David’s. While they both learn things about themselves, relationships and what they need to do in life, Lisa learns to give David a bit more freedom. She learns that the extreme gap between how she treats her patients and how she treats her family needs to be smaller, and that David needs a different route than her to be happy. And that’s okay.

So a lot of romance, comedy and character growth will warm up your heart. Give Prime a shot. Written and directed by Ben Younger.

Also on Uma Thurman

The Life Before Her Eyes starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood

Beautiful Girls starring Timothy Hutton, Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Natalie Portman and Mira Sorvino

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No One Lives Movie Review: No One Lives starring Luke Evans, Adelaide Clemens and Derek Magyar

Posted on July 12, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

No One Lives movie poster starring Luke Evans — Image via assets.tmdb.org.

A young woman, Emma, (Adelaide Clemens) screams. Again. We see her running in the forest, but she is caught by a trap, and is hung upside down by her feet. She’s not getting away, but she isn’t going down without a fight, either.

A bunch of redneck criminals are looting a family’s house, but when the family arrives early, one of them shoots them all in reflex, angering all the other members and forcing them to forgo their potential earnings.

Driver (Luke Evans) is moving away with his younger girlfrined to a new start. There seem to be issues between them, though they look like a couple that have deep feelings for each other. From their innuendos, we suspect an affair on the driver’s side. He apologizes for messing things up.

They stop by a motel and watch the news: the girl in the forest is still missing after about 6 months, but she has managed to carve EMMA ALIVE on the tree.

They later go to a diner/bar suggested by the motel owner, and the girlfriend is still upset about the other woman. The diner is empty, but soon the redneck gang arrives. The members aren’t looking for trouble, aside from the guy, Flynn (Derek Magyar) who killed the family. He’s certain our couple is loaded, and he disturbs them. The gang leader (Lee Tergesen) prevents him from bothering anyone further, but Flynn won’t let go.

The couple’s car is crashed into, and they’re wounded. They wake up in an empty storage place, guarded by the massive gang member Ethan, who seems like he could eat a couple of successful boxers alive.

The members are angry, but Flynn has returned with the couple’s car and trailer. He is sure Ethan can get the couples’ “financial” information easily, making up for the loss.

But what torture-ready Ethan doesn’t count on is the girlfriend completely losing it, and the Driver “losing” it even further. What starts out as a couple in distress, turns into a worse psychopath – a psycopath who’s weapons and combat-trained, hunting down the gang members one by one…

And as the gang members turn into victims, they will face other twists and turns.

As we slowly lose any sympathy we might have had for the driver, we still root for him to kick the gang members’ ass. They overestimated themselves and severely underestimated him. And it’s one thing terrifiying/killing a helpless family, and it’s another when they are going against a Dexter meets Hannibal meets Bourne – only without the morals or cannibalism.

It’s not the most sophisticated dialogue, and switches between finely foreshadowing and extremly on the nose. That said, I actually like on-the-nose dialogue when it works, and you can’t help like Driver talk what’s on his head without hesitation or calculation. Why not be blunt and open when you’re the one with a plan to kill everyone brutally, innocent or otherwise? And when he doesn’t kill you, it might even be a worse sign….

For a very bloody and mindless action/thriller, it’s pretty good entertainment. Some things could be improved, but it’s always fun to have a psycho hunting other psychos, and when he is strangely for empowering his chosen female victims while screwing them the hell up and developing his version of Stockholm Syndrome.

I’d love a sequel or a prequel, to be honest. Written by David Cohen. Directed by Ryûhei Kitamura.

Enjoy!

Favorite Lines:

Leader : Are you a serial killer?
Driver : Serial killers work in solidarity, I am more of a numbers guy.

Driver’s Girlfriend: A man who lacks emotion is sorry.
Driver : I don’t lack emotion. I just process it differently*. (*Which is the understatement of the year, really.)

*
Enjoy this bloody thriller. No pun intended. 🙂

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The Vicious Kind starring Adam Scott: Humanly Amoral, Emotional and Funny

Posted on June 21, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

The Vicious Kind movie poster via amazon.com.

Oh, how Adam Scott (High Crimes, Leap Year , A.C.O.D, Friends with Kids, The Overnight) has grown on me. I’ve never not liked the guy, but this was definitely one of the more challenging roles he has taken on.

On the surface, the premise of the movie might sound like a typical romantic comedy. However, it’s not very typical, and it’s NOT a romantic comedy.

Caleb (Adam Scott) is a lonely construction worker who is not dealing well with his break-up at all. He can’t sleep, he has sex with hookers and then sends pictures of the act to his ex, and he is not taken the news of his younger brother Luke’s romance well. He believes, and openly states, that all women are whores, and this new girl, Emma (Britanny Snow), is no different. The fact that she was seeing another guy when she met Luke only confirms Caleb’s thoughts.

Luke introduces them as they pick up Emma, and drive her and Luke to their father’s house – a father called Donald (played by J.K. Simmons) Caleb isn’t on speaking terms with.

The problem is Emma kind of looks like Caleb’s ex. She is also sexy, nice and friendly, making Caleb assault her and want her all at once. Oh, yes, Caleb isn’t very a stable or healthy individual. However, he is a fascinating character to watch.

One minute he’s frightening the hell out of her, and one minute he’s crying and apologizing. One minute he’s trying to prove she’s out to break Luke’s heart and telling her not to, and one minute he’s being all intense and attracting her.

Of course, Emma is only less of a mess compared to Caleb. Her boyfriend, Caleb’s brother Luke, is a virgin. Caleb is a good-looking nutjob, their father Donald borders on creepy and weird, and she has her own drunk mother and parental issues to deal with. As a psych major who hasn’t been able to sort herself out, is it any wonder she’s slowly drawn to the volatile Caleb? And can anyone survive this triangle?

The performances are fantastic, and I had a pretty good time watching Caleb contradicting himself at every turn. Adam Scott does a brilliant job in making the audience going from wanting to punch him to hug him and back to punching in a matter of minutes.

Luke seems like the more innocent and normal of the bunch, but that might exactly be what’s backfiring in his relationship. It’s not that Emma wants a bad guy per se, but she’d certainly be prepared for one who deals with his issues out on the open.

It’d be appropriate to call Caleb both the antagonist and protagonist of the story: He’s the main character. We get to know him the most. He is also the one screwing up things left and right, and doing almost always the wrong thing to sort things out or feel better.

I’d definitely recommend this funny drama. Written and directed by Lee Toland Krieger.

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