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Fracture starring Ryan Gosling & Anthony Hopkins

Posted on February 9, 2012 Written by ripitup

Fracture Movie Poster — Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. 2007.

Fracture Premise

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a very smart, rich and successful man married to the beautiful Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) who is many years his junior. Of course she is cheating on him with a guy close to her age- cop Robert Nunally (Billy Burke).

So Ted decides to kill his wife, destroy Rob and get away with it. He plans everything- from how Rob is the cop that shows up because there was a shooting in his house to how he will confess…

Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is a young and very successful prosecutor dying to move up to the corporate world. He has only one case left, and then he will leave for his glamorous new career.

The case seems easy enough- they have the weapon, the confession, the guy. They just don’t have the body since Jennifer has gone into a coma. But hey, they have everything they need. Moreover, the defendant, Ted, seems crazy enough to represent himself…

But of course Ted is a lot smarter and a lot more meticulous than they could have ever imagined. He plays his cards well, and he seems to have foreseen every move.

As the case goes on, and Willy gets to see Ted for who he really is, but both his relationship (with corporate lawyer Rosamund Pike) and career get jeopardized. How the hell can he win against Ted?

Worth Watching

Fracture is a real treat for the lovers of a solid legal thriller. The actors, unsurprisingly, do a great job. The script is so cool that you think it was probably adapted (and adapted well) from a bestseller. Sure, the movie has flaws, and I couldn’t have cared less about Willy’s romance with the gorgeous lawyer Nikki (Rosamund Pike), but bear with it.

Their relationship gives us a good idea about Willy, and it carries elements that move the plot forward. The villain is extremely clever and well-prepared, and well… the only reason the movie got 7.1 (and not an 8 on IMDB) is because people don’t agree on the ending. Frankly, I loved it. Watch it.

Directed by Gregory Hoblit, written by Daniel Pyne & Glenn Gers.

Fun Notes on the Cast

– English actress Rosamund Pike plays Elizabeth Bennet’s older/prettier/milder sister Jane in 2005’s movie Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is played by Keira Knightley.

– Cliff Curtis, who plays Rob’s partner, co-starred in Colombiana as the uncle of the main character (Zoe Saldana) and he also guest-starred in two episodes of Body of Proof as the love interest of the main character Megan Hunt (Dana Delany).

– Billy Burke, who plays the lover/cop, is Bella’s father in the Twilight series.

A Dangerous Method with Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender: Disappointing

Posted on February 1, 2012 Written by ripitup

A Dangerous Method Plot

If you have seen the trailer, you’ve seen it all:

Freud (Viggo Mortensen) wants to work with Jung (Michael Fassbender), who is at the time treating a female patient (Keira Knightley). Jung is impressed by how smart and educated his patient is, and he encourages her to pursue her dreams about being a doctor. After she gets better, she enrolls in the university to become a psychiatrist. She and Jung seem to agree more on things than Jung and Freud do, as Freud is not happy with Jung’s fascination with things that aren’t %100 scientific. He is not also thrilled about Jung’s attitude towards his patients where he seems to want to be their life coach as well, and not just their doctor.

Things on Jung’s end get more more complicated as he starts sleeping with his ex-patient, and starts treating another psychiatrist. Among all the S&M and his new patient’s lack of morals and limits, Jung’s chosen path starts differ radically from Freud’s.

A Dangerous Method Review

Well, this won’t be the last time the trailer of the movie is a lot more fun than the movie itself. I’d written a positive preview based on it, but the movie well…didn’t live up to my expectations. Let’s review this in the fashion of the one word association thing they do in the movie.

Movie – disappointing

Knigthley- annoying

Jung- mental

Story: dragging

Characters: unrelatable

Freud: saner

Relationships: seriously?

Gross (Cassel’s character): gross

Yes, I was expecting a somewhat controversial and a little kinky movie. But I was also expecting it to be fun, engaging and interesting. Instead, we get too much dialogue, a Jung that needed more therapy than his patients, a female patient whose diagnosis was only left to the audience to guess, a wife that’s anti-feminism personified. …

It is not to say I don’t have anything positive to say. I do. Keira Knightley’s performance was good, it was her character that was truly annoying. We got her issues, her problems the first three-four times they showed us, so there was no need to drag it.

Carl Jung was surely more than a man who slept around with his patients, took advice from a mental patient that also happened to be psychologist, saw his kids as hindrance to his career???

In a movie where Sigmund Freud is the only one who makes sense, the characters go around in circles with annoying manners and dragging scenes, great cinematography, costume design and acting don’t impress you much.

If you like Viggo Mortensen and Cronenberg, stick with A History of Violence. A Dangerous Method has its moments, but not enough of them.

My favorite part of the movie (spoiler!!): When Sabina (Knightley) picks a side in the dispute.

Currently rated at 7 imdb. I am however once again impressed by Mortensen’s acting skills.

Also on Keira Knightley:

Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes & Guillaume Canet

London Boulevard starring Colin Farrell & Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley Trivia: Facts About the Oscar-Nominated Star of Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen

Also on Michael Fassbender:

Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska & Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender Trivia

The Awesome X-Men: First Class with James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon & Rose Byrne

Also on Vincent Cassel:

Derailed starring Jennifer Aniston, Clive Owen & Vincent Cassel

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan: The Movie Natalie Portman Couldn’t Save

The Art of Getting By starring Freddie Highmore Highmore & Emma Roberts

Posted on January 15, 2012 Written by ripitup

The Art of Getting By Premise

The Art of Getting By movie poster via entertainmentwallpaper.com

George (Freddie Highmore) is a smart but fatalistic high school kid who doesn’t really want to put too much effort into anything because everyone will die anyway. This attitude results in him doing absolutely no homework for years, and while this has really started to piss off his teachers,it has intrigued his classmate Sally (Emma Roberts). And when he saves her from getting trouble, they start a friendship.

While Emma doesn’t have a problem handling her homework, she has her emotional involvement issues- resulting from her dsyfunctional relationship with her mother (Elizabeth Reaser, Esme Cullen of the Twilight Series). George’s family life isn’t ideal either. His mother (Rita Wilson) is married to Jack (Sam Robards) , a stepfather who means well but can’t quite deal with George’s quirkiness along with his own financial problems.

Enter Dustin (Michael Angarano, Elliot from Will and Grace), a young artist who gets George and encourages him about his own art. But life gets more complicated the more people you let him. Dustin is into Sally, and Sally just loves the type. She is not emotionally mature enough to truly interpret her friendship with George, and George might be too much of a fatalist to get it himself.

Maybe you can get by without taking any responsibility until you are a high school senior. But how can you graduate, save the best friendship you ever had and deal with your family if you are not doing anything?

Worth Seeing?

The Art of Getting By is a sweet little drama about life, the thin line between teenage oblivion and adult responsibility, love, friendship and family.

It is not the most original drama, but it is original and engaging enough. I’ve loved Freddie Highmore’s acting since A Good Year, though my favorite Highmore to date is August Rush.

Written and directed by Gavin Wiesen, The Art Getting By presents a relatable character with George. At least I could relate to him on many levels. No, I wasn’t just as fatalistic or lazy when it came to school work, but I had mastered the art of passing my classes (with flying colors, if possible) with as little effort as possible.

Sure, I had my favorite subject where I didn’t consider anything work (English)- but that was about it in High School. I escaped to my own mind when things got rough, and I found it really hard to find people I really lilked and relate to. I hadn’t made any good friends until my last years at high school.

So yeah, even if I am very out-going and friendly, I can’t connect with anyone and everyone. And this is one boy’s adventure of finding those people who can connect with, and as a result connecting with life itself.

I liked it. At 6.4 on IMDB, I would say the rating is OK. Would I have rated it more had I been in high school? Or even in university? Probably…

Fun notes:

– Alicia Silverstone guest-stars as one of Highmore’s frustrated teachers.

– Rita Wilson is married to Tom Hanks.

The Ides of March feat. George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti & Philip Seymour Hoffman

Posted on January 6, 2012 Written by ripitup

The Ides of March Plot Summary- with some spoilers

Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is a smart and ambitious political campaign specialist, and he is co-managing the presidential campaign of Governor Mike Norris (George Clooney), an idealistic politician who might be just what the USA needs: anti-war, pro-choice and refusing to let go of his principles in order to secure a win. In the meantime, Paul (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is having a difficult time getting senate votes because of Meyers’ ideals.

Stephen has little time apart from managing the campaign and the press –especially journalist Ida (Marisa Tomei). He starts hanging out with the 20-year-old intern Molly (Evan Rachel Wood), and is quite happy with his situation until two things happen:

1) The campaign manager of the opponent, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), wants to meet with him and when Stephen goes for curiosity’s sake – and someone leaks this to Ida.

2) Intern Molly confesses that she slept with the happily married Morris, is pregnant and needs $900 to have an abortion.

From then on, everything seems to work against Stephen. While he works to manage the crisis, Paul fires him- because he met with Duffy. And when Molly can’t manage the idea of a very angry Stephen looking to take revenge, things get even more complicated for Stephen….

Review

The Ides of March is a solid political drama with an impressive cast, and while it is not a thriller, sometimes it manages to be as engaging as one. It is hard to do a political drama this interesting, and director/co-writer/co-star George Clooney has pulled it off, no doubt with the help from Gosling, Giamatti, Hoffman, Tomei and Wood.

The only problem with the movie is the stereotype George Clooney’s character turns out to be. One minute he is this idealistic and principled guy who refuses to “bribe” his way into getting votes, and the next he is screwing a 20-year-old intern. So he is too decent to be a corrupt politician, but not a decent enough husband to keep it in his pants…Yes, politician with some nice views who has a problem staying loyal to his wife. Gee, where did we see this guy before?

The sad thing is, when Morris turns out to be a little moral than Meyers thought, he still wants to run the campaign. Who cares about his bedroom habits if he can manage the campaign right? But of course Morris only plays the game by his own rules, and Meyers just might to lose his self-respect to get back what he lost…

In the end, the movie engages you, depresses you and makes you question morality, loyalty, ethics and ambitions. It is well-done, even though you may not get any characters that you like or respect at the end.

Currently rated at 7.4 on IMDB.com

Fun notes on the cast:

Max Minghella, who plays Ben (one of the campaign staff) is the son of the deceased director Anthony Minghella, who is best known for the movies The English Patient and Cold Mountain.
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Fracture starring Ryan Gosling & Anthony Hopkins

Recommended Reading feat. The Cast

A Dangerous Method with Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender: Disappointing

The Art of Getting By starring Freddie Highmore Highmore & Emma Roberts

The Ides of March feat. George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti & Philip Seymour Hoffman

Fun notes on the cast:

Other Posts on the Cast

Also on Ryan Gosling