MOVIE REVIEWS
Orthodox Stance
As a product of a boxing family, I am probably going to examine this film very closely. You see, my grandfather was a boxer in the 1920s and fought under the name of Joey Medill. He was one of the early Jewish fighters whose stable mate was Barney Ross. My father managed two heavy weight champs, Tony “TNT” Tubbs and Tony “TNT” Tucker. As you might have guessed, there are not many Jewish boxers fighting today so the concept of an Orthodox Jewish fighter is something of an anomaly.
The focus of this film is on a Jewish boxer named Dmitriy Salita who as a child emigrated to the United States from the Ukraine. The film takes us to Dmitriy’s home in Brooklyn, his Orthodox synagogue, and his gym. The film gives the audience a view of what it is like to be an observant Jewish boxer, i.e., keeping kosher, praying and not boxing on the Sabbath. Demitriy reminded me of the Jewish baseball players going back to Sandy Koufax who would not play ball on the Jewish High Holidays.
There are many interesting characters in the film such as the Jewish boxing promoter Bob Arum who was able to relate to some of the difficulties Dmitriy had to encounter on the road such as finding kosher food in out of the way places or telling HBO his fighter could not fight on the Sabbath. Another interesting character is Dmitriy’s 80 year old Black trainer Jimmy O’Pharrow who seems to know his way around the boxing world. The director, Jason Hutt, gives you the inside view of what a boxer goes through to make it in the tough boxing world. It is interesting to see a fight crowd consisting of Hasidic Jews and the typical boxing crowd rooting for a victorious Dmitriy. Hutt also takes you to the White House when Dmitriy is invited to President Bush’s Hanukkah party. The movie is very uplifting in sort of a Jewish “Rocky” way. Fred says go see “Orthodox Stance” and roll with the punches.
Bra Boys
Bra Boys is an Australian documentary about the legendary surfer community housed in the economically depressed Sydney suburb of Maroubra. The film’s director Sunny Abberton, along with narrator Russel Crowe, tell the story of the Bra Boys, the Abberton family, and their struggle to survive a troubled youth. It is an interesting study of a diverse group of young boys bonding together to help each other get through tough times. Some viewers might see them as gang members who have an ongoing battle with the police, while others would see them as a drinking, partying, surfer’s fraternity. Personally, I would not rate them as a gang in the sense of the Crips or Bloods of Los Angeles.
Surfing, the sense of family, and belonging, seems to bind the Bra Boys together. From this surfing culture, world-class surfers evolve and the surfing scenes are spectacular from all parts of the globe. The film’s message is inspiring to disadvantaged youth and shows that you can make it in life with the help of your friends. Russel Crow narrates some interesting historical facts about our down under neighbor Australia dating back to British colonial days. The film also deals with Sunny Abberton’s younger brother Jai, who is accused of murder and the ordeal he and the family have to go through. There is some buzz that Brian Grazer, remembered for producing the “Blue Crush” surfer movie, might team with Russell Crowe to do a feature on the Bra Boys. Fred sez, hang ten, this doc is worth seeing dude.
Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?
Morgan Spurlock of “Super Size Me” fame, is back with a new documentary entitled “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?” This time, Spurlock heads for the Middle East to give the audience a peak at how the US and Osama bin Laden are perceived. He uses humor to hold the audiences’ attention, but he strikes some sensitive nerves. It is interesting to see how interviews with high school kids in Saudia Arabia are closely supervised and terminated once a question is asked about Israel. It is also interesting to hear people praise Osama bin Laden as a hero and sad to see a bombed out school in Israel. He runs into some trouble with some orthodox Jews in Israel, but we don’t get the full picture of what caused the controversy, such as asking questions on a religious day.
Spurlock weaves in the fact that he is waiting for his first child to be born while he is traveling to various Middle Eastern countries, and adds that he wants the world to be safe for his new addition. He indicates that the US might not be so popular because of their support for dictators over the years, especially during the Cold War. This begs the question, what happens when we remove dictators such as Saddam Husain, are we better off? No question, this doc gets you thinking.
'REDBELT' REVIEW
This film by David Mamet takes place in Los Angeles and is filled with an interesting array of characters such as martial arts types, show biz types, promoters, lawyers and cops. The story is about a Jiu-Jitsu instructor named Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor) struggling to get through life by operating a self-defense studio with his wife Sondra (Alice Braga). A strange turn of events takes place at the studio involving a lawyer Laura Black (Emily Mortimer) and police officer Joe Collins (Max Martini). It eventually leads Mike Terry to consider fighting professionally to free himself from his financial burdens. Terry is introduced to a world of promoters (Joe Montegna and Ricky Jay) and movie star Chet Frank (Tim Allen), who put him into an uncomfortable position requiring him to give up his honor for the root of all evil, money.
Chiwetel does an excellent job of playing an everyday Joe trying to make it through life. The audience immediately relates to him, since with inflation setting in, we are all going to be struggling to make ends meet. His action scenes are well orchestrated and it is obvious that he put in a great deal of time learning about this martial art and philosophy that has a long history in Japan and Brazil. The one thing I found interesting in the writing and casting of the movie is that Cyril Takayama plays an illusionist who turns white marbles black and Ricky Jay, a master illusionist in real life, plays a convincing unethical fight promoter. It seems that Mamet teams up with actors he has used in prior films such as Ricky Jay in the “Spanish Prisoner” and Joe Montegna in “Homicide,” “Things Change,” and “House of Cards.” Over all the acting was good.
As Mamet points out, this is not just another martial arts movie, it is a movie about honor, morals, and what is important in life couched in a martial arts theme. Fred says, go see REDBELT, it is what you would expect from David Mamet.
'Sleepwalking' Review
“Sleepwalking” is a movie about a family with serious problems. The mother of this unhappy family is Joleen Reedy (Charlize Theron), who is forced to move from her boyfriend’s home following his arrest for cultivating marijuana. Joleen then takes her 11 year old daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) and moves into the modest apartment of her brother James (Nick Stahl). No sooner then Joleen settles in, she takes off with a trucker, and leaves her unprepared brother James to care for her daughter. Social services steps in and places Tara in a group foster home that does not work for her. James is then forced from his apartment after loosing his job, and moves in with a friend and co-worker played by Woody Harrelson, who adds some lighter moments to a dismal set of circumstances James springs Tara from the foster home and takes her on a road trip to a Utah farm run by his abusive father (Dennis Hopper) and tries to pass Tara off as his daughter. Without giving away the ending, the movie reaches a climax and an unexpected resolution.
Theron, is a master at playing flawed women’s parts since her Oscar winning role in “Monster,” and this role as a self centered, irresponsible mother is no different. Stahl’s role as a simple working-man, trying to be a father figure for his niece Tara is very convincing. Robb’s portrayal of a young girl forced to grow up quickly in a cruel world is outstanding. It won’t be long before she joins the Oscar club. As for Hopper, an actor who has withstood the test of time, his portrayal of an abusive father and grandfather, was superb. This movie is an excellent character study of troubled individuals, and leads the audience to the conclusion that maybe their family is not so bad after all.
'Vantage Point' Review
Vantage Point is definitely a unique film. The story is about different points of view concerning an assassination attempt on the President of the United States (William Hurt). The movie takes place in Spain at a public meeting of world leaders who intend to denounce world terrorism. Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) is a secret service agent assigned to protect the President. As he steps up to the podium to give a speech, he is shot by an assassin. This event is filmed by onlooker Howard Lewis (Forrest Whitaker) an American tourist on his Sony camcorder (of course). The event is also captured by a global news service that relays it around the world. The news producer is Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver). The assassination attempt on the U.S. President is replayed from the vantage point of the secret service agent, the tourist, the President, the assassin, and other key characters. The replay technique is a bit uncomfortable at first blush, until the viewer realizes that this is how the story is weaved together. Once the audience gets past the first couple of replays, they understand the technique and begin to relax and focus on putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
The acting in the film was convincing. I did get flashbacks from the movie “In The Line of Fire” where Clint Eastwood was assigned to protect the president and was extremely dedicated to his job. Forest Whitaker played a believable typical tourist trying to record an historic event and got right into the thick of things. Sigourney Weaver must have done her research on news producers since she fit the part so well. There is also a very well orchestrated, action packed chase scene in the movie that rivaled the “French Connection.” This is a good February movie to see!