Movies : September 2002

17 September 2002

One Hour Photo

A discount store that leaves lots (20 feet or more) of dramatic floor space around the photo counter, and doesn’t even take advantage of its endcaps? Riiiight. A manager so inept he leaves a fired employee with a valid combination to the security doors, and keys to areas and stations that aren’t even his responsibility? Uh-huh. An expensive house that has no security system… That turns out to be a fantasy. And the photographs of the adulterous couple, who took those? (The film may wants us to believe they were taken by holding the camera at arm’s length.) With all the verisimilitude on display, I should be impressed by Sy (Robin Williams), the photo guy at Sav-mart, taking a particularly intense interest in the lives and loves of the Yorkins? A man so lonely, and so inadequate in relating to other humans, that he bought his bland white Toyota Echo within the past year? Ups: a too-brief look at the mechanics and fluidics of one-hour film processing; the line-up of typical customers. Downs: the blatant use of color and lighting to make Sy’s world monochromatic and the Yorkins’ warm and homey; making the bad guy own an Apple Macintosh.

96 minutes.

16 September 2002

Barbershop

In a Chicago neighborhood, barber Calvin (Ice Cube) struggles to decide what to do about his future. He would like to abandon all the freeloaders who come into the shop and start a music recording studio. As the day goes on, and the other barbers and their customers come in, and the bickering starts, he sells out to the local loan shark. Meanwhile, two extremely bumbling perpetrators have dragged an ATM out of the neighboring convenience shop the previous night and are now trying to extract the money. Will Calvin do the right thing by his pregnant wife? Ups: funny, congenial, thoughtful. Downs: the ATM burglars are a bit too stupid for their own good.

102 minutes.

15 September 2002

Secret Ballot [Il voto el segreto]

On the island of Kish, a dropped crate contains orders for the two soldiers on duty, guarding the beach against smugglers. An agent is expected shortly, and one of them is to guard the agent during the vote collection on this day. The area is so rural (actually, most of it looks abandoned) that the voters cannot be expected to show up at a polling place. When the agent turns out to be a young woman, that is the first of the guard’s problems with the whole situation. Setting out in a Volkswagen Thing, the two track down voters (the first runs immediately upon seeing the military vehicle and the soldier’s rifle) and explaining the procedure. They face bewilderment (you just want my vote? you’re not going to arrest me?), male privilege (I know how all these women in my dump truck are to vote), ignorance of the candidates (God is my candidate!), and still she presses the soldier to continue their rounds. A sufficient number of script errors prevent realism, so no doubt it is symbolic of life in Iran. Ups: didn’t come up with one. Downs: the romantic scene was overplayed in critic’s reviews.

105 minutes.

01 September 2002

Mr. Deeds

How on Earth did they create a trailer for this movie that nearly perfectly excluded Winona Ryder—when she’s in nearly two-thirds of the film? Certainly I cannot be expected to respond positively to anything about Adam Sandler anymore, as his quick-to-violence character encourages the hope that the two will not end up happily ever after. Ups: the three-dollar ticket cost at the remaining local second-run theatre; Ryder is still cute when she’s funny. Downs: pretty much the rest of it.

95 minutes.

Entries subject to editing at any time. Last edited on: 12-Sep-2004