Sundance 2012 Review: Wish You Were Here

My very first sun dance festival turned out to be quite a treat. The Aussie film 'Wish You Were Here' turned out to have quite a promising cast, a smart script and a few twists that made it more than you're average drama. The plot centers around a single couple who are dealing with the aftermath of a vacation where a mutual friend has disappeared. That, coupled with questions of infidelity, fears about their own relationship and the burden of trying to raise an ever expanding family make for a stewpot of unintended consequences.

Most would assume rising Hollywood star Joel Edgerton would be the main draw here...and while his films Animal Kingdom and Warrior bring in the audience, it's screenwriter and lead Felicity Price, playing his wife who steals the show. Her candid portrayal of a wife who is trying to care for her kids, deal with tragedy and attempt to save a crumbling marriage demands your full empathy. Joel does great as the torn and confused husband and Teresa Palmer does her part as the grieving sister who's boyfriend disappears. The ending provides quite a twist that resolves much of the moral ambiguities the movie introduces and proves that open communication and trust are needed in any marriage to make it work.

The film has problems with pacing and editing. The director could have chosen much better shots to establish location and mood. Also, the film seemed to drag at times as if the director was too in love with a lot of the content to leave it on the cutting room floor. This was detrimental to the film that seemed to waver between a crackling thriller and a domestic drama. If the director could decide on the film he was trying to make, and let the script tell the underlying story, this film would be very marketable. In the meantime we will have to enjoy the story and the acting...and wait for the filmmaking to catch up.

Sundance notes: at the screening was the director, producer and cast...who were very friendly and seemed genuinely excited to be at Sundance. They fielded questions after the screening. I was able to meet Joel Edgerton and ask how he was cast. He actually went to school and trained with the director, but had to ask to be in the film after seeing his friends notes and realizing they had proposed another actor to play the part he wanted. He is still pretty cut for anyone who remembers him as Brendan in Warrior.

UPDATE: Wish You Were Here was just aquired by Entertainment One and is expected to be released in theaters in the U.S. and Canada in fall 2012.

Final Consensus: 
See it now!!!!
See it in theaters!!!
Rent it on DVD/BluRay!!
Wait for it on TV!
Don’t Bother

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Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol - A live action cartoon roller coaster

I’m Back. I know, its been a really long time but I have re-resolutioned myself to write some actually compelling reviews with deep insight and modern interpretations….in very short form. The year begins with Mission Impossible 4 colon Ghost Protocol. No clue why they added the colon or the by line as the name Ghost Protocol merely is a mission terminology meaning that the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) has been disavowed by the government. This disavowal comes after Ethan Hawke, i mean Hunt's (couch jumper Tom Cruise) team gest set up and the Kremlin explodes. Of course a whole lot of chases, action sequences and explosions later, the final object of the team is to prevent a madman (don’t remember his name) from blowing up the world.

Nothing in this movie is remotely believable from the sets, to the stunts, to the damage a human body can take, the beauty of the participants or even the snarky humor injected under extreme duress by the assistant (Simon Pegg, whom I met in the Bathroom at a theater in Austin TX…but that’s another story). But you know what…that’s what makes the movie so gosh-darn fun. It’s a bigger, bolder, better experience in the theaters precisely because all the laws of physics and common sense have been thrown out the window. It’s like watching Looney Tunes in real life, which makes sense considering it was directed by Brad Bird (of Iron Giant, Ratatouille, The Incredibles fame). What a thrill ride. It doesn’t matter that I could care less for any of the characters; I really am not that emotionally involved with the cart I’m sitting in on a roller coaster either but I sure like the trip it takes me on.

Acting aside, it’s the special effects that steal the show. The stunts are incredible and the pace is unrelenting. Its not all testosterone either…more like dodge ball with ballerinas than a football game. The women of the movie are sadly given nothing to do but glare and act like pillars of wood, but everyone else seems to be having fun. Have a good time with it and if you can…watch it in IMAX, the audible gasp of the audience as you peer 120 stories down is worth the price of admission alone, that, and knowing it’s one of many hills this soulless yet bombastically creative roller coaster is gonna take you on.

Final Consensus: 
See it now!!!!
See it in theaters!!!
Rent it on DVD/BluRay!!
Wait for it on TV!
Don’t Bother

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