Sunday, 19 January 2014

Her (2013)


Theodore: It's true
Amy: What?....wait, are you falling in love with her?
Theodore: Does that make me a freak?
Amy: No.....I think anybody who falls in love is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's like a socially acceptable form of insanity

Her is Spike Jonze's new masterpiece after Being John Malkovich that deals with the concept of urban loneliness and the future of relationships that might actually become a reality. Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely writer who hasn't been able to come to terms with his separation from his wife, Catherine (Rooney Mara). He is reluctant to meet new people and often finds himself playing out imaginary situations in his mind how he could have said and done things differently to keep things right with his wife.

When Theodore gets a new operating system, he meets "Samantha" (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a highly intelligent OS that has been programmed to meet the needs of the owner. However, through her interactions with Theodore, she finds herself evolving into something more than what she was designed for. She almost feels jealous when Theodore meets another woman for a date, while she feels relieved when he finally signs the divorce papers with Catherine. What develops between the two is an unusual love story that we will later learn wasn't so unusual. Everyone around him is finding the comfort of a virtual relationship where supposedly one doesn't have to deal with real emotions. But like any other relationship, this one has it own demands too.

The movie has a lot of similarity with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in the sense that it's a sad, romantic story which makes you want to ask the character how else could have things turned out than the way they did. Both the characters feel doomed for what they conceive as the only time they felt a real connection with someone and that it may never happen again. The ease with which Jonze creates these worlds, that look so real, is a talent very few others have. Phoenix convinces his audience he was born to do this "sensitive dude who is part man-part woman" role and I'm not sure why he isn't nominated for the best actor. And Scarlett Johansson's soothing voice and sensible talk will make you want to escape into Jonze's world and wish it was real.

Rating: 8/10

Saturday, 4 January 2014

Nothing But The Truth (2008)


Albert: A man can live a good life, be honorable, give to charity, but in the end, the number of people who come to his funeral is generally dependent on the weather........I mean look at you Rachel, your kid is growing up.....you may not want to bring your son into this, but I do. You want to know why? Because I'm defending Rachel Armstrong, not a principle.

Rachel Armstrong: A man leaves his family to go to jail to protect a principle, and they name a holiday after him. A man leaves his children to go fight in a war, and they erect a monument to him. A woman does the same thing, and she's a monster.

Rod Lurie's Nothing But The Truth, if seen just as a political thriller, is a great story on one woman's resilience & integrity in not revealing her source in the face of losing her career and her whole life. Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) is a reporter with the Capital Sun Times who outs the identity of a CIA operative in what was evidently a US government cover-up. While she is being congratulated by her colleagues for what seems like her way to being the next Woodward & Bernstein, Rachel finds herself in custody under charges of contempt of court. Little did she realize that post 9/11, there's an act that supersedes her rights mentioned under the 1st amendment.

Meanwhile, we also the see the CIA agent in question, Erica van Doren (Vera Farmiga), being investigated by the agency for possibly being the traitor herself. The movie takes us beyond the working life of the two women to give us a peek into their respective families and their two children who also happen to be school-mates. As Rachel refuses to reveal the name of the source, the days in custody extend to a year. The weather in that time has definitely changed. Erica ends up being shot in front of her house by someone who is officially declared as some right-wing fanatic. Rachel's high-profile lawyer, Albert Bernside (Alan Alda) has turned from his high-society affectations to go pro bono for the case. And Rachel has grown distant from her husband Ray (David Schwimmer) for her decision that seems to affect everyone around her. The only thing that hasn't changed has been the relentless pursuit of the prosecutor, Patton Dubois (Matt Dillon), who seems to be "only doing his job".

It's a very well-made movie and all the characters are portrayed really well. However, since the movie mentions it is based on true events, a little bit of digging will lead one to the disgraced NY Times reporter, Ms. Judith Miller. What is shocking is a well-intentioned reporter in the movie who wanted to expose the cover-ups of the government is being compared to a real life person who helped the government in covering up the mess they created in the first place. But whether we get into those details or not, either way it leads us to see the "truth" behind the US Justice system and all the preaching and the high-handedness we so often see. There's a scene in the movie where Erica calls Rachel a "water-walker". Given some recent events, I guess that's the word that would best describe their own justice system.

Rating: 7.5/10