Invictus (2009)

Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaa. Hm… A political movie? Not really. A sport movie? Not exactly. A perfect blend of politics and sport. I would say yes. Clint Eastwood exceeded my expectation here by delivering such a nice piece of movie, that I think the most inspirational movie of the year 2009.

When the President of South Africa, Mandela (Morgan Freeman) and the captain of South Africa rugby team Springbok, Francois Pienaa (Matt Damon) crossed their path, that’s also when the post-apartheid democracy and sport spirit came working together to bring a nation that torn apart so long towards unity. The plot is just as clear as the message in this film. It did drived my spirit high just like a rudgy game when it started with how a ex-political prisoner took over the office of the damned nation till the victory of South Africa in Rugby World Cup which the whites and the blacks cheered together as a united nation. It clearly showed us how sport can bring a country together, abandoning the past (apartheid). Too bad for its release for the year of 2009 when apartheid issues were florished with blue-skinneds (‘Avatar’) and prawns (“District 9’) by the others. But, it gives us no excuse to miss this movie as well.

Frankly, I’ve no idea about this dude Mandela, but Morgan Freeman did a fantastic play here protraying as the first democratically elected South Africa President with a lot of country damage to be repaired and a passion for rugby to be dealt with. He must have done a pretty much of preparation to really speak like a leader of a nation, especially one well-known for his unique monotonous speech. On the other hand, Matt Damon’s acting was just fair enough. Though one-dimensionally as a national rugby team captain, but his role is crucial as being the channel of the president to influence the team as a whole representative of the country. The only thing that not so convincing to me is his body size that I think too small to be a rugby player. Forget about the height, he’s doing just fine.

Cinematographically, the scenes selected in this movie gave me a sense like being in South Africa, especially the slums and the post-apartheid tension everywhere in every characters, not to mention the heavy breathing in the rugby fields that gonna make you breath in labour as well. Part of the movie’s successful portrayal of this nation during the time of 1999 is the music score that I’ve to acknowledge. Indeed, those musics make you pscyhed during the rugby math, and most of them indirectly tell you to be ok to have faith in the nation even though the world are in doubt that you’re in a lot of shit after the aparthied falls.

Screenplay wise, ‘Invictus’ is apparently more interesting and easy to follow compared to other Clint Eastwood’s work. Everything was taken care of, from the individual dialogues to the whole cheering crowd, and not to mention the national antheme of South Africa. As the theme for this movie is kinda heavy, the screenplay well balance the two main things in the movie, which are politics and sports. Both interwine smooth enough to produce the end result of inspiration.

In a nut shell, if you’re looking for a movie that has thems like sports or inspirational unity, this is your perfect cup of tea. Even though the movie is more than two hour, you just have to sit back and relax as the background of the story is bring forth before everything started. No worries about this is a political factual movie. Just follow how Mandela shows you the path to bring both parties who hated each other for so long to sit down and watch a rugby match together. I’m ready for my sorry for its lost in Oscar later, but let’s show some compassion by supporting this movie.

THE RATING:

Story – 3.5 stars

Casts – 3.5 stars

Cinematography – 3.5 stars

Effects – 3.5 stars

OVERALL – 4.0 stars

The Informant (2009)

Jason Bourne…sorry, Matt Damon is out again taking down powerful bad people, only this time merely for his own interest (greed, maybe). Another dark comedy of the year directed by Steven Soderbergh, who we’ve been missing since ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’.

As an adaptation of a book, the film managed to capture audiences with its unique narration by the main character, Mark Whitacre (played by Matt Damon), who from the high ranked executive of ADM turned into a FBI informant, who later became a prisoner of states convicted of frauds which involves 9.5 (or 11) million dollars. The plot centers on the personal agenda of Mark with surprising twists throughout the story. At first, the plot unfolds in a fast pace and involves too many characters that you may need some times to get used to it (just like the ‘Oceans’). However, once everything is in place, watching how Mark double cross both ADM and FBI is a hell of a joyride full with humorous dialogues and comedic moments.

Casting wise, Matt Damon did a really great job by portraying as a bipolar sufferer and at the same time lies to and manipulates everyone around him. Matt’s hilarious acting plus his effort of putting on almost 30 pounds for the character, just for comedic purpose; I would say it’s very brilliant as it blows our mind by telling us he is not just merely a amnesic spy, but also a funny informant. For other members in casting, their roles are fair enough with contribution to the story flow, especially their unbelievable faces when realizing all of them were fooled by an ordinary-outlook man – they make you laugh. But, I’ll bet you may put on a similar looks as well every time you discovered more about Whitacre’s agenda.

The screenplay is a straight chronology with unexpected turns every now and then. Almost every dramatic dialogue is concerned with the story. The only thing I found hard to digest is the part of the narration which hardly related to the story arch (anyway, the narrator is a bipolar after all). A story of corporate crime (thriller) – thanks to those creative screenwriters, it’s not a John Grisham-type of things but a perfect blend of comedy and crime which everyone will enjoy it.

To sum up, ‘The Informant’ is a very laughable dark comedy, compared to its competitor nominee in awards ‘Up in the Air’, just lack of insights than the later. A movie that will lighten your day up and definitely worth your time watching Jason … sorry, Matt Damon on the screen playing a secret informant not for CIA this time, but FBI. How a highest level executive to ever become a FBI whistleblower who tried to double cross both? Check it out in ‘The Informant!’

THE RATING:

Story – 4.0 stars

Casts – 3.5 stars

Cinematography – 3.0 stars

Effects – 3.0 stars

OVERALL – 3.5 stars

Case 39 (2010)

A perfect failure example of demon-disguise-as-child horror flick would be an understatement to this film. To summarize it, I would say it’s a combination of ‘Drag Me to Hell (2009)’ and ‘The Orphan (2009)’ but just much worse than either of them.

The beginning of the story plot was ok and successfully creates an aroma of mystery. However, the story line became kinda boring when it failed to break from the typical flow which is:

1. The main character(s) found a child who is supposedly adorable but with a mysterious background.

2. The child (demon or whatever) shows signs of evil and the protagonist starts to be afraid of her.

3. Protagonist investigates the reasons and past of the child.

4. After several failing attempts, the protagonist eventually successfully/unsuccessfully kills the child.

Apparently, the plot of this story is a recycle of things that others already used (many times) in the past. So, do not expect anything else but poorer plot.

Well, without much hesitation, I’m gonna reward the casting members for screwing up even more the story. Renee Zelweger’s acting was poor and too surface comparing to my expectation from the ‘The Bridget Jones’s Diary’ actress. Moreover, Jodelle Ferland is definitely unsuitable for the role as the demon-disguise-as-child character, despite her good acting in ‘Silent Hill (2006)’. Jodelle’s acting; I would say it’s more irritating than horrifying. First of all, she looks more mature (taller) and less adorable comparing to similar actor/actress in ‘The Omen’ and ‘The Orphan’. Second of all, I can almost see her desperation to put up an evil smirking smile that I found it annoying (no wonder she wasn’t featured in the promotional poster). The only character that helped me bear with the movie was Bradley Cooper, though his character was totally insignificant at all.

No long lasting terrifying scenes from the movie. A copy cat of ‘Drag Me to Hell’ by using bees (instead of flies) but … there’s nothing to be horrified of – at all. I have to warned you that many scenes in the movie that try to shock you but turn out to be something dumb and not related to the story – they may annoy you. So, please, don’t go in with popcorns.

There’s nothing worth watching about this movie at all – really. My piece of advice: save your time in the cinema queue and re-watch ‘The Orphan’ or perhaps ‘The Omen’ (I mean the classic one) will even be more enjoyable.

THE RATING:

Story – 3.0 stars

Casts – 2.0 stars

Cinematography – 2.5 stars

Effects – 2.0 stars

OVERALL – 2.5 stars