Movie Review - A Real Life

Originally, I dismissed A Real Life as a chick flick with a grubby thief love interest and began watching it with low expectations. Sometimes movies are better that way - with no hope. Well, color me surprised and pleasantly proven wrong, because A Real Life is quite enjoyable.

The story focuses around a petty thief, Bruno (Guillaume Depardieu) who forges a lasting impact on a young school teacher named Isabelle (Florence Loiret-Caille.) Their relationship quickly turns from a simple crush to a passionate love affair - meanwhile running, hiding, and dodging police. There isn't much explanation as to why Isabelle is madly attracted to Bruno other than their first, somewhat tragic encounter. Around the halfway mark, Bruno raises the suspicion of the local police and they are sent to investigate him. Since he is staying at Isabelle's house, she is forced to either rat him out or save him. Of course, ratting out you lover wouldn't be very romantic, so Isabelle decides to save Bruno and thus begins their foray into the forest and a life of caution.

There isn't a lot of dialogue in A Real Life. Instead, director and co-screenwriter Sarah Petit relies on conveying intense feeling and emotion rather than clever quips between the lovers. The outcome of this approach is refreshing and genuine. Seeing their relationship blossom and the care they provide one another is beautiful. If the dialogue was more wordy, this aspect could have easily been lost.

I tried to play tough guy and blot out A Real Life from my "must-see" list, but the engaging chemistry between Depardieu and Loiret-Caille is too good to pass up. If you have a romantic movie aversion, suck it up and get in touch with your emotional side. You won't regret it.

4 Stars

Movie Review - The Robber

I think we're all guilty of hyping or dismissing movies in our heads. The conclusion we reach beforehand becomes the pivot to our criticism. In that sense, I wasn't prepared for The Robber - a thriller based on on the novel "On The Run" by Austrian author Martin Prinz. When I heard about a film that focused on a marathon runner who robbed banks on the side (or was it the other way around?) I expected a more comical, light-hearted approach to such a scenario. Instead, what transpired before my eyes was a beautifully intense and hypnotic story about a man faced with reforming himself or returning to his previous destructive tendencies.

The Robber focuses on Johann Rettenberger (Andreas Lust,) an ex-con released to the free world in hopes to start an honest life. We don't learn much about Johann through dialogue (or any of the other characters for that matter,) and it's hard to love or hate him. On one hand, he's this hero marathon runner who wins many big, countrywide races; on the other hand, he is a successful serial bank robber - threatening but never hurting anyone. He is easily one of the most complex and interesting characters I've witnessed in cinema this year.

A love interest, Erika (Franziska Weisz) throws an extra layer of intricacy into the story with a relationship that unfolds in a complex manner such as Johann's character. To try and explain the strangely unconditional romance would do it a disservice and ruin the sense of awe and mystery wrapped up in these two interesting characters.

I can't begin to explain the beauty of the shots in The Robber. The composition between sprawling vistas and intense human emotion evoked within each wonderful scene is breathtaking. I am literally at a loss for words when it comes to describing this film. It is nothing like I expected and I am so grateful for that. It is a tragic tale of addiction and conflict within the soul. While you won't walk away feeling happy per se, you will walk away fulfilled and awestruck. I believe Benjamin Heisenberg has truly created a work of art with The Robber.

Score: 5 Complex Stars

Film Review - Everyday Sunshine

I have a confession to make: before watching Everyday Sunshine, I had never listened to Fishbone. As an avid connoisseur of all things musical, I had heard of them and their influence on popular music, but I just never got around to actually listening. After hearing many of their songs, I can't say I'm a fan, but their mark on the music world is indelible. Everyday Sunshine chronicles Fishbone's tumultuous history, making it a fantastic place for any Fishbone newbie to start.

If you've ever watched other band documentaries or even been in a band yourself, then you know the extreme highs and desperate lows involved with the art. We follow Fishbone from their birth in the heart of South-Central Los Angeles to headlining world tours to small, half-sold out venues in their later years. The pacing starts off really well and we watch the members of Fishbone all meet each other in cartoon form, which adds some nice humor. The blend of Laurence Fishbourne's narrative and the actual members' recollection is spot on. As the movie progress though, we get less of a general narrative and more individual time with each member. While I like this exposition as it rounds out the band, it tends to drag at points - especially areas of conflict within the band. After most of the members have left the band, we are left with what I think is the weakest part in the film.

I get why the filmmakers chose to focus on Norwood (bass) and Angelo (main vocals/sax) during the last third of the film, but sadly the pacing gets ruined. Seeing two punk rockers aged and hardened is sad and it adds the reality of the fickle music business in there, but it gets boring hearing them talk about it. It's strange after the climax to have such a long downtime before seeing things pick up again, but maybe that's because I'm expecting the film to behave in the classic format it started out.

All in all, Everyday Sunshine succeeds in telling an interesting history to an extremely eclectic band in such a way that even if you don't love the music, you love the guys for completely putting their souls into their art and for doing so for over 20 years.

3.5 stars