Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl is the real deal. This feels like the kind of independent film that was made when indie films were really indie films.
Ryan Gosling turns in a superb performance that exceeds his recent studio work (Fracture) or indie turns like his nominated lead in Half Nelson. There's nowhere to go but up for this guy. As a lonesome taciturn character Gosling brings an understated depth to the part of Lars Lindstrom. Excellent support from Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider (as his brother and sister in law) and Patricia Clarkson (as the local doctor) guarantee this boat floats on waves of perfection.
In some ways Lars and the Real Girl reminds one of some Scandanavian cinema with its wintery settings, cold atmosphere and portrait of a tight knit community that sticks together no matter what. But deep down it's pure Americana.
Lars has a new girlfriend, only his femme is a high dollar silicone doll purchased on the Internet. Instead of some outrageous comic plot the situation is played seriously. The townspeople hold a meeting: the preacher asks what would Jesus do? Another lady reminds the group that her nephew dresses his cats in dresses, so what is so weird about Lar's behavior. And so it goes throughout the film as Lars and the denizens of his town come to terms with his actions. In the end Lars may be the most normally adjusted person in the film.

The Darjeeling Limited

Some try to label the films of Wes Anderson as an acquired taste. More correctly Anderson is the most idiosyncratic American director since David Lynch. Name another film that has launched as many successful careers as Bottle Rocket. Anderson is championed by critics as well as established pros like Peter Bogdanovich. So do I really care if the general public wants to see the latest Wes Anderson film as much as I do?
At the press screening of The Darjeeling Limited a short subject that is a sort of prologue to the film, Hotel Chevalier, was shown first then critics were herded into the theater lobby for cookies (the good ones with icing on top) and hot tea, and only then did the feature unwind. That extra human touch to the screening feels as fine as the forgotten music tracks that pop up in Anderson films. In Darjeeling one song stands out for its coolness as well as its obscurity: Peter Sarstedt's Where Do You Go To My Lovely. I need this soundtrack spinning now.
The plot involves three brothers (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman) who journey by train on a pilgrimage across India. The usual eccentric mishaps that would follow such a trio occur with frequency. Along the way we discover more than we want to know about all of them, including the reason for their own family dysfuction.
Hotel Chevalier will be shown with the film at festivals and available on the eventual DVD release. Anderson blends moments of family bonding with both dramatic and comic interludes. In Darjeeling the lensing is accentuated with stylistic whip-pan movements that increase in duration as the journey draw to an end.

We Own the Night

Somewhere in the middle of James Gray's We Own the Night (only the third film Gray's directed since 1994's Little Odessa) Joaquin Phoenix has a powerful acting moment. All alone in a hotel room, after a traumatic incident, and without dialogue he breaks down. But only for a second, then he composes himself.
We Own the Night is a film full of such wonderful moments including two of the best action scenes in a movie recently. When Phoenix becomes an undercover informant for the New York police he gains access to a Russian mob's coke warehouse. This sequence should be known as the light as a feather scene but its imagery and action pacing are breathtaking. Ditto a car chase along a crowded freeway during the middle of a rainstorm. We're talking edge of your seat action. Those are a couple of good reasons to see this film.
Phoenix plays a kind of prodigal son and toplines We Own the Night with pro support from the likes of Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes, and Alex Veadov as a particularly sadistic mob enforcer. Mark Walhberg also co-stars and his eloquent and quiet performance shows that he has range beyond the acting turns that have earned him kudos in the past.
Director James Gray opts for a formula style narrative but stays true to his thematic exploration of the bonds that hold families together.