The holiday season is second only to the summer in terms of blockbuster film releases. And as this holiday season swings into high gear, there's something for everyone in theaters now.
Opening last week was the much anticipated "Spy Game", starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Pitt really is the new Sundance Kid, and having Redford's character as his mentor in this film seems very natural. The pair makes a great team.
Redford had a hand in making Pitt what he is today by giving him the breakthrough role of Paul Maclean in "A River Runs Through It" (1992).
In "Spy Game", Redford, as the veteran CIA operative Nathan Muir, recruits and trains Tom Bishop (Pitt) in the art of manipulation — the collection and utilization of "assets" (read: people), pawns in the great espionage game.
Both characters are very likeable, but it certainly makes one wary of getting personally involved with anyone in the CIA.
Much of the story is told in flashback as aspects of their relationship are revealed like so many jigsaw pieces. The coalescing of disparate bits of information is remarkably well done, making "Spy Game" a top-notch thriller that won't disappoint.
Also new in theaters is "Novocaine", a comic murder mystery starring Steve Martin, Laura Dern ("Focus", "Jurassic Park") and Helena Bonham Carter ("Planet of the Apes", "Fight Club").
The film is much richer than first meets the eye, with several interesting plot twists, but it suffers from a personality conflict of sorts. "Novocaine" is a dark comedy and gratuitously gruesome at times. It makes for a very silly murder mystery, and as a thriller, it lacks believability.
Still, if you like Martin, you will like this movie. Dern is also a riot as his buxom, anal-retentive, Tae-Kwon-Do-studying dental hygienist and fiancee.
Most people either love or hate Carter. I thought she was just okay here as a junky love-interest for Martin. She struck me as playing the same junky she was in "Fight Club," which was oddly distracting.
"Novocaine" also includes a hilarious uncredited appearance by a famous actor who was last seen disappearing in one of the worst thrillers in recent memory.
The "feel-good" movie out at the moment is "Life As A House", produced and directed by Irwin Winkler. Winkler last directed the 1999 romance "At First Sight" with Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino.
"Life as a House" is a better film, largely because of the script by Mark Andrus ("As Good as it Gets").
The story follows George (Kevin Kline), who is terminally ill with cancer, in an effort to build his dream house during the last few months of his life. The house is a metaphor for all the things wrong with his life and all his regrets. George enlists the help of his estranged son, Sam (Hayden Christensen), who suffers from depression and drug addiction.
Soon everyone in his life becomes involved in the project, including his ex-wife Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas), whom he has never gotten over. Thomas has been in "The Horse Wisperer" and "The English Patient."
Kline is excellent. He's so earnest, the audience sympathizes with him completely.
This is our first look at Christensen, who is known primarily for his yet-to-be-seen work as Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode II." I was extremely impressed with his performance and expect he will go on to have a stellar career.
The film drags at times. I found myself wanting to shout more than once, "Just build the damn thing already!"
Some scenes involving the teenagers were extremely implausible, particularly the scenes with Christensen and Jena Malone ("Contact"), his love-interest, in the shower. I fault the direction, which was just bizarre at times as if they didn't know where to place the camera. However, most of the cinematography is quite beautiful.
There were a lot of grandmothers in the audience, and this film definitely is geared toward an older demographic. Some audience members reported having seen the film two and even three times, and many left the theater with tears in their eyes.
There is no question that the movie is sappy, but you will either find it heart-warming sappy or dopey sappy, depending on your taste. Macauley Peterson is a contributor to The Independent Film and Video Monthly and the Princetonian Access Arts columnist. He can be reached at macauley@princeton.edu.
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