BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Grade: B
Premise: A young girl in a poor community questions her identity, her home, and the mystery of her long-lost mother after her father falls ill of a terminal disease.
Starring Quveznhane Wallis as Hushpuppy and Dwight Henry as Wink

Rated PG-13 for thematic material include alcohol abuse, some blood and gory images, and a few sequences of a child in danger.

Beasts of the Southern Wild, the eighth Academy Award nominee for Best Picture I've seen this year, is one of those movies that sneaks up on you. In a nonchalant, no-hurry manner, it plants you in a world of squalor mixed with strange beauty, gives you a mostly-silent protagonist, goes long stretches without dialogue, and, for long periods, seems to be about nothing. However, the force of performance from one of its key actors and the strong presence of the other keeps the film afloat, giving you strained family melodrama and crackerjack whimsy. The movie doesn't always make sense, and you might find yourself wondering why you're watching it, but the emotion surges at all the right moments. It's not a Friday night party movie, but if you're up for something different, it might just surprise you.

Plot: Six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quveznhane Wallis) lives with her daddy (Dwight Henry) in the Bathtub, a mud-and-sticks marsh in a walled-off area of the Louisiana bayou. Along with a few beer-swilling, seafood-binging poor neighbors, they live illegally because they believe they're better off in decaying trailors, leaky cabins and lean-tos than they are in a poor shelter. Precocious Hushpuppy wanders around on her own, playing with chickens and listening to the heartbeats of small animals, always answering the bell her father rings whenever it's "feeding time". She wonders about her mom, some of who's possessions she still has (She may have died; it isn't clear). Though her father is a cantankerous, hard-drinking man who sometimes disappears for a few days at a time, throws angsty fits and shuns affection and emotion, Hushpuppy has a strong connection to him. When he disappears for a few days and then resurfaces in a white hospital gown and bracelet, she doesn't understand.

After a storm floods the Bathtub, Hushpuppy, her father, and their neighbors are relocated to a shelter by local authorities. There, against his will, Hushpuppy's father is taken into surgery and then given proper care and a serious diagnosis. But the comforts of clean clothes, white walls, and square meals mean little to either of them. At first chance, Hushpuppy's dad sneaks the Bathtub citizens out of the hospital and back to their small community, where they'll live the way they want, but his illness is serious. Facing a life without the only constant presence in her life, Hushpuppy wonders if she should remain in the Bathtub or try to find a life elsewhere.

What Works?
You've probably heard by now that 9-year-old Quveznhane Wallis has become the youngest-ever Best Actress Oscar nominee for her performance as Hushpuppy. I don't know if it's a riveting piece of acting (even for a then-six-year-old), but, like the film, Wallis truly engages and moves when she needs to. Her gruff, stubborn, whimsical and wild child is a really interesting characterization. As is that of her father, Dwight Henry's Wink. It's obvious Wink should not be a parent (he's only held her once, right after she was born, he drinks all the time, he throws things at his daughter, and he makes no visible effort to give his child a better life), but Henry and the screenplay nonetheless show a man who teaches his daughter enough to survive, enough to be proud, enough to not live off handouts. He cheers her up during a thunderstorm by firing into the sky with a shotgun, he gets her to crack open and eat crabs on her own by leading their neighbors in a noisy chant, and he gives her pride in herself by challenging her to an arm-wrestling match and letting her win. For most of the film, Wink is not a likeable character, but, again, as his destiny becomes clear (especially as seen through his daughter's eyes), it's hard not to cry for him. Seeing this, I'm actually extremely disappointed Henry was passed over for an Oscar nomination when Wallis was nominated. It's true his performance lacks subtlety and "artistry" and all that stuff serious Oscar voters rave about, but, nearly as much as Wallis, he is the engine that drives the film.

Beasts is made up of a lot of faded camera shots and shaky handheld clips, but it's effective in capturing both the grime of the Bathtub world but also the beauty Hushpuppy sees in it. Between the images and soft but effective score, Beasts conjures up some memorable moments.

What Doesn't Work?
Beasts takes a while to get off the ground, to really establish any characterization beyond the fact that Hushpuppy is a little backwoods girl who lives in squalor. It also takes a while to establish a plot, and nothing about that plot until the last act is very clean cut. There's a lot that is unexplained. It also appears to have a fantasy angle that only manifests itself in a few brief moments, which is confusing--rather like this summer's Moonrise Kingdom, I, personally, think that, if you're going to make a weird movie, make it; if you're going to make a serious, realistic movie, make it. Don't make it look like you suddenly decided to throw in a curveball just for kicks. The movie's inherent curiousness and its slow burn pace also take a toll, as this 93-minute movie feels considerably longer.

Content
There's no sexuality or nudity, no violence, and I'm not even sure there is any real profanity, but Beasts can be a somber movie. It's depictions of poverty, of flood-wrought devastation, and a number of visual reminders of the inevitability of death make this is a sobering picture. It's also just plain out-there enough that I wouldn't recommend it to many people.

Bottom Line (I Promise): If you're up for something different, go ahead and check out Beasts of the Southern Wild. It's a quiet, unassuming movie about life (which is nominated for four of the most important Oscars given out this weekend), featuring two strong performances and a look at what seems like a whole different world.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Directed by Behn Zeitlin
Rated PG-13
Length: 93 minutes

THE IMPOSSIBLE

The Impossible (2012)
Grade: B

Starring: Naomi Watts, Tom Holland, Ewan McGregor, Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast

Premise: A well-to-do British family on vacation in Thailand is separated and thrown into chaos and grief when a tsunami destroys the countryside the day after Christmas.

Rated PG-13 for disturbing disaster sequences and related elements (terror, bloody wounds and gore, very intense emotional content) and brief nudity

            On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale rocked the Indian Ocean floor and, according to reports, generated vibrations that could be felt across the entire planet. Within hours, 30 foot waves created by the tremors plowed across the beaches and shoreline of over a dozen countries in Southeast Asia, leaving a reported 230,000 dead and leveling miles of buildings, power lines, trees and roads. Included in the dead and missing were more than 9,000 tourists, who were enjoying the balmy climate for the winter, having celebrated Christmas just the day before.

            Tiny amongst the carnage and devastation was such a family, which was incredibly wealthy by the locals’ standards—a Spanish doctor, Maria Belon, her husband, Enrique, and their three sons, Lucas, Tomas and Simon. On vacation from their home in Japan, they were ill-prepared for the horror that awaited them. The family, who have become full-time activists in memory of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami and the countless numbers who lost their lives and their innocence, worked with Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona to have their story told as a memorial to those who suffered. The result is an imperfect but emotionally-scorching film that is (ahem) impossible to forget once you’ve seen it.

Plot

Looking forward to celebrating Christmas in exotic beach-side luxury in Thailand, the Bennet family survives some minor turbulence in their inbound flight before checking into a lush resort right on the water. Maria (Naomi Watts) is a doctor who put off her practice in order to spend time with her sons, prickly young teen Lucas (Tom Hollander), bright-eyed seven-year-old Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and five-year-old Simon (Oaklee Pendergast). Unfortunately, her colorful Christmas is dampened slightly by the assertion of her husband Henry (Ewan McGregor) that she may have to go back to work, because there’s a chance he may be on the verge of losing his high-paying corporate job in Japan. However, even that potentially life-altering news becomes little more than a footnote on Boxing Day, when the wind suddenly picks up, the ground shakes, and a terrifying wall of water plows over the hotel and swipes away the family and everyone else around them.

            Finding consciousness amidst a swirling torrent of water strong enough to level buildings, uproot trees and sweep away cars and power lines, Maria is gravely injured but able to locate Lucas, who is, miraculously, almost unhurt. After taking shelter in a tree, they’re located by a rescue crew and taken to a hospital, where Maria’s state quickly deteriorates. Trying to find something to do other than sit by his weak and shivering mom’s bedside, Lucas tries to help some other patients in the overcrowded hospital locate their missing relatives. Meanwhile, Henry, who was with the two young boys when the wave hit, agonizes over whether to send his sons to a shelter in the mountains where conditions will be more sanitary and orderly, or to keep them with him, while he tries desperately to locate his wife and oldest son amongst throngs of sick, injured, terrified and homeless people.

What Works?

I’ve heard some complaints about The Impossible (actually Lo Impossible due to its Spanish origination) centered around the idea that it’s calculated and cheap to make a film about five rich white people who survive a terrible disaster while hundreds of thousands of other poorer, local people did not. And I guess I understand that, but you could make that complaint about almost any war movie ever made (why did the hero live when all these other people died—if indeed the movie in question is one in which the hero lives). But while The Impossible does have the feel of a film that comes to a very tidy resolution, I can tell you now it’s much more gratifying and uplifting to learn the story of a family that survived as opposed to many people who did not. Based on the Belon family’s accounts, the film certainly jumps through hoops to make sure the horror and devastation of the incident is brought home.

Speaking of which, The Impossible is the most viscerally-emotional film I’ve seen in a long time. Holding back the tears will be nearly impossible for most viewers, whether they’re tears of terror, grief, or joy. Oscar Faura’s cinematography is tremendous, capturing the pitched terror of being carried away by a wall of water in an indecipherable cacophony of noise and colors, then seeing the pain and suffering and widespread devastation left by the disaster. Some of the immediate post-tsunami sequences are incredibly difficult to watch. It certainly is nightmarish. Aiding hugely in the film’s credibility and emotional impact are the actors, who give brave performances in the face of such a demanding story. Naomi Watts has gotten the film’s lone Oscar nomination (for Best Actress—by now, after 21 Grams, King Kong and this, it’s clear that Watts can turn on the hysterics like few others), but once she’s immobilized by pain and sickness, it’s revealed that young Tom Holland is the film’s real star. Horribly attuned to the pain and grief around him even while trying to tune it out and remain strong, Holland gives a fierce performance that has been recognized with a great deal of praise and awards. As the husband/father, Ewan McGregor’s performance isn’t nearly as showy, but the normally cool-and-collected actor goes straight for the heart and the throat with one searing moment of emotional distress. The actors playing the two younger sons are serviceable, and Sonke Mohring has a few wonderful moments as a fellow tourist stunned by pain and loss.

What Doesn’t Work?

In an age of huge, epic films that try hard to utterly unforgettable, The Impossible might seem a little short—like it resolves a little too neatly. I got that feel (“wow, already?”) once I saw the resolution being achieved, but it’s really a small complaint. After all, how many times have I complained on this blog of movies being too long? This movie is about the disaster and the immediate aftermath—also why there’s fairly little character-building time before the tsunami. The point still gets across. You still want the family to be reunited.

Content:

Conveying as it does a terrible and unforeseen disaster that really did affect millions of people, The Impossible can be very, very unsettling. While the viewer is spared most looks at dead bodies, the camera glimpses gory details like gaping wounds and people throwing up blood and debris in the hospital. There’s no cursing I can remember, and, while there’s a bit of nudity (though it’s in an unglamorous, nonsexual context), the main thing that makes The Impossible questions for kids or even many adults is the nightmarish content that it strives to make real.

Bottom Line (I Promise): At times terrifying, crushingly sad and exhilarating, The Impossible may not be the Next Great Epic but it’s a vivid and moving film about the disaster that also makes you celebrate the survival and recovery of the Belons.

The Impossible (2012)

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona

Written by Sergio G. Sanchez; based on the story by Maria Belon

Rated PG-13

Length: 114 minutes

WARM BODIES

Warm Bodies (2013)

Grade: B+

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Cordrry, Analeigh Tipton, Dave Franco and John Malkovich

Premise: A potential cure for a worldwide zombie virus outbreak is discovered after one of the living dead develops genuine affection for a living, breathing human girl.

RATED PG-13 for thematic material including blood, gore, action violence, disturbing images, and some language

If you’ve gotten this far, I’m assuming you’ve read the title of the movie on which this review is centered, and you’ve read the premise (you’ve probably even seen the trailer). Are you thinking I’ve lost my mind yet? After all, I fancy myself a big, tough movie critic who thumbs his nose at Harry Potter and Hunger Games and Marvel Comics adaptations that make billions of dollars worldwide, and yet I’ve gone and given a favorable grade to a zombie/human romance that couldn’t more obviously be just the newest entrant in the ridiculous ‘Paranormal Romance’ sensation that’s sweeping the teen/young-adult world? It started with the vampire/human Twilight books and movies, but more big budget adaptations—such as the witch/human romance Beautiful Creatures due in March—are on the way. I admit I’m on a high because I just saw Warm Bodies and my emotions are in gear, and the first time I hear someone sensible diss the movie I’ll probably scramble to make excuses for such a good rating…

But, dag gone it, I enjoyed the heck out of myself watching Director Jonathan Levine’s adaptation of Isaac Marion’s novel. I watch a lot of movies (some for entertainment, some so I’m in the know for the upcoming Oscar race, some because I get invited to a time out with friends, and some because I just need some background noise in my apartment), and, lately, I’d been finding it a rather joyless process. After all, I watch movies regularly, and I was finding myself increasingly and frustratingly unimpressed by one hoity-toity Movie-of-the-Week title after another (Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained). I’ve been getting a little jaded…probably because lately I’ve been watching a lot of really long, really dark movies full of pain and death (The aforementioned three, plus Skyfall and Les Miserables). Thus, the cute, quick little Warm Bodies worked on me like a magic trick, making me laugh, gasp, swoon, move to the edge of my seat, and, basically, really enjoy going to the movies again. That’s right: a teen girls' zombie/human rom-com became a treat.

Plot: In the not-too-distant future, humanity has nearly been wiped out by a zombie virus (the origins of which are unexplained). In one large American city, a population of survivors lives surrounded by a massive wall, which they had to speedily erect to keep out disease-ridden zombies, some of which are essentially walking skeletons. One such zombie (Nicholas Hoult) can’t remember his own name but is a little more self-aware than others. He wishes to feel, wishes to communicate, wishes to have something to do other than just walk around with other people who can’t feel or communicate. However, it turns out, pretty much the only way this zombie can feel is by eating a person’s brains, wherein he’s able to see and experience their memories. When a small group of living humans ventures beyond the wall to try to recover medical supplies from a lab, zombies attack, our “hero” gets a hold of a guy’s brains, and boom—suddenly he’s neck-deep in lovey-dovey land with a gorgeous, soulful blonde (Teresa Palmer). The girl, Julie, the daughter of the local militia maven (John Malkovich) happens to be in the same company as the man who was just devoured, and the zombie, gob-smacked by emotion and desire, can’t find it in himself to kill and eat her. Instead, finding himself really motivated for the first time in ages, he hides her inside his sanctuary, an airplane he has slowly but steadily stocked with things he finds valuable, like records and sports trophies and magazines. Though at first understandably terrified and repulsed, Julie slowly begins to realize that R (as she comes to refer to him), as well as some of the other zombies, aren’t quite the unrelenting killing machines expected. R even saves Julie when she tries to run for it and ends up cornered by a pack of the more mindless beings. Though she’s still biased and a little sickened, Julie sees enough as R escorts her back to safety that she begins to believe the infected remnants of the human race may not be beyond all hope. The trouble will be getting her fellow human survivors to see it, too.

What Doesn’t Work?

Okay, okay, okay, so, some sense here: you have to leave disbelief at the door when you go to see Warm Bodies. Why didn’t the zombies’ eating of other people’s brains trigger in them feelings of love for the individuals those people loved and, thus, stop the outbreak as it was happening? Why can R form the occasional word when most of his fellows can’t manage even that? What are the chances-really?-that the surviving humans would ever let any of the walking undead stand long enough to try and observe that they’re not the mindless killing machines they expected? Why are cutesy teenage girls like Julie and Nora (Analeigh Tipton) among those sent into the dead zone/kill zone beyond the wall? There’s plenty that set my movie critic sense tingling as I watched Warm Bodies, and is tempting me to give the movie a lower grade, no matter how many warm-fuzzies I'm experiencing.

What Works?

I guess I’m just choosing to ignore those questions. Why can’t I do that with all movies I watch? Probably because I had such a good time watching this movie. I mean, despite the fact that I saw right through this formulaic undead/human romance aimed at teen girls, I found Warm Bodies about a hundred times funnier than any of the Twilight movies (and not because I was laughing at it). Despite the fact that Nicholas Hoult essentially wears one pale, bug-eyed, crusty-lipped expression for the entire film, he’s somehow almost immediately a more interesting and engaging undead protagonist than Robert Pattison ever managed to be. Likewise, Teresa Palmer--who actually does suggest a blond poor man's Kristen Stewart--proves more engaging than the ever-sullen actress who played Bella Swan because she’s not trying nearly as hard to seem like a klutzy, nothing-special, unattractive girl (she’s not unattractive, by the way). The real kicker that makes Warm Bodies better than Twilight and such is that the supernatural/paranormal/undead being with all the powers and quirks is the Main Character, rather than a supporter to a regular old human protagonist.

And, of course, though it has a lot of moments that need to work for the movie to function (the development of believable chemistry between its leads, for instance, and having genuinely harrowing shootouts and zombie/human altercations), Warm Bodies doesn’t take itself anywhere near as seriously as Twilight did. The biggest problem with the Twilight films is that they wouldn’t know humor if it bit them upside the leg—those films revolved around their ridiculously-stuffy and uninvolving attempts to develop to-die-for romantic chemistry. Warm Bodies is bookended with wall-to-wall action and rife with humor (there’s even a full-on LOL teenage girl scene that manages to come across as less ridiculous than it could). Again, Warm Bodies just engaged me. Even though I objectively knew it was a silly teenage girl’s movie, I wanted the protagonists to survive and be together, I wanted humanity to find peace, I felt the suspense of not knowing how terrifying fights and chases were going to turn out, and I felt good when I walked out of the theater. You might forget Warm Bodies a couple days after you see it, and the ending might be a little treacly; you might also feel a little miffed that you spent $10 on an hour-and-a-half girly fairy tale, but, I gotta tell ya, as an entertainment, it beats the hell out of two-and-a-half hour movies that bore you for two-thirds of their running time and make you miserable for the other third.

Content

Children and some squeamish adults will certainly find things to cringe at, given that our “hero” and his mates enjoy killing people and eating brains--at least they don't usually do it right in front of the camera, right? Warm Bodies is not unnecessarily gory, and though the movie’s tense, really sinister, terrifying moments are few. There's also the odd four-letter word to spice up the low-key dialogue (some of these curses are actually croaked by zombies). And, for the record, other than one brief shot of Teresa Palmer stripping down to her undergarments (seen from behind), there is nothing particularly suggestive or edgy in a sensual way. The last two Twilight: Breaking Dawn films were far more rambunctious.

Bottom Line (I Promise): It’s no Oscar-winner, and I’ll probably feel appalled some time in the future that I gave this movie such a good rating, but I was legitimately entertained by Warm Bodies, a short, cute movie lacking grandiose ambition but perfect for an engaging time at the movies.

Warm Bodies (2013)

Directed by Jonathan Levine

Based on the novel by Isaac Marion

Rated PG-13

Length: 97 minutes