Good Night, and Good Luck, Elizabethtown and Broken Flowers -- Rhinotainment

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Date Posted: 15:32:00 02/12/06 Sun
Author: The Rhino
Subject: Good Night, and Good Luck, Elizabethtown and Broken Flowers

Since I appear to be the one big fan of George Clooney on the site, I bid you all to see Good Night, and Good Luck to prove that he's not just a TV actor who lucked out in the film industry. GNGL is his second directorial effort and he further proves that he's a natural behind the camera.

Shot "in glorious black and white", GNGL tells the story of legendary American reporter Edward R. Murrow's quest to bring down a Communist witch hunt led by Senator Joe McCarthy and the consequences that would follow. Fantastic performances by Ray Wise, Clooney, Robert Downey, Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Frank Langella and David Strathairn, who DESERVES to win the Oscar for Best Actor as Murrow. Highly Recommended.

Elizabethtown is the latest from Cameron Crowe. It follows Orlando Bloom's character who just lost an athletic shoe company $972 million in a botched shoe campaign. On the same day, as he contemplates suicide, he learns that his father died unexpectedly. He plans to travel to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, for the funeral and then return home to finish himself off for good. He meets Kirsten Dunst's character, the one-of-a-kind girl (which she actually calls herself), and she changes his outlook on life.

While I have loved some of Cameron Crowe's past work, specifically Almost Famous, I feel like he's becoming his own biggest fan. This film was boring and pretty well cliched. I felt like his writing began to slide with Vanilla Sky, a film that I originally liked but found rather dull with further viewings (especially the repeated use of the snobby "saddest girl to ever hold a martini" line). He seems to be writing films just to entertain his wife, his friends and, most definitely himself.

As for the acting, Susan Sarandon is excellent, as she always is. Dunst was as good as can be expected in her role, though she seemed perpetually drunk. I have to say, though, I just didn't like Orlando Bloom in this film. He's not a funny guy and there were scenes that really could have used a comedic actor who can play serious (I immediately think of Topher Grace as a better replacement). Bloom should stick to his period pieces as he is much better suited for them.

Crowe does two things well, however. His use of music in films is stellar, though he seemed to overdo it in this film. Also, he always has one unforgettable scene in his films and this one was no different. It begins with a clever monologue from Susan Sarandon (the best moment of writing in the whole film; it made me wish he had channeled that moment throughout the rest of the film) and segues into a performance of "Freebird" from My Morning Jacket (as cover band "Ruckus") that goes haywire with some overwrought theatrics. Otherwise, the overall experience was lackluster. Mildly Recommended.

Broken Flowers is a drab film by Jim Jarmusch (Ghost Dog, Dead Man) about a down-on-his-luck lothario played by Bill Murray who learns that he may have a son from a previous relationship. He learns this in an unmarked letter with a blurry postmark. His nosy, would-be detective neighbor, played by Jeffrey Wright, sets up a road trip for Murray to revisit some past flames and to find out if the story is true.

Murray's performance is a good one in this, telling the entire story with his facials. He only speaks in the film if it's necessary, which is an interesting feat for an actor to pull off. He does it well. There are other good/great performances as well by Wright and Frances Conroy. Otherwise I found the film to be a little too gingerly paced. It suffers from a true blue-ball ending and that was very disappointing. Ultimately, I didn't really see what all the fuss was about surrounding this film. Not Recommended.

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Replies:

Re: Clooney, Downey Jr. -- Silk, 20:19:14 02/12/06 Sun
- Strangely, being an addict doesn't seem to hurt your chances in Hollywood (although I'm sure Charlie Sheen and Paul E. Shore would try using that excuse) (NT) -- Rocket, 14:32:33 02/13/06 Mon