Flight (2:18) 2012

Flight is not an easy movie to write a review. The strengths of the film is the cast - Denzel Washington as Whip Whitaker, a heroic pilot, Don Cheadle as the airline's attorney, and Bruce Greenwood as the pilots' union representative. John Goodman has a smaller role as Whip's friend and drug supplier. Don't worry, nothing is being revealed that isn't in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Whip is a hero after he lands a plane carrying 102 passengers after flying through extreme turbulance and dealing with a mechanical failure. Whip lands in the hospital with several injuries - eye and leg and awakens to learn that six souls on board have died and his co-pilot has serious injuries. The pilot's union rep informs him that a toxicology report has been taken - not good news for Whip but the airline's attorney will work to suppress the report. Hmmm, the audience is now thinking, I'm not flying again and not because of the weather and the crash landing. Flight is a hard movie to watch but it is worth viewing.

Taken 2 (1:30) 2012

Taken 2 could very well be subtitled Taken For the price of admission. Liam Neeson is his excellent self as Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent on a security assignment in Istanbul. He is surprised by his teenage daughter, Kim and his ex-wife, Lenore who has recently split from her second husband. Kim has recovered from being taken and almost sold as a sex slave. Bryan and Lenore are the ones, as part of a revenge plot, taken this time. Fortunately, Bryan keeps a small cell phone in his sock so he is able to phone Kim. Kim evades her captors and is able to do all kinds of spy stuff - set off grenades, drive on a speed chase through the crowded streets of the city. Enough said - just rent it. Special note - the scenery of the city is absolutely beautiful on the big screen.

Argo (2:00) 2012

Run to the nearest movie theater to see Argo, the true story of the daring escape of six American embassy workers taking sanctuary at the Canadian Ambassador's residence during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. Ben Affleck produces and stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA agent, who leads the six safely out of Iran. Mendez has the help of two Hollywood bigwigs in quickly setting up a fake movie company to film a fake sci fi movie using Iranian locations. The six embassy workers are given fake Canadian passports and resumes.We all know how it ends but the movie has the audience totally engaged in this thriller. It has humor thanks to John Goodman and Alan Arkin. Argo intertwines newscasts and news footage from that time. My prediction is that Argo will do well at the box office and will receive Oscar nominations. A MUST SEE!

Touble with the Curve (1:58) 2012

Trouble with the Curve has received mixed reviews.  I agree with the critics who praised it and with the critics who panned. Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) stars as an very talented, but aging scout for the Atlanta Braves. He is a long time widower with a thirty something daughter is on the verge of becoming a partner in her law firm. Gus and Mickey (Amy Adams) relationship is not a close one, she resents that her father sent her to live with her aunt and uncle after her mother's death. Mickey, who loves the game of baseball, takes time from work to be with her father as he scouts a very promising high school baseball player who is being sought after in the draft. As they spend time together, Mickey wants to deal with the issues that prevent her from being close to her dad. She keeps hitting a brick wall because Gus doesn't want to talk about the past.
As she is working to being closer to her father, Mickey is keeping a possible love interest at arm's length. Flanagan  (Justin Timberlake) is scouting for the Red Sox and is interested in the same player as the Braves. He is also very interested in Mickey who is, as he states, "emotionally unavailable." Will Flanagan get the girl? What team will sign the prospective phenom? Will Mickey become closer to her dad?
The strength of the movie was the cast. Eastwood was excellent as the wise cracking curmudgeon. Adams and Flanagan have chemistry and John Goodman is believable as Gus's best friend and boss. I thought the first half of the movie was trite and slow moving. The second half moved along as Adams and Timberlake began their romance. The ending of the movie was predictable but happy. All in all, a pleasant experience but my suggestion is that viewers step up to the rental plate.

End of Watch (1:49) 2012

End of Watch is being praised as one of the best cop movies of late and I wholeheartedly agree. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena are partners in South Central Los Angeles. Officer Zavala (Pena) is married and his wife is expecting and Taylor  (Gyllenhaal) is in a relationship with Janet. Their assignment involves patrolling 13 a crime ridden area where drug deals are the norm of the day. As dangerous as their assignments are, the duo's lives are in danger. Taylor and Zavala stumble upon a house full of heroin and the head of a Mexican drug cartel wants them dead. While off duty, we get a peak of their lives when off duty, the parties, the wedding, and the birth of Z's son. Taylor is taking a film study course so he videotapes some of the action on the street, in the patrol car, giving the film a documentary feel. Predictably, the movie is full of vulgar language and bloody violence giving the viewer the reality of the dangerous life of a city city police officer. I highly recommend this movie with one exception  - the mothers of city police officers as pointed out to me by one of my retired teacher friends, a mother of a NYC police officer.

Lawless (1:55) 2012

My friend and I saw Lawless a week ago. We agreed that it was a good story. The problem is it is so bloody and violent that we weren't sure if we would stay to see the movie. Lawless is based on the book titled "The Wettest County in the World" by Matt Bondurant's grandfather and his two great uncles moonshine and bootlegging business. Set in rural Virginia during the Prohibition Era, the film has a great soundtrack and has many panoramic scenes of the countryside. (Lawless was filmed in Georgia, not Virginia). The costumes and antique cars take the audience back to the roaring twenties. The problem with the movie is with the violence including a scene of throat slitting which I was not prepared for. Of course it is Hollywood and the victims of beatings heal very quickly without leaving any scarring. I predict that Lawless will not be in the theaters long but it will find a larger audience on the small screen. Wait for the rental.

The Words (1:36) 2012

The movie begins with Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reading from his new book to a large audience. His story is about a young struggling writer, Rory Jensen, who finds a manuscript in a beat up valise while in Paris. Jensen (Cooper) retypes the manuscript on his laptop. His wife (Saldana) reads the book and thinks it belongs to her husband. Jensen sells the book to a literary agent and the book is a top seller. Jensen is uneasy about his success but begins to believe that he wrote the book. Then he has a conversation with an old man (Jeremy Irons) who is the true author of the book. The story of the old man's life is told in flashbacks and voice overs.The question which Irons poses is "'what is the price for stealing another person's life? Jensen is now at the crossroads - what will he do or not do? The Words has received terrible reviews. Two of my friends and I thought it was good. The film does not have a  neatly tied up ending but one which provoked a discussion amongst us. See it.