The Debt A person who once called himself more than the personification of Truth but Truth herself, in Truth's very being, also said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you...and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." The movie Debt is a psychological twister which explores the weight of our debt to Truth. What should we do? What do we owe? While the movie spends most of its time superficially bouncing between political espionage, the history of abuses in Nazi medicine, and a triangular love affair that is thrown on tangent by a prisoner, the real issue Debt brings to fore is the fundamental need for humans to honor what is true.

But we have a hard time giving what is owed to Truth. Why? There is a long list of reasons why we lie. Sometimes we lie to hurt others. Other times we lie to gain an advantage. Still others, we lie to please others. Augustine, in his On Lying and Against Lying wrote extensively on what a lie is and why we lie. Is it ever right to lie? Even when it is a matter of justifying an entire people? That is the dilemma the three main characters face. The dilemma in this movie is a difficult one even for the viewer, removed from the story. And it's hard for anyone, IMO, to say what they did was wrong in the moment. Because we all too well know that sometimes what appears to be the right thing at the time is the wrong thing on reflection.

But Truth has a way of catching up and getting her due. We can try our best to put behind us our transgressions against Truth. We can travel the world and seek to circumvent our wrong. We can even build our lies and create a reality based on that lie, our nose growing ever longer, giving forth sprouts, but Truth will catch up and have her final say. That was Plato's belief. That is the Christian belief. In the end, by God's providence, there will be truth, and what was hidden will be made known.

I was impressed by this movie's use of sequencing. Less impressive was the length of time dedicated to the capture. It really played no role in the movie, except in a few scenes to show the sort of monster that was being developed and revealed in one character, which had the impact of making the dilemma more real. Jessica Chastain is the shining star in this film; look for her star to rise. The last scenes with the beautiful aged wonder, Mirren, in which she jumps into her previous life are out there, a bit unbelievable. But they are somehow necessary to the movie's theme, so I don't know how you would escape them, and I think the director faced this problem. The writer clearly built a movie on a theme first, and then wrote a plot based on that theme. It is a bumpy form of writing that yields a bumpy script with potholes. Still, it is an above average flick that should please a wide audience of viewers. And hopefully the message will hit home: that it's not always easy to tell the truth, there is indeed a burden attached to it, but telling a lie creates a far heavier yoke. 7/10

The Dilemma Pretty good romantic comedy. Theme of the movie is honesty. Really good message throughout. Perhaps it tries to touch on too many issues - unfaithfulness, faithfulness, moral dilemmas, gambling, anger, drugs, hard work, ambition, best friends, and marriage. But to make the characters more believable, I'd say erring on the side of too many issues is better than too few issues. Flashbacks in the movie were hilarious. Jennifer Connelly is stunning. She lost probably about ten pounds too much. Still, she is pretty. The last scene with her and her man when they are alone made me cry. Literally, I was balling in the theater this morning. Really good ending. A well crafted movie that should be considered a modern classic of the romantic comedy drama, especially considering all the recent dross in that category. 7/10

Dolphin Tale "There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in," writes Canadian Jewish-Buddhist poet, Leonard Cohen. These are important words to consider in our culture, a culture that prizes perfection, usually of a superficial variety. Our world tells us that we should be outgoing, strong, fashionable, friendly, all the accoutrements of an American Dream-styled life. The result often leaves those who are shaped like the perfect vase with guilt that can turn into depression and self-hatred. Child prodigy actor, Nathan Gamble, begins this tale, not as a child ridden with guilt, but a child ridden with angst, the sort of angst only known by those who are abandoned by one of their parents. A life of broken relationships and broken community is the result.

It is only when something as broken as his heart enters his life that he begins to see light. Of course, the salvific thing is a dolphin, and while I am not an animal rights activist or a zoolater, we see here that animals can have a sacred power that is often ignored by ecologically imperialist Christians who see the world to be used rather than loved. I am reminded of the story the Irish monk missionary who helped revitalize Christianity after the fall of Rome. He understood that all of creation yearns for redemption so much that he told his companions, when he was leaving his horse for good, "Leave the horse alone, so that he may pour his grief into my bosom, if he will. For he loves me and is wiser than many men." In another story, Columba tells a fisherman to go to the beach and wait. There, "you will behold, blown by the winds and very weary, a crane...Treat that crane tenderly, and warm it in your bosom, and carry it to some neighboring house." The crane and the horse were more than mere objects. They were beings through which God's grace flowed. For Columba and for the characters in "Dolphin Tale" animals have a crucial role in salvation history: they heal what is broken.

I had no intention of liking this movie: it looked formulaic, sentimental for the masses, and cheaply made at first. But as I continued to watch, I could not help but be swayed by the ebullient performances and the sapid music of the most underrated soundtrack composer in America, Mark Isham. There are very few good family movies being made, but "Dolphin Tale" more that satisfies both children and adults. Kids will love it for the animal scenes and humor. Adults may love it for its positive, feel good story. Of course, snobbish critics may assail it because its style is as Promethean as a peanut butter sandwich, but who cares for such opinions? Such people are only hiding behind their own cracks, afraid to step from the darkness of artificial health. 8/10

This post was edited on 1/26/12 at 6:41 am

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Posted by TulaneLSU

Member since Aug 2003

Member since Dec 2007

13298 posts

Posted on 11/16/11 at 7:20 am to TulaneLSU

Drive The Psalmist writes, "I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse, my heart became hot within me. While I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 'LORD, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is'" (Psalm 39). The director of Drive uses what can best be described as monastic silence to draw viewers into the character played by Ryan Gosling. The impact is strong, for it is able somewhat to salvage a terrible movie. Although exciting, the first scene played out like a scene from Grand Theft Auto. Sure to please 20 and 30-something ribald males, to whom I'm sure this movie will become an unwarranted cult classic, there's very little to this film other than the silence of Gosling.

For Gosling's part, he is masterful. Through facial expressions, we see the most naive, innocent man who ever walked the terra firma. His adorable, childish smile makes us wonder. And in an instant the smile become a devastatingly violent kick to a head. And we wonder. What the hell created the person we see? The director uses a Hitchcockian technique: don't show and let the audience project. Let the audience come up with their own ideas of how this person came to be who he is. While it can stir the imagination, I came out wanting to know more about his childhood, and felt the movie's near complete avoidance of his past came across not so much as a religious mystery, which, by definition we can never know, but more the director and writer's inability to create a suitable and explicable history for a man so, well, mysterious. While the movie is adapted from a book, I think the audience deserved a hint to his past. We end up getting two hints. When Gosling is off-screen, we learn how long he has worked his job and how little he cares about money. The other hint comes from a scene with Gosling. And in that scene, we learn not to prod him regarding his past. If we do, we'll get our teeth kicked in. This character of internal burning can memorize thousands of streets on a map; he is a master at knowing how to get you where you need to go. But he is a mess who knows nothing about the streets of his life's map, primarily because he is afraid to remember his past. As a result, he will never get to where he needs to go.

Gosling's character is the only interesting one. And even though he is front and center, the director wasted too much time on the others. The cinematography has a feel of a foreign film and an 80s film. The lighting is well used as a character, reminiscent of Collateral. Keep an eye out for the symbols of wall paper and blood (cf. "My hands are a little dirty...So are mine"). I'm still trying to come up with a satisfying interpretation of the two. The music may be an important key to unlocking the mystery of Gosling's character, but I couldn't understand all the words. But the movie does end with a song about a hero who is an ordinary human being. Besides these strengths, and the intrigue associated with Gosling, the movie's plot is boring, the ending predictable, and the use of violence cloys. 5/10

This post was edited on 11/16/11 at 7:27 am

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Posted by iwyLSUiwy

I'm your huckleberry

Member since Apr 2008

34488 posts

Posted on 12/13/11 at 12:53 pm to TulaneLSU

quote:
The Debt A person who once called himself more than the personification of Truth but Truth herself, in Truth's very being, also said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you...and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." The movie Debt is a psychological twister which explores the weight of our debt to Truth. What should we do? What do we owe? While the movie spends most of its time superficially bouncing between political espionage, the history of abuses in Nazi medicine, and a triangular love affair that is thrown on tangent by a prisoner, the real issue Debt brings to fore is the fundamental need for humans to honor what is true.

But we have a hard time giving what is owed to Truth. Why? There is a long list of reasons why we lie. Sometimes we lie to hurt others. Other times we lie to gain an advantage. Still others, we lie to please others. Augustine, in his On Lying and Against Lying wrote extensively on what a lie is and why we lie. Is it ever right to lie? Even when it is a matter of justifying an entire people? That is the dilemma the three main characters face. The dilemma in this movie is a difficult one even for the viewer, removed from the story. And it's hard for anyone, IMO, to say what they did was wrong in the moment. Because we all too well know that sometimes what appears to be the right thing at the time is the wrong thing on reflection.

But Truth has a way of catching up and getting her due. We can try our best to put behind us our transgressions against Truth. We can travel the world and seek to circumvent our wrong. We can even build our lies and create a reality based on that lie, our nose growing ever longer, giving forth sprouts, but Truth will catch up and have her final say. That was Plato's belief. That is the Christian belief. In the end, by God's providence, there will be truth, and what was hidden will be made known.

I was impressed by this movie's use of sequencing. Less impressive was the length of time dedicated to the capture. It really played no role in the movie, except in a few scenes to show the sort of monster that was being developed and revealed in one character, which had the impact of making the dilemma more real. Jessica Chastain is the shining star in this film; look for her star to rise. The last scenes with the beautiful aged wonder, Mirren, in which she jumps into her previous life are out there, a bit unbelievable. But they are somehow necessary to the movie's theme, so I don't know how you would escape them, and I think the director faced this problem. The writer clearly built a movie on a theme first, and then wrote a plot based on that theme. It is a bumpy form of writing that yields a bumpy script with potholes. Still, it is an above average flick that should please a wide audience of viewers. And hopefully the message will hit home: that it's not always easy to tell the truth, there is indeed a burden attached to it, but telling a lie creates a far heavier yoke. 7/10

The Dilemma Pretty good romantic comedy. Theme of the movie is honesty. Really good message throughout. Perhaps it tries to touch on too many issues - unfaithfulness, faithfulness, moral dilemmas, gambling, anger, drugs, hard work, ambition, best friends, and marriage. But to make the characters more believable, I'd say erring on the side of too many issues is better than too few issues. Flashbacks in the movie were hilarious. Jennifer Connelly is stunning. She lost probably about ten pounds too much. Still, she is a striking beauty, not as beautiful as the Beloved, but very beautiful. The last scene with her and her man when they are alone made me cry. Literally, I was balling in the theater this morning. Really good ending. A well crafted movie that should be considered a modern classic of the romantic comedy drama, especially considering all the recent dross in that category. 7/10

Dolphin Tale "There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in," writes Canadian Jewish-Buddhist poet, Leonard Cohen. These are important words to consider in our culture, a culture that prizes perfection, usually of a superficial variety. Our world tells us that we should be outgoing, strong, fashionable, friendly, all the accoutrements of an American Dream-styled life. The result often leaves those who are shaped like the perfect vase with guilt that can turn into depression and self-hatred. Child prodigy actor, Nathan Gamble, begins this tale, not as a child ridden with guilt, but a child ridden with angst, the sort of angst only known by those who are abandoned by one of their parents. A life of broken relationships and broken community is the result.

It is only when something as broken as his heart enters his life that he begins to see light. Of course, the salvific thing is a dolphin, and while I am not an animal rights activist or a zoolater, we see here that animals can have a sacred power that is often ignored by ecologically imperialist Christians who see the world to be used rather than loved. I am reminded of the story the Irish monk missionary who helped revitalize Christianity after the fall of Rome. He understood that all of creation yearns for redemption so much that he told his companions, when he was leaving his horse for good, "Leave the horse alone, so that he may pour his grief into my bosom, if he will. For he loves me and is wiser than many men." In another story, Columba tells a fisherman to go to the beach and wait. There, "you will behold, blown by the winds and very weary, a crane...Treat that crane tenderly, and warm it in your bosom, and carry it to some neighboring house." The crane and the horse were more than mere objects. They were beings through which God's grace flowed. For Columba and for the characters in "Dolphin Tale" animals have a crucial role in salvation history: they heal what is broken.

I had no intention of liking this movie: it looked formulaic, sentimental for the masses, and cheaply made at first. But as I continued to watch, I could not help but be swayed by the ebullient performances and the sapid music of the most underrated soundtrack composer in America, Mark Isham. There are very few good family movies being made, but "Dolphin Tale" more that satisfies both children and adults. Kids will love it for the animal scenes and humor. Adults may love it for its positive, feel good story. Of course, snobbish critics may assail it because its style is as Promethean as a peanut butter sandwich, but who cares for such opinions? Such people are only hiding behind their own cracks, afraid to step from the darkness of artificial health. 8/10