Movie Reviews

By Emily Bechen

Hart's War leaves something to be desired

By Emily Bechen

TSC Writer

Movies concerning war have taken on a special significance in recent times, which is perhaps why I feel that so many have been gracing the movie screens of my local theater. Some have been good (Black Hawk Down), and some have been horrible (Behind Enemy Lines), and Hart's War weighs in somewhere near the middle.

The story's plotline concerns a group of American soldiers imprisoned at a German Prisoner of War camp under the supervision of Nazi Major Wilhelm Visser (Marcel Iures). The men are led by Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis), the highest-ranking officer and a fourth generation war hero, who is determined to free his men whatever the consequences. However, Lt. Tommy Hart (Colin Farrell), a pampered senator's son who is only imprisoned by a weird twist of fate, questions whether McNamara's definition of consequences and sacrifices are truly honorable.

The film attempts to cover a multitude of issues including race relations, good vs. evil, wartime politics and if humanity exists in the battlefield. However, the viewer is bogged down by the sheer weight of representing all those themes.

The script is tolerable, but Willis in a lackluster performance (think Lethal Weapon meets Shawshank Redemption) is entirely unbelievable, and is only saved by the fact that many of his scenes are with Iures, who is a fine actor that plays his part with a harnessed intensity.

Director Gregory Hoblit keeps the movie going at a clipped pace and the plot includes a murder, a trial and interrogation mixed with torture (a proven formula to keep even the most seasoned moviegoer interested), but as with many Hollywood blockbusters the ending is trite and serves to wrap up the movie into a nice little package.

On a more positive note, the camera captures the absolute desolate nature of the camp perfectly, leaving nearly black and white imprints of some very haunting images. C+

'Fiction' and 'Non-Fiction' battle it out in Storytelling

By Brian Tanaka

Scene Staff Writer

Todd Solondz's (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness) signature style of morose depression continues in Storytelling, a two-part story broken up into "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction," and targeting the suburban nightmare of America.

"Fiction," follows Vi (Selma Blair), a frustrated white college student who's boyfriend Marcus (Leo Fitzpatrick) has cerebral-palsy. Marcus feels like another conquest to Vi's perverted mind, and decides to break up with her, leading Vi to venture out to a bar. She coincidentally meets up with her African-American professor (Robert Wisdom), and the two divulge in a sexual escapade that brinks on the lines of rape.

"Non-Fiction," follows Scooby (Mark Webber), a sedated teen who becomes a subject of a documentary film by Toby (Paul Giamatti). Scooby is contained to a life of suburban conformity, pressured by his father to get good grades, apply to college, and apply himself to find a job. He agrees to the documentary in hopes that he'll become famous so that he can one day get his own talk-show. His aspirations are crushed by Toby, who attempts to photograph reality, yet ends up editing it to please the audience who see Scooby not as a troubled teen, but as a comedic tragedy.

The surface level of Storytelling is an expressive reflection of the troubles of middle-class America. It displays the flaws of conventionality while at the same time lambasting the extreme measures of venturing away from it.

Vi constantly tries to one-up herself in sexual prowess, and is ultimately caught in a unwanted situation with Professor Scott. She goes along with it, but realizes her displeasure with Scott and herself too late.

The deeper subtext of Storytelling is a filmic satire of the recent "American" films of the past years. Solondz goes an extra length not only to show the dysfunction and darkness underneath the American Dream, but to also condemn the glorification of it in recent films like American Beauty. Solondz' project of documenting Scooby turns into a schmaltzy melodrama about the ignorance of beauty, highlighted by a straw wrapper floating in the wind. The documentary is also a reversal of fame for Scooby as audience laugh at his film depiction. His ideals and opinions become mockeries of intelligence, and laughed upon by the viewers of Toby's film "American Scooby."

Solondz ironically makes "Fiction" a situation with genuinely true human reactions, and "Non-Fiction" seem like an unbelievable calamity. The characters of "Fiction" are so true to life that it's hard to keep a distance of sympathy from them, while the characters of "Non-Fiction" seem trite and contrived. "Fiction" sparks just as much emotion as subject manners, depicting issues of race, rape, art critique, and truth. The reversal seems true in "Non-Fiction," where characters are stereotypical and emotionless.

Solondz has made a mark for himself as the purveyor of flawed America. Storytelling segments itself into two levels, through "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction," to create a multi-faceted film with flawed characteristics while countering the ideas of what the American Dream should be. A-