They’re Filming Midgets
March 2nd – March 8th
Frozen River – This one seemed a little overrated to me. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. But it seemed to be badly written and poorly directed. Many of the lines weren’t just stilted, they seemed placed there simply to cover up gaps in the plot. As Sarah said while we watched it: “Show us, don’t tell us.” I wanted to let those inadequacies slip by, on account of its dreary story and setting, but in the end I just couldn’t. Not after seeing Ballast, which had its own dreary story and setting but was very competently directed by Lance Hammer. Melissa Leo was excellent here. I just wish the writing and direction had also been up to her par.
In Bruges- I was skeptical about this one. For one thing, it has Colin Farrell. For another thing, it just seemed like another Guy Ritchie type of movie. Not my cup of tea. But looking for something to watch on OnDemand, I went with this one solely on the recommendation of the Filmspotting guys.
And they were right. It was a lot of fun. And, it’d probably squeeze its way onto my Top Ten of 2008 list if I were to rewrite that one.
I almost hesitate to say this, but I found the movie (at least a heaping handful of scenes) to be original or at the very least surprisingly clever. It had a sly dark comedy about it that subverted the hitman genre and what I’ve seen of Guy Ritchie films (which admittedly isn’t much, so I may be way off base).
Colin Farrell was funny. Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes were solid as usual. Plus, it had Ċ½eljko Ivanek in a small role as one half of a tourist couple. I didn’t know his name before this role, but I knew his face. He played a hostage-taker in a recent episode of “House,” John Dickinson of Pennsylvania in the “John Adams” miniseries, and even showed up in last night’s episode of “Big Love.” I’ll remember both his name and face from now on.
