The TV Addict 

CITY OF MEN
The film that spun out of one of the best films of the last ten years (2002’s CITY OF GOD), emerges as one of the best films of this year. Narrowing the focus somewhat from its predecessor, CITY OF MEN is a heartfelt and humane coming of age story. The film follows two best friends (beautifully acted by Darlan Cunha and Douglas Silva) who struggle with growing up in the face of a violent gang war that breaks out. Inevitably their paths split, but in the end they come back together having learned to overcome their surroundings, their past, and their own limitations to face their responsibilities to themselves and each other. It’s the greatest trick the film pulls. You’re thinking you’re watching an intense, soap-opera like gangster film (and in a way you are), but in reality you’re watching one of the more mature, probing stories about young men growing up positively in spite of their circumstances to come along in a while.

Overall rating: A-

THE RUINS
Though not nearly as terrifying as Scott Smith’s novel (probably because of how much worse my imagination made things), THE RUINS is effective in that does capture what made Smith’s novel disturbingly enjoyable in the first place: it’s horrifying and frightening portrayal of the mental/emotional deterioration of people stuck in an increasingly dire survival situation. It’s what helps get one through the simple characters, the “villain” of the piece getting short thrifted (compared to the book), and the somewhat rushed and de-clawed ending. In that sense THE RUINS proves that with heightened dramatic intensions the trappings of the horror genre can be transcended, and an effective little film can emerge. Also, if nothing else, the film deserves credit for proving that killer plants can be scary. Take that, M. Night Shyamalan and THE HAPPENING.

Overall rating: B-

STOP-LOSS
With so many Iraq War related films failing both creatively and financially, STOP-LOSS is refreshing at least in that it’s not actually too bad. Yes, it has its flaws. It does fall pretty to a peeve I have with recent Iraq films in that it’s frequently heavy-handed in its message, not only acting like it’s something we’ve never heard before (“War is bad? What?!”), but insisting on driving its point into the ground. It also takes on slightly too muc, without being able to properly address everything it wants to, especially because its broad ambitions quickly narrow down to just Ryan Phillippe’s narrative. It doesn’t help that the story itself fluctuates all over the place at times and seems a bit scattered brained, never more so than when Phillippe’s storyline takes a sudden turn at the end of the film that seems completely contrary to all we’ve seen before. Nevertheless, the film’s heart is in the right place, and its passion and emotional resonance are hard to ignore, especially as it manifests in Phillippe’s strong performance. It’s not a great film, nor is it even all that original when stacked up with other anti-war films, but it is an important one if solely for the fact that it does attempt to give us more palpable perspective of what Iraq War soldiers coming home are facing socially, emotionally, mentally, and politically.

Overall rating: C+

THE BANK JOB
Roger Donaldson’s heist crime thriller is a pleasant throw back to the genre’s hay days in the 1970s where robbing a bank involved good old fashioned blood and sweat instead of technological savvy. Aside from being a fun, twisty crime flick, it even makes the odd stumble into real pathos as we watch these grossly imperfect ordinary group of people both rise to the occasion, and fall prey to their weaknesses as they aim to pull the heist off to give themselves and their loves one a better life. For my tastes when the film starts dealing with the fallout of the heist and becomes an excessively twisty, darker political/gangster film, it lost some of its appeal for me. Nevertheless it’s a solid little flick, and one that deserves a better and wider reception than it got in theatres.

Overall rating: B