Movie Review Black Los Angeles

BlackNLA Movie Reviews

*****THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*****

by Edwardo Jackson

BIASES: late 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

LADY IN THE WATER (PG-13)

MOVIE BIASES: Say good-Night now?
MAJOR PLAYERS: Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village), Jeffrey Wright (Syriana), and actor/writer/director M. Night Shyamalan (The Village)

If it's true that it's "always darkest before the dawn," then M. Night Shyamalan should enjoy the adage that neatly ties into his name. Smothered by mediocre buzz, advance critical lambasting, and a recently released biography that's more sycophantic and defensive than empirically objective and Night seems to be experiencing a dark one. Add in the recently reported softest opening weekend in his big studio history at $18 million (even universally reviled "The Village" (@@@ by
this critic, however), opened to $50.7 million), and I expected "Lady in the Water" to take some. Let's take a lap around the pool, shall we?

"Man does not listen very well." Sad, lonely, stuttering apartment complex janitor Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) does. All he does IS listen: to his tenants' complaints, musings, and wild bedtime stories. It's one bedtime story that catches his interest, as told to him by Korean college student Young-Soon Choi's (Cindy Cheung) volatile but helpful, non-English speaking mother Mrs. Choi (June Kyoto Lu), when it seems
to become real. After a mysterious, scratched up woman named Story (Howard) appears from the complex pool with an aura of destiny about her and a highly detailed, imaginative backstory involving sea nymphs, her home of the Blue Beyond, and a grassy, wolf-like predator creature called a scrunt, Cleveland buys in, determined to do whatever it takes to help his mysterious, supernatural friend find her way safely back home.

To enjoy "Lady in the Water" you truly have to LOVE stories - the way they are constructed and perpetuated through society and time. At the beginning of this movie, you have to buy into the mythology, firmly parking into your suspension of disbelief or the movie doesn't work. Billed as a "bedtime story" that he admits was derived from one he would tell his children, Shyamalan is, simultaneously, heavy-handed and subtle, didactic and illusory. Once you buy in, it's typical Night-worthy suspense with some brief frightening thrills, plenty of little comic touches, and running themes (visually and theoretically) of man's nature towards warfare, fulfilling one's purpose, and our disconnected, pluralistic society coming together as one. Unfolding like a bedtime story itself with narfs, scrunts, and tartunics, "Lady"
demands total imaginative commitment.

I'm in. So is his diverse, talented but largely unheralded cast, which reflects a somewhat realistic, "Star Wars" cantina scene assemblage of tenants/supporting characters: Freddy Rodriguez as Reggie White (a knowing hometown naming nod to the legendary former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end, may he rest in peace), a bodybuilder who's only working out one side of his freakish body; the attractive, slyly intelligent, and engaging Cindy Cheung as slightly rebellious, neon hair colored college student Young-Soon; M. Night himself as Vick Ran, a frustrated writer; Sarita Choudhury (Kama Sutra), still beautiful but surprisingly funny as Vick's moony-eyed sister Anna; and the always intriguing Jeffrey Wright as crossword puzzle grand master Mr. Dury, among others. In one of many self-indulgent turns in this movie, Night includes Bob Balaban's arrogant film critic Harry Farber to the
mix only to be pilloried throughout (more on this later). Everyone buys in so well with their performances, I had no problem going along for the story-ride.

Besides a sense of the fantastical, you also need basic human compassion to fully enjoy this movie. Giamatti is seamless as the world-weary, secret-harboring, surface schlub Cleveland Heep, whose drab, solitary existence is momentarily, and potentially forever, brightened and changed by Story's emergence. In fact its her presence that gives him a sense of purpose, calms his stuttering speech, and
imbues in him a dose of - dare I say it, with that hideous beardwork - sex appeal. Looking like a red-haired, alabaster doll version of Daryl Hannah, a very pale, long-tressed Bryce Dallas Howard is blandly believable as the wondrous, otherworldly Story. She just doesn't have much to do but stare blankly, ominously away from others, as if envisioning the future, or conjuring up the next, riddle-ish thing to
say. On the whole, though, it all works.

The sad thing about all the pre-release panning of "Lady" is that this movie is SO not what you would think. Yes, Night has just released his tell-all (of what he wants you to know) book on the emotionally perilous road that brought this movie to the screen that casts his former professional home of Disney (where his last four blockbusters were produced) in a sniper's unflattering light. His prescient (or is it merely defensive/hyper-sensitive?) portrayal of a joyless, sanctimonious film critic as a bastion of seen-it-all-before self-importance ("There is no originality in the world...That is a sad fact I've come to live with."), while amusing and somewhat dead-on, is, to repeat myself, utterly self-indulgent (Can't say that I blame Night: As a creative writer first, film critic second, I can't stand some of my artistically challenged, "I can't do, therefore I hate" critical brethren myself (Manohla Dargis, take a bow!)).

"Lady," like most good stories passed through oral tradition, is an allegory for the times with strong morals for life and bewitching imagery. This movie is about finding your purpose and stepping up when the moment calls for it (or, as the Telfair clan from "Through the Fire" would say, it's about responding when "The lights are ON!"). A beautiful, underwater shot at the climax of this picture reminds us of how powerful and creative a filmmaker Night can be. Like many a creative type, he just needs to learn when to get out of his own way. That's when mass audiences truly buy in.

@@@ REELS
(THREE REELS)
It's pretty hot – go give it a shot.

Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com!

Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com




			BlackNLA Movie Reviews ***THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*** by Edwardo Jackson BIASES: late 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare LADY IN THE WATER (PG-13) MOVIE BIASES: Say good-Night now? MAJOR PLAYERS: Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village), Jeffrey Wright (Syriana), and actor/writer/director M. Night Shyamalan (The Village) If it's true that it's "always darkest before the dawn," then M. Night Shyamalan should enjoy the adage that neatly ties into his name. Smothered by mediocre buzz, advance critical lambasting, and a recently released biography that's more sycophantic and defensive than empirically objective and Night seems to be experiencing a dark one. Add in the recently reported softest opening weekend in his big studio history at $18 million (even universally reviled "The Village" (@@@ by this critic, however), opened to $50.7 million), and I expected "Lady in the Water" to take some. Let's take a lap around the pool, shall we? "Man does not listen very well." Sad, lonely, stuttering apartment complex janitor Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) does. All he does IS listen: to his tenants' complaints, musings, and wild bedtime stories. It's one bedtime story that catches his interest, as told to him by Korean college student Young-Soon Choi's (Cindy Cheung) volatile but helpful, non-English speaking mother Mrs. Choi (June Kyoto Lu), when it seems to become real. After a mysterious, scratched up woman named Story (Howard) appears from the complex pool with an aura of destiny about her and a highly detailed, imaginative backstory involving sea nymphs, her home of the Blue Beyond, and a grassy, wolf-like predator creature called a scrunt, Cleveland buys in, determined to do whatever it takes to help his mysterious, supernatural friend find her way safely back home. To enjoy "Lady in the Water" you truly have to LOVE stories - the way they are constructed and perpetuated through society and time. At the beginning of this movie, you have to buy into the mythology, firmly parking into your suspension of disbelief or the movie doesn't work. Billed as a "bedtime story" that he admits was derived from one he would tell his children, Shyamalan is, simultaneously, heavy-handed and subtle, didactic and illusory. Once you buy in, it's typical Night-worthy suspense with some brief frightening thrills, plenty of little comic touches, and running themes (visually and theoretically) of man's nature towards warfare, fulfilling one's purpose, and our disconnected, pluralistic society coming together as one. Unfolding like a bedtime story itself with narfs, scrunts, and tartunics, "Lady" demands total imaginative commitment. I'm in. So is his diverse, talented but largely unheralded cast, which reflects a somewhat realistic, "Star Wars" cantina scene assemblage of tenants/supporting characters: Freddy Rodriguez as Reggie White (a knowing hometown naming nod to the legendary former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end, may he rest in peace), a bodybuilder who's only working out one side of his freakish body; the attractive, slyly intelligent, and engaging Cindy Cheung as slightly rebellious, neon hair colored college student Young-Soon; M. Night himself as Vick Ran, a frustrated writer; Sarita Choudhury (Kama Sutra), still beautiful but surprisingly funny as Vick's moony-eyed sister Anna; and the always intriguing Jeffrey Wright as crossword puzzle grand master Mr. Dury, among others. In one of many self-indulgent turns in this movie, Night includes Bob Balaban's arrogant film critic Harry Farber to the mix only to be pilloried throughout (more on this later). Everyone buys in so well with their performances, I had no problem going along for the story-ride. Besides a sense of the fantastical, you also need basic human compassion to fully enjoy this movie. Giamatti is seamless as the world-weary, secret-harboring, surface schlub Cleveland Heep, whose drab, solitary existence is momentarily, and potentially forever, brightened and changed by Story's emergence. In fact its her presence that gives him a sense of purpose, calms his stuttering speech, and imbues in him a dose of - dare I say it, with that hideous beardwork - sex appeal. Looking like a red-haired, alabaster doll version of Daryl Hannah, a very pale, long-tressed Bryce Dallas Howard is blandly believable as the wondrous, otherworldly Story. She just doesn't have much to do but stare blankly, ominously away from others, as if envisioning the future, or conjuring up the next, riddle-ish thing to say. On the whole, though, it all works. The sad thing about all the pre-release panning of "Lady" is that this movie is SO not what you would think. Yes, Night has just released his tell-all (of what he wants you to know) book on the emotionally perilous road that brought this movie to the screen that casts his former professional home of Disney (where his last four blockbusters were produced) in a sniper's unflattering light. His prescient (or is it merely defensive/hyper-sensitive?) portrayal of a joyless, sanctimonious film critic as a bastion of seen-it-all-before self-importance ("There is no originality in the world...That is a sad fact I've come to live with."), while amusing and somewhat dead-on, is, to repeat myself, utterly self-indulgent (Can't say that I blame Night: As a creative writer first, film critic second, I can't stand some of my artistically challenged, "I can't do, therefore I hate" critical brethren myself (Manohla Dargis, take a bow!)). "Lady," like most good stories passed through oral tradition, is an allegory for the times with strong morals for life and bewitching imagery. This movie is about finding your purpose and stepping up when the moment calls for it (or, as the Telfair clan from "Through the Fire" would say, it's about responding when "The lights are ON!"). A beautiful, underwater shot at the climax of this picture reminds us of how powerful and creative a filmmaker Night can be. Like many a creative type, he just needs to learn when to get out of his own way. That's when mass audiences truly buy in. @@@ REELS (THREE REELS) It's pretty hot – go give it a shot. Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com! Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com © 2004, Edwardo Jackson