Man on a Ledge

Sam Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, an ex-cop who’s sent to prison for stealing a giant diamond from a wealthy and shifty businessman (Ed Harris). When Nick is allowed to attend his father’s funeral, he pulls off a daring escape and plants himself on the ledge of a high-rise hotel in Manhattan and proclaims his innocence. A police psychologist who ‘lost’ her last jumper attempts to talk him down, as a whole other series of events unfolds in a building across the street.

That’s all you’ll get out of me plot-wise.

Man on a Ledge is reminiscent of the 1998 movie The Negotiator with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Both involve dirty cops, conspiracies and who-can-you-trust conundrums. The acting in The Negotiator was more intense, but Man on a Ledge does manage to keep you on the edge of your seat, with the constant sensation that you might fall off. So if you have vertigo or a fear of heights, rent The Negotiator instead.

If you’re in the mood for a combination thriller, psychological drama and heist movie that doesn’t cut too deep, then take the leap and catch Man on a Ledge.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

First-time actor Thomas Horn (a former Kid’s Week champion on Jeopardy!) plays Oskar Schell, a possibly autistic boy whose father (Tom Hanks) dies in the collapse of the World Trade Center. A year later, still reeling from the loss, Oskar finds a key hidden among his father’s belongings. He’s convinced that his father meant for him to find the key – and the lock it goes to. So Oskar embarks on a mission/journey that takes him through the five boroughs and into the homes and businesses of a vast array of characters who are all struggling in one way or another. It kind of reminded me of Pay It Forward.

Oskar is distant with his mother (Sandra Bullock), but he does allow one person in on his plan: a mute old man (superbly played by Max von Sydow) who lives at his grandmother’s apartment building across the way.

The movie starts off slow – and stays that way for well over an hour – but it packs a powerful emotional punch in the end. If you could judge a movie by the number of tissues I massacre in the final five minutes, then Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close would get a thumbs-up. However, since the first two hours failed to bowl (or bawl) me over, I can only give it an “eh”.

Joyful Noise

The two women rarely see eye-to-eye, and it gets even worse when G.G’s rebellious grandson Randy (Jeremy Jordan) comes to town and sets his romantic sights on Vi’s “good girl” daughter Olivia (Kiki Palmer).

Ultimately, everyone must work together to achieve harmony if they are to have a prayer of winning the prestigious Joyful Noise national church choir competition in Los Angeles. The whole town is counting on them. Can they do it?

If you have a little faith in Hollywood endings, you probably know the answer.

Damon plays Benjamin Mee, a young widower struggling to raise his two kids, Dylan, 14, and Rosie, 7, in the months following his wife’s death. Desperate for a change of scenery and a fresh start, Mee moves the family out of the city and into a fixer-upper in the country that happens to be situated in the middle of a zoo that also needs some major fixer-uppin’.

The zoo has a small but dedicated group of caretakers led by Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johannson). Mee represents their last great hope for restoring the zoo to its original grandeur– or at least bringing it up to code and avoiding closure by an evil (and somewhat cartoonish) state inspector.

Of course, there are many challenges along the way. Mee is still grappling with grief. His teenage son (Colin Ford) is full of angst and anger and oblivious to the doe-eyed advances of Kelly’s niece Lily (Elle Fanning). Mee’s brother Duncan (played with his usual crass wit by Thomas Hayden Church) wants him to cut and run, i.e. “lose the zoo – but keep Kelly”. Time and money are running out. You get the picture.

And then there are the animals – a menagerie that includes a roaming bear, a monkey, an elephant, some snakes, birds, and an aging tiger that has some valuable lessons to impart in his waning days. You can’t help but root for the whole lot of ‘em, even the snakes. And, you can’t help but smile every time young Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) declares “We bought a zoo!!!!” She amps up the movie’s cuteness factor whenever she appears on screen.

Ultimately, as I alluded to before, it is Damon that saves the zoo and the movie. He manages to be adorable and accessible in dare I say, a Clooney-esque sort of way. His portrayal of a journalist-turned-zookeeper is honest and authentic and does great service to a story that is actually based on real-life events. You may even be inspired to quit your day job and go in search of a zoo that needs fixin’. Or at least get a dog.

From a purely visual standpoint, The Adventures of Tintin is rather stunning with its use of motion-capture technology. But the story itself falls a bit flat, even at the direction of the almighty Steven Spielberg.

Here’s the gist: Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) buys a model ship at an outdoor marketplace, only to discover that a nefarious dude named Red Rackham (Daniel Craig) wants the ship so badly that he’s willing to kill for it. Turns out the ship, called The Unicorn, is one of a series of three model ships that together will unlock the ancient secret to a hidden treasure. Rather than relinquish the ship, Tintin (who can’t resist the urge to follow a good story) embarks on a dangerous journey on the high seas, where he ends up joining forces with a drunken Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis). Haddock holds the key to the entire mystery if he can sober up long enough to figure it out.

The movie, like the comics, is peppered with slapstick humor, social commentary, and quirky characters. In many ways, it feels like an animated version of Pirates of the Caribbean, with a couple of keystone cops thrown in (a pair of detectives named Thompson and Thomson, voiced by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg).

The Adventures of Tintin should appeal to nostalgic fans of the comic series and boys aged 8-12. Beyond that, it could be a tough sell. Then again, family movies are big this time of year, so perhaps Tintin will be able to capitalize on that.

The movie is rated PG for adventure action violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking. And while the motion-capture technology is awesome, the 3D doesn’t add much.

For those actually counting, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is the fourth installment in the franchise starring Tom Cruise as secret agent Ethan Hunt. He leads a black ops team known as the IMF – the Impossible Mission Force (not the International Monetary Fund, though both are equally mysterious to me).

I honestly can’t remember if I saw any or all of the previous MI films. I think I saw one – or maybe it was two. The storylines don’t exactly stick with you nearly as much as the classic theme music. But I’m happy to report that Cruise seems to be aging quite nicely in (what I hope is) his post-crazy period.

The gist of the story is this: The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin and the theft of nuclear launch codes. The President invokes “ghost protocol”, meaning the team is disavowed and devoid of backup as they try to clear their name and prevent World War Three. Hunt’s rogue team includes the dangerously beautiful Jane (Paula Patton), the quirky gadget-meister Benji (Simon Pegg), and the secretive government analyst Brandt (Jeremy Renner). Most of the stunts (especially those involving Cruise) are totally absurd yet entertaining – even breathtaking. If you have a fear of heights, you may want to shield your eyes in Dubai.

There’s more to the story of course, including a ruthless female assassin and a diabolical Russian extremist codenamed “Cobalt” who hold the keys to destroying détente’. I’d go on, but this review is rigged to self-destruct in five seconds…

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is rated PG-13 for some intense action and violence, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously or go too dark. The film runs a pretty fast-paced 2 hours, 13 minutes. Here’s a taste:

Garry Marshall is brilliant. He made a mildly entertaining movie with an A-List cast and a name that virtually guarantees it a place in holiday rerun history. [New Year’s Eve] is like Crash-light. Really, really, really light. It follows a bunch of folks whose lives intersect in various ways as they [embrace, reject, and reflect on all that is New Year’s Eve as the ball is about to drop in New York City].

The cast is a virtual who’s who of stars from the big and small screen – including [Hillary Swank, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker, Josh Duhamel, rocker Jon Bon Jovi, Halle Berry, Katherine Heigl, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeifer], Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Hector Elizondo… Need I go on?

There’s no real way to review the storyline without giving too much away. All I can say is the movie is enjoyable enough, if not particularly deep. Director Garry Marshall knows how to deliver a solid mainstream chick flick. And as a fellow Northwestern alum, it’s always fun to spot his quick nod to our alma mater – in this case [if there was one, I somehow missed it!]. It’s also worth sticking around for the end credits. Among the outtakes – a fun, little salute to [Valentine’s Day].

Watching [New Year’s Eve] is like watching a special, star-studded edition of The Love Boat. If that floats your boat, then go and enjoy.

There ya have it. A re-purposed review that matches a re-purposed premise that – if it does well enough at the box office – will surely spark yet another entry into the star-studded holiday “franchise”. Place your bets now for Christmas Day, Hanukkah Nights, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Columbus Day…

The Sitter

The Sitter is an okay movie, but it may suffer from an identity crisis. On the surface, it looks to appeal to The Hangover Two and Pineapple Express crowd. But deep down – it wants to be a chick flick.  So chances are, it won’t fully click with any particular demographic. One thing it did do, however, was make me nostalgic for the original Adventures in Babysitting. If you haven’t seen that one, rent it. Or wait for The Sitter to come out on DVD and enjoy one very trippy double-feature.

The Sitter is only 80 minutes long, but feels longer. So you may want to save 10 bucks and watch the trailer instead:

It’s hard not to go the way of double-entendres and full-frontal flippery when describing this movie – especially since Fassbender is pretty darn good looking and this role is a far cry from his turn as Magneto in X-Men: First Class (which I happened to like by the way). But in truth, Shame is very raw and depressing, and Brandon’s addiction is way more sad than sexy. So I wouldn’t want to mislead you into thinking this indie is even remotely mainstream in its appeal. It’s just not. And even if Fassbender’s performance is potentially Oscar-nomination-worthy, I think the risqué material makes it highly unlikely that the Academy will go all Portman on him. I think the “three-way” at the climax of the movie (oops – shame on me) may have gone a bit over the top. That said, if you liked Black Swan, I suspect you’ll like Shame as well. Just pick your movie-mates carefully, or wait until it comes out on DVD or pay-per-view.

The film, directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt, Election), is a bittersweet melodrama laced with heartfelt emotion and subtle humor. No guns. No car chases. No explosions. No blaring soundtrack. Just a guy reconnecting with his daughters during a family trip to Kauai that happens to involve tracking down his dying wife’s lover.

It’s an unpredictable journey – and at times, a funny one, thanks mostly to the seemingly inappropriate presence of daughter Alexandra’s clueless, tag-along boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause). You’ll spend a good deal of time wondering why he hasn’t been kicked to the curb, but it all pays off in the end.

The Descendants is a slow but engaging drama with solid performances all around, a healthy dose of heart and humor, and a whole lotta George. Happy Thanksgiving.