Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Charlie Bartlett starts with a typical setup: Charlie is the only child of an affluent family who has been bouncing from private school to private school due to misbehaving/illegal activities. Seemingly out of options, his mother sends him to a public high school where the kids all are highly stereotyped yet hang out in one big group right outside the front door.

Anton Yelchin's Charlie charges on in his quest to be popular as he believes that's all there is at this stage of your life. Charlie plays psychologist to his classmates and doles out medication for their various ills until you realize this is an alternate universe Ferris Bueller. From the voice to the charisma and even a bit of the clothing, Yelchin is Ferris Bueller. It's distracting but, along with Robert Downey Jr.'s sad yet strong performance, gives the movie an interesting flair that puts it a notch above your typical movie about high school. Then they end with the high-school-musical-within-a-movie and it goes right back down again.

Rating: 2/5
Recommended for: People who miss Ferris Bueller.

Extended review: In the beginning of this film Hope Davis' performance as Charlie's mom seems awkward and like a caricature. As the movie progresses there's a revelation about her medicated status and her husband's absence; we begin to see why she acts the way she does. It brings a clever turn to the story plus a message about medicating. When we find out why the husband is in jail, her character takes a turn again and just comes off over dramatic. The story takes a step into details but doesn't provide the depth to further justify her behavior. Perhaps it was a time issue, or perhaps it was never written. Either way it serves as one of the distractions that prevent ultimate buy in to this story.

Atonement (2007)

The film Atonement is based on the 2001 Ian McEwan novel of the same name. It begins in the summer of 1935 on the gigantic English country estate of the Talis family. When a 13-year-old aspiring writer, Briony Talis, accuses the gardener's son, Robbie, of a crime he didn't commit, it changes the lives of several people forever. This includes Briony's sister Celia, who had just admitted her love for Robbie the same evening.

Christopher Hampton had the daunting task of turning the 371 page story into a 2 hour film. Unfortunately, he is unable to capture everything that would have made this a truly captivating movie. The first part of the film sets everything up for and includes the accusation. It is long even in the book and requires a lot of patience, but is vital to the rest of the story. Of special note is Saoirse Ronan's portrayal of Briony with depth that you don't often find in such young actors; you can practically see thoughts forming in her head. Her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination was truly deserved and even with her unsympathetic self-centered, and self-created, drama, she's the highlight of the film's beginning.

After that the story moves ahead 4 years to WWII and the pace picks up tenfold; we're left with a beautiful-looking film, but due to the severe trimming of the story, we lose our emotional attachments to Ceilia and Robbie and even some of our anger at Briony. The whole event doesn't seem as tragic anymore. It's as if director Joe Wright, was too focused on making the impressive, 5 minute-tracking shot on the beach mentioned in everyone's reviews. The actors definitely try to revive the emotions with what they've been given though. Keira Knightley as Celia is sad and resentful, but trying to cope with the poor cards she's been dealt as a nurse in London. Romola Garai steps in as an older Briony, meekly undertaking the huge task of seeking atonement and making things alright again. And James McAvoy does the best of all with the brooding Robbie who has lost too much, taking a position in the army to escape more jail time.

I'll discuss more about the ending in the extended review below, but here I will say this: It still makes you question what you've seen, but the way the book did it was much more dramatic and poignant and I don't see why they had to change that too... other than to give more for Vanessa Redgrave to say out loud.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Cinematographers and people over 18 who'd like to stare at beautiful things for two hours. Read the book.

Extended review: At the end, an off-camera journalist is interviewing a much older Briony about her new novel, Atonement. During that time, she reveals everything we saw from four years after the original incident to now are part of her book. It's a shock in the movie, but since the film lost the emotional buy-in during those fictional events, it's difficult to care. Vanessa Redgrave's performance sweeps in and brings some emotion again in that you see how much regret Briony feels. But this has all been Briony's childlike attempt to make things right. It didn't.

Celia and Robbie die young without rejoining and without ever knowing that Briony has realized her mistake. So while you find yourself questioning just what happened, the film shows you a scene of what could have been - Celia and Robbie frolicking on the beach. It just makes things more confusing though, especially if you're not familiar with the book. It's a "Wait. But I thought they were dead..." moment. In other words, the film tries to tug at your heart strings with tragedy once more, but instead just loses the viewer.

WALL-E (2008)

I've never been so emotionally invested in a robot.

WALL-E is a well-thought-out story of a lone robot trying to compact all of Earth's garbage while humans drift through space waiting for their home to become livable again. Andrew Stanton, with some assistance from the Grand Master of Sound, Ben Burtt, has given us characters that can win you over without saying a word. There are plenty of other elements to laud this film for - improved camera work over past Pixar productions, original concepts, biting socio-environmental commentary, more nods at other films than at which you can shake a fish... But the true, achievement of this film is how easily you can engage with it.

It's not that this film is perfect. It has it's share of plot holes/logical fallacies, but, unlike so many other films, I didn't feel the need to think about them until after the movie was over. And yes, there's some rather drawn out moments in the second act. But the powerful story of a creature looking for companionship overwhelms the flaws. Even when WALL-E takes more beatings than you'd like to see, it's a testament to the reason you don't want to see him get hurt: you like him. He's the deepest animated character possibly ever and for that, I can forgive him for looking a lot like the horrid No. 5 from Short Circuit.

Rating: 5/5
Recommended for: Everyone everywhere.

Extended review: I first have to mention WALL-E's beat up VHS of Hello, Dolly. It's the only complete dialogue in the first 30 minutes. Even though it's a film I don't really enjoy, I like it here. The two numbers selected fit harmoniously with WALL-E's aspirations - in a way giving him an extra voice. In a way it was a bold choice, but it paid off.

The other "character" meriting a more in-depth mention is/are the humans. Or, to put it more precisely, the large, lazy, floating tubs of lard. On Earth, WALL-E comes across an old billboard ad for The Axiom and it highlights that even grandma can come along on this ship because of the floating chair technology. Once aboard The Axiom you see everyone uses the chairs due to bone-loss from being in space so long and sheer laziness. It's elements like that which show how well-thought-out and detail-oriented the people behind this film are. And that's definitely appreciated.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

One morning Bonnie Parker, played by Faye Dunaway, catches Warren Beatty's Clyde Barrow trying to steal her family's car. The way they play it, you'd think this was a daily occurrence. It's not though, and Bonnie's spur-of-the-moment decision to run around with Clyde for the day turns into a lifestyle.

A hitch in the flow of this free-wheeling film is the score - and sometime lack of it. There are moments where it feels like something is missing and that's when you'll notice the silence. The music that does exist, often feels (for lack of a better term) a bit too hillbilly - even for a film set in the south. The resulting corniness makes you expect those sequences to be played in double time for added comedic effect in an otherwise serious story.

Dunaway's Bonnie is a desperate escapist who doesn't shirk from the idea of becoming a criminal. In fact, no one in the Barrow gang seems to even think twice about it, even though half of them are sucked in at the spur of the moment. This is perhaps the most intriguing element of the film. Even Clyde's incredibly annoying banshee of a sister-in-law never actively finds a means of escaping the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of an adventure even though she clearly doesn't enjoy it.

This is the first film to portray a shooter and a person getting shot in the same frame. The results are pretty gruesome especially in contrast to the rest of the movie. The juxtaposition of a whimsical couple having fun with the serious crimes, incidents, and injuries puts a harsh but needed perspective on a time where bank robbers were glamorized.

Rating:4/5
Recommended for: Anyone over the age of 12 who doesn't mind a little fun before being brought back down to Earth.

Extended review: The film's end shows how so many infamous criminals of that era met their end: being too cocky. Criminals like Bonnie and Clyde were treated like movie stars. They'd introduce themselves during their crimes, make visits to their families, and wave to people in the streets - never thinking that any of these people would dare turn them in. Mrs. Parker's warning that they better keep running is brushed off almost as a joke. To the audience, C.W.'s father's arrangement with the police is understandable. But the Barrow gang doesn't think of it even as a possibility. The sudden demise of Bonnie and Clyde brings their reign and the film to an abrupt end. The audience is left alone with their thoughts; you feel bad for them because they never saw it coming, yet you're reminded that they these two were the bad guys in the first place. It's an interesting balance.