Hope Springs

The passive housewife, the miserable accountant... why is this sounding so familiar???

Hope Springs follows the lives of a typical married couple living through monotonous routine and daily chores that distract them from the elephant in the room - their dwindling marriage.  When the wife (played by Meryl Streep) has finally hit her limit, she forces her husband (played by Tommy Lee Jones) into couples therapy in Maine.  He reluctantly gives in to her demands and finds himself having to face the fact that their marriage is in desperate need of restoration.  This film also stars Steve Carrell as the marriage councilor.

It is absolutely delightful having to watch Tommy Lee Jones play the discomforted husband discussing his sex life with a marriage councilor.  Jones and Streep are excellent together.  Even though the situation is common in many marriages, the humor the story displays is necessary to counter-balance the anguish that the characters are feeling on the inside.  This film does an accurate job of reminding audiences of what happens after the children have moved out and the years of neglect and hurt are over.  What are we left with?  Shattered relationships that need to be put back together - picking up one piece at a time and putting it back into place.  The problem is, at that point, do you have the patience, the emotional stability, and the love to bother picking up the first broken piece?

I think this film does an excellent job at showing people the heartache that one has to go through to pick up the first piece, but that the pay off you get is worth it once the image is complete.  It has to slowly build back over time, but you have to be willing to rebuild it.  Marriage is a two person commitment, something the film is constantly trying to remind us of.  It's insightful and shines light on certain aspects people would rather ignore.

I give this film 7.8/10 for being relatable and unique in comparison to most romantic comedies.  

The Dark Knight Rises

 

Christopher Nolan does it again!  I don't think I've seen one movie with him as director, that I didn't like - Prestige, Memento, Inception - the man knows what he's doing!

The Dark Knight Rises acts as the final chapter in a three film series, concluding Batman's vigilante escapades, fighting crime in Gotham city.  In the face of a new terror named Bane (played by Tom Hardy), Bruce Wayne has to come out of hiding and become Batman once again.  I'm going to stop there, because the plot is just too good to give away.  

Christian Bale fell in to the role as he always does, with certainty of his character.  Nothing new there.  But it was Anne Hathaway that dressed to impress - literally.  Hathaway was wonderful with her depiction of cat woman, creating a character with a moral dilemma, but who still isn't hopeless.  She was feline in the best way possible - Michelle Pfeiffer would be proud.  Joseph Gordon Levitt did a wonderful job as well, like he always does.  I've never had doubt in his acting abilities and he didn't disappoint.    

Tom Hardy was the star of the show, however.  Even though his face was halfway covered throughout the entire film, his vocal abilities and his physicality overcompensated wonderfully.  He did an amazing job with his character, living up to the fear his character is supposed to inflict.  I enjoyed the background story of Bane, because it really added to the character's development and the plot.  I appreciated the accuracy related to the original comics, when Nolan included the famous scene where Bane breaks Batman's back.  Even though not everything could stay true to the comics, they left the important things for the die hard fans.  

   

The editing of the film was very inventive, especially the way they cut up the scenes to depict the passing of time.  I thought it was unique and it kept you on your toes.  The only thing that bothered me about this film was the ending, and that was only because the plot took a twist, deviating away from what is expected of certain characters.  I can't go into details, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but for those who know the Batman comics well, know that certain characters should not be together.  As for the open ended feeling of the film, I was annoyed.  With the knowledge that Nolan is not going to do any more films for this series, it leaves me feeling disappointed that we may not see the appropriate continuation the film calls for.  

I give this film 8.7/10 for being wonderfully dark, with doom and gloom in every corner, however, still making room for that one speck of light that makes its way till the end.    

      

The Amazing Spiderman

It was a nice change from the dark and sinister world of Batman, to have a light and slightly comedic retelling of one of the most beloved superheroes.  (not that I don't love the Batman trilogy)

The Amazing Spider-Man is a film that retells the origin of Spider-Man, setting a different tone from the Tobey Maguire films back in 2002-2007.  We follow the adolescent life of Peter Parker (played by Andrew Garfield), a high school student desperate to uncover the past and discover the truth about his parents' sudden death.  While trying to get close to an old work associate of his father's, he comes in contact with radioactive spiders.... well, I'm sure you can guess all the rest.  The love interest is played by the lovely Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, a fellow high school student (no she's not Mary Jane, but in the comics Gwen Stacy actually comes in the picture first).  Some of the other actors in this film are Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Rhys Ifans, and Denis Leary. 

Andrew Garfield handled his role with all the respect and delicacy it required.  He made the character his own, leaving little comparison between his interpretation and Maguire's interpretation. Garfield is an excellent actor who is able to convey the deepest emotions with the slightest of subtleties. His communication was more through the body than it was through the dialogue, something I find very interesting to watch. The chemistry between Andrew and Emma was evident in their romantic scenes.  They played the excitement of a high school love - a first love - extremely well, never losing sight of that distinction.  As the male lead, Garfield lived up to my expectations and in some cases, even exceeded them.

Now, even though my overall outlook on this film is positive, there were some negative aspects I can't overlook.  Rhys Ifan as the Lizard was not a developed villain.  In the last Spider-Man series, the Green Goblin was a dynamic character, where you felt the villain was still a person, and not just a 'bad guy'.  In this adaptation, the motivation behind Rhys' actions did not seem sufficient for the extremes he begins to go to.  As a result, you never fully connect yourself with his character and, therefore, you never feel that right amount of satisfaction when his character is stopped and brought to justice.  I think it's just as important to make both the protagonist and the antagonist emotionally understood.

Other than that, I think they stayed true to the comics as much as they could and brought in new elements we haven't seen before.  For that I give the film 8/10.