DVD: Nowhere Boy

Photo: amazon.ca

Starring Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff. Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood. 98 minutes. 14A

Maybe you've been told this film is not about The Beatles. But it is. It's insane to say it's not. Yes, it's a biopic about Lennon's younger years, but can you honestly say that a film about one-half of possibly the greatest song-writing duo ever, who wrote the majority of The Beatles' songs, making them an international phenomenon, is not a film about the Beatles?

Nowhere Boy meets Lennon in his teenage years. The film follows him through banjo lessons with his estranged mother, getting his first guitar, turning his poetry into music and eventually, beginning the Lennon-McCartney song-writing partnership, all the while exploring his tangled family life.

For Beatles fans: We find out more about one of the women intertwined in the Julia lyrics, the sprouts of the Lennon-McCartney song-writing partnership, and the boy behind the man who would become the man behind crazy lyrics like: "Semolina pilchard, climbing up the Eiffel Tower. Elementary penguin singing Hari Krishna. Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe."

For non-Beatles fans: This film shows that there's more promise to Aaron Johnson's rising name, that biopics don't have to focus entirely on leading up to fame, and that the drama behind a rock star's life doesn't have to be a story about drugs and sex (though that doesn't mean there isn't any) but can focus on more universal themes like acceptance and imperfect families.

Although I was drawn to this film as a Beatles fan, others shouldn't be repelled for the same reason. This film ends up being a surprisingly even mix of elements enough to reel in the long-time fan but still captivate the rest. A

DVD EXTRAS: Behind-the-scenes featurettes and deleted scenes.

The Fighter

Photo: allmoviephoto.com

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams. Directed by David O. Russell. 115 minutes. 14A

Mark Wahlberg looks like a fighter, doesn't he? Maybe not a boxer, but more like he should be the champ of some secret fight club. But he's a rapper turned model turned actor. Not so tough. And it's a distracting reminder throughout The Fighter, one of the reasons this film is just good, no better.

It's tough to judge a film already nominated for six Golden Globes and building Oscar buzz. You expect it to be amazing, or at least really good. And like I said, The Fighter is good. It's the story of "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg), a welterweight boxer who wants to make it big, though is being held back by his washed-up, drug-addict, former boxer bro Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). The story is compelling enough, the cinematography is creative enough and the acting is just believable enough. This film doesn't really fall short at much but it doesn't "wow" at much either, save for two brilliant performances: Bale and Melissa Leo.

Leo, playing Micky and Dicky's mother, is nagging and oblivious, trying to reinforce and destructive bond between brothers. She worries and smothers. Leo is so convincing that it's easy to forget this isn't a real person. Though even more captivating in this film is Bale. He's energetic, dark and explosive; he's almost scary.

What weighs this film down is lack of tension. It's almost mandatory for sports flick. After a few stumbles at the start, Micky seems to be on a paved road to success, which may or may not be a depiction of the true story, but this is a film, we need more intensity. Maybe a little more darkness, a little more pain, or a little more agony could have given this film more texture. B

DVD: Invictus

Photo: AllMoviePhotos.com

(All eyes on Damon)

Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Directed by Clint Eastwood. 113 minutes. PG

Forget counting sheep at night, just watch Invictus. While it's an important and rare story to tell and the actors and director are reputable, the film is simply boring.

The film is set in the early 90s when Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) is released from prison and takes his first term as President of South Africa. Invictus focuses on Mandela's goal to unite blacks and whites through rugby and how Springboks captain François Pienaar (Matt Damon) helped transform his team into one worth cheering for.

While the film is backed by big names, both in the film world and real, what's missing is drama. It's seems like a logical formula: major historical movement + Clint Eastwood + Freeman and Damon = amazing film. But the story is not told compellingly. While certain scenes aim to illustrate a very important point, they drone too long and excessively reiterate the same thing, without passion. In the scene where Mandela brings in the former president's security guards to work with his own, there is very little conflict. One of Mandela's security guards is angry so he walks out, speaks with Mandela who tells him that they need to work together, then he returns and they work together.

However, there are a few scenes that stand out, thanks to Matt Damon. He brings deep conviction and feeling to his role, speaking from a fire within. Even the scenes he says nothing are moving. Like when he visits the Robben Island prison and visit's Mandela's former cell. Where most of his scenes focus on the power behind his words, this scene showcases Damon's ability to guide us through a critical scene with just his silent actions.

This is not to say that Freeman doesn't deliver, but Mandela, although was very influential and powerful, does speak softly and calmly. It is not Freeman's fault that his scenes drag on. In fact, Freeman is nearly flawless in his role. It's how the scene progresses around him that falls short. The dialogue is slow and other characters are not memorable.

The rugby scenes are also unengaging. Perhaps it's because it isn't as recognized a sport as football or baseball. Eastwood does not pay enough attention the actual games to bring us into them. Rather than avoid the sport because the audience isn't as familiar with it, it would have been better drop hints about it throughout and work on drawing the audience in.

This film can at least be praised for its honesty. It doesn't seek to overdramatize scenes where maybe there was no drama. It also doesn't seek to dramatize scenes where there likely was drama. It's clear that Eastwood wanted to create a film that stir emotions, as he has done in the past. However, he fails to make a connection that would keep us invested throughout. C-