Film Clips: This Weekend’s Openings and More July 02 2010
With single moms, sexy Russians, killers, and singers, this week’s movies will have you squirming.
- Chuck Zlotnick
- John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill in ‘Cyrus’
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CYRUS 3 stars (R ) A morose divorced guy (John C. Reilly) falls in love with a single mom (Marisa Tomei), provoking the ire of her clingy grown son (Jonah Hill). Reilly and Hill have been mainstays in Will Farrell and Judd Apatow comedies, so we brace ourselves for the slapstick to really cut loose. But Cyrus was written and directed by Mark and Jay Duplass, known for their droll “mumblecore” indie movies, who don’t cultivate a comfortable distance between the audience and the character’s silly, self-destructive behavior. Cyrus feels suspended between two different brands of film comedy, but offers plenty of laughs, good acting and lots of squirmy, uncomfortable set pieces. — Holman
GREASE SING-A-LONG (1978) John Travolta and Olivia Newton John’s classic popular musical gets a limited re-release with a newly restored print. Karaoke-style subtitles should make it easier to sing along to lines like “We go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong.”
I AM LOVE 3 stars (R ) Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton plays the Russian-born wife of an Italian textile tycoon who becomes attracted to a young chef who happens to be the best friend of her son Edo (Flavio Parenti). Writer/director Luca Guadagnino’s family melodrama harks back to the erotic, richly stylistic European cinema of the 1960s, although I Am Love maintains an emotionally remote but symbolically obvious point of view. Swinton superbly captures the evolving emotions of a neglected wife and her sensual awakening, and the camerawork finds haute cuisine and hot sex to be equally enticing. — Holman
THE KILLER INSIDE ME 3 stars (R ) Casey Affleck plays Lou Ford, a deputy in a 1950s Texas oil town, whose wholesome image hides murderous, sadistic impulses. Director Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s novel emphasizes Ford’s psychology and the grotesque misogyny of his actions (including beating a beautiful woman’s face to pulp in graphic detail), with opera and western swing music providing ironic counterpoint. Winterbottom muddles his conclusions about the nature of human evil, but terrific performances from Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson and, believe it or not, Jessica Alba make the film worth seeing. — Holman
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE 2 stars (PG-13) Vampire heart-throb Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) pops the question to mopey teen Bella Swann (Kristen Stewart), who demands he vampirize her instead. Interrupting this two-hour conversation include Bella’s stalkerish, wolf-boy friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and a small army of “newborn” vampires closing on the Cullen’s home town. Pretty but blank, Stewart isn’t allowed to be as sexy as the male leads, and it’s an enduring mystery why Bella Swan should be the Helen of Troy of the vampire/werewolf world. But where Twilight and New Moon are insufferably drab and boring bad movies, Eclipse, while still kind of bad, but has enough narrative momentum and flashes of comedic camp to give it some entertainment value. — Holman__