DVD Review: Wanted

I would be reviewing Fred Claus which I also just saw, but I didn't finish watching it because it was too awful. Vince Vaughn's style of interrupting and explaining to people what they really mean and why his feelings could be hurt if the person continues to tell him what's real, just drove me NUTS. Normally it's not that painful, The Break Up wasn't terrible, but it was just barely good, and I actually liked Four Christmases, but Fred Claus is just dreadful. But this review isn't about that, but better movie, Wanted.

Wanted tells the story of Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), an account manager in a cubicle that is living a life of unfulfilled potential and doesn't know how he can change anything. He suffers from "anxiety attacks" that he can't understand (he doesn't have anything to be anxious about) and his best friend is screwing his girlfriend. Then one day he's picking up pills at the pharmacy and Fox (Angelina Jolie) appears to save his life from a guy who's shooting at them. He learns from Morgan Freeman, that his father has just been killed and he used to be part of a brotherhood of assassins that have spent hundreds of years fulfilling their destinies. They want to train Wesley to be an assassin too, since he already possesses the skills, trying to contain them is what brought on the anxiety. There's lots of fighting and training and hitting and kicking and riding on trains and obviously getting hurt and fixed and learning to be an assassin. He eventually becomes an assassin (you don't want to find out how they choose the people to assassinate, you wouldn't believe me) and works his way up to hunting the man believed to have killed his father. Some ridiculous stunts take place, most of which are incredible and funny, but there are also explanations that make it even harder to believe. Overall, I liked the movie, it embraces its cheeziness to the point where at the end McAvoy looks into the camera and addresses the audience. Light entertainment, great special effects, wholly unbelievable story, but still worthy of watching. 3 Stars/LAMBS

Why I love Clive Owen

I think there comes a point with various actors and actresses where they've finally been in enough films and big enough films that their body of work starts to impress you. I previously found this with James McAvoy. Recently I rewatched Inside Man and felt the same way about Clive Owen. So here's my list of why I love Clive Owen, and hope for the best in the rest of his career.

I first watched and love Mr. Owen in a funny little British movie called Greenfingers. He plays a criminal in an experimental prison that is allowed to start a garden. He recruits some other prisoners to help him and their gardening skills are soon recognized and eventually they're allowed to compete in a huge national gardening competition. There are all the usual macho jokes about guys gardening, but of course our lovable heroes overcome the teasing and prove that success is the best revenge. Clive is quiet, but kind, and spends most of the movie trying to overcome something or another. For a long time afterward, whenever Clive appeared in something else, our family referred to him as the guy from the gardening movie.

Then Clive did a bunch of TV stuff, before landing one of the downstairs roles in Robert Altman's masterpiece, Gosford Park. Along with every other major British star (and Ryan Phillipe), Clive Owen plays a small but intricate role in this story of class lines and struggles with identity, all while solving the murder of the lord of the manor. His part was small, but I remember him walking around with guns and all the while thinking he's got a secret that will turn the whole house upside down. He plays secretive very well.

These small but memorable parts continued in The Bourne Identity. Clive plays the assassin trying to kill Bourne. They meet out in the field as they try to shoot each other, and of course Bourne wins and Clive is gunned down, but has that moment of revelation that perhaps being an assassin is not a great thing and that Bourne should try to save himself. Small role, but one that people tend to remember.

There was a series of movies Clive did next that I saw out of order, so I'll discuss them together. He and Angelina Jolie starred in Beyond Borders, the story of "star-crossed lovers" who are relief workers in various hotspots around the world. They meet in a war zone in Africa, and meet up around the world trying to bring medicine and relief to people struggling with war, famine and disease. The acting and love story are really secondary to the documentary sense of the wars and activism the main characters try to support. I mixed this with watching King Arthur, which was so dreadful I can't really even comment. Clive plays slightly dirtier characters in both of these movies, guys willing to buck the rules and save the people he loves. Not great films, but a bigger move for dear Clive.

Next, Clive hit the big time, a BAFTA and Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination, with Closer. He's sexy, mysterious, a little mean, and hot as hell. He dates Julia Roberts character, but is incredibly drawn to Natalie Portman's broken ingenue. He fights for what he wants, but never really wins the girl because he can't let go of his suspicious nature. I love watching him in this movie and fast forward to the scene with him and Natalie Portman flirting and arguing and seducing and being sad. So great.

Since Closer, Clive has done some really big movies, including Sin City, Children of Men, Derailed, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I liked his character and the story in Children of Men, but I didn't really like the movie as a whole - it didn't achieve the book's apocalypse atmosphere very well, just dark and uninteresting. He almost pulled the movie together with his depressed yet optimistic (hard to pull off, but it's Clive Owen's bread and butter) brooding hero. He drops some of the optimism for Elizabeth: The Golden Age as he plays Sir Walter Raleigh, consort for the Queen. Still sexy, but doesn't quite run the movie.

I can't wait to see the next Clive Owen work in Sin City 2, but I hope he's able to play a few different roles. I love what he's done so far, and look forward to more of the same, but just like the secrets his characters have, I suspect Clive Owen, the actor, has lot of different roles left in him as well.

James, and James, and James, oh my

I just got back from a long trip, so the best part was obviously watching lots of movies on the planes to and fro. The theme I found was James. On the way to Europe they were showing Becoming Jane and I was once again reminded of my love of James McAvoy (see here for a reminder). He's romantic, a playboy who converts for the woman he loves, honorable, and plays against Anne Hathaway perfectly (even if she's not British, she's a good Jane Austen). Then on the way home, they were playing 27 Dresses and Enchanted which I'm sure you'll remember that I liked both. James Marsden was even more arresting this time in both roles. He's cute, sexy, with a grin that doesn't end, and can play a fairy tale prince more convincingly than you'd expect. Oh, and since I spent most of the flight telling people that in fact James Marsden's name was James Franco, I will pay homage to him as well - he's awesome in the Spiderman movies and hopefully will be in lots more fun movies. Oh well, I definitely appreciate the James' in my movie-viewing experiences. Any others I've forgotten, I bow to you too.