New in Theaters
Enough Said
(Playing at the Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive)
Nicole Holofcener’s new film, “Enough Said,” is James Gandolfini’s last completed film and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ first film in 13 years.
The multi-award winning Gandolfini died suddenly of a heart attack five months ago at age 51. Fans were shocked, as no one saw it coming. This was the man most knew as Tony Soprano on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” the Michael Corleone of cable TV. Those who didn’t watch the series might have remembered Gandolfini from the cult classics “True Romance” (1992) or “Get Shorty” (1995).
On a more positive note, Louis-Dreyfus is having the career of a lifetime. It began with a stint on “Saturday Night Live,” followed by hits like “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “Christmas Vacation” (1989), and tons of praise and viewers for the TV shows “Seinfeld,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Veep.”
In “Enough Said,” a personal masseuse and divorcee named Eva (Louis-Dreyfus) spends her days giving massages to people who ramble on about their neurosis, while her teenage daughter Ellen (Tracey Fairaway) prepares to leave for college. At a party, she meets Marianne (Catherine Keener), a poet with a personal following who could use a massage and a new friend. At the same party, Eva also meets another divorced parent named Albert (Gandolfini). They’re supposedly not each other’s types, but get along all the same. Eva’s life seems to be getting eventful again, until she discovers that Marianne and Albert already know each other.
Toni Collette and Ben Falcone play Eva’s married friends Sarah and Will. Eve Hewson plays Albert’s daughter Tess, and famous fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson makes her acting debut as Ellen’s best friend Chloe. What’s refreshing about “Enough Said” is that it doesn’t aim toward the usual young demographic of ages 15-30. These are real 50-year-olds, with real faces that don’t seem to have had Hollywood makeovers, with real relationship problems. Louis-Dreyfus is easily believable as a mom who doesn’t realize how old, yet young, she still is between her relationships with her new boyfriend and her growing daughter. Most would associate Louis-Dreyfus as primarily a comedian, but here we can see she has some good drama chops, too. Gandolfini, playing against type here as the goofy, but still understanding lover and father, turns in a bittersweet farewell to cinema and ends his resumé on a light-hearted note.
Keener, a regular of Holofcener’s movies, gives another fine supporting performance and doesn’t distract too much from the leads. And it’s nice to hear Collette in her natural Australian accent on screen for a change. Holofcener began her filmmaking career with the modestly successful “Lovely & Amazing” in 2001, then hit a stump with “Friends with Money” in 2006, but managed to get back on track with “Please Give” in 2010. “Enough Said” is only her fourth feature, but it might be her best so far. The dialogue is funny, the characters are two-dimensional, the actors are memorable and the story is enjoyable for most audience members from the same age as Eva to their daughters, like Ellen.
Megan Bianco, Special to the Herald
The Best Man Holiday
(Playing at the Durango Stadium 9)
It seems quite apt that “The Best Man Holiday,” a film about a reunion of old friends, feels just like going to an actual reunion. In ways both bad and good.
A reunion, you see, is only fun if you went to the school and recognize your friends. It’s certainly not fun if you didn’t, but were dragged along anyway. In that case, you’ll likely end up drinking white wine in a paper cup alone by a wall, watching everyone else get silly.
Likewise, “The Best Man Holiday,” Malcom D. Lee’s sequel to his (much better) 1999 “The Best Man,” will probably be fun and pleasant for those who saw the first film. Those who didn’t may feel like they’ve been dragged to someone else’s reunion.
And that’s too bad, because the cast, reunited here, is largely excellent, led by the ever-charismatic Taye Diggs as Harper, an author with a fatal flaw: he can’t seem to stop writing about his friends and lovers.
It’s not the fault of the cast that these characters seem less fully formed the second time around. It’s the fault of a script (also by Lee) that takes shortcuts, goes for sentimental overload, gets a little too swept up in holiday trappings, and telegraphs plot developments in often groan-worthy ways. (A character inadvertently leaves an iPad containing secret material sitting on a counter. Do we really then need an ominous close-up of that iPad lying there? Give us a little credit!)
Those who saw the charming and refreshing “The Best Man” will remember that the plot centered on a wedding. This time, it’s Christmas that brings everyone together. If you like Christmas soundtracks, you’re in luck: there at least 15 Christmas songs here. If you don’t like your Christmas music so early in the season, that’s another matter.
The setting is the suburban mansion of Lance and Mia, who married in the first movie. Lance (Morris Chestnut) is a star with the New York Giants playing his last season, and chasing an NFL record for rushing, with time running out. Mia (Monica Calhoun) is still sweet and thoughtful, and decides to hold a Christmas reunion.
That includes Harper (Diggs) and Robyn (the lovely Sanaa Lathan), married and expecting their first child. Harper’s first book, a novel that caused all sorts of trouble in the first film, was a huge success, but as this movie begins, he’s under financial pressure. His agent suggests a winner: An autobiography with his friend the big football star. Cue more trouble.
Then there’s Jordan (an appealing Nia Long), the single and ambitious TV producer who carried a torch for Harper. She’s now dating a white man, Brian (Eddie Cibrian), a relationship that her friends comment on, but is not explored much in the movie. Julian (Harold Perrinau), who had freed himself from the vampy and manipulative Shelby (Melissa de Sousa) by the end of the first film, is now married to the sweet-hearted former stripper Candace (Regina Hall).
And happily, Terrence Howard is back to reprise his role of the rascally but somehow wise Quentin. .
And the hijinks begin. Said hijinks include an amusing boy-band number performed on the fly by the guys (We hate to be Scrooge here, but really, this number was clearly choreographed professionally and rehearsed for many hours), and some arguments that develop into fistfights (Why do so many romantic comedies have to include women attacking each other physically, over a man?).
There are, of course, old scores to settle. There’s also a tragic twist that becomes a major plot point. You will very likely cry at certain moments.
But again, it’s like a reunion. If you already know these characters, you’re good. If you don’t, you’ll be standing against that wall, alone, with that wine in a paper cup.
“The Best Man Holiday,” a Universal Studios release, is rated R for “language, sexual content and brief nudity.” Running time: 122 minutes. HH½ out of four.
JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer
12 Years a Slave
(Playing at the Gaslight Cinema)
With only three films under his belt, Steve McQueen (not to be confused with the deceased Hollywood actor) has made a major impact in the industry.
Besides Jeff Nichols, who achieved a triple threat with “Shotgun Stories” (2007), “Take Shelter” (2011) and “Mud” (2012), McQueen arguably is the most sought-after filmmaker in cinema. His first two films, “Hunger” (2008) and “Shame” (2011), were frank and stark with content and themes. His latest, “12 Years a Slave,” is in the same vein and bound to mark him in film lore for a long time to come. And just like Nichols has featured Michael Shannon in all of his films as a trademark, McQueen has now finished his third signature collaboration with Michael Fassbender.
In pre-Civil War America, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free black man with a job and family in New York. While on a business trip with two white men (played by Scoot McNairy and Taran Killam) — who convince him he’s wanted for a musical performance in Washington, D.C. — Solomon is abducted and tricked into slavery along with a group of other free black citizens. From then on we follow his journey from three different households for a decade while imprisoned and holding on to his dignity.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Solomon’s first master and Paul Dano is the overseer you want to smack during the first act. Fassbender and Sarah Paulson portray Solomon’s second set of delusionally abusive masters, and Lupita Nyong’o presents a remarkable debut as his fellow slave Patsy. Alfre Woodard, Paul Giamatti and Brad Pitt make small appearances as the A-listers in the cast. For those who are up on their history of film, “12 Years” is not the first time we’ve seen slaves on screen. “Amistad” (1997), “Django Unchained” (2012) and the 1977 mini-series “Roots” are some of the more famous ones.
From a direction point of view, the manipulation and injustice portrayed here is not much different than in the previous films. But from a narrative perspective, those films (except for “Roots”) don’t have their protagonist free at the very beginning of the film. “12 Years a Slave” is based on an actual man named Solomon Northup’s memoir of his years stuck in captivity, and Ejiofor leads a brutal feature that shows the importance of freedom and respect. Fassbender adds another eerily brilliant performance as the cotton farmer. McQueen, originally a photographer, features a number of long sequences and close-ups where the audience can feel the level of frustration and anguish Solomon (and Patsy) are experiencing. But it’s really the three actors, Ejiofor, Fassbender and Nyong’o who carry the feature. While “Django Unchained” made audiences cheer and roar for the protagonist to succeed, “12 Years” has you sit back and just observe the horror portrayed on screen.
Megan Bianco, Special to the Herald
Still Showing
Durango Stadium 9
(Next to Durango Mall, 247-9799, www.allentheatresinc.com)
Blue Jasmine. (Wednesday only.) Woody’s latest follows a semi-delusional New York woman (Cate Blanchett) through her divorce (from Alec Baldwin) to relocation in San Francisco with her sister. Rated PG-13.
Thor: The Dark World. (In standard format and digital 3-D with surcharge.) If Thor had a hammer...oh, wait – he does. And he uses it. Rated PG-13.
Free Birds. (In standard format and digital 3-D with surcharge.) In this buddy comedy, two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks must put aside their differences and team up to travel back in time to change the course of history – and get turkey off the holiday menu for good. Voices include Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson and Amy Poehler. Rated PG.
Last Vegas. A group of aging pals played by aging actors head to Vegas for a wild weekend. A “Hangover” for the “Matlock” crowd. Rated PG-13.
Ender’s Game. Youngsters play life-and-death games for the amusement of some aliens with the fate of humanity on the line. Rated PG-13.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Johnny Knoxville dresses as an old man and teams up with a child for this latest creation of the “Jackass” laboratories. Rated R.
Captain Phillips. Tom Hanks stars in the true story about the captain of a freighter hijacked by Somali pirates. Rated PG-13.
Gravity. (In standard format and digital 3-D with surcharge.) George Clooney and Sandra Bullock star as astronauts stranded in space after a devastating accident in orbit. Rated PG-13.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. Chester V’s evil machine is still creating animal-food hybrids, much to the chagrin of Flint Lockwood. It’s a sequel – hopefully someone understands what all that means. Rated PG.
Gaslight Cinema
(102 Fifth St. Next to the railroad depot, 247-8133, www.allentheatresinc.com)
About Time. On his 21st birthday, a man is told he has the ability to travel back in time. So he does, in the hopes of landing a good girl. That’s Rachel McAdams, and the ensuing events make for a textbook romantic comedy, if you’re into that sort of thing. Rated R.
Back Space Theatre
(1120 Main Ave., 259-7940)
Blackfish. The story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Includes shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry.
Ted Holteen and Associated Press
