If You Smell...What Tom Hanks...Is Cooking! "Inferno"

Inferno (2016)  

Rated PG-13

Starring Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Omar Sy, Irrfan Khan, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Ben Foster, Ana Ularu

Directed by Ron Howard

The Story:

Symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) awakes in a hospital with no memory of how he got there. As Dr. Brooks (Jones) helps to try and piece some of the missing pieces of what happened back, someone attempts to kill Langdon. They escape, and begin a whirlwind world tour trying to stay one step of the people trying to kill Langdon while attempting to solve a puzzle left behind from a zealot billionaire (Foster) who has devised a virus that will render the majority of the world's population extinct.

Well, I guess I was wrong about reviewing the last of the 2016 sequels to long-dormant franchises a few weeks back.

THIS is the last one.

I'm almost sure of it.

:)

So if  you remember The Da Vinci Code from way back in 2006, or Angels and Demons from 2009, then you are already familiar with the character played by Hanks and what he does.

However if you never saw those films, or like me, vaguely remember seeing them back in the day, and that's really your only recollection of the films, then you'll probably still be okay.

On its own, it's a slick thriller with competent direction by the always reliable Ron Howard.

This time, instead of direct involvement with the church and overtly religious tones, it's dialed back a bit as the mystery centers on the works of the poet Dante and his work: Inferno.

Add a touch of the modern spy thriller, and you have a film that is going to do the best it can to keep you guessing at what happens next, who you can trust, and what it all means.

Naturally, some things work better than others, but the film is filled with enough interesting characters and a pretty talented cast from top to bottom that they make all of the characters have a three dimensional feeling and they aren't just cardboard caricatures helping to prop up the movie.

I'm not sure if there will be another film in the series, but I doubt they'll want to wait another decade if they decide to continue the films. Hanks and Howard aren't getting any younger.

It's quite likely that instead we'll be treated to a cinematic reboot, and that means that most likely Chris Pine will be taking over the role in the next outing.

: )

Final Grade: B-

Destined For Greatness Come "Hell Or High Water"

Hell or High Water  (2016) 

Rated R

Starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham

Directed by David Mackenzie

The Story:

Toby and Tanner (Pine & Foster) hatch a scheme to rob banks to cover the mortgage to save the family farm and give it to Toby's kids. Of course Texas Rangers Hamilton and Parker (Bridges & Birmingham) are determined to figure out who is committing the robberies and stop them before they strike again.

That description doesn't really do justice to just how good this movie really is.

It's a character driven story arc for starters, with each of the 4 leads given ample screen time and opportunity to present their character and win over the audience.

By the mid-point, you're rooting for both the outlaws and the lawmen, and it provides such a gradual build of sympathy and respect for all the characters.

Through some judgement errors, things take a turn for the worse as the movie progresses and it steamrolls to the inevitable conclusion.

But it is most definitely a ride worth taking.

I was amused by Jeff Bridges' character the most, as he seemed very closely resembled to the peace officer from R.I.P.D.

As one of only 17 people on the planet who actually liked that film, his character was the highlight of the movie, and he does it again in this film, balancing a character who is full of himself because he is that good at what does and being actually likable.

Whether or not the film has a happy ending completely depends on you point of view to what happens during the film.

It's the right ending for a great movie.

Final Grade: B+

Time To Get With "The Program"

The Program (2015)

Rated R

Starring Ben Foster, Chris O'Dowd, Dustin Hoffman, Lee Pace, Jesse Plemons,

Directed by Stephen Frears

The Story:

David Walsh (O'Dowd) is a reporter for an Irish newspaper who has been covering the Tour de France for years. When he sees his colleagues become enamored with previously not-that-great cyclist Lance Armstrong (Foster), he expresses his doubts. The more Armstrong begins winning, the more sure Walsh is that he's cheating.

This is based on the book that Walsh wrote on Lance Armstrong doping, and duping, the entire world.

And it's a good movie, but it's not great.

It unfolds in a straightforward fashion with Lance not being very great on the hills of France and then slowly, methodically, he works his way to the top of the mountain, both figuratively and literally.

Foster is an amazing Lance Armstrong, the guy that everyone loved once upon a time.

The American that beat The Tour!
The American that beat Cancer!

Then he got greedy and had to come back for more.

And that's when things began to unravel.

Had he simply stayed away from the limelight, it's quite possible that his legacy would have endured.

But the ego, the need for the spotlight shines through in his performance, and you can see it as his true undoing.

O'Dowd makes for a great reporter, going after the story that nobody else wants to believe.

The weird thing, for a story that involves his work to uncover the story, the reporter is absent for most of the proceedings, which is a shame.

It seemed like the story was missing the dramatic cues that allow Armstrong to stay one step ahead for so long, or perhaps it's just knowing what happens, there's never a sense of real drama or tension to elevate this film from a "should see" to a "must see".

Now streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing.

Final Grade:  B-

"The Finest Hours" Is A Great True Story...But A Mediocre Movie

The Finest Hours (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Eric Bana, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz,

Directed by Craig Gillespie

The Story:

During a tremendous blizzard in 1952, a tanker rips in two and the Coast Guard sends just about everyone they have to try and save any survivors.

This is not that story.

You see, there was a second tanker that also ripped in half and had survivors on it. What was left of the Coast Guard was dispatched to try and find the remnants of that ship and bring in any survivors.

This is that story.

And it's true.

The biggest problem with this, the story and much of the acting and pacing is stiff, wooden and rather boring.

Which seems really weird when you have a thrilling rescue mission at sea that bogs down while trying to be told.

Weirder still that it was a product of Walt Disney studios who excel at these true life stories.

There's equal parts of blame to go around all over the place, even the leading man, Chris Pine, and quite possibly especially him, is not above finger pointing.

His character is probably supposed to be shy and humble, but it just comes across as stiff and unlikable.

Things do pick up considerably once the storm is raging and the rescue attempt begins, but the buildup to it with Pine and Grainger's romance...

Goodness that's some painfully dull cinema to endure.

Good intentions, a great real story that just gets muddied when it was turned into a film.

Final Grade: C

My Money Is On Marky Mark Being The "Lone Survivor"

Lone Survivor (2013)

Rated R

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylore Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Eric Bana,

Written and Directed by Peter Berg

The Story:

Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg) and the rest of his SEAL team head into Afghanistan on a secret mission to capture a Taliban leader.  When they are discovered by some goat herders, they are faced with the dilemma: spare them or kill/capture them?  Following their explicit rules of engagement, they let them go.

Naturally, the team is hunted down and killed until only Luttrell is left.

This is their sad story.

Not only do they lose most of their team, even a rescue attempt goes awry costing more men their lives.

That Luttrell finds safety and salvation in the village is both ironic and heartwarming.  The villagers live by the code to protect people from their enemies.

That includes standing up to the Taliban to give Luttrell a chance to survive and mend.

The end credits are a brief and touching tribute to the lives that were lost during this mission, and only begin to scrape the surface of how many have perished during this conflict.

I hate to give movies like this a low grade.  They mean well, showing people how horrible war can be, and how great those that serve in the military really are.

But somehow, I just didn't connect with this film or the characters enough to make me care more for their fates.


Or perhaps knowing that everyone aside from Wahlberg is going to bite the dust going in to the movie, all of the suspense is already sucked from the viewer, and so then it's just an exercise in paint-by-numbers.

And that's too bad.

Final Grade: C+/B- range

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Much like Zero Dark Thirty, many of these movies are now a one and done.  Well done, but too much for repeated viewings.