Monster

MONSTER, the Aileen Wournos story, takes us into an alien world and shows us what it’s like to live there. That’s the world of Wournos, a person who grew up in what, to many of us, is an alternate universe. Wournos doesn’t live in a place where people are basically good and things generally work out for the best. Rather, she lives in a world where people are vile and things generally fall apart. And while MONSTER never lets Wournos off the hook for her actions, it does leave us with an understanding of where she’s coming from.

Aileen Wournous was a street hooker who became a murderess, killing her customers and stealing their cars and cash. The film shows us why, and it’s a portrait of incredible sadness. As the film begins, Wournos (played by Charlize Theron) is in despair, on the verge of suicide. And then something totally unexpected happens: she falls in love, and she dares to hope. But in Wournos’s world, hope is a false promise. When the money runs out and the rope begins to fray, she’s gotta come up with something. And here’s where the movie breaks our heart, because when you’re Aileen Wournos, the list of somethings you can come up with is tragically limited.

The film has its flaws: Wournos occasionally says things that sound more like the voice of a writer than that of the character. Theron’s performance sometimes jars, as occasionally she belies her physical transformation with vocal ticks that remind us who it us under all that makeup and costuming. But these, frankly, are nitpicks. MONSTER is a very, very good picture, and well worth seeing. I’m sorry I waited so long.

Speed Racer

SPEED RACER is the most audaciously brilliant film I've seen this year. It takes the adjectives "bright, loud, and colorful" and turns them into peaks to be scaled, climbing ever higher to some brighter, louder, more colorful future. The story itself can fit on the back of a cocktail napkin: "S.R. saves family. Drives real fast." But the Wachowskis' execution of that story is so joyfully over the top that it won me over. The images flash by so quickly that the brain barely has time to process them beyond "Bang! Zoom! Pretty Colors!" However, when your movie's racing by at these speeds, flashing images and a cocktail napkin plot is all you need.

Is this a film for the ADD crowd? Perhaps so - the cuts are so quick, the action so frenetic, that I'm not sure I want to show it to my kids. But it's beautiful, in its way, and it's daring. In crafting SPEED RACER, the Wachowskis made something unlike any film that has gone before it. Even if you're not easily distracted by bright, shiny objects, you've got to respect the filmmakers' vision and daring.

SPEED RACER is easily my biggest surprise of the year.

Black Snake Moan

BLACK SNAKE MOAN didn't get much traction in theaters, though it garnered positive reviews. I can probably sum up the reasons why in my wife's response to the film when she saw the disc arrive in the mail: "Isn't that the one where Samuel L. Jackson chains the girl from THE ADDAMS FAMILY to a radiator? I'll pass."

Well, yeah, Samuel L. Jackson does chain the girl from THE ADDAMS FAMILY to a radiator, but the movie isn't about hot "old black man / chained white chick" action (though I'm sure there are many web sites that are). It's about finding out who you are, whether you've forgotten or simply never knew. It's about dignity, and it's about a particular slice of Southern culture that's as alien to me as a Mongolian yurt, yet feels familiar and comforting.

Here's the deal: Sam Jackson is a farmer and blues musician who has the blues so bad, he can't even play the blues. He leads a blues kind of life: he looks like a bluesman, with his little pot belly and fringe of white hair; but it's been so long since he's picked up a guitar that he can barely remember what it feels like. Sam lives outside a small Delta town, and in that town lives Christina Ricci, the town whore. Not hooker, mind you - she's free. But she has no impulse control, and when things go wrong and she winds up bleeding and unconscious on the side of a country road, Sam finds her. And then he, well ... but it seems like a good idea at the time!

Now no one can deny that that's a great, pulpy core for a story. But that's not what makes the movie. What makes the movie are the sense of time and place it creates, a South both real and archetypical, a South that's far more interesting than the one I lived in for 15 painful months (Ask me about the restaurant that really did have a menu that said, "Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner."). The wonderful, bluesy score takes some credit for that, as does the perfect set and costume design. Samuel L. Jackson certainly deserves his share of the credit, reminding us that, yes, this guy is one fine actor when he brings his A game. And Christina Ricci delivers a brave, demanding performance that changes her status from "girl from THE ADDAMS FAMILY" to "amazing actress from BLACK SNAKE MOAN."

Director Craig Brewer's previous film was HUSTLE AND FLOW, which was brilliant. With this followup effort, he proves that he's not a one-shot wonder. He's a unique and assured voice of the South, and I look forward to hearing what he has to say next.