Mrs. Henderson Presents

"Mrs. Henderson Presents" is the true(ish) story of Laura Henderson, an Englishwoman of an age, class, and means to do however she damn well pleases. After her husband passes away just prior to the film's beginning, she chooses to buy a theater and, well, put on a show. Since she knows nothing of show business, Mrs. Henderson must hire a manager: Mr. Van Damm. He thrills at the prospect of running his own SoHo theater, but finds himself almost immediately at loggerheads with the busybody Mrs. Henderson. So what? Well, their theater, The Windmill, was the only one to stay open throughout WWII. It was underground, so some thought it the best possible place to weather The Blitz.

Sounds tedious, I know. But Stephen Frears directs Judi Dench as Mrs. Henderson and Bob Hoskins as Mr. Van Damm. That's a formula for success, right there. And, c'mon, when Christopher Guest is your foil, how can you go wrong? Thus it is that "Mrs. Henderson Presents" presents us with that old chestnut, the "Let's put on a show" show, and makes it work. Here's a movie that knows what it has in Dench and Hoskins and happily gives them room to find a comfortable zone of friendly antagonism and good fun. It doesn't hurt that the shows they put on are pretty darn good, to boot, with catchy production numbers like "Goody Goody" and "Babies of the Blitz" putting a smile on my face and a tap in my toes.

In fact, I smiled all through "Mrs. Henderson Presents," thoroughly enjoying the company of Dench and Hoskins as they put on their shows. Here's a movie I could easily see again.

PS I forgot to mention the elephant in the room. There is quite a bit of nudity in "Mrs. Henderson Presents." Those of you who've been waiting for a Bob Hoskins full frontal nude scene, wait no longer!

The Great Raid

Poor James Franco. The guy hasn't had a hit in some time, and he must be running out of studio goodwill by now. THE GREAT RAID hasn't helped.

THE GREAT RAID is actually two movies: a Franco - starring "mission" picture a la THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN and a Joseph Fiennes - starring "POW" picture about the tribulations of the guys stuck in WWII's infamous Cabanuatan POW camp. The former is pretty good, while the latter had me looking at my watch. Fortunately, the movie shifted back and forth betweeen the two often enough that I knew the good part would always be coming back.

Had THE GREAT RAID been about only the Great Raid, it could have been a bang-up picture and, perhaps, Franco may have gotten a hit. As it is, the thing's too unfocused and it easily drops into the "forgettable" pile.

Come and See

COME AND SEE is a powerful, disturbing film, but I'm not sure it earns that power more through storytelling or casting.

The film is about the Beylorussian partisans of WWII. The element that makes the film so powerful is its lead character, a boy of about 13 who's played by one of the most gifted child actors I've ever seen. In the early stage of the film, he's eager to join the grownups and begin the adventure this war is sure to be. As horror piles upon horror, his reserves of courage and optimism slowly burn away as he turns into an ancient man, old beyond his years and bereft of hope. Aleksei Kravchenko, the young actor who plays this character, is absolutely extraordinary. Sure, the makeup helps us see him age, but the real drama is in his eyes.

The movie's photography is proficient, but it really shines in the area of sound design and scoring. 'Come and See' isn't afraid of ambient noise, and it isn't afraid of music that fades in and out, varying in appropriateness but never in impact. The movie showed me plenty, but it sold me with what it let me hear.

Would I have responded to COME AND SEE so strongly had its protagonist been 25? I don't know, but I do know that I was moved by what I saw. 'Come and See' took me to another place, a terrible place, and it did so effectively and without bombast. This is a very effective film.