GREY GARDENS (2009)

Written by Senora Bicho

In 1975, Albert and David Maysles premiered Grey Gardens, a documentary that showcased the lives of mother and daughter, Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, at the New York Film Festival. Earlier this year, HBO aired Grey Gardens, a 17-time Emmy-nominated television movie, which utilized portions of the Maysles’ documentary to tell a more complete story of these reclusive and eccentric women.

The movie starts in 1975 when Big Edie (Jessica Lange) and Little Edie (Drew Barrymore) are living alone in their dilapidated estate, Grey Gardens, located in East Hampton. As the women reveal themselves to the documentarians, the audience is transported through four decades of their lives and learn what took place. Their stories are interwoven together beautifully. We learn they did not always live in filth and squalor. Being relatives, aunt and first cousin respectively, of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, they were used to a much grander lifestyle. Struggles with men draw them together and eventually lead to their secluded lives and downward spiral.

One of the DVD’s special features is an audio commentary with director Michael Sucsy and executive producers Lucy Barzun Donnelly and Rachael Horovitz, which offers extensive information on the production of the film and additional background details. It is interesting to hear the research that was done and how they accomplished flushing out more about the women’s lives.

“Grey Gardens: Then & Now” is fascinating as it explores the differences and similarities between the film and documentary. Interviews with Albert Maysles along with the cast and crew of the film are included. This featurette illustrates the strong performances of Barrymore and Lange. Seeing the real women in the documentary is astonishing because it is hard to tell which is which. Lange’s impressive performance is reminiscent of her role as Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams. She is charming and portrays Big Edie’s struggles genuinely; you can feel her joy and pain. Barrymore is solid but her performance feels more like an act. Her accent is extremely distracting. Seeing portions of the real documentary does bring an added appreciation for her portrayal of Little Edie. The scenes of Barrymore and Lange together are the real strength of this film. They are able to express the deep emotion and bond between mother and daughter. Jeanne Tripplehorn is fabulous in a small role as Jacqueline Kennedy. Daniel Baldwin and Ken Howard are also strong in their supporting roles.

Grey Gardens offers a captivating story along with stellar performances. I can guarantee that if you haven’t seen the Maysles’ documentary, this will stir an interest. I am very anxious to learn more about these fascinating women.

HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU

Written by Hombre Divertido

It’s easy to get into He’s Just Not That Into You.

Yes, Hollywood can still make successful character-driven films with smart dialog. No animation, no special effects, no explosions, just a good story told well.

He’s Just Not That Into You, written by Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein, hit theatres on February 6th, 2009, and was the surprise of the post Oscars/Pre-Summer Junk Dump Season. Since you may have missed it as few venture out into that barren cinematic wasteland that is February, now is the time to catch this fun flick on DVD.

This 129-minute romp includes a talented ensemble cast: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett, Johansson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Justin Long. Though slightly skewed too far to one side, “He’s Just Not That Into You” takes an in-depth look into relationships and respective success and failure. We want different things, with different people, and no one knows what the other is thinking. Should relationships be this hard? Should watching others struggle through them be this enjoyable? It is simply because, though we may not relate to all these people, we do relate to the situations. That is a reflection of good writing, and one might have to go back as far as The Big Chill to find people we enjoy this much who are talking about things we care about.

From a young woman out to find love being mentored by the all-knowing bar manager, to the puppy dog clinging to the hottie who really wants the married guy who thinks he may have made a mistake, to the guy who just doesn’t want to get married to the woman he loves, to the women in relationships they just can’t figure out due to a myriad of reasons including the growing relationship reliance on technology, this film has it all.

Someone should write a book. Oh, wait, they did. Inspired by a Sex in the City episode written by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo and based on their book, this film reaches levels of enjoyment that Carrie and her clan only wish they could bring to the big screen.

Yes, not all the performances are on the same level. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jennifer Connelly give performances that are limited in dimension through most of the film, and the transition made by Justin Long as he goes from the cool dating mentor, to frantic heartsick puppy may be beyond his young capabilities, but the majority of the cast give fine performances in what are all essentially supporting roles. In most cases we end up wanting more of the people we saw the least of, and less of those we saw the majority of.

Though there is little offered as Special Features in this new release, the additional scenes are surprisingly enlightening and entertaining. In most cases we can usually see why scenes are indeed left out of a film, and with He’s Just Not That Into You boasting a running time of over two hours, an argument can certainly be made for the cuts made, but the insights on parental influence found in these scenes were entertaining and well acted. Adding commentary by director Ken Kwapis, who did a fine job of utilizing his stacked cast within a well-paced tale, makes sitting through the extra scenes again well worth the investment.

Recommendation: This is a great film to watch with friends and a surprisingly pleasant addition to any collection. The story and the dialog are the stars here, and well worth your time.

BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA

Written by Hombre Divertido

Beverly Hills Chihuahua is sure to garner some “Look, Mommy, talking dogs!” comments from young children, but there is little here for anyone over the age of six.

Released on DVD on Tuesday March 3rd from Disney, this story of a spoiled Chihuahua who gets dognapped south of the border features an all-star cast, but that is not always a good thing. Somewhere along the line Disney and other companies producing animated features got the brilliant idea to use popular actors in their films rather that trained voiceover actors. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not like Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

Drew Barrymore gives a one-dimensional performance as Chloe, the dainty dog with the high-class digs who gets lost. The rest of the vocal talent simply lacks the energy appropriate for the canines in which they are voicing. The exception would be Cheech Marin as the voice of Manuel the conniving rat, but this comedic genius is given little to say that is actually humorous. Considering that Marin’s performance as a wisecracking Chihuahua in Disney’s Oliver and Company was the bright spot of that film, Marin certainly could have been given a more significant part in this outing.

The humans in the film fare a bit better. Hard to go wrong with Jamie Lee Curtis and Piper Perabo, though the writing tends to let them down. Curtis is given little to do, and Perabo’s character makes a complete transition from a rich, irresponsible, uncaring, young socialite into Violet Sanford from Coyote Ugly over the course of the film, with little motivation. Nonetheless, the two talented actresses are giving their all, and the energy between Perabo and Manolo Cardona as Sam the attractive young Landscaper who, along with his Chihuahua Papi (George Lopez), assists Pearbo in the search for Chloe, results in some of the most endearing moments in the film.

Chloe eventually gets home after making many friends, finding her roots as well as her voice, and love along the way. The film certainly takes some interesting turns as it trots from believability to implausibility in both storytelling and special effects. In certain scenes the latter are actually quite good, but in many scenes they look awful and are certainly not worthy of Disney.

The bonus material is thin, and like the movie is also slated specifically to the very young. The animated short “Legend of the Chihuahua” is awkward at best, the deleted scenes are mildly interesting, but the funniest thing about the blooper reel is that it is titled “Blooper Scooper” which is ironically accurate. The bonus material also includes optional audio commentary by Director Raja Gosnell.

Recommendation: Young children may enjoy the talking dogs, but there is simply not enough comedy here for adults who don’t want to spend 91 minutes watching dogs with cartoon mouths. A simplified story with better special effects and a script with some comedic moments would have better served a wider audience. Skip this one and rent Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.