Movie reviews

Becoming Jane (2007)

For those who like Pride and Prejudice, an emergency substitute

At first, I thought the movie was uninspired--a pale repetition of Pride and Prejudice. And it never sizzled, but it grew on me. In fact, the weather outside being frightful, I watched it a second time. Anne Hathaway never convinced me that she was Jane Austen, but James McAvoy as Tom Lefroy was enjoyable, and I liked James Cromwell and Julie Walters as Austen's parents. I wonder if the biographical elements are accurate. Here's hoping that Jane and Cassandra Austen ran into fewer moral and social impasses than this movie suggests.


Stroszek (1977)

Stroszek and ambivalence

Director Werner Herzog acknowledges ambivalence toward America, and in Stoszek, his ambivalence is obvious. Herzog films Plainfield, WI, and he focuses on railroad tracks, truck stops, junk yards, unpaved parking lots, treeless fields, and poorly kept mobile homes. Depressing! No wonder the main characters, German immigrants, become disillusioned with "get rich quick" America. No getting rich in Plainfield. And Cherokee, North Carolina, fares no better. Its cheesiest tourist traps dominate the last few minutes of the film. But Herzog features Bruno S., son of a German prostitute. Bruno's mother did not want him, so he was institutionalized when he was three years old. He spent years in asylums and survived with obvious quirks. In Stroszek, he more or less plays himself. His reactions to Stroszek's colorful characters, including locals, criminals, a prostitute, and a few feathered friends, are the highlights of the film.


Shall We Dance? (1995)

Pleasant surprise

Hard working, straight laced Japanese businessman, brought up in a culture that rewards conformity and frowns on ballroom dance, takes an unexpected step. He falls in love with dancing, but since it is stigmatized in his society, he keeps his passion to himself. His wife suspects an affair, so she hires a private detective, and he is drawn into ballroom dancing, too. Meantime, the businessman's colleague, bumbling accountant by day, becomes a rumba king at night. My expectations were fairly low, so I was pleasantly surprised by this subtle, graceful movie, which has complex characters and enjoyable plot. No wonder Shall We Dance won awards. It turned my evening into a sparkling success; it gets five stars from me.