BECAUSE WHEN IT`S REALLY DISFUNCTIONAL, THERE IS NOTHING MORE PAINFUL THAN A FAMILY : `AUGUST : OSAGE COUNTY`

This is another film that should technically come with a disclaimer. I definitely knew not to expect a light hearted family comedy when I started watching it (and even if you have done no research at all, this fact becomes blatantly obvious under ten minutes into the film) but blimey, I did NOT expect it to hit me like a sledgehammer. Not like this. Those who know how close I am to my mother and grandmother can easily put two and two together to figure out that this was not easy watching for me personally but I think the problem is pretty universal. This is a family portrait. A frighteningly realistic one of what goes on at the other end of the `family` spectrum, when all is not rose-tinted Hollywood bliss.

Barbara (Julia Roberts), Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) and Karen Weston (Juliette Lewis) are three sisters. Ivy lives close to their parents in Osage County, the delegated family member who takes care of the parents while the other two sisters have, to all intents and purposes, made a dash for it, living their own lives far, far away. God knows there is stuff to run away from. The matriarch of the family Violet (Meryl Streep) is not the easiest person to get on with by any stretch of the imagination, so much so that she has pushed her husband Beverly (Sam Shepard) to his wits end. So when tragedy forces all these strong and disparate people with years of unspoken grudges to bear under the same roof, nobody can quite predict what the result is going to be or who, if any of them, is going to get out of this ruthless melee emotionally intact…

This film is based on a play by Tracy Letts and I have no shadow of a doubt that she had first-hand knowledge of the workings of a problem family. I mean at least one. I mean I say that, but hand on heart, how many families can really aspire to what the mainstream holds up as `perfect`. At one point in the film Ivy speaks of how she has lost faith in the whole concept of sisterly love. `Just random bunches of cells that are genetically connected` is how she describes herself and her sisters. I do see her point. I don`t see things quite as darkly as all that, but I do see her point. It is a tough lesson to learn – and not all of us end up learning it – but the fact is, in my experience of the world, that just because you have family ties with someone it doesn`t necessarily mean you get along. It doesn`t even mean you like each other. In fact, if for whatever reason you turn out to be not very compatible as people, your relationship may well turn into a special kind of seething black pit of resentment that you only see between relatives. This usually has its roots in the fact that despite, for whatever reason, you don`t like or don`t get along with the person you are forced together, time and again, sometimes for decades… I mean there can be upsides to this kind of non-compatibility, God knows I have my own share of difficult relations but this has, for the most part, taught me patience. It has given me the ability to look more effectively for the good in people. Because when you are `lumped together` with a group of people, it is actually quite rare that you are able to have a relationship with them spanning decades or lifetimes and be unable to see the good in them at all. Because let us remember, it is very rare indeed that a person has no good in them at all… It all depends on how willing we are to look for it. That`s what makes families so extraordinary for me. It can well be that you are like chalk and cheese, even with your closest relations, but somehow you make it work… Except when you can`t…

Tracey Letts finds so many little things to touch on surrounding this kind of difficult situation. She touches on how difficult it is to get used to the concept of caring for your parents… Violet`s mental decline is especially hard to watch, although it is hinted out that she has never been the easiest of people to live with. Then there is Ivy, the one who got left behind and couldn`t leave her parents to fend for themselves… The line between taking responsibility for your family members and sacrificing your own life is such a fine one sometimes and taking a step either way is more painful than words can express… It is this pain the August : Osage County captures so well…

So yes. August: Osage County is about families. The real deal. Warts and all. Good times and bad. It is definitely not a feel good movie, nor is it for the faint of heart. But I reckon, if we watch it with honesty, many of us, if not all of us, will find something from our own families in there somewhere.              

GEORGE CLOONEY SPECIAL WEEK : A PARADE OF STARS - "OCEAN’S 11"

Now, as we all agree our dear Mr. Clooney is, to put no finer point on it, yummy. And naturally, he is, in himself, quite sufficient to glue one to a film from beginning to end whether the film has substance or not. A film like Michael Clayton, where you have to really use the “little grey cells” to coin the phrase of one of my favorite detectives (oh of course you know who, just think for a second!). Mr. Clooney really and truly knows how to act, the story is amazing and exciting, in short you are surrounded by various levels of yumminess. Sometimes, however, one’s little grey cells have had enough exercise for one day. They want to kick back and be entertained, they don’t want to work. That’s when your typical, common or garden “entertainment” movie comes in. Hopefully it has a clever plotline. Plenty of action, a few nice special effects, a few handsome gents and some beautiful dames, add a little pop corn, grab a soda, what more do you need? How about just such a movie starring George Clooney… Brad Pitt… Matt Damon… AND Julia Roberts? Too good to be true? No. Ocean’s 11.
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is fresh out of prison. He is also a man with a plan. He intends fully to make up for the lost couple of years of his life, and he will do that by robbing three of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. Of course, if you’re robbing a casino in Las Vegas, you have to do a touch more than walk in with a gun and yell “Stick ‘em up!” You’ll need a plan. And a team to execute it. Now we have already explained, Mr. Ocean is a man with a plan. All he has to do is acquire a team, and thanks to his own old contacts – and his best friend Rusty’s (Brad Pitt) this is not actually going to be a problem. All they have to do is to find nine other men as mad as themselves, and pull of the biggest casino heist in the history of Las Vegas… All in a day’s work for Danny Ocean…
Ocean’s 11 is all you expect it to be, and more. There’s really no wonder it kind of turned into a trilogy. Now there is one thing you have to bear in mind when it comes to this kind of film. It sounds simple. That’s what usually trips people up. If “anyone” tries to film a robbery – heist movie, chances are you’re going to get something that is pretty much 10 a penny these days. Completely predictable with 3rd rate acting and photography. Do any of us go out and watch these? Well some of us do, that much is obvious, but most of us do not. However if Steven Soderbergh is at the helm of the boat and if so many classic actors are crammed into the film (the afore – mentioned foursome PLUS Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac and Casey Affleck – and that’s still only part of the cast!) you get true, good quality entertainment. The film is great fun from beginning to end, the plot twists are intelligent and not predictable (as a general rule, anyway) and besides come on… We’re talking about George Clooney here… Of course the film’s brilliant!

HOOK

Are you one of those people who will “never grow up”? I most definitely am. Animations are one thing – they attract a different kind of crowd all together, but there are some children’s films that absolutely HAVE to be watched – and not necessarily when one is young either. Especially the great classics like Cinderella (I mean they even did a grown-up version of that with Drew Barrymore – remember “Ever After?”) or, in this instance Peter Pan. Now, Hook (THE FILM!) is NOT a “grown-up version of” Peter Pan. It’s a children’s film in all its glory but Dear God, what a children’s film… If you are like me determined to “never grow up” chances are you have already watched Hook numerous times. But then again maybe you missed it somehow. Maybe you were too old or too young… You definitely MUST catch up with it…

Well, Hook is not so much the classic story of Peter Pan, more the story of what happened after the story ends. As you recall, Wendy returns home, and Peter continues his life in Never Land, visiting her every year. But then, one year, there is a stranger lying in Wendy’s bed. It’s her daughter; she is just Peter’s age and really beautiful. Peter loves her at first sight and decides never to return to Never Land again… But now settled in the real world, reality takes a hold of him – he marries Wendy’s daughter Moira, gets a job, has two lovely children – a boy and a girl and… Completely forgets about Never Land… As far as he’s concerned he is an orphan found and raised by Grandma Wendy (the delightful Maggie Smith). He is a complete adult and he neither believes in magic or fairies… (he is superbly acted, incidentally by Robin Williams, an actor I greatly enjoyed “in his prime” but has now in my view almost completely slid off the radar…). Well, he may have forgotten about Never Land, but Never Land most definitely has NOT forgotten about him. Not least his dastardly rival Captain Hook. (And after watching Dustin Hoffmann’s stellar representation of Captain Hook, I have been unable to envision the pirate captain in any other way. I’m talking true pirates here people – I’m as big a fan of Johnny Depp as the next person (possibly bigger in fact) but Mr. Hoffmann says it all. Yes, ALL.) Seeing that Peter will not be back any time soon, the Captain ventures into the Real World, and sees what has happened. Being the most dastardly pirate that sailed the seven seas, he hatches a cunning plan to either force Peter to return to Never Land or hurt him beyond belief. He abducts his two children, aiming to turn them into pirates and turn them against there father, thus making him, Hook, invincible. Luckily Peter’s oldest ally and friend Tinkerbell (wait for it… Julia Roberts. Can you believe this cast??) is on hand to take Peter back (by force) to Never Land, much to the joy of the Lost Boys. Now all they must do is somehow remind Peter how to fight, fly, crow, use his imagination and live by the rules of Never Land, for this is the only way to defeat Hook. However, is Peter too far gone to be saved?...

I honestly cannot remember how many times I have watched Hook. It is such an absolutely wonderful story, acted out by absolutely superb actors. And the stars don’t finish there – Bob Hoskins is Smee, Captain Hook’s right hand man (no pun intended hehe) only I couldn’t insert him into the synopsis =). Don’t expect any Avatar type action – this was filmed in 1991 but go by Peter’s rules – use your imagination and you will begin to “see” the whole thing. And since it is not a “remake” of the story it will not spoil it for the little ones either, on the contrary, it’s what happens next, how the story really ends and that might be a life saver for some parents out there (I was very much a “what happened next” type child). This is a WONDERFULL story, an absolute classic and EVERYONE needs a bit of escapism from time to time… Come on, don’t be shy…