Way Too Late Review: "The Lone Ranger"

Directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio, starring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter, and William Fichtner - Rated PG-13

 

 

This is slightly above a "meh."

 

 

 

 

 

I've pretty much taken off the last month as far as reviewing movies is concerned, and I have no real excuse for you.  I haven't been busy, and nothing major has happened in my personal life.  I simply haven't been motivated to write anything, reviews or otherwise.  Now, inexplicably, I feel like writing again, so I wanted to start with The Lone Ranger. 

 

In all honestly, I had very little intention of watching this movie before it came to HBO.  I remember reading about it being shut down before it even started filming, and I thought that was probably a good idea.  No matter how big the draw of Johnny Depp, a film version of a franchise that has been dead longer than most intended viewers have been alive is not a great idea.  (Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and I would not have mentioned my initial thoughts if this film had turned out to be a success.) 

 

But the film eventually got the green light, and the rest is unfortunate Hollywood history.  The fact that it bombed is what made me want to see it.  Last year's John Carter was a high profile bomb, and I ended up loving that movie.  So maybe the same would be true of this. 

 

In short, I did not like this nearly as much as John Carter.  I didn't hate The Lone Ranger, but it doesn't surprise me that most people do hate it or simply don't care about it.  First, it's a western.  I love westerns, but they are few and far between because they don't make a lot of money.  As far as westerns go, this is too much Wild Wild West and not enough Tombstone for my tastes, but it's still nice to get my western fix in.  (And to be clear, this is not nearly as ridiculous and horrible as Wild Wild West.  No giant robot spiders in this film...) 

 

Second, and more importantly, the film is kind of a mess.  It's too long (at nearly two and a half hours) and tries to cram too much story into that running time.  I was never all that confused (thanks to a framing device in which a child asks all the questions the audience might have), but I didn't really care about all of the stuff going on.  The moments when some people get their comeuppence meant nothing to me.  In fact, I had a hard time deciding if there were any characters that I wanted to survive or die. 

 

Despite plot issues and generally not caring about anybody onscreen, I still sort of enjoyed this one.  The action is big and expensive, and it's nice to see a western.  Also, it has Johnny Depp.  I like Depp, so I liked most of the moments that were meant to be funny.  I thought the character ventured too far into Jack Sparrow country every now and then (feeding the bird, for example), but for the most part I enjoyed the performance.  As for Armie Hammer, well, he's Armie Hammer, that bland, handsome guy that doesn't really matter.  He's a fine actor, but aside from playing the Winklevi, his roles haven't been very interesting. 

 

Depp playing a Native American has left many people upset, but I doubt that that it was factored into the film's success.  It certainly didn't affect my opinion of the film.  Sure, it seems a bit silly to have Depp play a Native American, but in general the Natives are treated as the wronged people who deserve to strike back at the white settlers.  Regardless, the controversy gets to die now since the film is not likely to spawn a sequel.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, as long as I didn't try to get too involved in the story.  I'll probably never watch it again, but I don't regret watching it once.  It is still a western after all, and I'll take whatever I can get.  Unfortunately, due to this film's box office, I won't likely get a chance to see another western for quite some time.

 

Random Thoughts

 

 

Glad to see Jeff Bridges isn't the only one getting mileage out of his True Grit accent.  Barry Pepper pretty much sounds just like his character from that western.

 

I had no idea what was going on with Helena Bonham Carter.  Her scene was the equivalent of the visit to the voodoo lady in the Pirates movies, except she's just a prostitute...with an ivory leg?  Not going to lie, I paid almost no attention to that scene because I just didn't care.  In fact, all that scene did was confuse me because I assumed it meant Carter's husband Tim Burton had directed the film when I know it was directed by Gore Verbinsky.  So much confusion...

 

 

 

"The Social Network"

**The first thing you might notice is yet another "Vader" review (I believe it's number four after Scott Pilgrim, Inception, and My Son, My Son). This doesn't mean I'm lowering my standards it just means I really enjoyed these four films. And as I posted in my top fifteen list earlier in the year, the "Vader" doesn't represent the perfect film (even though I claim that in the description). I do intend on changing that description on the side someday.

The Social Network - Directed by David Fincher, written by Aaron Sorkin, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, and Justin Timberlake - Rated PG-13

"We don't know what it can be, we don't know what it will be, we know that it is cool."

The Social Network, aka “The Facebook Movie,” seemed like a joke when I first heard about it. Okay, a popular website that seemingly everyone uses is getting its own movie. Sounds like a gimmick. Then I read that Aaron Sorkin was writing it and David Fincher was directing it. How quickly gimmick turns into entertaining art.

The creation of a social networking site may not sound like ripe material for a movie, but in this case, the “true” story actually contains plenty of dramatic possibilities. I put “true” in quotations because it’s not really known how much of this film is factual. A lot of the film takes place during legal depositions, and much of the script was based on documents from these meetings. But regardless of what is or is not true, the film packs in plenty of drama in the form of revenge and betrayal.

The story goes like this: Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg gets dumped one night and goes back to his dorm to drink his sorrows away and denigrate his ex on the internet. He decides to take his anger out in the form of creating a site that allows people to rank female students side by side. This attracts the attention of the Winklevoss twins, who ask Mark to program a social network for Harvard students. Mark agrees, but creates Facebook on the side with his own crew, including his best friend, Eduardo Saverin. It becomes very popular and the legal action begins.

It’s all a bit more complicated than that, of course, but you get the idea. This isn’t really a movie about “what happened?” anyway. This is a film about Zuckerberg as a character. What is his motivation? Why does he betray his friends when there seems to be no real benefit? Zuckerberg seems to be operating on a different plane than the rest of the characters in the film. He certainly talks on a different level…or should I say levels? Zuckerberg talks a mile a minute and seems to be in the middle of three simultaneous conversations. It’s exhausting to listen to at times (a fact a character points out early on), but it’s always entertaining. Sorkin’s script contains some of the wittiest and smartest dialogue this year.

The dialogue is one thing, the delivery is another. Jesse Eisenberg (who hopefully will no longer be confused with Michael Cera after this) is the perfect choice for the speed talking, sarcastic Zuckerberg. I get the feeling that you’re supposed to hate the character at least a little, but I found myself rooting for him, because Eisenberg, while portraying a socially awkward, childish jerk, is still very charismatic and even likable in a strange way. I hope that Eisenberg is recognized this year come award season because as of right now, his is my favorite performance of the year.

The supporting cast is rounded out quite well. Andrew Garfield (recently cast as the new Spider-Man) stands out as Eduardo. I may have liked Zuckerberg a bit, but I felt complete sympathy for Eduardo and that is due to Garfield’s earnest performance. Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins (his likeness was digitally added to a body double in post production) was entertaining as well, especially since the twins provided quite a bit of comedic relief. And entertainment Renaissance man Justin Timberlake is amusing as Napster founder Sean Parker.

The acting and writing is great, but this is still a David Fincher film. Fincher has yet to make a film I don’t like (yes, I enjoy Alien 3) and his streak is alive with The Social Network. This film has all the visual flair one would expect from Fincher and there are segments that are just amazing (the regatta scene is definitely a standout). The dim lighting of the film worked for me as well. It created a cool atmosphere. The decision to go with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the score was pitch-perfect too. It’s hard to imagine the film without the techno-infused music blasting throughout.

There is much to be said for the editing of the film as well. It all pieces together so coherently even though the story could potentially be very complicated. This is a film that delves into techno-babble concerning computer programming and whatnot and at times you just have to let it wash over you and stop trying to understand it all, which is how you should enjoy the entire film.

Don’t trouble yourself with questions about whether or not this film “defines a generation” like the commercials claim. For the record, I don’t see how we can think in terms of generation this or that in the internet age. Everything has become so diverse because of the internet you can’t even lump people together by their age anymore. I guess the story about the birth of a site that is helping to bring about the end of “generations” may in fact define the era. Maybe we should say that The Social Network is a film that “defies” generations.

The Social Network doesn’t need all the hyperbole that is surrounding it anyway. It’s a film that knows just how cool it is. Now you just need to check it out, not because it’s a statement on this or any generation, but because it’s smart, funny, and it is one of the best films of the year.