Word: scripting
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...what, exactly, is The Yards trying to do or say? It's a thoughtful film, to be sure. Director James Gray also co-wrote the script, and he has stated that there is a very deliberate, tragic theme running through the story. Some critics have faulted the movie for being overly deterministic, a predestined tragedy that everyone sees coming. And it's true that you can't help but see Leo's fate better than he can. But isn't that part of the point? Throughout the movie, you constantly side with Leo. Poor Leo. Leo still has a thing...
...subtlety and effectiveness of the script and cinematography is complemented by the acting, which is surprisingly minimalist. Mark Wahlberg gives us a subtle but outstanding portrayal of Leo's fear and frustration. Less is more? In this case, yes; Wahlberg is very good at playing like he's trapped and angry without doing much more than making slight adjustments to the muscles on his face. It seems silly to read about, but it works. Much the same thing goes for the rest of the cast. Charlize Theron, ever the chameleon, plays the languid, dark-haired Erika; Faye Dunaway and James...
...rocky production may be partly to blame. Nearly 30 script re-writes, a director named McG (a problem in itself) whose past work was limited to music videos and adds, and rumors of a fight between Liu and Bill Murray (who plays Bolsey) couldn't have helped things. But this is standard fare in Hollywood. Less common is the sort of bond the actresses developed...
...improbability might be fed up with "Men of Honor." But that may not be so. There's something refreshing about its utterly unembarrassed embrace of the familiar. The director, George Tillman Jr., either doesn't notice or doesn't give a hoot about the way Scott Marshall Smith's script piles up clichés. He just keeps driving his movie right on through them. What's true of him is true of his actors too. De Niro pitches his performance on the edge of psychopathy, where menace and comedy very effectively coexist. But it is Gooding who does...
...last half-century. The reason is simple: Lewis pulled out all the stops, letting his visuals convey a feeling of uninhibited youth - what critic Myron Meisel labeled "the dizziness of irresponsibility." "Gun Crazy" also found Lewis collaborating with another misunderstood auteur - blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo wrote the script, submitting it under the name of Millard Kaufman, a fellow screenwriter who agreed to front for Trumbo...