filmland / By Charlie Myers

Ages of Man

The character Hunt creates is both quirky and familiar, attributes that inform the entire film. Firth’s Frank is anything but the usual romantic savior: He is emotional, easily upset and keeps apologizing for the fumbling and seemingly unerotic sex he and April have. It’s a difficult character to pull off but Firth makes you root for him without disguising the character’s weaknesses.

Hunt is excellent in illuminating the narrative and creating mood with her simple yet telling compositions and quiet scenes. The scene where Ben tells April he is splitting is typical. April enters a seeming empty house, calling for Ben. Off-screen, we hear Ben utter the fatal sentence: “April, we need to talk.” Entering the kitchen, where the rest of the scene takes place, Ben is seen sitting at a small table that contains a single glass of water. When Ben leaves, April sits at the same table, the glass untouched but slightly moved. There is nothing overtly “dramatic” about the sequence but the effect is devastating.

With more space, I could mention a dozen other scenes that were equally effective. Then She Found Me will no doubt get lost in the glut of crap that passes for summer films and that’s too bad. But that’s life in the cinema lane. I hope Hunt continues to direct; her first feature is a fine film. Rated R for some language and sexual content. 100 m. At the Broadway.

YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN:Somewhere back in my late 20s, I noticed a change had gradually occurred, initially unnoticed, with my body. Having previously had trouble making 150 pounds despite how much beer I drank (and I blush to think what passed for beer back then in the pre-microbrew era) or chips and dip I ate, I suddenly noticed that my belt felt tighter. Maybe that’s when I decided to stop watching football on TV and get back into running, but ultimately nothing really stayed the inevitable advance of weight gain; diet and exercise just delayed the full onset and it’s been a knockdown battle ever since.

Now, more ominously, the same may be happening to my brain; I find myself going to films I would have previously skipped. It happened the same sneaky way as the weight. Perhaps a Wedding Planner here and there, or even the occasional Gigli, but certainly not Dude, Where’s My Car? So, how else can I explain finding myself at a screening of the latest Adam Sandler vehicle? I fear my film future is looking bleak.

I knew I was in trouble when I started counting chuckles (five total). Perhaps I was sucked in by the script’s premise (co-written by Sandler with Judd Apatow and Robert Smigel): finding humor in the Israeli/Palestinian situation. But of course, director Dennis Dugan is too interested in homophobic humor (as he was in his previous film, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry), bodily functions and geriatric sex jokes to make any telling comments on America’s global presence or the seemingly endless conflict in the Middle East.

Sandler spends much of film gyrating his crotch, while I spent most of the film restless shifting in my seat and wishing my watch would speed up. Is that what is called synchronicity? Presumably, Sandler fans will find all of this much more amusing. Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language and nudity. 113 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek, Minor and Fortuna.

KUNG FU PANDA:I had intended to skip this film as I do most animated features aimed at a young audience, but in came an e-mail from a friend who knows one of the directors (John Stevenson, who co-directed with Mark Osborne), and who thereby got to attend a film premiere party. Since she gave the film a solid A-/B+, and since her artistic taste is much more sophisticated than my own (having taught art history at HSU), I changed my mind.

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE >SHARE