Lars & the Real Girl

Lars & the Real Girl is a sweet, heartwarming story about a man who develops a relationship with a life size doll. Ryan Gosling plays Lars, an anti-social towns-person who actually does believe his new lover is real. Instead of all the people in town freaking out, they are advised to go along with his delusion. The hope is that Lars will eventually get over it on his own. The film's strange but excellent premise unfortunately succumbs to typical light comedy for the most part but does stand out occasionally. This is mostly due to the brilliance of Gosling, who again shows evidence of Oscar calibre acting. The film does what it sets out to do by being an entertaining and moving little film. This is fine, however, I can't help but wonder if under someone else's direction, this could have been a spectacular character study. A good, but uneven comedy/drama.

American Gangster

Already being hailed as a great film, American Gangster is a muddled, over long, over hyped disappointment. Russel Crowe and Denzel Washington excel with their roles, but that is one of very few highlights. Ridley Scott tries to give a 2 page story the same scope as Gladiator, thus creating a slow, boring mess. At times, Gangster is pleasing stylistically and plot-wise but ultimately fails in every area. I suppose I may have enjoyed it more had I not heard so many good things about it. Perhaps a good rental, but no reason to see this in theatres.

The Darjeeling Limited

After the excellent film Rushmore, writer/director Wes Anderson followed up his debut with weaker movies The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic. Both movies had their moments, but compared to Rushmore they were very dissapointing. The Darjeeling Limited finally sees Anderson back on track. The film is both hilarious, heart breaking and stunningly beautiful. Although not quite as good as Rushmore, at least now it can be said that Anderson can make more than one great movie. One of the best this year.

30 Days of Night

30 Days of Night is a horror film that tries to reinvent the vampire. To try and change the standing romantic symbol to one of terror. In this regard, the movie is somewhat of a success. But despite this, and impressive visuals, the film is very weak. Bad story, bad characters and strange pacing drag it down to the level of forgettable.

Into The Wild

Into the Wild, starring an outstanding Emile Hirsch, is one of the best films of the year. Sean Penn directs a magnificent true story about a young man who gives up his normal life to go on a cross country journey to Alaska and be one with the wild. With hardly any money, "Alexander Supertramp" travels across the USA and even Mexico and encounters adventures along the way. Through either nature, people or places, he has found the freedom he has always desired but he also learns the price that comes with it. The people he befriends are all charmed by his wonderful spirit, but they all see something he does not, that happiness is meaningless if not shared. As the character roams, he is stunned by simple beauties and repulsed with his past and the normal lives everyone else accepts. But as he is happy with life on the road and in the wild, he is oblivious to the pain he has caused to his parents he left behind, although it becomes apparent they are the main reason for his departure. But he also hurts his abandoned sister, the only person he really trusted. At one point he claims that happiness does not come from human relationships. I suppose we are to believe that in his mind, it comes from your relationship with nature. However, it may be too late when he realizes it's both. A beautiful film from beginning to end. Into the Wild is one of the few unforgettable movies of the year.