One successful story out of three is not good enough as Redford steps up to the plate. Too little first rate photography and too much collegiate tedium.
One successful story out of three is not good enough as Redford steps up to the plate. Too little first rate photography and too much collegiate tedium.
Academy Award winning director Robert Redford tries to re-kindle the fire of his “Ordinary People” with another look inside people’s souls. But the heat ain’t there. Meryl Streep is paired with Tom Cruise in an interesting matching of wits. But the interest is not about whether or not she swallows his story; it’s about the suspense that builds as the audience waits to see if the two will ever develop some sort of dynamic on screen. They don’t.
The film consists of the simultaneous telling of three stories. In the first, Streep plays Janine Roth, a veteran political reporter who must do battle with Tom Cruise playing the sleazy Senator Jasper Irving. Reporter Roth is called into Senator Irving’s office for the express purpose of being handed a juicy scoop on a new war policy in the Middle East.
Unfortunately, Streep is so far beyond any acting performance that Cruise could summon up that the two are incommunicado on screen. As a pro who is immediately identified as having decades of experience over the pup Senator she is set up to be in the driver’s seat. But the lines that Cruise utters are such nonsensical poly-sci psycho-babble that the audience is denied a believable story. OK, Irving’s plan is supposed to fail, but the audience stills needs to believe that he believes it will succeed. We have no reason to believe.
The failure of the Senator’s plan is consistent with the second story, set on a frozen Afghanistan ridge in a suspected terrorist sector. There two young Special Forces buds from the ‘hood (Michael Peña and Derek Luke) fight against long odds with faceless insurgents (or could they be patriots?). But without a rational hand-hold the audience is denied the opportunity to appreciate how the good Senator caused the two soldiers to be on the ridge. The temptation to tune out is irresistible.
The third story features Robert Redford as a political science professor counseling disillusioned college student Todd (Andrew Garfield). His story ties into the other two stories as he relates his personal experiences with two students who eventually end up on the frozen ridge in Afghanistan. His mission as a teacher is to equip citizens to deal with politicians such as Senator Irving. The professor teaches the tools of the veteran reporter but his students end up being manipulated by the powers-that-be in the form of America’s Senator Irving’s (they are everywhere).
A good enough plot, if not for the mixed missions of the film. The movie comes off as the first major play by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner for their newly acquired United Artists Studios. Secondly, it smacks of favors being traded and chits being called in. Is this imagination or are we learning more from the film than its makers intended? Robert Redford’s performance is dismal, barely a shadow of what he did in his classics “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting.” He is supposed to be inspirational but turns out to be just the opposite. We, and his students, are bored to tears. The scenes of the classroom debates are so tedious as to be loathsome.
Moving back to the battlefield on a frozen ridge in a blizzard in Afghanistan, Oscar winning lenser Philippe Rousselot (“A River Runs Through It”—1992) gets to show his stuff. With credit to director Redford as well as shooter Rousselot, this difficult footage shot in the Simi Valley mountains of Southern California is a miracle (the tough location was chosen after failing grades in test shots with studio poly-snow). It is obvious the snow is warm, as are the uniforms of the actors, because although the snow is real it fails to cover them as would happen in a real blizzard situation.
This is somewhat important as the snow would have been the best cover they had. But without getting nerdy about it, the photo work in the Special Forces situation room and the helicopter approach over the LZ is perfect. It is the only point in the film where Rousselot has a chance to come close to his fabled Cesar-winning masterpiece “Diva” (original released in 1981, re-released this month, don’t miss it).
Rounding out the first rate crew is composer Mark Isham (“A River Runs Through It,” “Crash”) coming up with a great original music sound track. Good news—frozen embattled ridge and hi-tech Special Forces photography, and sound track. Bad news---most of the rest of the film. See it just for Meryl Streep and the gutsy scenes on the desolate ridge. If you want Robert Redford and touchy-feely, rent “Ordinary People.”
Release: November 9, 2007
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