Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald since 1992. The Tri-City native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 250 movies each year. This member of Portland's association of movie critics, Far From Hollywood, believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and should be seen there and not on television screens. Have a question for Mr. Movie? Click on "Add Comment" below. Mr. Movie has joined Twitter. Follow him here.
John Travolta is Charlie Wax is a super spy. Hes one of those shoot-first, ask-questions-later spies.
Wax is sent to Paris to ferret out a terrorists and to solve a terrorist plot. His ways are a bit unorthodox. Wax starts his investigation, and the movies body count by attacking Chinese cocaine dealers.
In a very clever scene, he has Jonathan Rhys Meyers (August Rush) James Reece take flowers out of a vase and fill it with the drug as it streams from a restaurant ceiling. In one of the films many terrific comedy bits, Reece carries the thing around for a big chunk of the movie.
Im ahead of myself.
Reece is part of the U.S. diplomatic corps stationed in Paris. He doubles as a spy and longs for something deeper than running errands. Reece gets his wish when assigned to assist Wax in finding the terrorist plot.
The terrorist plot isnt much of a plot. It also isnt all that original. Nothing in From Paris with Love even pretends to be new. Its all about letting Travolta be Travolta and tossing off one comic punch line after another and giving Rhys Meyers a chance to shine as Travoltas straight man.
Both are excellent.
Director Pierre Morel (Taken) packs Paris with plenty of action. While I wasnt that taken with Taken, it did move quickly forward. Morel doesnt dawdle here either.
Bullets fly. Bad guys die. I tried to do a body count but lost count at 20. And thats by the end of the second reel when Travoltas Charlie Wax is just getting warmed up.
There are no surprises in From Paris with Love. None. Zero. Formula has never been more formulaic.
Ironically, it works. Travolta is why. Few actors can do over-the-top and make it seem as natural as cheese. Travolta is one of them. Villain or a good guy, no one makes amped-up more fun.
And if nothing else, From Paris with Love is short, to the point and fun.
Mr. Movie rating: 4 1/2 stars
Rated R for violence, language and mature themes. It opens Friday, Feb. 5 at the Carmike 12 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
35th Annual Portland International Film Festival begins
The 35th Annual Portland International Film Festival has begun. It runs through February 25. For film fans this one is loaded. There are 140 films from 36 different countries — 93 are features and 46 shorts.
Portland isn’t that far from Tri-Cities art film lovers. This entry reviews a few films from the first weekend and Monday. I’ll be posting reviews throughout the series until its conclusion February 25th.
2011's best, worst and a few observations on 20 years as a film critic
First some observations: If you're just interested in my best and worst of the year picks, scroll down. They're easy to find.
Two remarkable things about 2011.
No. 1: As I write this, I am wrapping up 20 years as the Tri-City Herald's film critic. No. 2: Last year I cried at a movie. Actually, I cry at a lot of movies but for a much different reason than you suspect. But more on that in a bit.
Set in the 1930s, Hugo is a family-friendly movie about a French child desperate to hang on to all he has left of his father.
It begins with the boy — Hugo — living by himself in a clock tower at a train station in Paris. To keep his freedom, he keeps the clocks wound, oiled and maintained. The station inspector — ever attentive to the city’s many pilfering orphans — would love to catch him and ship him off to an orphanage.
It’s hard not to take aspects of this job personally. New Year’s Eve is an example.
For me, having to sit through used-to-be Hollywood TV icon and now movie producer and director Garry Marshall’s film is punishment for my ripping of last year’s equally awful holiday opus Valentine’s Day .
I wasn’t alone. Critics panned the film by the score. But this is take it personally day, so I’ll take having to review it as punishment.
Here’s the premise. Set in the near future, Hugh Jackman is a loser robot boxer working fairs and rodeos with a robot destined for the scrap heap.
More con than kind, Jackman’s Charlie ends up signing the parental rights of his son, Max, over to the boy’s mother’s rich sister to finance his endeavors. He’s estranged from the boy anyway and doesn’t know him at all.
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