#11 - An Education

Jenny is an exceptionally bright schoolgirl in Cold War England. With her love of long novels, French records, and the Pre-Raphaelites, she feels as though no one understands her - until David comes into her life. A man in his thirties, David loves the arts and society and offers Jenny a chance to discover the parts of the world she always expected were out there. But things are not always what they seem, and nothing comes for free.

An Education is a somewhat formulaic film. I've seen this story before - young woman has to choose between intellectual passions and romantic ones - and of course David is just the sort of rebellious choice of men that would appeal to a young girl in a society that abhors rebellion. I think An Education goes a bit further than other movies have into the implications of its events - it asks some questions and purposely doesn't give answers about the role of women in society and the attitudes and ideals of British culture (which have probably changed since the 1960s but probably not entirely, because I see the echoes of a lot of these questions in my own, American, culture).

There isn't a lot of chemistry between Jenny and David - but I really want to give An Education the benefit of the doubt here. The attraction between them is not personal, it's not about who they are as individuals and more about what they represent to each other. However, I think if he had just been a tiny bit more physically attractive, I would have felt more involved in the relationship. I had issues with most of the other characters too; in a lot of cases, they were stereotypes or at least archetypes. The magical moments in this movie - and it does have its magical moments - occur when they step out of their thickly drawn boundaries and reveal unexpected sides to their personality. Which didn't happen quite often enough.

#10 - The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club tells the story of an unlikely group of five high school students, brought together by the fact that they are all to spend a Saturday in detention.  The teacher in charge expects them to sit still at their desks and write papers - not likely.


(I can't do an entire paragraph for the plot.  That is the whole plot.)


The movie starts off with a bit of physical comedy and then descends into a series of non-sequiturs.  Director John Hughes seems to want to take us into the minds of the kids who we think we know inside and out: the popular girl, the jock, the nerd, the ne'er-do-well, the weird kid who doesn't talk to anyone.  Unfortunately what we find there is emptiness.  


I think the largest criticism I've leveled so far - that the sequence of events is haphazard and nonsensical - could also be said about Empire Records, a movie I really liked.  But the difference between Empire Records and The Breakfast Club is that in the latter, the characters don't care about anything.  Or want to be anything.  It's suggested in the end that they care about at least each other, which certainly surprised me after they spent the entire eight hours of their confinement bullying and intimidating each other.  In fact, (and I'll be deliberately vague to avoid spoiling anything) a 'romance' emerges after a male character basically sexually harasses a female character until she breaks.  Gotta love it.  I found nothing to sympathize with in any of these five miserable people, and I think that while the actors did the best work they could manage, they didn't have a lot to work with.

#9 - Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie's vision of the world of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps a bit different from what you're accustomed to.  In this seedy Victorian London, Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) are not just brainy professionals, they are also action heroes, fighting with fists, pistols, and even swords to solve the mystery of how cult leader Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) could come back from the grave - and they must do it before he uses his powers to take over all of London.  At the same time, Ritchie explores the complex dynamics of the relationship between the doctor and the detective, and the women in their lives.

Like Holmes's detective method, the key to Sherlock Holmes is in paying attention to the details.  The intricacy of the sets, which will take you into some of the most gorgeous rooms imaginable.  The soundtrack, featuring some fiddling that almost made me want to jump out of my seat and dance - I walked out of the theater humming the theme.  The little moments of brilliant acting between Downey and Law where facial expressions communicate everything (yes, anyone looking out for slash potential will be thoroughly pleased).

This was my second viewing of this movie (I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, aren't I?) and I loved it no less upon re-evaluation.  No, it's not an intellectual thriller, it's just a ridiculously fun movie, with tight corsets, secret societies, almost-but-not-quite-gratuitously drawn out action sequences, and a bit of French dialogue here and there.  Though I'm not the best authority - I loved the stories when I was a kid but haven't read them in a while - my Arthur Conan Doyle-aficionado roommate confirms my suspicion that Ritchie has the characters down perfectly.  Even if I were to be charitable, I wouldn't say that this reads like a classic Holmes story: the scope is greatly expanded and the film emphasizes wit and a bit of situational humor.  So if that's what you're expecting, this is probably not the best choice of film.  If you want a movie that is slightly violent, tastefully sexy, suspenseful but not scary, and definitely not taking itself too seriously to delight in its own extravagance - then, best choice - yes!

#8 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

High school senior Ferris Bueller knows he's pushing it by his 9th "sick day" absence from school, so he's determined to make this one last.  With his best friend Cameron and his girlfriend Sloane he takes a whirlwind tour of the best things about Chicago, meanwhile trying to escape the clutches of his suspicious principal and vengeful older sister Jeanie.  

I was poised to hate Ferris Bueller.  At the beginning I saw things from Jeanie's perspective.  Why should somebody get to break the rules without consequences?  And moreover, why should this be the film's protagonist?  Do we want to get inside this person's head?  Well, yes.  The real message behind this film is laid out heavily and directly, as Ferris breaks the fourth wall to tell us not to let life pass us by.  This isn't really about the benefits of skipping school and breaking rules.  It's about the dangers of not letting yourself be happy and enjoy the great things about the world.  Everyone who goes along with Ferris has the best day of their life, and director John Hughes lets us join in the fun.

The acting in this movie is something you could take or leave, except for Jeffrey Jones's fantastic performance as the neurotic principal Ed Rooney.  The sets and costumes are nothing special but if I weren't already in love with this city I certainly would be now.  The best things are the script and Hughes's knack for little moments of absurdity amongst what is mostly straightforward comedy.  Scenes to look out for: the series of phone calls that gets Sloane out of school - Cameron discovers Seurat at the Art Institute - Jeanie in the police department.