The Hoax (2006) ***
Richard Gere terrific as the dead-ended writer Clifford Irving, whose kamikaze mission is to gin up Howard Hughes’s autobiography. He does it, and almost—oh, it’s so close—gets away with it.
The Grifters (1990) **
Anjelica Huston is the spidery mom, Annette Bening the oh-so-sexy moll, and John Cusack the conflicted young con man caught in the middle. Stylish acting, but in the end a fairly unsavory experience.
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) ***
The incomparable Burt Lancaster is quietly superb, but John Frankenheimer’s a great action director who doesn’t get to do much here. Some nice moments, but tick tock, tick tock.
Bulworth (1998) ***
Risky business here: Warren Beatty’s despairing politician freaks out, starts rapping. Beatty quite a vision in hip-hop gear, though often hard to know whether to laugh or cringe. Sometimes a great satire.
House of Sand and Fog (2003) ****
Ben Kingsley the proud Iranian exile, Jennifer Connelly the recovering alcoholic who, by error, loses her house to the county. He buys it for his family. She wants it back. Neither will yield. Superb tragedy.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
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