The central character in Nightcrawler (2014) is a man so odd, so off-beat, so entirely cold in his demeanour that I came away from the film unsure about what I had just seen. Is Louis Bloom a sadistic sociopath? A pathological misanthrope? Or just a chronic social outcast – a tragic misfit, comfortable with his own pariah status from society? Perhaps he is all of the above – you decide.
Clint Eastwood stars and directs this motion picture which is – above all else – a heartbreaking story about human endeavor. Once in awhile, a movie is made which dispenses with all contemporary fads, avoids trying to include all the latest stylistic references and effets-du-jour, and just plain tells a great story. “Million Dollar Baby” is just such a film, and will be recognized as such at this year’s Oscars.
Jason Statham has carved out a nice niche for himself as the hard-as-nails action hero of our day. In this Homefront (2013) movie review, I discuss the merits of this collaboration with Sylvester Stallone. Since Statham’s early roles in Guy Ritchie’s Brit-Gangster hits ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels‘ and ‘Snatch‘, a steady stream of solid work has been coming his way. I suspect that viewers will find his films either engrossing … or deeply annoying.
I’m squarely in the first cohort. In “Homefront”, Statham pulls off something a bit rare: he portrays a strong-man in a story with some real social relevance. It would be easy to dismiss “Homefront” as a formulaic, mindless actioner. But honestly, it’s more than simply that.
