Vendetta, on Redbox

It is not that this is a great movie, but its time is now. Violent crime is way up and progressive DA’s increasingly refuse to prosecute criminals. Inevitably, we are going to see a bounty of vigilante films to supply the need cathartic justice. William Duncan represents a lot of frustrated fathers and family members, when the cops and the system fail him in screenwriter-director Jared Cohn’s Vendetta, which releases tomorrow through Redbox.

Danny Fetter is about to be initiated into his father’s crime syndicate, based in small town Eatonton, Georgia, by gunning down the daughter of William Duncan. She was actually a bad random selection, because her father picked up a lot of skills in Iraq and Afghanistan. The DA is willing to let Fetter plead to a weapons charge and a parole violation, since Duncan did not actually see him pull the trigger. He just tackled Fetter trying to escape.

Instead, Duncan bludgeons the killer to death with a baseball bat. Old man Donnie Fetter and his junkie son Rory think they should be the only ones getting away with murder, so they come after Duncan and his wife. Meanwhile, the super-helpful Detective Chen keeps lecturing Duncan on the need to keep the peace.

There is a reason why the original Dirty Harry became a sensation when it first released and the sociopolitical circumstances are similar today. However, Dirty Harry was also an excellent film, which Vendetta is not. Yet, it is zeitgeisty, probably more than Cohn intended or realized, because it taps into deep, widely-held anxieties and frustrations.

In light of recent news, it is sad to see Bruce Willis portraying Donnie Fetter. Honestly, this isn’t the role his fans would probably choose for him go out on. (Again, American Siege was not a great film either, but there is a poignancy to Willis’s performance that arguably redeems it.)

Corrective Measures, on Tubi

In comic books, when super-villains break out of prison, superheroes just catch them and stick them back in again. They finally built a better mousetrap, San Tiburon, a facility in an undisclosed location, fully loaded with super-power nullifiers. However, the big dangerous supervillains still have their natural strength and in the case of “The Lobe,” his advanced intelligence. A new inmate finds himself caught in the crossfire of an ongoing power-struggle in Sean Patrick O’Reilly’s Corrective Measures, based on Grant Chastain’s graphic novel, which starts streaming this Friday on Tubi.

According to the derivative backstory, San Tiburon is operated by a company very much like Vogt in The Boys. They may or may not have been responsible for the string of natural disasters that also somehow caused the development of diverse superpowers in select individuals. By law, anyone convicted of a crime who is known to have powers must be incarcerated in San Tiburon. Unfortunately, that includes Diego Diaz, a mere empath. Basically, he is a super-Bill Clinton, who feels your pain, acutely.

San Tiburon should be a potentially fatal experience for him, but he catches a break when he stops the super-vigilante Payback from murdering the Lobe in the infirmary. Basically, the Lobe is a Professor X-like supervillain, who amassed a fortune through telepathic mind-control. The inmates revere him, so they cut Diaz some slack. However, Warden Devlin, make that Overseer Devlin, intends to extort the Lobe’s fortune from him, before his impending retirement, using threats of lobotomies and the like. Somehow, Diaz might figure in the Lobe’s counter-plans.

It is kind of awkward to review Bruce Willis film after the recent announcement of his diagnosis. Although many of his VOD films have been tarred with a broad brush, Willis has actually been pretty good in some of them, like American Siege and Acts of Violence. In this case, let’s just say he is miscast as the Lobe, a role that really requires the sort of sneering scenery-chewing John Malkovich could have brought to the table.

American Siege, Starring Bruce Willis, So You Know It Must Be Good

Ben Watts is to law enforcement, a lot like what the man who plays him in this movie, Bruce Willis is to acting. They have been taking the easy way out for years, but we keep hoping to see them redeem themselves. Watts might just have that opportunity in Edward Drake’s American Siege, which opens in select theaters this Friday.

Watts is the Sherriff, but Charles Rutledge runs the show in this small, depressed Georgia town, both in terms of the legit and criminal business. His idiot son Kyle is the deputy, but it is really Watts who keeps an eye on the younger Rutledge rather than vice versa. Unfortunately, they have a real situation on their hands.

Fresh out of prison, Roy meets up with his old foster care pals, Grace and Toby Baker, to take elderly pharmacist John Keats hostage in his suspicious spacious home. The thing is they want him to call the cops, to precipitate a standoff. Their plan is to force a belated investigation into the disappearance of their missing-and-presumed dead friend, so they want things to get loud and messy.

Since Keats got through to 9-1-1, his call was automatically flagged by the FBI as a potential hostage situation and a team is enroute. Obviously, Rutledge needs everything cleaned up before they get there. Watts wants to talk everyone down, but the town boss prefers to call in a team of militia lowlifes.

A title like American Siege might possibly rick-roll Trump-haters looking for 1/6 political porn, but what they get is another Bruce Willis VOD vehicle, helmed by the Edward Drake, who directed Cosmic Sin and wrote Breach. However, this one might be one or two modest cuts above most of Willis’s recent notorious output.

Cosmic Sin, Starring Bruce Willis & Frank Grillo

The "Dark Forest Theory” suggests any intelligent civilization in the universe should try to remain undetected from any potential rivals, who would most likely consider them an existential threat to their own survival and act accordingly. The military of the Earth-based Alliance generally subscribes to this theory. Unfortunately, the strange hive-like aliens clearly do as well. They appear to have a higher level of technology, but we have Bruce Willis and Frank Grillo, so its more or less equal in Edward Drake’s Cosmic Sin, which releases this Friday on VOD.

When a rebellion threatened to fracture the Alliance, Gen. James Ford put it down permanently by dropping a quantum Q-bomb. Ever since then, he was dishonorably discharged and derided as the “Blood General.” However, hawkish colonists on the edge of the frontier still regard him as a folk hero. Logically, when the outer colonies were attacked by an alien race, Gen. Ryle, the latest grizzled, hardnosed military commander recruits his predecessor to do whatever needs to be done.

The plan, such as it is, involves an elite squad (including Ford and Ryle, so take that Picard, you armchair captain), strapping into quantum mecha suits and basting off to the war zone with another Q-bomb. To make the line-up even more unlikely, it will also include Ryle’s hard-charging soldier son Braxton and Ford’s judgmental scientist ex-wife, who radiates contempt for the military she serves. Fortunately, Sol Cantos, the leader of the remnant of human resistance they link up with is more on-board with the whole saving humanity program.

Drake also wrote the recent Willis vehicle Breach, so maybe someday in the future film scholars will write scholarly books about the great Breach-Cosmic Sin duology. If so, it will probably have to be the French. At least, Sin more unambiguously sides with humanity against the alien menace. Indeed, the Dark-Forest-Hunting aliens explicitly undermine touchy-feely liberal idealism with their own war-mongering words.

Breach, Starring Bruce Willis

What happens when an Alien-style alien runs amok on a life ark? Hopefully, there are enough essential workers still awake to defend the sleeping passengers. It turns out the leader of the janitorial staff does indeed have military experience. In space, nobody can hear them cleaning toilets in John Suits’ Breach, which releases today on DVD.

This is last mass transport leaving Earth. Naturally, stowaways will be summarily executed, but dopey Noah still managed to sneak on board, with the help of his pregnant lover, who just so happens to be the daughter of Admiral Adams-King. However, he almost wishes he was back on doomed earth when he meets his new janitorial supervisor and roommate Clay, formerly a captain under the admiral’s command.

Clay is definitely a tough boss, but he keeps a cool head when the skeleton staff flying the ship starts to fall victim to a mysterious parasite. It seems to be trying to sabotage the ship, even though it would destroy itself in the process. Clay and company also figure out it was deliberately let into the ship, presumably by a member of a new terrorist group that decided humanity was too destructive to be allowed colonize a new planet.

We have been down this road before, but the human terrorist element adds an intriguing new wrinkle. In some markets, Breach is known as Anti-Human, which is a much better title. Frankly, the depiction of the terrorist dogma hits very close to home for contemporary environmental ideology.

Hard Kill: Bruce Willis Keeps Working

Think of this as a more down-to-earth, action-driven take on the themes of Sneakers. A military contractor’s Social Justice Warrior daughter developed a super-AI that she hoped could run the world in a more equitable manner. The board just wanted to sell it to the military. Instead, she tried to give it to a terrorist preaching the gospel of class warfare. Obviously, that was a huge mistake. Now a small team of mercenaries must protect the magnate and his fail safe, while hopefully rescuing his daughter in Matt Eskandari’s Hard Kill, which releases tomorrow on VOD.

For reasons that never make much sense, Chalmers and Fox, his chief security executive, have made the assignment perversely difficult for Miller’s team. The idea, such as it is, was to hole-up in an extremely vulnerable abandoned factory, knowing the terrorists would attack with superior firepower and numbers. Miller knows their leader well. The extreme socialist egalitarian now known as “The Pardoner” (a sly Chaucer reference, probably the smartest part of the film), nearly killed him years ago with a cowardly bullet to the back.

Fortunately, Chalmers’ daughter Ava now recognizes what a violent megalomaniac the Pardoner always has been. She will definitely throw her lot in with Chalmers and Millers’ motley mercs, if she gets a chance. However, keeping Chalmers and the code in his safe is of paramount importance.

Hard Kill is definitely another Bruno-Pack VOD production. It is helmed by Eskandari, who previously directed Bruce Willis in Survive the Night and Trauma Center, and also features Texas Battle (as Fox), who co-starred in Trauma Center, 10 Minutes Gone, and Marauders. The truth is Willis and Battle have a slick professionalism that well serves an unpretentious action film like this.

In contrast, both Jesse Metcalfe and Sergio Rizzuto are blahly bland as Miller and the Pardoner. That is particularly problematic in the case of the Pardoner, considering all the fiery Bernie Sanders-from-Hell rhetoric screenwriters Chris Lamont and Joe Russo give him. A villain with more sinister presence really could have made this movie something, but instead it is just another VOD release from Willis and company.

Self-Quarantine Viewing: Trauma Center

Calling it “Die Hard in a hospital” gives it too much credit, but at least it stars Bruce Willis. That means the super-prolific star of almost-straight-to-DVD thrillers is now starting to rip himself off. However, his character will spend most of the film on the streets, doing police stuff. That leaves an injured witness to fend for herself when crooked cops come to kill her in Matt Eskandari’s Trauma Center, now available on DVD and VOD, the kind of film that could have self-quarantiners asking: “what the heck was that?”

San Juan Police Det. Wakes’ snitch has just been killed by the ring of dirty cops he was about to expose. His moronic partner soon follows him into permanent early retirement. However, there is a witness, Madison Taylor, whose rebellious sister Emily has also been admitted, following a nasty asthma attack (potential hostage alert). Shock has obscured Taylor’s memory of the attack, but the shooters will still come after her, because meat-headed Det. Pierce lodged a traceable bullet in her leg. (They also pumped several rounds into Wakes’ partner, but supposedly those were carefully fired to obliterate against hard surfaces—or something like that.

Wakes moves Taylor to the infectious disease floor for safe keeping (that will be a red herring for hyper-conscious viewers mindful of the Wuhan virus—which did indeed originate in Wuhan). Unfortunately, Pierce and the slightly smarter Sgt. Tull flash their badges and lock down the floor. The cat-and-mouse business proceeds from there.

The weird thing about these slapped-together films is how good Willis is in them. Maybe it helps that his screen-time is comparatively limited, but he is still the only one who really shows any star power. Regardless, everyone would surely agree nobody better represents Puerto Rico than Bruce Willis and Nicky Whelan. They must have some boffo film production tax incentives there.

10 Minutes Gone: Bruce Willis & Michael Chiklis Go Head-to-Head

There is a lot of baldness in this caper, but maybe that makes sense. There will definitely be less chance of leaving behind follicle evidence that way. The job still goes down spectacularly badly, resulting in the death of Frank Sullivan’s brother. Bruce Willis and Michael Chiklis star in Brian A. Miller’s 10 Minutes Gone, which releases today on DVD.

Everything was going smooth as silk with the bank vault job Sullivan was hired to pull, until suddenly it wasn’t. The cops just showed up out of nowhere. However, it was probably one of Sullivan’s own guys who cold-cocked him and killed his brother. Rather curious to find out who it was, Sullivan stalks each one of them, so they can have words. Meanwhile, Rex, the contractor who hired the heist specialist wants to have his own words with Sullivan. His client paid to recover a package from the safety boxes. Sullivan and his brother briefly had it, but now it is presumably in the killer’s possession.

10 Minutes starts off pretty promising, but it turns out to be way too simplistic. Frankly, it is painfully obvious who the snake in the grass is, just because the cast of characters is so small. It is also hard to buy Chiklis in his action scenes, because he is such a big target and way too slow. On the other hand, it is amusing to watch Willis chew the scenery as the snarky big boss. He and Texas Battle are more interesting arguing with each other as contractor and client than Chiklis bickering with Meadow Williams playing his brother’s girlfriend, whom he has promised to keep safe.

Air Strike: Bruce Willis in China

Live by the pointless cameo, die by the pointless cameo. Even Chinese audiences found Fan Bingbing’s brief appearance in Iron Man 3 completely inconsequential and meaningless, but it was sufficient to grant the film “co-pro” status. Alas, her blink-and-you-missed it portrayal of a heroic school teacher in this multinational WWII drama became grist for scandal when she allegedly under-reported her salary for tax purposes. That is something we can easily forgive here in the West, but the Chinese state media has focused its government-backed wrath on her. Perhaps this is partly payback for the incisive social criticism of I am Not Madame Bovary? Regardless, the Chinese release was duly canceled, but it still dive-bombed in and out of American theaters. Mostly just an exercise in anti-Japanese bloody-shirt-waving, Xiao Feng’s Air Strike (a.k.a. The Bombing, a.k.a. Unbreakable Spirit) releases today on DVD (trailer here).

The Chinese Air Force is outnumbered and outgunned by the better trained Japanese squadrons, but pilots like Cheng Ting and An Minxun still feel honor bound to protect Chongqing as best they can. Nevertheless, grizzled Col. Jack Johnson cautions them to take the better part of valor and not fruitlessly surrender their lives. In fact, the Allies are sending some key contributions to the Chinese war effort: a shiny new American fighter plane and a vital British decoding machine.

Former pilot Xue Gangtou (technically on medical leave) accepts a clandestine mission to escort the decoder machine, but he does not know what his cargo really is—even though it is not very secret. The Japanese definitely know what he has and they are determined to stop him. Nevertheless, he still manages to pick up an agricultural professor and his genetically-selected pigs, about a dozen sad-eyes orphans and their protector Ding Lian, as well as a driver/mechanic, who is most likely a Japanese agent.

Xiao certainly strafes the heck out of Chongqing’s civilian population, targeting schools, hospitals, and churches for destruction. The Imperial Japanese are so relentless, they sometimes even bomb military targets. There is some serious carnage here, which might reflect the influence of Mel Gibson, who has some kind of “creative” consulting producer credit on the film.

Granted, this was a total paycheck gig for Bruce Willis, but it is still fun to watch him swagger and bark orders as Col. Johnson. Unfortunately, the Chinese characters are so conspicuously and distractingly dubbed into the Queen’s English, it largely obscures the work of the big-name cast. (Arguably, the voice-overs are almost as obviously fake as the cut-rate CGI effects.) Still, Liu Ye is rather steely as Xue, while Ma Su is suitably mothering as Ding Lian.

After appearing in a small but not completely trivial role in Back to 1942, Adrien Brody returned to China to play a noble Western doctor in Air Strike, whose primary function is to bemoan Japanese brutality, like a weeping Cassandra. However, Rumer Willis has even less screen time as a British doctor who missed her boat, yet she receives prominent billing, as if there is an army of Rumer Willis fans out there. The great Simon Yam also glides through, for about five seconds, as the Chinese Ai Defense Commander.

Yes, the Imperial Japanese military was absolutely brutal during the invasion of China, but that was over seventy years ago. It is worth noting the Japanese constitution legally renounces war and the formation of a standing military for offensive purposes, whereas the Chinese Navy is currently busy bullying Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea. A lot of these anti-Japanese propaganda films really protest too much. Frankly, the best reason to watch Air Strike is to snark at its behind-the-scenes implosions. Not Recommended, Air Strike releases today on DVD and BluRay.

Acts of Violence: Bruce Willis Fights Human Trafficking

Brace yourself, because from here on out, Bruce Willis will serve as the voice of reason. He is an honest Cleveland police detective specializing in human trafficking crimes. When Roman MacGregors’ fiancée is kidnapped by a gang of traffickers, Willis’s Det. James Avery cautions them not to take the law into their own hands, but they’re not really listening and he doesn’t really mean it anyway. The gang picked the wrong heavily-armed, military-trained family to mess with in Brett Donowho’s Acts of Violence (trailer here), which releases today on DVD and BluRay.

Mia practically grew up as part of the MacGregor family and now she is engaged to the youngest brother, Roman the paramedic. Middle brother Brandon is already married to Jessica, whereas eldest brother Deklan struggles with post-traumatic stress. Mia is the last sort of woman scummy Vince and Frank should consider grabbing (from her bachelorette party), because she will clearly be missed. In this case, the MacGregors are a particular dangerous pack of amateurs to rile up. In addition to their service revolvers, it seems the Army also let them keep flak jackets, assault rifles, and a bucket full of Semtex.

Basically, this is an eighties throwback vigilante action film. Of course, they have to take matters into their own hands—although it should be admitted old world-weary Avery and his partner, Det. Brooke Baker get pretty good results, no thanks to their sleazy and most likely corrupt captain. Still, screenwriter Nicolas Aaron Mezzanatto makes more concessions to reality than you might expect, as things get awfully messy and bloody for all concerned.

Cole Hauser is sufficiently rugged and hardnosed as Deklan, but frankly, it is hard to believe his two brothers, played by the considerably smaller and more nebbish Shawn Ashmore and Ashton Holmes have the wherewithal to keep up with him. Melissa Bolona shows more grit as the abducted Mia.

When it comes to carrying a picture, the Brothers MacGregor are somewhat charisma-challenged. However, Willis and Sophia Bush play off each other decently and each gives the film more grit and presence than it probably deserves. Perhaps they should have been more of the focus. As a saving grace, Mike Epps makes a reasonably flamboyant villain as the ruthless trafficking ring-leader, Max Livingston.

So, just like a good afterschool special, Acts of Violence (not to be confused with Isaac Florentine’s superior and more psychologically complex Acts of Vengeance) offers us plenty of timely enlightenment, such as human trafficking is bad and VA services should be more user-friendly. Still, it is satisfying in an old school kind of way to see the salty old copper eventually throw in with the rogue elements. Largely undistinguished but sometimes satisfying in a bonehead kind of way, Acts of Violence is now available on DVD.

Once Upon a Time in Venice: It’s a Real Bummer, Dude

There were active oil wells on Venice Beach up through the 1970s. Granted, there is a mini-tech boomlet underway now, but the hipster colony’s primary industry has been scenesterism since the last wells were decommissioned in the early 1990s. Skateboarding private detective Steve Ford definitely considers himself a part of that funky scene. Yes, we will have to spend time with an annoying self-styled Bohemian in Mark Cullen’s alleged action-comedy Once Upon a Time in Venice (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Mark & Robb Cullen’s screenplay is so episodic, it could use a prescription for Ritalin, but eventually it decides its driving Macguffin will be Ford’s niece’s beloved terrier, who gets dognapped by junkies and bartered to Venice’s drug lord, Spyder, with whom Ford has some awkward history. Spyder offers him a deal. If he recovers the money and the drugs his girlfriend Lupe absconded with, he can exchange them for Fido. Of course, there are numerous intertwining cases and subplots, such as the spectacularly pornographic graffiti plaguing a real estate developer charmingly referred to as “Lou the Jew.”

This film is almost unwatchable. None of the jokes land, but some of them face-plant so hard we have to feel embarrassed for the big-name case, who have all appeared in vastly superior films, including Bruce Willis (Unbreakable) as Ford, John Goodman (Argo) as his surf shop buddie, Jason Momoa (Road to Paloma) as Spyder, Stephanie Sigman (Miss Bala) as Lupe, and Famke Janssen (Rounders) as Ford’s personality-less sister-in-law. They all find themselves in the unenviable position of trying to pull off gags involving sex addicts-anonymous support groups and transvestite hookers doing straight characters’ make-up at gun point.

Actually, a little politically incorrect humor would be fine, even healthy, but it has to be funny. Alas, that is not the case here. Ironically, the ending would be massively unsatisfying in nearly any other film, but in this case, it is largely what these characters deserve. Not recommended at all, Once Upon a Time in Venice opens tomorrow (6/16) in New York, at the Cinema Village and in LA at the Monica Film Center.

Vice: It’s a Nice Place to Visit, but You Wouldn’t Want to Live There

Evidently, Michael Crichton gave humanity too much credit in Westworld. Instead of using cutting edge android technology to facilitate adventures in the Old West and ancient Rome, Julian Michaels has built a Vegas-style resort, where rich pervs can commit sex crimes with impunity. However, when one android-resident escapes into the real world, her programmers will pull out all the stops to recapture her in Brian A. Miller’s Vice (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Like Kenny on South Park, pretty much every night Kelly and her friend Melissa are killed by a guest. There memories are wiped and their bodies are repaired, so they can be reactivated a few days later. This time, Michaels expedites the process, to cater to a big hedge fund party. Seriously, someone at his level should not be micromanaging this sort of day-to-day business. Regardless, they put a rush on Kelly’s maintenance, leaving behind memories that understandably alarm her. Not inclined to go back for more such treatment, she escapes from the resort-compound.

Naturally, Michaels wants her back ASAP, but he does not want the cops involved, particularly not his nemesis, Roy Tedeschi. The world weary detective blames Vice for stirring up bad impulses that then spill over onto his streets. Despite the risk to his career, he has made it his business to antagonize Michaels. He and Kelly really ought to get together, as you know they must eventually.

There is an awful lot of stupid decisions and unnecessary villainy coming from Michaels and his associates. Pedantically speaking, there really ought to be multiply-redundant safeguards in place to avoid a situation like this—embarrassing, but probably not illegal. Needless to say, Vice is a pale shadow compared to Crichton’s Westworld and it suffers from the lack of a heavy comparable to Yul Brynner’s gunslinger. Still, it delivers a reasonable mix of trashy entertainment through its credible near future world-building and voyeurism dressed up as moral righteousness.

As a mid-January release, it is probably safe to say Vice is not destined to be a major awards player, but at least none of the primary cast-members embarrass themselves. Ambyr Childers is not half bad portraying Kelly’s slow process of self-assertion. Likewise, Thomas Jane is sufficiently hardnosed as Tedeschi and Bruce Willis chews on a fair amount of scenery as Michaels. Charlotte Kirk also makes the most of her limited screen time as the perennially ill-fated Melissa. Frankly, both Childers and Jane easily exceed expectations. It is just too bad Andre Fabrizio & Jeremy Passmore’s script is so derivative and uninspired.

Indeed, Vice is the sort of film you want to rewrite as you watch it. The whole concept of the Vice resort ought to be a launching pad for some clever social commentary, but like its creepy clientele, it just brings out the worst in its screenwriters. Still, everyone whose face is on the poster gives it a fair try. It is diverting enough if you enjoy B-movies, but anyone primarily intrigued by the premise should catch up with the Crichton film instead. For those looking for some slightly lurid, light-on-the-technical-stuff science fiction, Vice opens this Friday (1/16) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

Wes Anderson’s Cannes Opener Moonrise Kingdom

Two twelve year-old runaways would like to remake the generic sounding Mile 3.25 Tidal Inlet into a New England version of the Blue Lagoon, but they aim to maintain the cultural trappings of 1965 middle class America, as they relate to it, in the process.  Unfortunately, the adult world keeps intruding on their private moments in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (trailer here), the opening night film of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which bows theatrically in New York this Friday.

Sam Shakusky is a terrible Khaki Scout.  Actually, his skills are not that bad, but he does not fit in socially with Scout Master Ward’s troupe.  Unbeknownst to Ward, Shakusky is an orphan, about to get the heave-ho from his foster family.  However, the sensitive scout has successfully wooed Suzy Bishop, the eldest child of two self-absorbed yet profoundly unhappy attorneys. 

When Shakusky fails to appear at revile one fateful morning, it sets off a manhunt throughout New Penzance Island, taxing the meager resources of Captain Sharp, Mrs. Bishop’s recently dumped lover.  Chastely dedicated to each other, the two fugitives would like to permanently retreat from reality at the prosaically named inlet they duly redub “Moonrise Kingdom.” Instead, they will repeat a cycle of chase, apprehension, and escape, as a historic storm approaches New Penzance, as it always happens in an island-bound story.

It takes about ten seconds for Moonrise Kingdom to announce itself as a Wes Anderson film, through his constantly panning camera and the richly detailed vintage sets.  Indeed, the attention to detail extends down to the covers of the chapter-books Bishop reads aloud to Shakusky.  Yet, rather than detracting from his fable-like story, Anderson’s signature style is perfectly suited to the innocence of young love.  Focusing on young POV characters is actually quite a shrewd strategy on his part, giving him the license to incorporate all kinds of nostalgic eccentricity (nod to Norman Rockwell? Check.) while staying faithful to their precocious worldview.  Frankly, this is the sort of film a visual stylist like Tim Burton ought to be making, instead of aimless tent-poles, like Dark Shadows.

As Mr. Bishop, Anderson mainstay Bill Murray once again plays a middle-aged depressive with deep-seated relationship woes.  Fellow alumnus Jason Schwartzman is also back for more, getting some of Moonrise’s best comedy scenes as Cousin Ben, a slick operating senior Khaki Scout.  Indeed, the film boasts several notably colorful supporting turns, including Bruce Willis, acting his age and playing against his action hero persona as the put upon Captain Sharp.  Tilda Swinton also absolutely plays to the hilt the personification of bureaucracy known simply as “Social Services,” while the mere sight of Bob Balban’s “Narrator” in his bright crimson wardrobe generates laughter.  Still, the dramatic load largely falls on the young newcomers, Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, who are quite emotionally engaging leads, playing their scenes together scrupulously straight.

Essentially, Moonrise is a children’s movie for adults.  Robert Yeoman’s cinematography gives it all a sensitive period sheen, while the soundtrack (dominated more by the unlikely combination of Benjamin Britten and Hank Williams recordings than Alexandre Desplat’s original themes) effectively underscores the wistful vibe.  Altogether, it is very Wes Anderson, but its gentle, humane spirit is quite winning.  Recommended surprisingly highly (well beyond Anderson’s established circle of admirers), Moonrise opens this Friday (5/25) in New York at the AMC Lincoln Square and Regal Union Square.

Sundance ’12: Lay the Favorite

It is easier to get a job in Vegas messengering about large sums of gambling money than a gig as a cocktail waitress. Fortunately, Beth Raymer has a knack with numbers, leading to a checkered career in the betting business. Raymer’s memoir becomes the stuff of light-hearted dramedy in Stephen Frears’ Lay the Favorite (clip here), which screens during this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Lay the Favorite” is one of those old school gambler’s expressions Raymer’s new boss Dink Heimowitz uses. Dink Inc is not a bookmaker, it is a betting establishment. Every day Dink and his employees work the phones, placing legal bets around town. As long as he wins fifty-five percent of the time, it’s all good. With Raymer’s arrival, Dink comes out of a losing slump, leading him to conclude the ditz-savant is his good luck charm. This does not sit well with Tulip, Dink’s Bravo reality show worthy wife.

Dink once did time for bookmaking, so now he keep things strictly legit. The emotionally needy Tulip also keeps him on a tight leash, which means the openly flirtatious Raymer has to go. However, Dink becomes increasingly concerned when Raymer gets involved with an outright bookie, so sleazy he has to be played by Vince Vaughn.

In a way, Favorite seems an odd fit for Sundance. It is a very commercial but rather pleasant film that ought to be better suited for a studio release than an art house run. It offers some interesting Damon Runyon-esque peaks into the world of legal and illicit sports betting, but this is definitely a women’s film. Breezy with a periodic outburst of angst, it is probably a lot like what One for the Money should have been (but most likely isn’t).

However, it is supporting characters and slightly sleazy milieu that really make Favorite work. Vaughn does his usual shtick well enough, but Bruce Willis really stands out, perfectly suited for Dink. Like his character, he seems to comfortably fit somewhere in between a romantic lead and a father figure. Nearly unrecognizable, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Tulip to hilt, with relish. So does Rebecca Hall, but her Raymer often comes across too Erin Brockovichy, which is never good, in any context. At least, she isn’t shy.

Favorite is hardly what we would expect from Frears either, but the Dangerous Liaisons helmer has a nice touch with the material, never letting Raymer’s melodrama overwhelm the upbeat vibe. It is not a big important film, but Favorite is an entertaining diversion, featuring some of Willis’s best work in a while. Recommended in that modest spirit, but not an ultra-high priority at Sundance, it screens again this Saturday (1/28) and Sunday (1/29) in Park City.