Back On Track

Well I'm not a week late this time. September and January are traditionally the months when Hollywood unloads their crappy movies. September is the lull between big summer movies and the Oscar season. While January is after all the big Oscar bait movies and before the spring fluff. However, in the past few years, the tide has been turning, as evidenced by the two movies I saw this weekend: Ghost Town and Lakeview Terrace (yes, Lakeview Terrace).

I adored Ghost Town. It's so rare today that a big studio comedy centers around adults and adult themes. There were no teenagers. No slackers in their mid-twenties. And no one getting high or drunk. It was just sweet and very charming. Ricky Gervais stars as Bertram Pincus, a New York dentist who is very much not a people person, to put it mildly. During a routine colonoscopy Bertram dies for seven minutes ("a bit less") and when he awakes he realizes he sees dead people. Chased through the streets of New York, Bertram is finally cornered by the deceased Frank (Greg Kinnear) who offers him a deal: help me and I'll make sure none of these other dead people bother you. Frank and Bertram then team up in an attempt to halt Frank's widow (Tea Leoni) from remarrying. Gervais is great in his first Hollywood leading man role. He's an unlikely romantic leading man, but with his humor and sarcasm and vulnerability he totally pulls it off. Kinnear and Leoni are great too. Leoni I found to be particularly funny. Oh and Kristen Wiig too. Stealing scenes just like she does on SNL. On a different note, Ghost Town was beautifully shot. All of the exterior shots were awesome. It's not hard to make New York in the fall look pretty, but it's really special here. I'm convinced some CGI was added.

Judging by the previews Lakeview Terrace looked pretty bad. I chose to see it for two reasons. One, curiosity. And two, Patrick Wilson. I very much enjoy Patrick Wilson and I really have no idea why. My preconceived notions of Lakeview Terrace improved once I learned that it was directed by Neil LaBute. He's no slacker. And I think in the hands of a less experienced and less talented director, this movie could have really turned into something below mediocre. The bottom line here is that Able Turner (Sam Jackson) is an asshole. No, really. And quite possibly the worst neighbor ever. Rather than just becoming a run of the mill movie about neighborhood violence and hatred, I think the movie is saved by its characters. The writer and director went to great lengths to fully develop the characters. Instead of just watching random people lash out at each other, the film becomes almost a character study in how different people deal with different situations. It's really rooted in the reality of its characters. This isn't a great film, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.