25 get lowfrom 23
tale, which toggles as comfortably between solemnity and whimsy as the most cherished front-porch yarn. That tonal balance is a credit to
first-time director Aaron Schnei- der, who handles “Get Low” — based on the real-life Tennessee legend Felix “Bush” Breazeale — with taste and assurance. Bur- nished with the amber glow of nostalgia and period detail, the movie offers welcome respite from the shiny, cacophonous fare usually offered during the sum- mer. And it affords Duvall a terrif- ic role, harking back to his screen debut as one of literature’s great loners, Boo Radley. If the 79-year- old actor hams it up just a tad during a climactic moment, he’s entitled, having played Felix with such terse restraint up until that point that filmgoers will be dying finally to hear his life’s mystery solved.
One of the nicest things about
“Get Low” is seeing Duvall oppo- site Sissy Spacek, who plays an old acquaintance of Felix’s; the pair possesses the unforced chemistry of two great friends and fellow troupers relishing the opportunity simply to work with one another. And who wouldn’t tuck into the script by Chris Prov- enzano and C. Gaby Mitchell, which exploits but never over- plays the local vernacular. (The ti- tle is another way of saying “get- ting down to business”; later, Fe- lix explains of a past lady friend, “We had a go.”)
With its rough-hewn poetics, suspenseful momentum and dashes of humor, “Get Low” offers a shot of simple joy during cin- ema’s most torrid season. It’s as soothing and pure as the sweetest water from the deepest well.
hornadaya@washpost.com
PG-13. At area theaters. Contains thematic material and brief violent content. 102 minutes.
BBB½ MACALL POLAY/COLUMBIA PICTURES-SONY VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mark Wahlberg, left, and Will Ferrell play disgraced New York detectives who try to redeem themselves in “The Other Guys.”
eat from 23
beaches of Bali. All that eye candy aside, though, “Eat Pray Love” can’t be described as a home run. At least during the movie’s first third, Murphy doesn’t stop moving his camera, compulsively swooping it around and perching it above the action as if it were a neurotic bird of prey. The perspective is at its most jangled in Italy, where Gil- bert is supposed to discover the joys of Italy’s language, food and “joy in doing nothing.” But Mur- phy, American that he is, doesn’t slow down long enough to convey the country’s sensuous pleasures or to flesh out the personalities of the friends Gilbert meets while pursuing them. Her supporting characters get
a little more time in India, where Gilbert meets the expansive “Richard from Texas,” played here by Richard Jenkins in a scene- stealing turn as a broken man healing his scars through bravado and spiritual seeking. It’s in India, too, that “Eat Pray Love’s” most affecting sequence transpires, as Gilbert makes peace with her ex- husband, played by Billy Crudup in a thankless but accomplished performance. (For the record, James Franco plays the post-di- vorce boyfriend, bringing every ounce of irresistible boyish cha- risma to the task.) Roberts, who cannily chose to produce “Eat Pray Love” as the perfect vehicle for her alternately dazzling and relatable talents, manages to tamp down the book’s most grating self-congratulatory tone. But in the movie, as in the book, all talk of God, the universe and love and light aside, there’s no doubt who the real star is. As a middle-aged Dorothy at large in a New Age Oz, her Liz Gilbert most-
ly wanders around smiling, some- times crying, but always some- how looking like a goddess her- self, recently arrived to show others the way — whether she’s urging a Swedish student in Rome to eat more pizza or telling a teenage Indian girl reluctantly succumbing to an arranged mar- riage that she’s visualizing a hap- py life for her. (Uhm, thanks?) By the time Gilbert arrives in Bali, the extravagant beauty of that island — made all the more eye-popping by the presence of Bardem — is likely to inspire film- goers simply to sigh, sit back and enjoy the view. What, exactly, does Gilbert learn at the feet of the jolly elderly medicine man she feels destined to befriend — aside from how to smile with her liver? It’s never clear, and it doesn’t much matter. “Eat Pray Love” finally settles into its own cinematic destiny as an attractive escapist love story, in which the romance is more with the I than with the guy.
hornadaya@washpost.com
PG. At area theaters. Contains brief strong profanity, some sexual
BB½
references and male rear nudity. 133 minutes.
ALSO OPENING
The 1993 film Orlando, directed by Sally Potter and starring Tilda Swin- ton, will be rereleased today. Based on the Virginia Woolf novel, Orlando is commanded by Queen Elizabeth I to stay young, and does so. The film follows him through several centu- ries, during which time he becomes a woman. The re-issue coincides with the new DVD release. 93 min- utes. PG-13. At Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Contains some sensuality.
Also Playing
Capsule reviews of recent releases playing in area theaters. Movies not re- viewed by The Post will be marked “NR” for not rated. For older movies, see the Movie Directory.
BBTHE A-TEAM
Co-starring Bradley Cooper, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Sharlto Copley, this film engages in the same blurry, in- coherent close-up action to which young filmgoers have now become accus- tomed. During a preamble set in the Mexican desert, we meet the guys: the unflappable Hannibal Smith; Face, the ladies’ man; Murdock, the crazy-like-a- fox pilot; and Bosco “B.A.” Baracus, the Mohawked muscleman. The movie pro- ceeds to ever-more-risible lengths to up the action ante. In case watching a guy machine-gun his enemies from atop a tank isn’t enough, the filmmakers treat viewers to an elaborately staged climax at the Los Angeles piers. Jessica Biel also appears as one of Face’s love inter- ests. Between the electric baby-blues of Cooper, men worshipfully assessing one another’s Ranger tattoos, and a final-act cameo from a male heartthrob, this film might be selling itself as an action flick, it’s really just a hopeless bromantic. (PG-13, 117 minutes) Contains intense se- quences of action and violence throughout, profanity and smoking. At University Mall Theatres.
BBBAGORA
“Agora” takes place in fourth-century Egypt, where in Alexandria the astrono- mer and philosopher Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) regularly gathers circles of stu- dents to explore the governing princi- ples of the universe. Although Hypatia is an atheist and her father, Theon (Mi- chael Lonsdale, reliably grave and leo- nine as always), is pagan like most of their countrymen, the nascent faith of Christianity has claimed the hearts and minds of many Egyptians, among them Hypatia’s servant, Davus (Max Minghel- la), and her student Synesius (Rupert Ev- ans), who will eventually be named Bish- op of Cyrene. As tensions rise, the con- flict finally culminates in a brutal attack on the city’s legendary library. Hypatia resolutely sides with reason over zealot- ry — her interest lies only in preserving the scrolls that hold the institution’s vast stores of human knowledge. (NR, 126 minutes) Contains strong violence. At Cinema Arts Theatres and Landmark’s Bethesda Row.
BCATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE
Plagued by cheap-looking special effects and a crummy 3-D conversion, this film leans heavily on its only real asset, the cuteness of its fuzzy stars. Kitty is a
DAVID GIESBRECHT/SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Angelina Jolie stars as a CIA agent and an accused Russian spy in “Salt.” Liev Schreiber plays a fellow agent.
hairless feline with the voice of Bette Midler who is bent, natch, on world domination. Opposing her are a team of super-spies: a cat with the voice of Christina Applegate, and two dogs, Butch and Diggs (Nick Nolte and James Marsden, respectively). Butch is the old pro; Diggs is the unreliable rookie. The three are tasked with protecting a pi- geon (voice of Katt Williams) who has gotten hold of secret blueprints that could endanger Kitty’s plan. Yes, there are references to “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Lethal Weapon.” Yes, there are fire hydrants. Yes, there’s a ball of yarn that’s actually a bomb. The only thing that might surprise you is the wa- terboarding joke, although the surprise is not a pleasant one. (PG, 82 minutes) Contains animal action and humor. Area theaters.
B1⁄2 CHARLIE ST. CLOUD — Ann Hornaday
Zac Efron plays the titular Charlie, a young man whose guilt and grief over his 11-year-old brother’s death — in a car Charlie was driving — has paralyzed him emotionally. The scenes in which he plays catch with dead brother Sam (Charlie Tahan), with whom Charlie has a daily play date in the woods, are par- ticularly touching. And when Tess (Amanda Crew), a former high school classmate of Charlie’s, tries to recon- nect with him, Charlie’s reluctance to al- low himself real-world pleasure is al- most palpable. A promising high school sailor with an athletic scholarship to Stanford, Charlie has put his plans — and his life — on hold after Sam dies, taking on a job as cemetery caretaker so that he can be near his brother. Five years after the accident, when Charlie
and Tess start falling for each other, Charlie’s connection to Sam, or Sam’s spirit, is threatened. (PG-13, 99 minutes) Contains brief crude language, mild sen- suality, a bar fight and a frightening car accident. Area theaters.
BB1⁄2 COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY
This is a movie for aficionados only: lov- ers of 1920s design, fans of Stravinsky and devotees of Coco Chanel. The movie begins with premiere of Igor Stravin- sky’s (Mads Mikkelsen) ballet “The Rite of Spring” and the audience’s wild re- sponses: “Go back to Russia!” one wag shouts, while others get in fistfights, and soon the police have stormed in. The film skips forward to 1920, when Coco Chanel (Anna Mouglalis) invites the struggling composer and his family to leave the Paris hotel into which they’ve been crammed. They make their way to the countryside and are soon en- sconced in the immaculate rooms deco- rated in Chanel’s signature black and white. While lonely wife Katia pines up- stairs, Igor gives Coco piano lessons, and the two provocateurs flirt to the strains of a Stravinsky-ish score. Once the couple’s affair begins, the imbalance in the relationship becomes clear. (R, 118 minutes) In French with Russian subtitles. Contains nudity and sex. At AMC Loews Shirlington and Landmark’s E Street Cin- ema.
BTHE CONCERT — Dan Kois
Andrei Filipov (Aleksei Guskov) is a down-and-out conductor who works as a janitor at the historic Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Andrei intercepts a fax invit- ing the company to perform at the Thea- tre du Chatelet in Paris. He decides that he will pretend to be the director, accept the invitation, reassemble his orchestra from 30 years ago and travel to Paris the concert. Andrei’s scheme gets off the ground, driven by his ambition and hu- bris. Early on, viewers will suspect that there’s more on the line for Andrei than a trip to Paris. There’s that nervous look his co-conspirators get when he wants to play Tchaikovsky and his odd insis- tence that violin virtuoso Anne-Marie Jacquet (Mélanie Laurent) play a solo. We learn that part of the mystery is a 30-year-old scandal when the Commu- nist government forced Andrei out of his conductor’s job for harboring Jews in his orchestra. (NR, 107 minutes) In Russian and French with English subtitles. Con- tains much drinking. At Landmark’s Bethesda Row.
BBBCYRUS
This movie announces its confrontation- al intentions from the get-go, when in the opening scene the film’s hero, John (John C. Reilly), is interrupted in an inti- mate moment by his ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener), who has stopped by to tell him she’s getting remarried. Lat- er, John meets Molly (Marisa Tomei), a knockout who thinks his penchant for drunken confessions and public urina- tion is kind of cute. The future looks bright for John and Molly, until he dis- covers that she has been hiding some- thing. That would be her 21-year-old son Cyrus, played by Jonah Hill. He lives
continued on next page
— Michael O’Sullivan
— D.K.
— Rachel Saslow
— A.H.
THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010
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