Happy Christmas

Joe Swanberg, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Young and not-so-responsible Jenny (Anna Kendrick) moves in with her older brother (played by Swanberg), his wife Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and their two year old son in their small home in Chicago and disrupts their quite peaceful life.

Happy Christmas is a bold effort by mumblecore director Swanberg who once again employs Kendrick in entirely improvised story. Much of the film is set in the Chicago home, ironically decorated in 1950's nostalgia from the kitchen cabinetry to the basement wooden wall paneling. Shot on 16mm, there is a deliberate grittiness to the picture and saturation to the lighting. The constant view of Christmas lights pops, glowing warmly. The film has some very authentic-feeling moments. When Jenny and her friend Carson (Lena Dunham) start pressing Kelly on some of the personal sacrifices she has made as a stay-at-home mom, everything about it feels pure. Blossoming feelings with Kendrick and her new friend in his apartment. The exchanges between her and her brother in the basement, listening to music and smoking pot. The one-too-many drinking nights and the lack of judgement associated with them. Swanberg puts some real faith in Kendrick, and it really pays off. She brings more to her Jenny character than she was able to deliver in her previous collaboration with Swanberg in 2012's Drinking Buddies. Ironically, here she is actually acting out of type. She's usually the goodie-two-shoes innocent type. But here she is an capricious self-serving twenty-something, lacking direction and discipline in her life. She either has found some more comfort with working with Swanberg, or the change in character dynamics gave her more to play off of, or both. Either way, the final result of Swanberg's holiday experiment is small but rich in realness and honesty. It decides to invest much of it's time into real scenarios rather than provide back-story and character development.

Drinking Buddies

Joe Swanberg, 2013

Can I Stream It?

2/5

It's quite obvious that Luke (Jake Johnson) and Kate (Olivia Wilde) have a crush on each other. They both spend a good portion of their days working at the Revolution Brewery in Chicago goofing around. The only problem that they face is that they are both already involved with someone else.

When you're pitched a film that's going to be 100% improvised, that probably sounds quite appealing and fun, especially when it involves actual drinking. But this is essentially a film packing empty calories much like the stouts and pale ales they are constantly consuming on the job. The Brewery seems like the best place in the world to work. You can drink during your shift, smoke in your office. It appears that the only real work you must do is hose off some kegs and make some phone calls to distributors. The only real boss you must answer to is Gene (Jason Sudeikis) who is hard to respect when he is sitting next to you at the bar every night drinking. Everything that transpires is quite predictable, and you can get a clear feeling for the direction it's going to take at the 20 minute mark. And while Luke and Kate are pulling pigtails, they aren't providing a whole lot of funny. The sexual tension drags on. And on. And on. It's disappointing because Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick have proven that they are capable of pulling off good performances but they aren't given much to work with here. And perhaps it's not fair to judge them so harshly, they are clearly just not great with improv. It's an hour of power of pleasure delaying, loosey-goosey to a fault, and simply lacking. Swanberg deserves some credit for taking a risk, but Drinking Buddies is better on paper. It provides you with a lot to look at, but not enough substance behind it.

End of Watch

David Ayer, 2012


4/5

          Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) are partners for the LAPD and have to cover the rough terrain of South Central Los Angeles. Young, confident and headstrong - they find that they can quickly get buried in a mess that becomes hard to dig themselves out of.
          The first feature that is evident in the film are the noticeable similarities to Training Day. The comparisons are appropriate not only because of the setting and subject matter, but also because Ayer produced Training Day back in 2001. Ayer must love his bullets, according to IMDB he wrote a script for a remake of The Wild Bunch. Similar to Training Day, you are a witness to the gang violence and unpredictable nature of the L.A. streets. But while the setting is similar, the methods used in making the film are much different. There is a found-footage feel to End of Watch that really augments the adrenaline-fueled situations. Through clever placement of handheld cameras, and a lot of it held by the actors themselves, you really feel like you're in the middle of the action. The film is not entirely found-footage from handhelds. Studio cameras supplement the erratic camera work with stunning urban landscapes at sunset. Gyllenhaal delivers the best performance seen from him in years, perhaps since Donnie Darko. Credit is due to all actors in the film, as everyone feels very authentic. Michael Pena is very effective as Gyllenhaal's partner. The witty in-car dialogue between the two never gets stale and only helps to develop the audiences' investment in their alliance. They are constantly pulling pranks on each other, and their fellow officers. One of the officers and constant recipient of their high jinks, Van Hauser (David Harbour), serves as the elder, jaded cop who has become and numb to the criminal elements and in-house betrayal over time. His Xanax-fueled demeanor serves as a good contrast to the young partners, who still have a fire in their belly when hitting the litter-covered streets on a daily basis. The comradery between the officers feels genuine, as does the affection for their loved ones. The scene with Brian and Janet (Anna Kendrick) singing along to Cam'Ron's "Hey Ma" in the car really hit the mark in displaying the intimate moments between a young couple falling in love.
          There are so many impressive elements to the film from perfect casting, keen writing, clever editing, to adept use of sound. I had a feeling within the last few moments of the film that the ending was going to disappoint, and then it took another surprising turn and in the end became very satisfying. History has been kind to Training Day and I believe it will be even kinder to End of Watch.