The Fault in Our Stars

Josh Boone, 2014

3/5

Hazel (Shailene Woodley) is a cynical teenage girl who has struggled with cancer for most of her young life. But her perspective changes when she meets rebel boy and fellow cancer survivor Gus (Ansel Elgort) who stirs everything up in her life.

Boone's adaptation of John Green's tweener novel is a bold one, challenging the cancer genre by examining the nuances that come with the illness in a relationship/family dynamic instead of just showing two young kids withering away from the disease. We have all seen someone struggle and perish from some form of cancer, but typically not someone sub-30 years old. There is something particularly unfair and difficult to handle about watching someone that young suffer. But this film doesn't just drown itself in melodrama. It doesn't shout "why me? why me?" at the universe. It features characters who have a more off the cuff, unrestrained voice. After all, they've been living with it for so long. But like any other teen they fall victim to their hearts, the most unfortunate aspect of it being that they cant get lost in the "We are going to be together forever and ever" delusion. They realize that there is an early expiration date. Woodley is the perfect fit for the Hazel character. She brings the same vulnerability and sensitivity that she brought in last year's The Spectacular Now. She is certainly one of the best gifts to the world of cinema in the last few years. Hazel doesn't simply play the victim, although it's certainly warranted. She's been kicked in the gut for basically her entire young life. Forced to lug around an oxygen tank to assist her in something we all take for granted, BREATHING - she has long faced the reality that her days are likely numbered and she won't outlive her devoted parents. Her parents, played by Laura Dern and Sam Trammell, really help to show the perspective of the parents who have also been screwed by the universe with their ill daughter. They've basically dedicated all of their adult lives to taking care of her. But once again, the film challenges that dynamic as well. Hazel is frustrated by her parents efforts. She wants them to have a life together, even if she may not be in it with them. They've lost a lot of sleep over the years. They've been at the breaking point more than once. It raises the notion that while the physical cancer is inside of Hazel's body, it really does spread into many of the peripheral lives. The film is probably considered Ansel Elgort's coming out party. At first glance his Gus character is conflicting because of the irritating cockiness that he exudes. There's also that unrealistic unlit cigarette thing. But you're stuck with him for a while, and there is a turning point in the film where his character really comes around and Elgort displays some true talent. The scene where Gus wants to experience his funeral as a living person and hear the eulogies is so unique and beautifully dark, certainly one of those moments likely to stick with you.

The Fault is not a positive piece to put on with hopes of having some smiles and good laugh. It asks a lot of questions and fails to have much of a filter asking them. It's painful and raw, genuine. But not every film is supposed to be a feel-good story. You (should) go to a film to examine the full spectrum of the human experience, and this is certainly on one end of it. 

Enlightened (Season 2)

Mike White & Laura Dern, 2013

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Season two of Enlightened marks the continuation of Amy's personal saga but also the inevitable end of the great but doomed series. Perhaps it's just too out there for the masses. Perhaps it's too personal. Perhaps it's too identifiable. There must be something to the identifiable thought, because we all know someone who is somewhat like Amy. That pseudo-hippie, enviro-preachy wacko. We recognized those features in the first season.

Season two is Amy's chance to seek vengeance. Payback. Sticking it to the man. The series itself is largely a character study on Amy. When looking for an arch for her character you realize how nuanced Amy really is. She's still licking her wounds. She has been able to move on to a certain extent from some of the more toxic elements of her past. But there is certainly still a ticking time bomb notion. Her daily life at Abaddonn is truly moment to moment. It's a miracle that she was even hired back again to begin with. She can't just disappear into depths of the fluorescent sub-levels of the commercial high rise. She can't be a complacent employee. And she also cant do it alone. When things finally do get to a boiling point toward the end of the season, Amy finally looks in herself. Probably more than she ever has. Realizes that maybe she finally had taken it too far, or maybe she should let things play out before she acts on impulses. While the camera focused on some of the peripheral forces in Amy's life last season, it continues to do so. Series creator Mike White's Tyler character is able to come out of the dark a bit more, even finding some much-due romance in his personal life. Farewell, Enlightened. It can join the likes of Deadwood and Carnivale of HBO series that were prematurely ended. That being said, it will be interesting to see what the creative, thoughtful Mike White has for us next. 

Enlightened (Season 1)

Laura Dern & Mike White, 2011

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Amy Jellicoe (Laura Dern) has a mental breakdown at her workplace. She admits herself into a retreat in Hawaii and comes back as what she feels is a changed woman and she is eager to get her life back on track.

Witty writing and solid acting just emanates from this television dramedy that's produced by Laura Dern and Mike White. It feels like a role perfectly crafted for Dern to play. She's unpredictable, slightly vengeful, a bit narcissistic, but ultimately a sympathetic character. There's a certain warmth in her core, and a magnetism to Amy. In a sense she feels that the people around her have wronged her, and she is trying her best to move forward while also trying to maintain a certain level of forgiveness. Little does she know that her absence from her work at Abaddonn Industries comes celebrated by many. And when she returns from her retreat, she has a smile pasted on her face and she is full of talk of energy and crystals. But she obviously hasn't gotten to the root of it all. She sort of becomes this pseudo-hippie who under the guise of spirituality and nature imagery is able to put her anger behind her. But it's not behind her. It's still inside of her, just contained. For the moment. You get a sense at times that she's hanging on by a thread. She's focused on herself for a short period, but she still hasn't done the real work. And like a self-destructive addict, she starts to venture onto old paths with old people in her life. She reconnects with her druggy ex-husband, she moves back in with her mother who obviously did a number on her, and she goes knocking on the door of her former workplace where she had the meltdown in the first place. But there's something to it all. In a way you are rooting for Amy to succeed. And that success can come in different flavors. You want her boss and vindictive co-workers to get their come-comeuppance. But what if they don't? You want her to reconcile the differences she has with her reclusive mother. But what if she doesn't? There's a certain curiosity there, and that is what fuels this great series. 

The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012

4/5

My immediate reaction to this film is the same as my reaction to "There Will Be Blood": I knew i liked it, just not exactly sure how to explain why. Just like "Blood" it is Paul Thomas Anderson doing a character study on a flawed person... or many people. You get the feeling that The Church of Scientology provided some inspiration to Anderson for his two hour + runtime. You basically see a charismatic Cult leader in action as he wows crowds and hopefully indoctrinates some new followers from city to city. During these nomadic sequences you watch as they struggle to find footing and maintain credibility within their following, and to create some formative principles for the group that will have a long-standing impact.

I wonder if this is the style that Anderson will pursue in his film-making at this point forward. This is a long journey from Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Those films seemed heavily stylized and you just don't see that visual element in his last two films. Its strange, because Magnolia and Boogie Nights were also character driven, but not with the many layers of the onion as you see in There Will Be Blood and The Master.

Phoenix's character is a lonely drifter named Freddie Quell who is introverted, yet aggressive. He is un-grounded. I wondered during the film whether or not he suffered from PTSD. This could contribute to his primal nature, that at times is disturbingly stripped of any sense of etiquette. His has little boundaries, if any. His character acts on id impulses without a sense of consequence. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character Lancaster Dodd is intelligent, yet devious. His character possesses that "it factor" that creates this magnetic energy that his followers gravitate to. He can get up, cocktail in hand, and give a humorous and concise speech that has everyone in the crowd attentive and wanting more. These characters are so complex that I find myself a day later still thinking about them. You got to see them develop in a sense, but there was no fragmented beginning, middle or end to the film. Its certainly a stream of consciousness from PT Anderson. If he continues to make films like this, I'll be right here waiting.