Apologies and a Review

So sorry, loyal readers, that I have been incommunicado but I'm working on several projects with eminent deadlines so I've been writing frantically. The NV Film Commission Screenplay Competition has an August first deadline and I'm polishing the re-write on AJBB for that plus the Disney fellowship deadline is August eighth and I have decided to enter the television division contest this year. You need to write a spec episode of an existing television show so I'm writing an episode of "The Big Bang Theory". Writing a sitcom by yourself is difficult so I hope this one is good enough to catch someone's eye. Anyway, my posts may continue to be sparse for the next few weeks as I get these projects completed.

I did get a chance to get out of the house on Friday and go to the movies with my brother and Val. We saw "The Dark Knight", the latest installment in the Batman series from Christopher Nolan. Yes, our money, along with so many others, went to making this the biggest opening film of all time (so far) and I think it will continue to make money.

I heard a lot of reviews of this film before I saw it so I went in with really high expectations and it did not disappoint. I really like Christopher Nolan's work (loved "Momento") and I have thought Christian Bale was a talented guy (not to mention gorgeous) since he made "Newsies". There was even buzz that this film should get an Oscar nod for Best Picture, with comparisons to "The Departed". I'm not going to go that far because while it was a great ride with lots of excitement and great stunts and special effects, some of the roles were really underwritten.

If you didn't see the first installment in the series, you wouldn't know most of the back stories of the main characters. I think it was a bit of a disservice to newcomers to the series to not give them at least a little bit more of who and why they were. It assumed you knew it all already and while I'm sure many people had seen the first film, it wouldn't have hurt to give everyone a brief 'history' lesson to give the characters a bit more depth. Because of the lack of this history, it felt like the only characters you really got to know anything about and truly care about were The Joker and Harvey Dent. Not that these weren't great characters but their interplay with others would have been enhanced and more nuanced if we knew everyone's stories better as well.

The most underwritten role was that of Rachel Dawes, with Maggie Gyllenhaal taking over for Katie Holmes. If you had seen the first movie you would know the history between Bruce Wayne and Rachel. Instead we are given the love triangle of Bruce, Rachel and Harvey without any real deep emotion because we have no idea what went on before -unless you recently rented the first film. I honestly didn't care who Rachel ended up with because I couldn't really see why either man was so in love with her. I know why the producers didn't want Katie Holmes back, as she was woefully miscast in the first film, but I'm not sure that Maggie Gyllenhaal was a better choice. Don't get me wrong, I think she is an incredibly talented actress but this wasn't the part for her. The writing of the Rachel character was meager at best. Rachel is supposed to be a woman who believes in good triumphing over evil, about doing the right thing. She has become a DA to put the bad guys away, which should make her a bit harder as she faces the reality of fighting crime but she should also retain a bit of naivete which makes our hero's want to be her 'shining knight'. But Katie Holmes was impossible to believe as a law school graduate while Maggie Gyllenhaal was all harsh lines and edges and no wistful hope for a brighter future. Oh well, hopefully the third installment will bring us a well drawn female character.



Okay, the Heath Ledger issue. Everyone wants to see this part for Heath, as one of his last roles. Even lots of Oscar buzz. And he was phenomenal. Put that next to "Brokeback Mountain" and you wouldn't even know it was the same guy. Hands down he was a truly great actor. And he scared the hell out of me as The Joker. I'm afraid of clowns to begin with (I secretly think that all clowns are serial killers, a bunch of John Wayne Gacy's just waiting to put your body in a crawlspace) and Heath did nothing to calm my fears. The Joker was an unrepentant killer with no moral boundaries. Spooky, scary, very bad man. Probably the best 'comic book' villain portrayal ever, because he was so non-comic book. Heath was so brilliant that I almost cried towards the end of the film when he expounds on The Joker and Batman's symbiotic relationship. I will miss him and the fact that Batman won't ever face this particular foe ever again.



I do think that in the Heath madness, another actor's truly great performance got lost. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face was outstanding. His character has to under go a complete transformation from shining good guy to complete bad guy in the course of the film and he was terrific. Really, he is another chameleon actor who you wouldn't recognize from role to role if he wasn't so darned good looking (except in "Erin Brockovich", but then I don't go for the rough biker type). If you don't know who he is, rent "Thank You for Smoking" for a glimpse of his brilliance.

Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine gave sturdy and serviceable performances. Again, I think the lack of back story hindered their performances just a bit. The film's action sequences could have been edited down just a bit to allow for some story time dedicated our hero and his trusted sidekicks to give them just a bit more depth and shading. These men are genuinely talented actors who deserve to be given more material to work with.

Still, this was an edge-of-your-seat action film from start to finish. Grab a popcorn and a soda (but not too much soda since a two and a half hour running time is long and you don't want to miss the action running to the restroom) and sit back for summer's best ride. Go see it in a theater, because the action is big and needs a giant screen and the sound is amazing and you need to hear it as it was meant to be heard. (I loved the use of silence in the film as well, it was a great directorial choice that goes against the norm.) "The Dark Knight" puts the super in superhero.