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Reviews
The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002)
Flat and uninspired
It's common practice for a film about repression to be somewhat muted in style and tone. There's a difference, however, between using restraint and encouraging narcolepsy among audience members. In "The Secret Lives of Dentists," starring Campbell Scott and Hope Davis, director Alan Rudolph plays as close to the vest as possible, with the result being a film that never amounts to much beyond a rumination on how teeth are a metaphor for married life.
Scott gives a fine performance in the role of David Hurst, a dentist married to another dentist (Davis). Rudolph sets up the dynamic of their relationship quickly - he is completely absorbed in the day-to-day duties of being the parenthood, she is quietly disillusioned with their frantic family life - and then ratchets up the tension when Scott may or may not witness his wife with another man. From this point on, the film focuses on whether or not David is going to confront his wife Dana about her possible adultery, or whether she will beat him to the punch and leave for good. From time to time, David is treated to visits from an imaginary "friend" in the form of a former patient played by Denis Leary (borrowing heavily from Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden in "Fight Club").
While there is enough uncertainty about Dana's infidelity and David's instability to warrant examination, the last two thirds of the film are embarrassingly empty of theme or narrative. Instead, Rudolph creates drama out of a nasty fever that travels slowly through the Hurst family, culminating in a pointless hospital visit at the film's climax. The film never picks up on the hints at what David is really capable of if he wasn't so dedicated to his family; neither does it spend much time looking at Dana's precarious balancing act between her family life and her other, more fulfilling ambitions.
By choosing to spend the majority of the film worrying over a fever gone awry, Rudolph kills the momentum of his film. By the time the fifth member of the family shows up sweating and sickly, the film has used up all the good graces of Scott's well-measured performance. David and Dana end up retracing their steps over and over again until a less than cathartic finale. With nothing to build on over the last hour, the conclusion seems awkward and patched-on. "The Secret Lives of Dentists" takes a common theme and does nothing to improve upon it. Altogether, a disappointing, unimaginative film.
Hulk (2003)
Notable effort, lackluster result
What, precisely, are the elements that drive a successful action movie? It's a question that is trickier than one would think at first glance. This could be one of the reasons that action films, more than any other movie genre operating today, adhere so closely to well-worn cinematic traditions. So when a film like "Hulk," the latest effort from Ang Lee and his frequent writing partner, James Schamus, comes along, it's hard to fault the creators for attempting something relatively different from the standard good-bad, bang-boom Hollywood fare. But ultimately, the film's flaws far outweigh the new perspective, dragging the film down in a mire of needless backstory and unlikely plot twists.
Eric Bana stars as The Man Who Would Be Green, Bruce Banner. He's a bottled-up biotech worker, fretting away in a top-secret research facility that is somewhat lazily funded by the military. Potential villians are everywhere: the general who signs Bana's checks (Sam Elliott), the hotshot private industry wag who threatens to buy out their operation (a sniffy Josh Lucas), Bana's deadbeat dad (Nick Nolte, doing an alarming Katherine Hepburn parody). Considering the number of shady character running around, it's surprising to find out how long it takes the pieces to fall into place for the creation of Banner's alter ego, or more accurately, alter id.
Bana's performance in the lead role is less than electric. The filmmakers would like you to believe this is intentional, but watching Banner for an hour - it's that long before we see The Hulk in the flesh - is a wearisome chore. Other than glowering at his coworkers, he does little more than shuffle listlessly between his microscope and his apartment.
Lee and Schamus attempt to depict the creation of The Hulk as a combination of scientific accident, repressed rage, and deep-seated psychological trauma: Banner's father was engaged in research very similar to Bruce's work, there are hints of a domestic accident from Bruce's youth; both Elliott and his daughter, Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly), seem to have a history with the Banner family. None of these separate plotlines come together in a satisfying manner. Instead of building towards a powerful resolution, they distract the film endlessly for the first half, then retreat far into the background during the second half.
When The Hulk finally appears, the film struggles to find him a worthy opponent. Since the most important battle, Banner versus his own rage and resentment, is internal, the action sequences seem secondary, although Lee stages some interesting showdowns against a barrage of tanks, super-soldier canines, and a creature than can assume the form of anything it touches. But as the film tries to juggle the dramatic and spectacular, neither are given the time or energy required to create a real impact. In the end, we are left with two half-films, both vaguely intriguing, but both far more green than ripe.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Amazing debut
Has there been a more remarkable debut film than "Donnie Darko" in the last 20 years? Even if there has, it does nothing to take away from Richard Kelly's fascinating, endearing science fiction/comedy/romance/tragedy. That may seem like a lot of hats for one movie to wear, but Kelly navigates fearlessly through a complex, circular plot heavy with ideas. With strong performances from a large cast, as well as measured, yet creative use of special effects, "Donnie Darko" is certainly one of the most unique films to appear in theaters in a long time.
Donnie Darko, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a teenager growing up in suburban Virginia. He has stable, caring parents (the excellent Holmes Osborne and Mary McDonnell), a wry, knowing older sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jake's real life sister), and with Drew Barrymore and Noah Wyle, a set of smart teachers who take a personal interest in Donnie's struggles with modern life. Jake Gyllenhaal does amazing work as Donnie. While his character seems to be painted in broad strokes - he has had run-ins with the law, he rebels against his parents, he mocks a new age con who gives a talk at his school - there is a great deal of nuance and precision in how Gyllenhaal, as Donnie, acts towards those around him. Particularly strong are the scenes between Donnie and his therapist, played by Katharine Ross. Despite being confronted with surrealistic hallucinations portending the end of the world, Gyllenhaal never allows Donnie to lose touch with his basic humanity, and by extension, the audience.
Kelly fills his film with a lot of discussion about topics that are rarely discussed at length in mainstream cinema - the existence of God, the possibility of time travel, the mysteries of the afterlife. Yet these issues never overload the narrative. Instead, they drive Donnie forward on his quest to figure out the meaning behind his baffling experiences. Who is the man in the rabbit suit? Why has he chosen Donnie to carry out these tasks? What role does Roberta Sparrow, "Grandma Death," have to play in this tale? Some questions are never answered fully, but Kelly answers enough of them with a stellar ending to leave the viewer satisfied.
"Donnie Darko" is hardly the first film to try and deconstruct the problems inherent in quiet modern American life; it's easy to draw parallels with films like "American Beauty" and "The Ice Storm," to name a couple. But no other film in recent memory has used such startling technique and vivid storytelling to totally reimagine suburbia as a fertile breeding ground for wondrous miracles. Not to be missed.