Day 4 of Sundance- 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, PAPER HEART, I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS reviewed.
500 DAYS OF SUMMER
After yesterdays less than inspiring line-up I was thrilled to wake up this morning to find that my cinematic karma had taken a turn for the better. If there was a theme song for today's screenings it would be "All you need is Love" by the Beatles as each of the three films I had the pleasure of watching offered an unconventional love story which gave a fresh take on the classic boy meets girl scenario (the latter of the three is a boy meets boy).
Day 4 began with 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, which has been stealing the spotlight here at Sundance and is my favorite of the films Ive seen so far. Starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER is a non-linear tale of unrequited love which traces the 500 days that Tom (Gordon-Levitt) spends infatuated with his co-worker Summer (Deschanel) before, during and after their brief romantic interlude.
While the starting point was clearly a well crafted script, director Marc Webb takes the film to a whole new level visually by weaving in super 8 clips, archival cinema footage, animation, split-screen and even a choreographed dance number, which creates an aesthetic evocative of a collage. It comes to no surprise that Webb transitioned into features after having success as a music video director as the soundtrack (featuring songs by Regina Specktor, Carla Bruni and Feist) work well with the films imagery, and never has L.A looked so appealing thanks to scenes that highlight its old, forgotten downtown architecture. The film's casting is also outstanding. Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt have great chemistry as both lovers and friends and the evolution of their relationship from lust to gradual disenchantment plays out incredibly naturally.
Superb acting and visual techniques aside, what makes this film really special is the message it conveys about modern relationships. Those of you suffering from a recent break-up or an unrealized romantic pursuit will find solstice in the films ability to make you reevaluate past failures as stepping stones to meeting a more fitting match later down the road.
PAPER HEART
Charlyne Yi, an eccentric young comedian and actress living in L.A. (who played that weird girl in KNOCKED UP) has never experienced true love and questions whether it really exists at all. In PAPER HEART directed by Nicholas Jasenovec, a film crew follows Yi as she sets out on a road trip across the U.S to interview everyone from a romance novelist, a band of bikers, a priest at a Las Vegas wedding chapel, several long-term couples and even some school kids in order to find out what people really believe about love. During the shooting of the project, Yi meets actor Michael Cera (JUNO, SUPERBAD) at a party in L.A and the awkward budding relationship between the two becomes the new focus of the documentary style film (which is deliberately ambiguous as to what aspects of it are real)
While it is no secret that this quirky gem would never have been made if it did not involve two young idols from the indie film and music scene (and feature a few other notable entertainment people such as comedian Demetri Martin) the diverse American scenery and personalities that pepper the project, along with a creative puppet show created by Yi herself, make the film worthy of checking out (assuming it gets any widespread distribution).
I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS
Unlike some of the other recent films that focus on the struggles of being a gay man in society (MILK, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN), I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS has a surprisingly farcical, comedic tone. When small town cop Steve Russell comes out to his wife and daughter after a near death accident, he has a painless transition to beginning a new life as an openly gay man. Russells desire to maintain an expensive lifestyle in Miami inspires him to get involved with credit card fraud, the first of many schemes that will land him in and out of prison throughout his life. During one of his initial stints in jail, Russell meets Phillip Morris (played by Ewan McGregor) an effeminate southern man who is to become the love of his life.
Jim Carrey is on excellent comedic form as the incredibly resourceful and clever con man Russell who manages to impersonate or manipulate anyone and anything in order to get what he wants. Ewan McGregor is equally remarkable in his portrayal of the naïve, kind hearted Phillip Morris, and their attraction to one another is very believable. While the film is seamlessly constructed with solid directing and beautiful cinematography, I found the lightheartedness of the story kind of superficial, especially given the fact that the real Steven Russell (upon whom the film is based) is currently carrying out a life sentence in a Texas jail and will probably never be reunited with the real Phillip Morris who lives somewhere like Ohio. During the Q and A session after the screening, the films directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa mentioned that Russell may never be able to see the film inspired by his life due to the strict stipulations of his sentence. The dramatic contrast between the real Steven Russell and his fictionalised counterpart left me with a bittersweet impression of the film, even though I appreciated its originality.
A Final Rant (despite a positive screening day):
One external factor that took away from the experience of watching I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS was the fact that there was an extremely tall person sitting in the seat in front of me. There are no stadium seating options with the cinemas at Sundance, most of which are not cinemas for the other 355 days of the year, and with only a gradual incline on the floor, all it takes is one oddly placed giant to ruin the whole system. I spent most of the film playing dodge ball with the head of the guy in front of me, craning my neck to the way left or right as I anticipated his moves and attempted to secure a pocket of unobstructed screen. At one point he even had the audacity to lean forward completely, which meant that in addition to a head, I had a whole torso to try and work around and in the end my only option was to kneel up in my seat so that I could skim over the top of him to catch the 2/3 of the movie that was still visible. A message to the vertically blessed guests of the festival: please be courteous and sit in an aisle seat or near the back of the theatre as its hard enough to review the films without a physical barricade.