AN IDEAL HUSBAND (1999)

London 1895. Based on Oscar Wilde's play "An Ideal Husband", this 1999 adaptation is a charming comedy of manners about a member of the British parliament, Robert Chiltern (Jeremy Northam), whose perfect life is threatened by a Ms. Cheveley (Julianne Moore) when she informs him that she has a certain piece of physical evidence (a letter) proving that he came into his early fortune by selling a cabinet secret to her former lover.  She plans on going public with the letter unless...he alters his stance on a fraudulent scheme to build a canal in Argentina.  She's invested in the scheme and will make a ton of dough if the British government supports it.  Chiltern's wife (Cate Blanchett) has no idea about her husband's past illegal activity and believes that he is "an ideal husband".

Typing it out like that, it kinda seems like a serious story and I guess it is when you think about how Chiltern's entire career and vast fortune is based on an illegal act that should have landed him in prison, but...that's overthinking the story.  And besides, as Chiltern says "Is it fair, Arthur, that some act of youthful folly should be brought up against me now all of these years later?"  I mean, c'mon!  All he did was make a ton of money by selling government secrets!  Jeez.  Who doesn't have "youthful folly" like that in their past?

Anyway, I'm looking way too deep into the story because the reason to watch the film is not seeing Chiltern's cows coming home to roost, but to see Rupert Everett's show-stealing performance as Chiltern's best friend and eternal bachelor Lord Arthur Goring!  Compared to Goring's witty manner and playful dialogue, the Chiltern storyline is a bore.  There's a reason that Everett's handsome mug is on all of the posters.  It's because he's far and away the best part of the movie.  I've seen AN IDEAL HUSBAND many times over the years (including three times in the theater) and it's always Everett's fantastic performance that brings me back.

Beautiful London locations (both inside and outside), delightful dialogue that is a joy to listen to, great performances by a strong cast, quick pace and a surprise appearance by Doug "Pinhead" Bradley.  Despite the negative feelings I have towards Chiltern's "youthful folly" I still like this movie and watch it once or twice a year.  Recommended.

CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)

In the year 2027, the world has been stricken with two horrible afflictions.  In the first, all women have become infertile.  Without a baby being born in 18 years humans have lost all hope and everything has turned into chaos.  The second even more disastrous problem is cameras can no longer stand still.  They have to move all the time.  Even when it's not an action shot and it's just two people standing still talking about something serious, the camera is compelled to jiggle around all over the joint.  It's distracting, heartbreaking and sad, sad, sad.

For some reason the people in this movie don't even seem concerned about the punch drunk cameras.  Instead they selfishly spend all of their time trying to get a recently discovered pregnant woman to safety.  That's a lot harder than it sounds because Britain (where the film is located) is now the only functioning government left in the world, but just barely.  For the most part the entire country has turned into a George Orwell police state nightmare.  Former activist Clive Owen is recruited against his will by his ex-wife (Julianne Moore) into helping a young girl get to the "Human Project", another activist group that is rumored to have scientists specializing in infertility.  Stuff happens and next thing Owen knows he's in the thick of it with people from all sides trying to kill him.

I enjoyed CHILDREN OF MEN.  The story is interesting, the pace is good and some of the action sequences were impressively filmed.  But that goddamn camera was too much for me.  Purposely raw documentary style camerawork is okay for short periods of time.  When Takashi Miike used it briefly in 2003's YAKUZA DEMON with the rain splattering on the camera lens is was awesome (also his budget was probably 1/60th of what they used here), but in CHILDREN OF MEN the entire movie is filmed that way and it gets old quick.  I'm sure some people enjoy it and praise how it transports the viewer into the disorder of the the film, but to me it was just distracting.   After awhile I found myself paying more attention to the corners of the screen than the action on the screen.

Worth a watch, but I wish the story had been introduced a little better at the beginning, the overall story darker and the camerawork steadier.  Seeing Michael Caine playing air guitar to a bastardized version of Aphex Twin's "Omgyjya Switch 7" was pretty funny though.

A SINGLE MAN (2009)

Colin Firth plays a man, George Falconer, who is deep in depression (and maybe even shock) in the months following the sudden death of his companion Jim. The film opens as George awakens out of a dream about Jim. Ahh shit. Another miserable day but today is not going to be like all of the other black days since Jim's death. No, today is going to be the very last day ever that George has to fake his way through this torture. His plan is to spend the day getting all of his final arrangements in order and then in the evening blow his fucking brains out along with all the misery and loneliness that infests it...but sometimes life has plans that differ from yours.

I haven't read the book so I'm sure some of the more subtle nuances of the story have been lost in the translation from paper to screen, even so I still enjoyed A SINGLE MAN and found it touching and thought provoking. First time director Tom Ford does a good job. I think the delicate story is better suited for somebody with more experience (Ang Lee maybe?), but Tom does a adequate job and even though I disliked the way the movie was shot there are a few moments that really shine. The liquor store parking lot scene is one I have in mind. The ever so slight expressions on Colin's face during that scene are a pleasure to behold.

A SINGLE MAN by no means a masterpiece, but it's a very nice, thoughtful film and Colin's performance alone is worth the price of admission.