Movie Reviews: Before Sunrise, Children of Heaven, SherryBaby & The Science of Sleep

Yes, it's time for more movie reviews. Not movies that are new necessarily, but just ones that I've recently seen.

Please do continue to send me your suggestions for movies to see and review. Of course, it may take me awhile to watch your suggestion, given that if I watch one netflix movie a week, it will take me -- let me just get out a pen to jot down the figures -- a year to get through them all. Yeah, 'cause there's fifty-two movies on my queue. And fifty-two weeks in a year. See, I can do word problems! Take that, Mr. Nord! (Lower level math educators... bless 'em!) Anyway, I digress... but if you're read me before, you're used to it, right? Ok. Movie. Reviews. NOW!

Before Sunrise (1995)
Before Sunrise chronicles the short-but-sweet romance of a young American named Jesse (Ethan Hawke) who falls for a French student, Celine (Julie Delpy), on a train ride to Vienna. They spend the night before he has to return to the US walking, talking, and falling in love. This is a great example of a dialogue-based movie that actually works and does not bore. Often dialogue-heavy films do not hold my interest (sorry, I am just not into Clerks), but in this movie the dialogue was beautiful and engaging, and worked well against these lovely Viennese backdrops. If you have not yet seen it, now would be a great time, because Julie Delpy has a new movie coming out that she wrote, directed, and stars in, called 2 Days in Paris. It's supposed to be great. So check out her early work and see what you think. I'm definitely watching 2 Days and also the sequel to Before Sunrise, aptly titled Before Sunset. Look for that reviewed here soon.

Also, just for fun, I'm going to quote Jesse from Before Sunrise: "You know what's the worst thing about somebody breaking up with you? Is when you remember how little you thought about the people you broke up with and you realize that is how little they're thinking of you. You know, you'd like to think that you're both in all this pain but they're just like 'Hey, I'm glad you're gone.'" True that.

And for good measure, here's one from Celine: "I believe if there's any kind of God it wouldn't be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there's any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of someone sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt." Solid A

SherryBaby (2006)
Relentlessly depressing, bleak movie about the difficulties of a woman recovering from a life of abuse, crime, and addiction. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a recently paroled Sherry, just out of the New Jersey pen after a three-year stint. Amazing part of this movie was how real it seemed; as a public defender, I've seen many a drug-addicted client. This movie documents well the broken coping mechanisms that female addicts often use to deal with their lives. Maggie Gyllenhaal's acting was right on the money, but the plot never really went anywhere and many scenes seemed to woefully lack purpose and direction. For some, the fact that there are a lot of nude scenes with a white-trashy hot Mags will be a plus, but honestly, the situations were so depressing that the sex was really not very sexy. C+

Children of Heaven (Iran, 1997)
I don't know if I've ever seen an Iranian movie before, but if this isn't the best one, I would be shocked. What an amazing movie! The story: Ali loses his little sister Zohre's shoes. His family is too poor for new shoes, so they concoct an ingenious plan: they take turns going to school in Ali's shoes, until Ali gets an even better plan. He will compete in a long-distance race where the prize for third place is a pair of shoes. This movie is sweet and affecting without being syrupy or trite. However, I need to cut this review short so that I can find an Iranian man to give me beautiful, wonderful children like these. Solid A

The Science of Sleep (France/Italy 2006)
Stephàne, played by gorgeous man Gael Garcia Bernal, moves to France to be closer to his mother after his father's death, takes a boring job at a calendar company, and then dreams, a lot. Most fascinating to me was the exploration between dreams and art, and the art was so darned cool. I truly loved the felt pony and the cellophane ocean and the cardboard car and the paper towel roll city. But as the film goes on, it seems Stephàne's "dreaming" is interfering with his "reality" a bit too much, and maybe he's just "completely fucking nuts." And like most crazy people, Stephàne is really annoying, especially when he hurts the girl he loves with all his crazy artist dude antics. The object of his affection, Stephànie, played by the um… interesting-looking Charlotte Gainsbourg, is one of the better aspects of the film.

So, on the plus side: interesting premise, good acting, cool art. On the downside: twee Velvet Underground cover, annoying lead character, disjointed plot, and a pretty big what's-the-point-of-all-this-anyway factor. For some, the Urban Outfitter aesthetic might be a bit much too take. It's no Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But it also doesn't suck and you should probably give it a chance. B-