Savage Grace (IFC Films – May 28)
Directed by Tom Kalin; Written by Howard A. Rodman
Starring Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne, Elena Anaya, Unax Ugalde, Belén Rueda, Hugh Dancy

Based on the novel by Natalie Robins & Steven Aronson, this period drama from Swoon director Tom Kalin crosses the globe and spans decades as it tells a coming-of-age tale of a young man trying to find his sexuality amidst the devolving relationship of his parents, which gets worse over time. There are tangential similarities to the recent Margot at the Wedding in the way it follows generally bad people treating each other poorly, but technically, it's a much more satisfying film even if the subject matter might make some squirm.

Opening in New York's Upper West Side just after World War II, we see how the birth of Antony Baekeland causes the first rift between his parents: Barbara (Julianne Moore), a beautiful and pretentious high society woman, and her wealthy military officer husband Brooks (Stephen Dillane) who tires of his wife's narcissistic behavior. After we see the first signs of this unhealthy marriage, the story shifts forwards as the family moves to Europe and the older teen Antony, played by Eddie Redmayne (Matt Damon's traitorous son in "The Good Shepherd"), starts to discover his sexuality through a number of relationships with both genders while coping with the dissolution of his parent's marriage after his father goes after Antony's first girlfriend, Blanca, played by Spain's Elena Anaya.

Redmayne shows further promise as an actor, but he tends to be shown up by Moore, who easily captures the viewer's attention with her flamboyant nature of her character, seducing most of the men she meets, while trying to maintain her standing in upper society whether it's in France, Spain or wherever her husband's work takes him. Stephen Dillane gives a confident performance as her weary husband, but he quickly disappears from the picture, to be replaced by Hugh Dancy as Barbara's presumably homosexual confidante who leads mother and son into an incestuous ménage a trois.

Despite the excruciatingly slow pace at times, this is an exquisite visual experience with a solid script and acting, but it's hard to figure out why someone might care to watch these people do awful things to each other, as it mostly deals with the precarious psychological games played between the three actors, punctuated by sex scenes, that aren't particularly sexy, and at times, are quite disturbing. After dragging along for an hour, it goes downhill from there as it builds to a particularly disturbing climax of Antony's mother trying to "convert" her gay son, which successfully completes the cycle of sexual deviancy that permeates the film. Even more shocking is that once its over, we're given an epilogue title sequence that talks about what happens to Antony after the movie. Yes, believe it or not, this story is based on actual people, something that's not quite clear until the very end.

Either way, it's far too evident that the film is based on a literary work as it tries to maintain some of those pretentions, but sadly, it's a classic example of why some novels just don't translate well when adapted to the screen.

Rating: 6/10

Young@Heart (Fox Searchlight – April 18)
Directed by Stephen Walker
Starring the Young@Heart Chorus, Bob Climan

It's been a long time since Fox Seachlight has released a documentary, but knowing their proclivity for music and popular crowd-pleasing fare, this one is right up their alley, looking at the Young@Heart Chorus, a group of elderly 70 and 80 somethings from Northhampton, Mass. who get together to create their own versions of alternative rock and punk songs. As it opens with their rendition of The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" you might assume this is going to be a novelty film or one that derives its laughs from watching old people singing unlikely music. In fact, this is a satisfying and touching film about the trials and tribulations faced by the group and its excitable taskmaster Bob Climan, as we watch him try to prepare the group to learn new material for their upcoming season. A fan of hip rock bands like the Talking Heads, Climan tries to find songs that the group can put their own unique spin on, and hopefully, that they can relate to, but the group's reaction to his introduction of Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia" is absolutely priceless. Watching them try to learn standards like James Brown's "I Feel Good" is equally amusing.

Rather than just filming rehearsals and showing how the songs progress (or in some cases, digress), Stephen Walker talks to individual members and spends time with them away from rehearsals to allow the viewer to get a true feeling for the infectious spirit and personalities of these amazing people. It doesn't shy away from the sad fact that when people are that old, they might suffer from health problems, which becomes clearer when two of the group's beloved members suddenly pass away, making the group's version of Coldplay's "Fix You" even more emotional as the ballad is given new meaning in the hands of the elderly singers. If watching them perform this doesn't have you close to tears, then you are indeed a cool customer, but seeing a group of prison inmates watching the group's poignant performance of "Forever Young" and seeing not a dry eye in the house makes you realize that it's okay to let the emotion of this film wash over you.

Not just a movie for older people but one for those who have elderly parents or grandparents, this entertaining and often moving documentary captures a moment in time in the lives of these amazing older people, something that should help even the youngest of viewer get in touch with their own mortality and make it clear that life doesn't have to end at 60.

Rating: 8.5/10

August
Directed by Austin Chick; Written by Howard A. Rodman
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, Naomie Harris, Robin Tunney, Andre Royo, Emmanuelle Chriqui, David Bowie, Rip Torn

As I watched the sophomore effort from Austin Chick (XX/XY), I kept thinking that this was the kind of movie that would go over much better at the Tribeca Film Festival than at Sundance, because it's such a New York City story with people who any New Yorker who has spent any time in a lower Manhattan bar in the years since the internet boom of the '90s will have encountered. Set in the world of Wall Street pre-9/11—there's a brief glimpse of the World Trade Center to set the tone—it's the story of two brothers, Josh Hartnett's Tom Sterling, the aggressive and arrogant CEO of a start-up internet company called Land Shark, and his brother Josh (Adam Scott), the real brains of the project who is trying to balance a new family with his brother's attitude and ambitions.

Cut from the same cloth as Charlie Sheen in "Wall Street" if it were set 15 years later, Tom Sterling is a fascinating character to watch as he deals with the rigors of running a company while displaying a care-free casually dressed attitude that we learn is mostly for show. In fact, the brothers' company is failing, running under a business model that makes little sense to anyone who examines it more closely, causing friction with his family and co-workers alike. At the same time, Tom is trying to reconnect with an ex-girlfriend (Naomie Harris) who he lost as the company started to succeed, and she tries to act as his moral compass not unlike Bill Murray's former girlfriend Claire in "Scrooged."

With a cleverly written screenplay by Howard Rodman, who also adapted "Savage Grace," this talking heads drama is only bogged down by its deliberately slow pace, and over the course of the movie, we never learn exactly what Land Shark does, something made clearer by the film's most memorable scene involving Rip Torn as their father dressing Tom down over dinner, which is only trumped later when David Bowie shows up as a wealthy investor who gives Tom a valuable life lesson that when it comes to business, no one is expendable.

This is a great role for Hartnett as he's able to get away from his chronic nice-guy image, though so much focus is put on Tom's character arc that a lot of the subsidiary characters like his brother don't have time to develop. Considering what a large part the relationship between the brothers is supposed to play in the story, one might wish there was more interaction between Hartnett and Scott, because ultimately, it's the family dinners that speaks volumes about their troubled partnership.

Despite the interminably slow pace, there's aspects of this film that stick with you despite it not being nearly as immediate as "Wall Street", but the worthwhile attempts at creating realistic character dynamics and situations within a very specific era in New York is notable for sure.

Rating: 7/10

Just Another Love Story
Written and directed by Ole Bornedal
Starring Anders W. Berthelson, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Rebecka Hemse

Danish films can often be erratic and hard to follow, something that can certainly be said about this intriguing but perplexing offering from Ole Bornedal, a gender-blending tale that takes its time to reveal its odd central premise. Opening with a number of non-sequiturs including a man lying bleeding in the rain, one where a man has sex with his wife, and a beautiful young woman as she shoots her lover in a Hanoi hotel room, the sequences seem unrelated until we witness a horrifying car crash witnessed by Jonas and wife that leaves that young woman Julia 90% blind and in a deep coma. In order to visit the woman in the hospital to check up on her, Jonas lies to the nurse that he’s her boyfriend and Julia’s visiting family assumes he’s the mysterious “Sebastian” they’ve heard so much about. Instead of telling them the truth, Jonas takes on the role of loving boyfriend to help Julia get out of her coma, while his wife rightfully suspects her husband of an affair because he keeps disappearing for hours at a time. When Julia awakens, she has amnesia and can’t see, so she also believes that this man taking care of her is indeed her boyfriend.

There’s something about this movie that’s reminiscent of Almodovar’s “Talk to Her” with its premise of a man taking care of a pretty stranger in a coma, and Bornedal seems equally influenced by Hitchcock in creating mystery and suspense with a mysterious man with a bandaged face who turns up to plague the fledgling romance between Jonas and Julia. About halfway through the movie, there’s an interesting development that sadly is never followed up on or resolved, instead turning into a straight thriller as Julia’s memory returns and the real Sebastian shows up to play games with the man who claims to be him. While clearly the relationship between Julia and her real boyfriend is not what it seems, Sebastian’s return is so predictable and the film’s deterioration into familiar territory ruins what was an intriguing mix of character drama and noir up to that point.

Bornedal is a clever visual filmmaker who finds innovative ways to maintain the viewer’s interest even during some of the sometimes excruciatingly slow scenes, but the darkly comic sensibilities often found in Danish cinema is in full effect with the film’s deliberately cynical view of romance. Unfortunately, once things climax with the return of Sebastian, the film continues with a number of epilogues to tie up the earlier opening scenes, but it leaves things at a grim and unsatisfying place that never lives up to the promising concept.

Rating: 5.5/10