Union Square (B+) - Mira Sorvino is a joy as a messed up woman from a fucked-up family who pops in on her uptight sister after a three-year estrangement. I'm sure there are some who would find her character to be a cliched Bronx bimbo, but there's much more her -- and the movie -- than that. And Tammy Blanchard is beyond intense as the tortured sister trying to make peace not only with her past but the life she has created in its place. Blanchard seems to reveal all merely in the two scenes in which she brushes her teeth, alone in front of the mirror. To top it all off, we get a cameo from Broadway star Patti LuPone. But it's Sorvino who drags this story with her wherever she goes. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, and her face captures a rainbow of moods, sometimes in a matter of moments. And rarely have I ever appreciated such a rambling, left-field ending as this one. A tidy 80 minutes of storytelling, despite its loose ends and dead ends.
Natural Selection (A-minus) - TV comedian Rachael Harris (the harpy dentist's wife in "The Hangover") gives an equally breakout performance in this quirky film from newcomer Robbie Pickering. Harris is a frustrated good-Christian wife in a sexless marriage (because she's barren, thus making procreation impossible) who discovers that her husband's stroke occurred while he was at a sperm-donation clinic. She vows to track down his grown son and bring the trailer-trash offspring back to his biological father's death bed. The rest of the proceedings play out like a classic '70s road movie. The lines are snappy. Harris provides incredible depth to her character, and Jon Gries (a Polish Brothers favorite) complements her well as the yearning brother-in-law. Everything falls apart somewhat at the end, but the journey there is well worth it.
Bonus Track: Here's a sample of the great music from "Natural Selection." The second song in this medley, "Pretty Little Dreamer" plays during a key scene near the movie's climax.
No comments:
Post a Comment