30 November 2013

One-Liners - Yea


SHORT TERM 12 (A-minus) - A near-perfect little gem. Or maybe it's too perfect.

Two hipster 20-somethings, Grace and Mason (the powerful Brie Larson and the hirsute John Gallagher Jr., resembling a greasy millennial Ben Affleck), run the day shift of a halfway house for at-risk teens. Grace has her own troubled history, and some old wounds resurface when a younger version of herself, arsty-gothy Jayden (a compelling Kaitlyn Dever), shows up.

It's difficult to watch young people who are in pain, but new writer/director Destin Cretton provides a deft touch, creating likeable characters who fit neatly into stereotypes yet still feel real. The overall result is something short of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" but with more gravitas than "It's Kind of a Funny Story."

Larson as Grace runs the show -- both the halfway house and the movie itself -- and it's her arc that proves to be quite gripping. She can't bring herself to open up about her past experiences or her present emotions to Mason, even when a life-changing event should bring them closer. Dever is nearly Larson's match, putting up a tough front but unable to totally hide the girl inside. Another revelation is newcomer Lakeith Stanfield as Marcus, a meticulously controlled ball of rage who communicates through intense but thoughtful rap songs as he tries to deal with the reality of soon turning 18 and being cast out into the world.

Cretton gets just a tad too cutesy with his adolescent characters and with a tidy ending that tugs at the heartstrings. But it's hard to quibble with such an honest attempt at filmmaking that is so expertly executed.

WADJDA (B+) - Young Waad Mohammed is captivating in the title role in this groundbreaking film written and directed by a Saudi Arabian woman, Haiffa al-Mansour, about a girl who puts her all into a Quran-recital competition in order to win the prize money and be able to buy a bicycle and ride with the boys -- a scandalous thought, even in this day and age.

The film is both shocking in its depiction of a religion's degradation of women and heartwarming in offering some hope for the next generation. This is an important story, solidly told. Mohammed has the face (and the hi-tops) and the skills to carry such a film.

The story, though, does plod during the first third. The relationship between Wadjda's parents feels a little under-developed. And al-Mansour overdoes the scenes of repression, hitting the viewer over the head with the stone-age horrors imposed on women, repeating herself as she does it. This is brighter than a film like Osama, but far less powerful.

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