"Criminal" Review

All your favorite supporting characters from all your favorite superhero movies unite for a different brand of "Justice." Or "Avenging" if that's your thing.

Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy), Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face in Batman Forever, Col. Chester Phillips in Captain America: The First Avenger), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and Ryan Reynolds (the title character in both Deadpool and Green Lantern) star in Criminal, a new film from director Ariel Vromen (The Iceman).

Costner plays the violent criminal Jericho Stewart who is recruited by Quaker Wells (Oldman) and the CIA for an experimental brain operation. This operation, headed by Dr. Franks (Jones), would transplant the memories and knowledge of deceased undercover agent Billy Pope (Reynolds) into a fresh body capable of recalling the classified information inside Pope's mind. The CIA needs it to finish the mission Billy started. Jericho seems like a good candidate because nobody would care if he died in the process.

At first, Jericho has some hilariously awkward encounters as he comes into his own following his release from prison. Things get a bit more serious as he starts to recall everything about Billy's professional and personal life. The stakes rise as he reaches out to Billy's wife Jill (Gadot) and the couple's young daughter. To save them, Jericho must complete Billy's mission at all costs.

Immediately after seeing Criminal, my first thought was how much I loved the fact that the film hearkens back to the "everyman action hero" movies of the 1980s and '90s. A name like "Jericho Stewart" belongs right alongside the likes of Snake Plissken, Jack Burton, Richard Kimble and John McClane. Also, Criminal isn't entirely self-serious. There are loads of lighthearted moments peppered throughout that use Jericho as a catalyst for sometimes unexpectedly big laughs. This is not a comedy film by any means; just a decent script that narrowly avoids being too dour. Many should find that refreshing after the relentlessly brooding tone of Batman v Superman. Costner is more than up for the challenge of delivering a consistent performance regardless of which scene he's in, whether it's played for laughs, intimate human drama or the thrills of a big set piece.

Among the supporting players, Gadot stands out as Jill. While some may interpret her scenes with Costner as melodramatic, Gadot shows a bit of nuanced restraint that makes her character easy to empathize with even before things really hit the fan. Easily her best performance yet, and if this is any indication, we should all be entirely sold on next year's Wonder Woman.

If for nothing else, Criminal deserves a recommendation as an occasionally silly but endlessly entertaining R-rated action movie that's well-and-truly made for grown-ups. Comic book aficionados need not necessarily apply. That alone ought to be refreshing for anybody.

B+

Sundance 2016 - "Cemetery of Splendor" Review

Writer/director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (let's just call him A.W.) burst onto the Sundance scene in 2010 with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. After premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last may, he returns to Park City to share his latest feature, Cemetery of Splendor, with American audiences for the first time. After seeing this film, it is clear that A.W.'s subtle mastery of the cinematic language affords him the status of being one of the world's most exciting visual storytellers.

The story of Cemetery of Splendor involves a middle-aged housewife, and her wards, tasked with caring for a group of recovering soldiers. These men are nearly all in a coma-like slumber until one of them finally awakes, prompting our heroine on a journey through an Inception-like world where dreams and reality blur in a far more understated fashion.

The film's slow pace and Thai language may be off-putting for less discerning viewers, but rest assured that the deliberate nature with which A.W. approaches this story only reinforces the emotional impact of the images onscreen. This lends us more time to contemplate and accept this vivid "netherworld" which A.W. would have us believe exists within our own. For example, notice how the neon tubes seem to emerge from the ground near each soldier's bedside like glowing grave markers. These men aren't necessarily dead, but A.W. allows us to contemplate all sorts of alternatives without the use of dialogue in sections like this.

In fact, the film's most insightful, poignant moments come at times in which no words are spoken.

Cemetery of Splendor is a film rich with so much texture, both visually and emotionally, that it is impossible to fully digest after only one viewing. I expect it will have a long and healthy shelf life as it is studied, discussed and scrutinized as one of the 21st century's defining cinematic achievements.

A+