Review: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

I will admit, when I first watched the trailer for THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED, I dismissed the film as another silly comedy about an old man. But whether it was the content or the director (Felix Herngren), the film happily reminded me not to judge a film by its trailer. Adapted from Jonas Jonasson's novel of the same name, THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN is an absurdist delight, full of lighthearted (and at times darkly comedic) fun.

Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson) has led a pretty extraordinary life. A man who doesn't seem to let anything phase him, he has no qualms with the world and so the world has no qualms with him, allowing him many opportunities that are just too coincidental. He has mingled with crowds that you would never believe, and has a penchant for blowing things up. But still, on his 100th birthday, he finds himself alone and at a nursing home. Skipping right past this poignant realization, the film dives headfirst into the real story: Allan's escape from the nursing home, and the adventure that follows.



The film toggles back and forth between present day and the memories of Allan's past, presenting nearly two separate stories: one is a Forrest Gump-inspired history lesson, showing Allan's earlier years as he bumps into famous historical figures and accidentally parties with them, and the other is his adventure after escaping the nursing home, involving a stolen suitcase and a biker gang. He befriends a motley crew of characters along the way, each a unique addition to the story without being belabored -- Julius (Iwar Wiklander), who seems to have just as much disregard for the rules as Allan does, Benny (David Wiberg), who can't make a decision for the life of him, and Gunilla (Mia Skäringer), the animal rights activist who is harboring an elephant in her backyard.

If you're looking for the progression of events to be logical, this may not be the film for you -- Allan should be considered the luckiest man alive, as opportunities fall into his lap. But that doesn't deter from the story - in fact, it kind of becomes a running gag, offering one ridiculous situation after the other with a wink and a nudge. It's as if to say, "We know this would never happen... but as long as you know that, and I know that, we're on the same page and we can have some fun." On the other hand, Allan seems to narrowly avoid countless tragedies - the flashbacks have some pretty dark content, but all perceived with that same unconcerned air.

If you're looking for a laugh, you must check out this film. THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: Far From The Madding Crowd

There are some stories that filmmakers can't get enough of, returning to them over and over, and it seems that FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD is one of them. Perhaps it is because it is a love story, or perhaps it is because it attempts a progressive look at its female protagonist; or perhaps people just really like Victorian England. A new adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel has just been made; directed by Thomas Vinterberg, whose last film, THE HUNT, scored an Oscar nomination, the film is an unpolished gem -- it contains a lot of beauty, but certain qualities still cause it to be dull.



Carey Mulligan plays Bathsheba Everdene, the self-proclaimed independent woman in Victorian England whose name elicits the biblical idea of desire -- an idea that is very present in the story. Beginning the tale with little wealth to speak of and living with her aunt, she is approached by the quiet-natured, dependable shepherd, Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), who asks her to marry him -- but she rejects his proposal, stating that she has no need for a husband. However, their situations quickly become reversed: a rogue sheepdog puts Gabriel's flock in ruins, leaving him with nothing, at the same time that Bathsheba inherits a farm from her uncle. Bathsheba takes Gabriel in to shepherd her flock, and begins her new life as proprietor. But as stated before, such a strong-headed, independent woman attracts many suitors, and soon a neighboring farmer, William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) offers to give her security in marriage. And not too long after that, the reckless Sergeant Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge), whose main artillery is his charm, comes into the picture as a suitor.

The plot is not too dissimilar to any other love story from this era, so I will instead focus on the artistry put into the film. Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christenson transforms every scene into a painting, with gorgeous landscapes and artful imagery. The acting is also superb -- it should be noted that Mulligan never gives a dull performance, and Schoenaerts is also a delight.

The plot was somewhat lacking. Having not read the book, this is where my expertise falls short, but while many different events unfold, they do not flow together -- and our protagonist remains passive throughout the majority of it. By this I mean that Bathsheba never really has to make any serious decisions... she just kind of stumbles through the events, saying she will decide, but letting the conflicts that arise decide for her. In fact, really the only big decision she makes is a decision not in line with her character whatsoever -- which she even admits to later in the story. Ultimately, the story is supposed to be about choosing between three suitors (or choosing to remain independent), but most of her decision-making process involves waiting for the suitors to remove themselves from the picture.

But it is a beautiful film, and for those who love period pieces, it is well worth the watch. FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: Ex Machina

Already widely renowned for his previous screenplays (28 Days Later, Sunshine) and novels (The Beach, Tesseract), Alex Garland has finally brought something new and chillingly delightful in his directorial debut, EX MACHINA, a sci-fi film that feeds off of society's burgeoning obsession with artificial intelligence.

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a coder at Bluebook (the story's version of Google) has won a lottery at work -- and the prize is to visit the company's CEO, Nathan (Oscar Isaac) in his high tech, reclusive bungalow in the woods, spending a week under the CONTROL of an NDA agreement. The film starts very abruptly, throwing the audience into the story with nary a detail about Caleb... but, though scarce information is later gleaned about him, development for his character becomes vastly unimportant as the real star of the story becomes clear: Ava (Alicia Vikander) is an AI robot, Nathan's latest experiment. Nathan has called Caleb to his base to give Ava the Turing Test (which determines a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human), through which he will decide whether Ava is complete -- or if he needs to make another prototype.



I won't give you too much more of the story, because it's worth it just to get thrown into the narrative, but suffice it to say, some major mind games are played between characters. As Caleb explores Ava's mind, Ava in turn explores her limits, as Nathan watches on. The film unfolds some feminist concepts, offering a study of objectification and liberation within a sci-fi context.

With only a handful of characters holding the film together, credit must be given to the cast. Each gave phenomenal performances -- while I wouldn't say it's Gleeson's best work, he still did a great job. But Vikander and Isaac steal the show, and I think this will be an exploding moment in Vikander's career.

It's a beautiful film, entrenched in suspense and scenes that will leave you thinking about them long after the credits roll. EX MACHINA is now playing at the Midtown Cinema! Don't miss this one.

Review: The Water Diviner

True stories seem to be all Hollywood cares about these days. Or, rather, films based off of true stories -- a distinction which audiences seem to forget as they watch film after film and incorporate fabrications into their personal reference of history. It's a bit worrying to me that people don't understand that artistic liberties must sometimes be taken, and historical accuracy compromised, in order to tell a good story.

One such example is THE WATER DIVINER, Russell Crowe's directorial debut about an Australian man who travels to Turkey to search for his three missing sons in the aftermath of the Battle of Gallipoli. The film, written by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios, takes quite a few liberties in telling the story, tinging historical events with a bit of mysticism (ie Joshua tracks down his sons in the same format that he tracks down water).

Crowe plays our protagonist, Joshua Connor, a farmer who practices the pseudoscience of water divining, apparently a useful skill for Australia's dry climate. The war has taken his three sons -- a tragedy which his wife, Eliza (Jacqueline McKenzie) blames him for. When Eliza commits suicide, Joshua promises at her graveside to bring her sons home to her, if only to be buried together.



Joshua travels to Turkey, with very little information to find his sons' bodies. After a bit of an incident with a kid who wants him to stay at his mother's hotel, he concedes and strikes up a friendship with the boy (Dylan Georgiades) and his mother, Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko), who has lost her husband to the war. Upon visiting the battlefield in which his boys were supposed to have died, Joshua somehow manages to win the hearts of the Turkish soldiers who are recovering the bodies, and begins to search for his sons the only way he knows how: he tracks them, as if tracking water under the ground.

This is a decent story, but not a great story: at times, it tries a little too hard to wring out the audience's emotions, handing out flashbacks and tender moments with a heavy hand. The beginning of the film is especially rocky, structured a bit like an over-budgeted student film. But despite its overindulgence in emotional manipulation, it can be said that this film has a lot of heart. The motivation of a father looking for his sons; the comradery of the Turkish soldiers; the tough choices that a soldier must make; all of these things makes it worth the watch.

I'll put all of his past work aside when I say this: for a first-time feature director, Crowe didn't do too bad. Not great, but not bad. Maybe with such encouragement, his next one will come a bit closer to the mark of excellence.

THE WATER DIVINER is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!