MOVIE RATING SCALE:

***** (Spectacular) 10

****1/2 (Excellent) 9

**** (Very Good) 8

***1/2 (Good) 7

*** (Above Average) 6

**1/2 (Average) 5

** (Below Average) 4

*1/2 (Mediocre) 3

* (Awful) 2

1/2 (Abysmal) 1

0 (Worthless) 0


Monday, November 12, 2012

# 488 - CLOUD ATLAS (2012)


CLOUD ATLAS (2012 - ACTION / ADVENTURE / SCI-FI / THRILLER / ROMANCE / DRAMA / MYSTERY / COMEDY) ****1/2 out of *****

(Wow... just wow...)

Partay?

CAST: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Doona Bae, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Keith David.

DIRECTOR: Tom Twyker, Andy Wachowski

WARNING: Some serious mindfucks and "hold-your-pee" challenges - straight ahead....





IT'S LIKE THIS: Remember that saying about how a butterfly flapping its wings in Shanghai can cause a traffic accident in New York - or something like that. Basically, the idea is that the smallest of actions can have far-reaching impacts, greater than anyone could have ever anticipated. Now, that idea is has its own movie: CLOUD ATLAS.

Let me tell you something upfront: you do not want to go to the bathroom while you are watching CLOUD ATLAS. It is one of those movies where almost every single frame contains something vital that sets up something that will pay off significantly much later in the movie. Is it any surprise that the movie's tagline is "Everything Is Connected." Yeah, thanks. No fucking shit. Oh, and did I also mention that the movie is almost three hours long? That's a fucking long time to hold your pee, folks. And guess what? I did. Because I didn't want to miss a thing. No, I'm not going all Steven Tyler on you. I actually fucking hate that song. I actually get ill when I hear it.

But I digress. Anyhow, it's going to be easier for me to broker a World Peace Treaty or find a cure for male pattern baldness than to describe what exactly CLOUD ATLAS is about. But I will try... you see there's this nuclear physicist who looks like Tom Hanks, whose got a huge woody for a journalist/writer who looks a lot like Halle Berry. Oh, wait, before we talk about them, let's talk about the couple who also looks like them from, I guess, the distant future who are trying to contact some spaceship to come pick them up in Hawaii. Oh, wait, wait, before all of that we have some composer dude from the 17th century who has composed a melody called, ahem, "Cloud Atlas" as a tribute to his boyfriend. But wait, there's also another 17th century dude who is sick and sailing across the Atlantic to try to get back to his wife - who kind of looks like a chick from the future who is like some sort of fast food waitress in what has to be the Universe's most fucked-up burger joint. Then there's tubby British agent who gets confined in a retirement home and plots an escape with the other relics around him. Then there's also the British writer who also looks like Tom Hanks, who tosses an asshole book critic over the balcony rail at his party - but not before trading serious googley eyes with a chick who looks a hell of a lot like an Indian version of Halle Berry. Then there's...

Oh, fuck it. I give up. Just watch the goddamned movie. It's pretty awesome.


STILLS COMING SOON


BUT, SERIOUSLY: Put quite simply, there is no movie like CLOUD ATLAS out there. It has joined my TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES list. While it's not quite in the TOP 5 echelon that BOY A, ORDINARY PEOPLE, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, REAR WINDOW, and WEDDING CRASHERS occupy, it now comfortably occupies the # 6 spot. And it's largely due to just how breathtaking, dazzling, unpredictable, weird, amazing, exhilarating, pulsating, romantic, suspenseful, exciting, and downright unique it is. Like I said, this movie is one-of-a-kind.

That's not to say that most people will love it - let alone even like it. It is three hours long. It weaves in so many plot threads and so many ideas that you have to pay close attention or you will be lost. It juxtaposes nearly every single cinematic genre. It doesn't bother to explain itself. It just is. And not everyone is comfortable with that. As a moviegoing audience, Americans like to have things broken down for them, and I don't think CLOUD ATLAS will please mainstream audiences for the simple fact that it marches to its own drummer and refuses to reveals its secrets so easily and quickly.

Those who love intelligent enigmas and have strong attention spans, however, will find much to love in this film. Not the least of which are strong performances across the board from everyone in the cast. Everyone hits their mark and that is even more remarkable because most of the castmembers are playing multiple characters of varying nationalities, backgrounds, time periods, and even planetary origin. They are all wonderful and form a beautiful and talented ensemble.

Talented American performers like Tom Hanks, Keith David, Susan Sarandon, and Halle Berry mesh well with British dynamos like Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Jim Sturgess, and Hugo Waving, as well as with Asian breath-takers like Xun Zhou and Doona Bae. Bae, in particular, is my favorite in this film. There's a scene where one of her characters, Sonmi-351, finds out about the death of a friend - and realizes just then just how much she loved him. The way Bae plays Sonmi's wordless reaction is the textbook definition of "heart-breaking." While all of the threads in CLOUD ATLAS' tapestry are breathtaking, it is Somni's that is the most emotionally powerful.

And that is, in the end, what CLOUD ATLAS is: a tapestry. The pattern may be complex and serpentine when viewed up close. However, when you step back - everything becomes clear. What this film is about is the power of love to keep the past alive, to energize the present - and, finally, to shape the future. To say more, would spoil the beauty of discovering this film for yourselves.

And, like any treasure, it should be discovered.