Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I'm not going to lie, I really hyped myself up for this movie. When I heard that Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mark Strong are all going to be in the same movie, and that movie is going to be a 1960's spy drama, I became insanely excited. My heart sank a little when I learned it was going to only be a limited release in theaters and come nowhere close to here, but the DVD release came around and I soon found myself sitting on my couch and eagerly pressing play on my Xbox to begin the movie. What happened next was something I was completely unprepared for: mediocrity.

Don't get me wrong: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not a bad movie. It has some really fantastic performances by all of the aforementioned actors, some of which really compelled me to respect them more as actors. The movie's protagonist is George Smiley (Oldman), a retired spy who is called out of retirement to find a mole that has infiltrated the head of MI6. His investigation takes him through a recollection of events by other spies and uncovers a plot that weaves intricately through the East and West. Oldman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but I honestly don't think he gave the best performance in the film. The real talent in this movie lies with Tom Hardy and Mark Strong, two of the spies whose stories comprise the backbone of Smiley's investigation. Hardy, who is known by many as Eames from Inception and his upcoming role as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, plays a young spy who is in way over his head. Considering that the majority of roles I've seen him in are fairly confident characters, it's pretty cool to see that he can play characters that are shaken and haunted just as well as he can pull off cool and confident. Strong, whose famous roles are typically  no-nonsense, villainous characters (Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass), takes a unique turn in this film as a repatriated spy whose endearing, fatherly bond with an outcast in his elementary French class sets a stark contrast with his former life as a deep-cover agent in Hungary, and he does a really great job. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's greatest strength is that everyone in the cast gives an excellent performance, but Hardy and Strong were by far the most powerful and effective.

If acting is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's strong suit, then its weakest link is in its pacing. Despite what the past 20-30 years have conditioned you to believe, a "spy drama" does not equal an "action movie," but that's not what my complaint is. Rather, I really enjoyed that fact. The problem is that the story that is told moves at a snail's pace. Some of it can be explained away as character development, but much of the detail shown in the movie slows it down more than it helps with immersion into the world of the film. It sounds like a relatively minor complaint compared to the fantastic ensemble of actors, but the pacing is really bad enough to keep it from being a great movie.

As an actor, I really loved Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The performances by everyone in the cast were absolutely astounding, and it's very rare that you will find another movie with the same caliber of talent. As a movie-watcher, however, that sense of amazement was tempered by a frustratingly boring pace that kept the  great acting and bay and sucked all of the suspense out of an otherwise suspenseful tale of international espionage. I give Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 7 and a half haunting flashbacks to the Eastern Bloc out of 10.

50/50

One of the things I like the least about the Academy Awards is that they can sometimes overlook some really great movies. Certainly there are some movies, such as Midnight in Paris or Hugo, that deserve all of the recognition they got. Other movies, like Moneyball or especially Bridesmaids, don't deserve nearly as much attention as they were given, if any at all. I will go ahead and say that it is one of the Academy's greatest injustices that Bridesmaids was nominated in two categories (Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy) while 50/50 was nominated for absolutely nothing. They overlooked one of the best movies of the last year, and I'm kind of disgusted with them for it.

50/50 is the fifth movie by director Jonathan Levine and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anna Kendrick. Gordon-Levitt is Adam Lerner, a radio journalist who develops a rare form of spinal cancer, of which he has a 50% chance of survival, at the young age of 27. As he learns how to cope with his condition, we're brought into his life as well as the lives of his girlfriend (Howard), therapist (Kendrick), and best friend Kyle (Rogen). Gordon-Levitt and Rogen are both absolutely amazing. Gordon-Levitt has cultivated quite a reputation for himself over the past few years as one of Hollywood's most promising young talents, and I expected that he would give the good performance that he did. The actor that really blew me away with this one was actually Seth Rogen. While his character is not really a stretch for him, he brings a certain level of humanity to this character that is often is missing from his other roles, and I feel that if Jonah Hill, who was incredibly unimpressive in Moneyball, could have been even considered for Best Supporting Actor, then they really messed up by not giving Rogen the credit he deserves for what is easily the best performance of his career to date.

One of the things I love the most about this movie is how quickly it moves without rushing through anything. Clocking in at only 100 minutes, it takes us from the introduction of the characters, through the stages of dealing with cancer and psychological effects it has on not just Adam, but on his friends and family as well. This is often done through subtle scenes where much of the emotion is implied, but it's done in a way that makes it way more effective than a drawn-out, possibly tedious scene, while also making it feel much more realistic. The most powerful moments of the entire movie are largely the most subtle ones, and that is one of this film's greatest strengths.

50/50 is a stark and unforgiving film, but at the same time sweet and cheerful. It's soul-crushing and uplifting all at the same time. Much like the duality of its name implies, 50/50 is a roller coaster of emotions through good times and bad times. But unlike so many other movies that aim for that effect and fail miserably, it maneuvers through the triumphs and pitfalls with a deftness that is very rarely found. I give it 9 oddly sweet bro-out moments out of 10.

Bridesmaids

Up to this point, I've never really written a negative review. A few people have complained about it, actually. I've found redeeming qualities in every movie I've watched so far, and even when I gave The Tree of Life a low score, I still spent a fair amount of time highlighting what was good about the movie. Well, the streak is finally broken. After much hype, I sat down and watched Bridesmaids, and man, what a mistake that was.

Bridesmaids' biggest problem is that it's a day late and a dollar short. A raunchy comedy revolving around a maid of honor's misadventures, it's essentially the female version of The Hangover. Kristen Wiig plays Annie, a failed entrepreneur-turned-jewelry store worker that has been asked to be the maid of honor at her best friend's wedding. Standing in the way of her duties is a series of increasingly-outlandish pitfalls surrounded by an equally-outlandish cast of characters, from snobby rich-girl Helen (Rose Byrne), to vulgar sister-of-the-groom Megan (Melissa McCarthy). Shenanigans ensue, the age-old cliches surrounding marriage are lampooned, and I couldn't have been more bored. The jokes were predictable, the characters were all two-dimensional, and the storyline was nothing special at all.

I really feel like I'm missing something. This movie was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy, who admittedly was the funniest part of this movie. I get that there aren't that many raunchy comedies featuring a strong female cast, and I'm glad that they were able to make a successful one, but it doesn't excuse the fact that the movie simply wasn't very good. It's terribly cliche and boring, and I expect so much better out of the cast that was assembled. They could have made a great movie, but they just didn't. I give this movie 3 ruined bridesmaids activities out of 10.