MARGIN CALL

Written and Directed by J.C. Chandor

Starring Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany and Zachary Quinto

With most of Wall Street and the world’s major financial sectors being occupied by protestors and ordinary citizens, who can no longer sit idly by while the global economy is destroyed from within, there could be no better timing for J.C. Chandor’s first feature film, MARGIN CALL, to hit theatres. An all-star cast, ranging from veterans like Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore and Jeremy Irons to relative newbies like Zachary Quinto and Penn Badgly, make this debut a memorable and effective contemplation on what seems more and more like the inevitable collapse of the financial system. If you’re feeling a little lost about the world’s financial woes at the moment, occupying Margin Call should clear up those last lingering questions for you.

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Best of Black Sheep: CREATION

CREATION
Written by John Collee
Directed by Jon Amiel
Starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly


Oh, how timely to throw together a biopic about Charles Darwin now. It seems to me that, while Darwin’s theories about evolution have been angering religious types since before they were committed to paper, they seem to have been an even hotter topic in recent years with creationists. It would almost seem as though the creators of CREATION may have specifically intended to capitalize on that controversy to get people to see their movie. They may succeed in getting people into the theatres but their incredibly bland picture will ensure that whatever conversation they hoped to inspire will stop there.


CREATION – the movie, that is, not the finite starting point of existence – begins with Mr. Darwin (a frail, pale but mostly able Paul Bettany) telling his eerily smiley daughter (Martha West) a story. I would think that director, Jon Amiel, is telling his story because he sides with Darwin so I’m not clear why he wanted to portray him as an elaborate story-teller right from the start. If this is the man whose mind would manifest the argumental means to theoretically “kill” God, there should be no seed of doubt planted behind him if he is to be taken seriously.


While Darwin grapples with the death of his favorite daughter, he must resolve his faith and his science in order to complete his years of research. The whole process drags him into madness and Bettany's real-life wife, Jennifer Connelly is alongside for the descent as his wife and first cousin, essentially reprising her role from A BEAUTIFUL MIND, except this time with an English accent. Her religious devotion is at distinct odds with her husband’s scientific methods but Amiel doesn’t allow this complex divide between them to open any serious debate; oddly, he has them not speak instead. This missed opportunity is what makes CREATION trite when it could have been contentious.

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Best of Black Sheep: THE YOUNG VICTORIA

Written by Julian Fellowes
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee
Starring Emily Blunt, Ruper Friend, Paul Bettany and Miranda Richardson


Period pieces about royalty can often play out like chess games. The board is set as it always is with elaborately costumed pieces and these pieces are moved one by one into battle. Each piece moves in a specific fashion that is dictated by the rules of the game and cannot deviate from that plan. Experienced players know how to make this quiet game exciting while others move the pieces in predictable fashions toward an end that cannot come sooner. Sadly, Jean-Marc Vallee’s The Young Victoria is so conventional that he even has his young queen, played by Emily Blunt, playing an uneventful game of chess at one point. I swear, I thought up the metaphor before that though.


After delivering an incredible debut, C.R.A.Z.Y., in 2005, Vallee caught the attention of the international film scene. How else could he snag talent like Blunt or more importantly, executive producers like Martin Scorsese or Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York? What he put together though never rises above the level of functional. Victoria is a naïve but determined monarch. Naturally, every one around her, with either political or royal ties, wants to take advantage of her lack of experience. Victoria must reach into the crowd of hands constantly grabbing at her to take the one that she can trust. She can’t seem to figure out which one that is but it was pretty obvious from where I was sitting.


Blunt, who actually skips here and there to remind us that she really is a very young queen, does what she can with the part but to her detriment, screenwriter, Julian Fellowes, gives her very little to develop. Dress her up as fancy as you like, we’ve all seen this before and The Young Victoria becomes a reminder that Vallee is pretty young himself when it comes to directing.

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