Consolation Champs

Love Liza (USA, 2002, Todd Louiso, director): This is the feature directorial debut of actor Todd Louiso (and yes, he talks and acts exactly like his character in High Fidelity). Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Wilson Joel, a man whose wife has committed suicide before the film begins. We follow Wilson as he tries to carry on, unable to open the suicide note she left for him, becoming addicted to sniffing gasoline fumes, and trying to make friends among radio-control car/boat/plane enthusiasts. If it sounds a bit wacky, it is. It’s also beautiful and very very sad. Hoffman is a genius at playing lovable sad sacks, and he’s even better than usual here, carrying the entire picture on his slumped shoulders. The wonderful Jack Kehler (who played the artistic superintendent in The Big Lebowski) provides excellent comic relief. Philip’s brother Gordy Hoffman wrote the screenplay, and the film took four years to get made. Obviously a labour of love. A gorgeous melancholy soundtrack from Jim O’Rourke adds immeasurably to an already powerful film. 10/10

Morvern Callar (UK, 2002, Lynne Ramsay, director): I was looking forward to seeing Samantha Morton in this, hoping that for once she’d have a role where she spoke more than a few sentences (having seen her in Sweet and Lowdown and Minority Report). Alas, she plays yet another nearly mute enigma. Although she’s fascinating to look at, she’s not given much to work with here. She plays the title character, who wakes up one morning to discover her boyfriend has killed himself in her kitchen, leaving his finished novel on the computer with instructions for her to submit it to a publisher for him. Instead, she puts her own name on the manuscript before submitting it, dumps his body, and takes a pal on holiday to Spain. Between shots of a hedonistic party lifestyle she apparently wants to leave behind, and some shots of her looking at her hand or insects, not much else happens. 6/10

Auto Focus (USA, 2002, Paul Schrader, director): Fascinating material here. Auto Focus is a film about the life and murder of TV actor Bob Crane, best known for playing the titular character in Hogan’s Heroes. The film traces Crane’s career during and after the series, focusing on his increasing involvement with John Carpenter, a man with whom he picked up women and made pornographic films. I was hoping that Schrader would try to dig a little under the surface, since obviously this man was leading a double life, but instead he gives us a strangely upbeat voice-over from Bob Crane, who can state with equal chirpiness “the show was a big hit” and “John Carpenter was acquitted of the murder.” It was almost as if the point he is trying to make is that Crane himself had no insight into his duality, and no real guilt, either. It made the film oddly unsatisfying, as if there should have been more “weight” to the story. Nonetheless, Greg Kinnear (as Crane) and Willem Dafoe were superb. 7.5/10

Sweet Sixteen (UK, 2002, Ken Loach, director): A completely charming mix of hope and despair set in Greenock, a troubled suburb of Glasgow. Fifteen-year old Liam spends his time trying to scrounge enough money to buy a caravan (trailer) for his mom and him to live in when she’s released from prison. He needs money fast, and decides to cut in on his mom’s boyfriend’s heroin trade. Of course, he’s soon in way over his head. Among the rest of the non-professional cast, Martin Compston’s performance floored me. He captures that period between childhood and adulthood with just the right mix of emotions. He was sitting in the seat right behind me and when the film was over, I turned to him, speechless, and just shook his hand. 10/10

The Man Without A Past (Finland, 2002, Aki Kaurismäki, director): This sweet-natured film tells the story of a man given a fresh start. After being brutally mugged, the man loses his memory and has to rebuild his life. Without a job or money, he lands among the poorest of Helsinki’s denizens, living in a cargo container by the docks. He meets and falls in love with a Salvation Army worker, and this relationship in particular made the film seem like an old 50s melodrama. The warm lighting and bright colours added to the romantic feel. This little twist of irony, as well as a generous helping of deadpan humour, had me smiling even as our hero struggled against the prejudices of a society unable to trust a man without a name. 9/10

Falcons (Iceland, 2002, Fridrik Thór Fridriksson, director): Mawkish and heavy-handed, this film was (almost) saved by two things: the cinematography capturing the incredible beauty of Iceland, and the luminous Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir. Keith Carradine plays an ex-con who travels to Iceland “to forget.” Instead he meets a woman who might be his daughter. I saw Fridriksson’s excellent Angels of the Universe two years ago, which was adapted from a book. This time, for his first English-language film, he chose to write the screenplay himself. I wanted to like this more, but the story was just too trite. 6.5/10

Spun (USA, 2002, Jonas Åkerlund, director): Boasting a raft of young talent (Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari, Brittany Murphy), this is a frantic tale about a group of methamphetamine addicts. Raunchy, disturbing, and often very very funny. The pace does tend to wear out the viewer, though. Since we saw the “unrated” cut, expect the final “R” version to be more manageable in length. Brittany Murphy and John Leguizamo do amazing work here. 8/10