The Weather Man (2005) Dir - Gore Verbinski
Gore Verbinski, what a man. Having managed to pull himself away from Johnny Depp for 5 minutes, he set his eyes a little lower than the epic fantasy-pirate adventure he's become well known for (Mousehunt (1997) having been long swept under the carpet. Poor Lee Evans) and directed something of a standard city-drama. Especially surprising after his terrible remake of Hideo Nakata's Ringu (1998). He's generally been a hit and miss director, saving his skin with the Pirate's of the Carribean series. That said however, he's obviously been reading from the Book of Great Directors and has taken their first commandment to heart. "Thou shalt milk any successful franchise dry." Spot the recurring theme? I wonder how many sequels Rango is going to get...
"I managed to fit all my good films in this tiny box!" |
Next came his onscreen wife, Hope Davis of The Matador (2005) and About Schmidt (2002) fame. I'm more than willing to admit I knew little about this woman beyond those two titles, but IMDb tells me she has quite a career to her name. She's worked with Anthony Hopkins, Sigourney Weaver, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges, so that's at least 3 other good actors. In this film though, she seemed rather wooden. Her character was admittedly in constant turmoil, but she seemed to deal with it in one of two ways. Shouting or going cold. Even with these there was no middle ground. Rubber-stamp acting anyone?
Michael You're-Only-Supposed-To-Blow-The-Bloody-Doors-Off Caine was honestly spectacular in his role as Robert Spritz, David's father. He's getting on a bit now, but he refuses to step down from the pedastal of 'Infallible National Treasure' (not the film, that was easily more than fallible). I suspect his last character will be filmed on his deathbed, and you know what? He'll do a good job of it. As careers go, the only word I can think of to describe his is 'consistant'. Even in his recent 2009 film Harry Brown he is unmovable as a character. Then, to see the actor himself in interviews he is the same person, but so different. Why is it that there is a Book Of Great Directors, but no Book of Great Actors? I want to see a generation of incredible onscreen actors, not a generation of actors trying to get the spotlight by being as different as possible. Maybe the problem nowadays is that kids see the spotlight of great actors and expect to just explode into Hollywood. Go back a few decades and there was no such thing as Disney Channel stereotypes pouring their childish (what I assume to be) whimsy into your face, showing you that you too can be a hit singer with a record label aged 7. Michael Caine fought in the Korean war for Christ's sake! He worked his ass off in menial jobs before getting a break as a stage manager when he came back from combat. He wasn't some rich teenager whose parents were living through him. He has more than a lifetime of experience to dwell on and the day he dies will be a very sad one, if hopefully a very long off one.
This says it all. |
The plot is where this drops out of brilliance. Described as 'Bright and breezy, with sunny intervals.' by NOW (Aren't you clever NOW? You managed to make a pun based on the weather! Want to roll over so I can rub your tummy? Who's a good boy! It's you! Yes you are!), and 'A fresh and quirky comedy. **** ' by The Sunday Mirror. Well as I said in the title with disdainful parody of the so-called wit of NOW, nothing about this is comedic. Ok, that's a lie, it is funny in parts, but those parts are so filled with depression they hardly cut through it. It's like being forced to eat a bowl of limes and someone offering you a lemon to take the edge off. I have a horrifically dark sense of humour, but I couldn't find it funny. You know where they say "All the funny bits are in the trailer"? Never has this been more true. I bought the film based on the trailer and persuaded Grizzly (my co-writer) and a couple of our friends to watch it only to find us suicidal by the end of the film. I even showed them the trailer from the DVD to show them why I bought it and they agreed. Do not be fooled by its light-hearted family-comedy appearances but take a look for yourself: