By Sarah Sluis
What better holiday gift than a quality, award-baiting film at the box-office? With a Forrest Gump-type storyline and a bang-for-your-buck running time of 167 minutes, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
(2,900 screens) hopes to entice its audience with the special effects of Brad Pitt aging in reverse, the exploitative inclusion of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina (sooo worth the $27 million tax credit), and its "must-see" marketing push. Sifting through the critical responses, it seems tackling the start-to-finish of Button's life forced a Catch-22, where either pacing or length would have to be sacrificed. Many reviewers grumbled about the long length of the film, but, as our Ethan Alter notes, "a shorter cut may have made the studio and theatre owners happier, but it would have robbed Benjamin Button (and those of us in the audience) of a rich, full life."
Tom Cruise wears an eyepatch and attempts to kill Hitler in Valkyrie (2,500 screens). Sure he's a Maverick, but I don't know if I, or anyone else, will be able to sit through one more WWII or Holocaust film. While I can appreciate how the slightly unhinged nature of Cruise's star persona would make him a perfect candidate to portray Colonel von Stauffenberg, I'm just not interested.
In the feel-good section, funnyman Adam Sandler stars in Bedtime Stories (3,500 screens). The "what-if" concept has Sandler's niece and nephew in control of his future: each contribution they make to his bedtime story comes true the next day. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston team up for Marley & Me (3,300 screens), about a couple's adoption of a lovable dog. All the press about the film seems to be
more about the rats the cat dragged in. Wilson--whose agent must have desperately searched for anything lighthearted after his drug overdose--walked out of interviews when the subject was brought up, and Aniston's tie-only GQ photo shoot seemed to be a pointed message toward her ex-husband. Still, despite all this noise about the stars, dog-lovers are a demographic in themselves, and with Beverly Hills Chihuahua a box-office slam-dunk, not one to be underestimated.
Fanboys will have The Spirit (2,400 screens) to watch after they unwrap their video games. Frank Miller wrote and directed the film, but his intensive involvement seems to have worked against him, since our Frank Lovece found him "truly unsuited" to film Will Eisner's comic book. With the crowded market, this film's success will depend on the eagerness of Eisner/Miller fans.
Releasing on 3 screens with an eye to expand, Revolutionary Road opens the day after Christmas. A solid, star-draped film, our Executive Editor Kevin Lally enjoyed watching "two gifted stars surpassing themselves, especially in those fierce scenes of confrontation where their grievances turn corrosive," and noted it offers the chance for the audience to "connect with their failed dreams." Last Chance Harvey, another favorite of Lally, also opens on Christmas on 6 screens. About a couple that finds romance in an airport bar after Dustin Hoffman is snubbed from walking his daughter down the aisle, the hopeful story will offer encouragement for those experiencing even mild familial estrangement.
Waltz with Bashir, an Israeli documentary of remembrance, will also roll out in NY and LA around Christmas, although its guilt-ridden exploration of violence does not make it the best choice for those wanting to remain in the holiday spirit. Happy holidays from the staff of Film Journal, and we'll see you next week!
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