The movie Love and Other Drugs, got mixed reviews - it also recieved two Golden Globe nominations: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Jake Gyllenhaal & Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Anne Hathaway.
This movie could be classified as a quirky comedy, a love story/melodrama, a guy's flick with college fratboy humor, and a corporate commentary. {Note: Part of the movie is based on the book "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman" by author Jamie Reidy, himself a former Pfizer sales rep, }
This hodgepodge of thematic areas that the film covers does make it a bit uneven, but it is not confusing. The thing that reviewers call the `tone' of the movie shifts quite a bit. And like most `serious films' it tries to be emotionally manipulative. (It's success in that department depends on the viewer). There is plenty of nudity from the leads -(Hathaway's breast and Gyllenhaal's but) and both fit into the category John Lennon would call: "beautiful people."
From a technical perspective the filming itself is great. The story-line however seems chopped - as though there are obvious missing scenes.
Personally I found the actors playing the secondary characters lacking. Oliver Platt, who plays Jamie's sales manager, for me was too boring. Josh Gad, who plays the Jamie's little brother was just wrong. Here, I mean, that the actor selection was ineffective - and changing those two actors could have greatly improved the film.
The basic synopsis of the movie is: a smart guy who is the black sheep of a successful family becomes a pharmaceutical salesman (Gyllenhaal). His (first) product is the anti-depressant Zolof, and he is trying to break into a market dominated by Prozac. (This is historically accurate. And a certain `deepness' in the film begins - because the second drug in the anti-depressant game has less side effects. But the first drug has a strong foothold that is held by the practice of `bribing' doctors) . Using bribery himself (Gyllenhaal), has a chance meeting with Maggie (Hathaway). After events, I won't spoil, they `hook-up'.
It is at this juncture that a moment (in my opinion) that this great movie dialogue comes:
Maggie Murdock:What's your game?
Jamie Randall: My game?
Maggie Murdock:Oh I'm sorry. Right. This is the part where we talk about where we come from and what we majored in in college.
Jamie Randall: : You have beautiful eyes.
Maggie Murdock:That's it? That's the best you got?
Jamie Randall: I'm serious. They're beautiful.
Maggie Murdock:Let's go.
Jamie Randall: Excuse me?
Maggie Murdock:You want to close right? You want to get laid?
Jamie Randall: Now?
Maggie Murdock:: Oh right, right, right. I'm supposed to act like I don't know if it's right. So then you tell me that there is no right or wrong. It's just the moment. And then I tell you that I can't while actually signalling to you that I can, which you don't need because you're not really listening. Because this isn't about connection for you. This isn't even about sex for you. This is about finding an hour or two of relief from the pain of being you. And that's fine with me, see, because all I want is the exact same thing.
I admit that I do not watch many so called comedies, chic flicks, or romance films. I admit also to finding the line: "This is about finding an hour or two of relief from the pain of being you"; disturbingly right on- and one the reasons I watch films.
If you are prone to contemplating `deeper meanings and connections' and `ying/yang opposition and interdependent correlatives' this film offers food for those type of thoughts,
In conclusion - perfect or great this film is not. Watch-able and intellectually `prodding' (as in "isn't it interesting that..") it is.
I admit that I have never seen Broakback Mountain white Gyllenhaal and Hathaway. I admit also that I am biased by the fact that Gyllenhaal's early film `Donnie Darko' is a favorite.
In the end I give it thumbs up - 7/10 - Paul Grant (follower of Basho)
One reviewer wrote:
"I get that a lot of people think this is just a super cheesy movie. I actually felt the same way when I first saw the trailer, and thought it was just another 'Friends With Benefits' or 'No Strings Attached'. Truth is that this movie does have a lot more going for it than just comedy or cheese. I actually cried in this movie, and was greatly amused by the jokes. The actors have chemistry, the dialogue is good. It was a good movie. Don't think this trailer shows the whole move. Trust me.... It actually doesn't."
TRAILER:
WATCH THIS MOVIE NOW - Through Amazon's Instant Video for $2.99 CLICK HERE
Movie review by Paul Grant (follower of Basho)
Trailer at end of review
The movie starts with an average teen, Dave (Aaron Johnson), who is a fan of comic books, asking the question: with so many people on the planet why isn’t there individuals who become super hero’s?
Quickly this is answered by one of his friends, who points out that in general no one has “super powers”. Intelligently this is responded to with the fact that Bruce Wayne (aka Batman), had no super powers. Ah, but he did have incredible wealth and was able to buy super cool crime fighting toys, and most people don’t have that kind of wealth and those that do have other things they find more interesting than risking their lives for justice.
So what would happen if you had neither super powers, nor incredible wealth and set out to be a so called super hero? This is the beginning premise of the movie. The predictable obvious disastrous result follows.
Our hero protagonist barley survives his first attempt at being a super hero whom he self names Kick Ass. When he comes briefly conscious in the ambulance, he is able to beg the paramedic to not let anyone - especially his father know about the costume he was wearing prior to his near death. This results in him arriving to the hospital naked. His father worries that in addition to his severe physical problems - he might also have been raped. And somehow, rumours passing through his school involving his near death and arriving at the hospital naked causes the female object of his teen desire (played by
Katie Deauxma), who prior would not give him any attention, to come to the conclusion that he is gay - and therefore a safe boy-who-is-gay-friend. None of this takes up much time, but it adds to the complexity of the underlying first story line.
The second story line involves an ex policeman who had been framed for a crime and ended up going to prison. The police officer (who is played by Nick Nolte) wife is overtaken by grief and commits suicide. Luckily the hospital was able to save her unborn child, a daughter. The daughter is cared for the police officers old partner, until the ex-police officer ggets out of prison. The ex-police officer and the daughter (played by Chloe Moretz who played the sister in in (500) Days of Summer ), now slightly older, (eleven), also choose to become costume wearing super heroes going by the names go by the names Big Daddy and Hit Girl. The differences being that the ex-police officer and his daughter are extremely well trained in self defence and heavily armed, and that their motive is revenge and not justice.
The third story line involves the bad guy and his nerdy son (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse
who was Fogall in the movie Super Bad.) The son seeks the respect of his king pin gangster coke snorting dad (played by Mark Strong), and comes up with a plan to also become a costume wearing super hero Red Mist only this time serving his father’s agenda.
Kick ass is an action comedy, but beforewarned the humour is subtle (not laugh out loud type of humour) and the action is a lot of violence. Many reviewers compare the violence to something from director Tarantino. But unlike a Tarrintino flick (think Kill Bill, for example) thier isnt the dwelling on the gory. The result is that though their is a lot of violence it doesn't become trivialized, so that when a good guy gets hurt it resonates more.
The movie is R-rated because of the violence (brutal and frequent. Some of it is played for laughs but most is serious); some drug use (cocain and pot smoking); some sexuality (A few masturbation references, some sexual jokes and brief (inexplicit) nudity. Though a lot of profanity: Between 120 and 150 uses of "f*ck", close to half that many uses of "sh*t", and plenty of anatomical terms not counting innumerable utterings of the film's title. Close to 250 obscenities and profanities total, including one use of the word "c*nts". Hit-Girl, who is eleven, says many of these, including the latter. 3 uses of cock (one or two with sucker). (Above based on Parents Guide for Kick Ass).
Kick-Ass is based on a comic book series of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The comic series was adapted for the movie by English screenwriter Jane Goldman and British film producer Matthew Vaughn, who also directed the movie. There are quite a few major changes between the book and the movie.
Itg was made with a small budget of only 38 million ( with help from producer Brad Pitt .) It opened April 18th 2010 on 3065 Screens. It was profitable bringing in more than 48 million at the time of this writing.
Chloe Grace Moretz
Though not the star of the movie- Chloe Grace Moretz really is the star of the movie. As Claudia Puig of USA Today calls the actor "terrific as the fearless and foul-mouthed 11-year-old Hit-Girl." Some interesting facts: She was 11 when she made the movie and now is 13. She trained with Jackie Chan's stunt crew for three months prior to filming Kick-Ass and did most of her own stunts while filming on location.As she said in an interview: “I literally did a thousand crunches every night” Moretz Hit-Girl influences include Ulma Thurman in “Kill Bill,” Kirsten Dunst in “Interview with the Vampire,” Angelina Jolie in all her action movies.
NEGATIVE REVIEWS :
Thumbs down from Richard Ebert:
The movie is extreme, and their are many reviews unfavorable as there are favorable. (Ok maybe not.) The Village Voice reviewer Karina Lonworth writes: “Never as shocking as it thinks it is, as funny as it should be, or as engaged in cultural critique as it could be, Kick-Ass is half-assed.”
Peter Travers of the reviewer for the Rolling Stone wrote that the movie is “deliciously unsuited for mass consumption, is a nightmare for the Christian right.” Tarvers also notes the complex feeling that he has after watching the movie, ending his very positive review with the somber observation : (Director Matthew )”Vaughn gives his film version of Kick-Ass distinction by showing a keen eye for the broken places in his characters. They live in a world of hurt that's not so easy to laugh off.”
But of the many negitive criteques of the movie, non quite touch the emotional chord as well as long time movie reviewer Roger Ebert, who though not liking the movie is able to praise the actors. He is able to be critical of the movie in a way that is hard to criticise:
“ Shall I have feelings, or should I pretend to be cool? Will I seem hopelessly square if I find “Kick-Ass” morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point? Let's say you're a big fan of the original comic book, and you think the movie does it justice. You know what? You inhabit a world I am so very not interested in. A movie camera makes a record of whatever is placed in front of it, and in this case, it shows deadly carnage dished out by an 11-year-old girl, after which an adult man brutally hammers her to within an inch of her life. Blood everywhere. Now tell me all about the context.”
“The early scenes give promise of an entirely different comedy. Aaron Johnson has a certain anti-charm, his problems in high school are engaging, and so on. A little later, I reflected that possibly only Nic Cage could seem to shoot a small girl point-blank and make it, well, funny. Say what you will about her character, but Chloe Grace Moretz has presence and appeal. Then the movie moved into dark, dark territory, and I grew sad.”
Other notes: Aaron Johnson (Dave) plays the young John Lennon in the upcoming Nowhere Boy.
And yes, it has been announced there will be a sequel coming out next year: Kick Ass : Balls to the Wall.
September 2009 (USA) now on video or stream online now. What it's about: In a future mind-controlling game, death row convicts are forced to battle in a 'doom'-type environment. Convict Kable, controlled by Simon, a skilled teenage gamer, must survive 30 sessions in order to be set free. Staring, Gerard Butler,Michael C. Hall , Amber Valletta, Logan Lerman ( who last played Christian Bale's son in the Western 3:10 to Yuma), and Terry Crews. The Good: 1. It's exiting- as Kim Newman of Empire Magazine- writes it's an injection of adrenaline straight to the eye – which isn't entirely a bad thing 2. Six Feet Under/Dexter star Michael C. Hall finally gets a worthy movie role as an eccentric puppet-master villain. 3. Like all good science fiction films there is much to be considered. Some topics, such as the cost of carrying for death row inmates might be mitigated by using those inmates to fight one another for public entertainment, have been heavily referenced in many other movies. But that is not the main point of the film (in my opinion). Technology and it's control leading to abuse is the main point (again in my opinion.) The concept of control and the willingness to be controlled ("It's a job".) and the inanity of those who are controlling (not by capability but by wealth) speak to the culture of today. The Bad 1. It won't win points for originality or depth, 2.Gerard Butler in a laughable version of the usual character played Schwarzenegger in his heydays . 3. Convoluted storyline. Even fans of lousy movies will have a hard time following it. Parts of this movie just seemed very disjointed. 4. The film dashes from one over-stylized battle sequence to the next and some think it uses too many quick-cut edits during the fight sequences. 5. Emotionality is lacking in this film, by choice. There is no big emotional payout at the end. It's almost like a highly violent sports event where at the end the losing team, simply tells the winning team- `good game'. And, after all, the movie is about a game and those that play the game. Though not strongly `preached', a character does consider how everyone in life is in a sense playing a game.
VERDICT Gamer is a sci-fi flick that blast violently through it's 95 minutes. As one reviewer described it :"It's a vehicle for sex, violence and over-the-top acting." If that sounds like it might be entertaining, you should check out this film.
You can stream the entire movie live now through Amazons Streaming Video Service CLICK HERE
extra Info: written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, known together professionally as Neveldine/Taylor.
The duo is known for maintaining a small budget and worldwide gross making all of their films financially profitable. They have written and directed several films together that include the better known Crank, and Crank: High Voltage also starring Jatham Statham. They are also known for often being their own cameramen , in this movie during a battles sequences Mark filmed the action while wearing their rollerblades, (much like he did in Crank,) and in another scene, Mark was hung from a rig that had him suspended 40-feet above the action running forward and dropping down into the middle of it.
More EXTRA INFO: Gerald Butler, (born November 13,1969) is a Scottish actor, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies(1997), which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in the American miniseries Attila (2001). He garnered critical acclaim for his breakthrough work as the lead in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation of the musical Phantom of the Opera. In 2007, Butler gained worldwide recognition through his portrayal of King Leonidas in the film 300. Since then, he has appeared in projects includingP.S. I Love You (2007), Nim's Island2008), Rocknrolla (2008), The Ugly Truth (2009), Gamer (2009), Law Abiding Citizen (2009) and The Bounty Hunter (2010).
Shia LeBeouf is back to talking about his family in an inappropriate manner, this time saying he got his sense of humor from watching his parents “have sex.”
The comment was the second time he has surprised fans with his thoughts on his parents after he called his mother “the sexiest woman I know.”
“My humor came from seeing my parents have sex, smoke weed, my mom being naked – just weird hippie stuff, twisted R-rated humor,” he told Parade magazine.
LeBeouf, 23, admitted that he is indeed battling a few demons, adding that all actors are.
“They’re all in pain. It’s a profession of bottom-feeders and heartbroken people,” he said. “Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy,” he added. “I have no idea where this insecurity comes from, but it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew it, I’d fill it and I’d be on my way.”
The “Transformers” star, who was arrested on a DUI in July of 2008, also admitted to being an alcoholic.
“Why am I an alcoholic? I haven’t a [expletive] clue.”
A quick review, interesting facts about the movie, the movie trailer, then a spoiler as I go through the entire plot, at the end two interviews about the movie- one with Russle Crowe and one with Ben Affleck.
Quick Review: Fun, well acted drama-thriller that touches on real time issues,
Paul Abbott’s near six hour 2003 BBC miniseries has been turned into a more movie friendly 127 minutes Relocating the political murder-mystery from London to Washington. This was no easy achievement and it took a a team of writers to pull it off- the extensive screenwriting team includes Matthew Michael Carnahan ("The Kingdom"), Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton"), Billy Ray ("Shattered Glass") and some uncredited revisions by Macdonald friend Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon").
The death of investigative journalism, the death of newspapers themselves, the movement to news blogs, corruption in military spending, corruption of the private mercantilism, jealous, ego it’s all here
Directed by of Kevin Macdonald who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1967, He is married to Tatiana Lund with whom he has three sons and lives in North London. Kevin Macdonald is the grandson of legendary filmmaker Emeric Pressburger, who, with partner Michael Powell, wrote, produced and directed such films as Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and 'I Know Where I'm Going!' (1945) under their production banner "The Archers".Kevin began his career with a biography of his grandfather, The Life and Death of a Screenwriter (1994), which he turned into the documentary The Making of an Englishman (1995).
Kevin Macdonald's first major feature film "The Last King of Scotland" which received a limited release in the United States. In the United States the film was rated "R" by the MPAA for strong violence, gruesome images, nudity, and strong language. Forest Whitaker received outstanding critical acclaim for his performance as dictator Idi Amin in the film. He won the Best Actor award at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAs, in addition to awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review and many other critics awards, for a total of at least 23 major awards. The film received a 2007 BAFTA Award for Best British Film and the BAFTA award for Best Adapted Screenplay, in addition to receiving nominations for Best Film. James McAvoy (who was brilliant) was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
(Up Coming: Kevin Macdonald has made a deal with New Regency to develop and direct "The End of Eternity" by Isaac Asimov. The "futuristic tale concerns a ruling class called Eternity whose members can manipulate time and alter history." The State of Play director is also making "Eagle of the Ninth," a Roman military drama for Focus Features. [via: Variety])
State of Play:
Rated PG-13 for some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content.
This film State of Play also holds the possibility, I believe, for two Oscar nods- Russle Crowe playing an investigative reporter for "The Washington Globe" and Helen Mirren who plays the he Globe's editor, Cameron Lynne.
This movie has been a long time coming, and was originally cast to have Brad Pitt in Crowe's spot and Edward Norton in Affleck spot. (That would have been something bringing Pitt and Norton together again - a dynamic duo in Fight Club.) Brad Pitt nicknamed the film "State of Delay" after being stalled on it.
Two less than stellar performances in this movie- Ben Affleck was off for this role, and Jason Bateman was a little over the top, for me, playing a shady publicist.
The plots conclusion contains a twist that I think adds a powerful punch, making the film more unique.
As reviewer Claudia Puig, wrote "It's unusual for a thriller, but there's almost a wistful quality amid the suspense, culminating in final sequences that seem almost to pay tribute to the evolving world of newspapers."
Watch the closing credits, behind which gives a fascinating view of how newspapers are made. Nice touch.
Trailer
Spoilers
This is the plot untwisted.
Crowe and Affleck character went to college together. Crowe goes on to become a newspaper journalist "Cal McAffrey" (stereotyping- unkempt, long haired, messy desk and the most un-paperless office imaginable), and Affleck becomes Rep. Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck)(stereotyping- perfectly coiffed, youthful enthusiasm for job and justice, secrets, and an ability to step on others to suite his purpose).
A third person from their past Anne (Robin Wright Penn) marries Collins, though she had feelings for Cal who was non committal at the time. Sometime early in the marriage Cal had an affair with Collins wife, and though Collins knew, he did nothing about it (speaks to his character?).
The movie begins with a man running from an assailant who catches him and then executes him. A passing young man delivering pizza witnesses the shooting, so the shooter shoots him. The pizza man lives.
Harry_Lennix
Cal (Crowe) driving about finds himself at the scene and presses a friendly detective (well played by Harry Lennix) into providing what information is known. The pizza delivery person is in a comma, the dead man has a shady past. Possibility of a drug deal gone wrong.
Then a woman is pushed in front of a train. It turns out that she is the Congressman Collins' ( Affleck) chief research assistant (Maria Thayer). The Congressman is overly distraught about the death. He is in the midst of a congressional investigation involving corruption of the US hired mercenaries fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq (as well as hired for security in the Hurricane Katrina ordeal-much like Blackwater). The Congressman's emotionss are so revealing that he is suspected of having had an affair with this research assistant. Which he admits to, first to a senior colleague, who explains how he will overcome this problem if he just backs off a little on the Mercenary inquiry.
Wife Anne (Penn) not wanting to see him, the Congressman (Affleck) shows up at the home of Cal (Crowe), old time buddy, looking for some companionship, and perhaps a little leniency from the newspaper that Cal (Crowe), writes for. The research assistant, it is speculated by the media, (including Cal's paper) that the research assistant committed suicide over the affair. The Congressman though has a video message though from her earlier in the morning showing her anything but depressed.
Unfortunately the video monitors at the train station don't show what happened.
Cal (Crowe), though, cant control the sensation seeking on-line writter Della (Rachel McAdams) a hyper-aggressive new-generation blogger who smells a blood in the Congressman's misdeed and enlist the newspapers editor to pressure Cal (Crowe), into helping `get' his old friend. Meanwhile Cal ,tries to consort the Congressman's wife Ann (Penn), who is angry and hurt and vulnerable and might go for some revenge sex with Cal (Crowe), Cal is dignified and wants instead a good resolution with Ann standing up for her husband and forgiving.
(The timing of this review has Mrs. Edwards publishing a book on her husbands infelicity during the 2008 election. She knew about her husbands affair and yet continued to campiegn with him, After the press found out she also stood by his side -while suffering from terminal cancer).
Then we meet a street tramp (Sarah Lord) who steels Cal (Crowe) suitcase. She explains to him that she and her `man' had the steeling suitcase/briefcase scam where they sold back the stolen property to the owner. Her partner though was killed after selling back a silver suitcase. The tramp however stole some pictures out of the suitcase, before it was returned and offers to sell them to crowe for $500 dollars.
The pictures reveal that someone had been spying on the Congressman's ( Affleck) research assistant/lover. Several of the pictures showed the woman in tears talking to a man. This meant that there was a real possibility that the research assistant was murdered. the paper decides to hold onto to the pictures while the reporters do a little more digging so that they can scoop the story.
Then news comes that the pizza delivery person was coming out of a coma. By now the editor has paired Cal (Crowe), with his junior on-line writter Della (Rachel McAdams) in investigating the story. Della being the junior is sent to babysit the pizza delivery guy and question him if possible when he awakes. She passes someone in the cultivator. As the man comes out of his coma she sneaks her way into his room against the protest of a doctor and a nurse. Then from outside the window shot come in, killing the awakening patient.
The paper decides to give the pictures over to the enraged police. Clearly who ever shot the pizza guy was a professional, and with the link now to the Congressman's research assistant this was turning out to be a very serious matter.
The Congressman and his wife make a joint statement that they are working things out. And Cal (Crowe), and Della (McAdams) find the man from the picture- a PR person played by Gatesman. In an unlikely series of scenes, they convince him to a dive hotel/motel (that has been wired with video and sound) to tell his side of the story. He admits that he was hired to find a person who could be a mole for the Mercenary group inside the Congressman office. He knew a person he thought she would be a perfect fit. She got the job and was payed by both sides- the Congrssional office and the Mercanary group. She was not told to sleep with the Congressman - she did that on her own. And then as her affair grew deeper she stopped providing information for the client. Gatesman had some talks with her. But then she was killed.
Crowe calls the Congressman to come to the hotel (again unbelievable- the scene is made worse by the fact that after he gets off the phone with Cal (Crowe), who must have his private number, he hands the phone to a secretary and who is complaining he is already late for a meeting. He tells her he will call (how can he if he gave his phone away?). The Congressman (Affleck) shows up at the hotel and reviews the tape of the PR man, and learns that his assistant whom he was having an affair with was pregnant when she was killed. (Also a nod to Edward's mistressess fatherless baby.)
In another unbelievable scene where the PR guy who was `sleeping it off' (he was supposedly on uppers and had one beer and had passed out on a bed) is beaten by theCongressman.
The next scene though is much better, when Congressman (Affleck) confronts Cal (Crowe) on his unsympathetic revealing of the pregneancy of his girlfriend. It was cruel way to find out, and the cruelty might have been a bit of punishment thrown out by Cal to his college friend for cheating on his wife.
Cal however believes that the real story is the recommendation of the spy by the senior Congressman Jeff Daniels playing Senator George Fergus who obviously was working for the mercenaries. Cal (Crowe), confronts the senator who backlashes with threats of his power -not only stopping the story but also of having Cal loose his job.
Della (McAdams) the junior reporter, reviewing again the train station video connects a face with one that she had passed at the hospital before the shooting, making that man at the scene of train station murder and also at the hospital as the pizza delivery man was waking up and just before he was shot.
An insider at the Mercenaries confirm that the man in the picture was or is a grunt- former military. He is most likely the killer. And an address is found in an apartment building. Cal goes to visit and runs into the suspect . They meet awkwardly and Cal does an impressive job escaping- impressive even considering that the whole `caught in a garage with a killer scene' has been done so many times.
Meanwhile the paper wants to go to press with what they have- or not. The editor (Mirren) holds firm that they need a serious source for all the claims they are making. Just as the story is literally going to die, the Congressman and his wife show up to save the story, help their writer friend, set the record straight and tell the truth. It is possible political suicide for the Congressman. His wife Anne, though, is more forgiving now knowing that her husband had been set up and seduced by a professional.
The story is typed up and all seems settled.
At this point we the viewers are beginning to suspect that the killer will be targeting the Congressman, who has just bared his soul to the newspaper and revealed the elder senator and the Mercenaries connection to the conspiracy that he fell into. The story is saved. The junior and senior reporter are celebrating with a bit of whiskey (Irish wine.)
Then Cal connects the picture of the man to another picture he has seen- one of the Congressman from his days in the military. Sure enough, that man was in the same picture with the Congressman meaning they had served together.
Cal stands up and tells Della ( McAdams) basically to `hold the press!!' ( Again unbelievable as we are lead to believe that they held the press for four hours) Cal goes to confront the Congressman at his office- (as though anyone can just walk into the senate building post 9/11).
We know something is going to happen as we see the ex-soldier reporting on the phone that he will be fulfilling his mission. The final plot twist comes swiftly and with so little warning
Cal (Crowe), goes to confront the Congressman at his office- (as though anyone can just walk into the senate building post 9/11). The Congressman revels that he was suspecting something was fishy about his lover/research assistance and so he had his old buddy following her. He never thought anyone would get hurt - the street thief , the pizza delivery man nor his research assistant. The guy was a little off.
But all of the Congressman's knowledge made him criminal by association. This is a twist on the concept that the criminal activities committed by the Mercanaries on the US's behalf are also our (the US's) responsibilities.
Cal (Crowe), can just walk away from this part of the story, no one needs to know that the Congressman was using an ex-military friend to do some spying for him that got a little out of control. Isn't that part of friendship?
But Cal and the Congressman were not really friends, they were rivals. The Congressman had gotten the girl and Cal , remained alone, the Congressman got the money and the prestigious job, Cal remained committed to a job that didn't pay a lot and that was heading for extinction. Crowe was going to see the Congressman (Afflex) go down.
Interesting connection to the present day news that the Obama Administration will not go after those responsible for the illeagle torture methods used under the Bush Administration. Their only trial comes at the hands of the media and not the justice system, and though embarrassed they go unpunished.
As Cal leaves the Congressman's office he informs him that the police are already on their way.
The killer is waiting outside. The cops arrive at the right moment. We are left wondering: had the Congressman called upon the killer to kill Cal, or was the man `off on his own" (caused by post traumatic stress from his time in the military) ? Will the Congressman actually go to jail, split with his wife? Will Cal end up with the young reporter or with his old flame the Congressman's wife? Will the paper be around in a year?
The conclusion shows the series of stories that came from this event as they make their way from proofs to papers being trucked out for delivery.
Here is a bit of a political take on the movie by Ben Affleck
Father of child actor Rubina Ali Qureshi of Oscar winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' denies media reports that he put his daughter up for sale.
IN the movie that propelled her to international stardom, Slumdog Millionaire child actor Rubina Ali Qureshi is captured by traffickers and sold into slavery.
But it seems the reality of life for India's most famous child actor is even more brutal than the Oscar-winning film she starred in, with a British tabloid claiming to have successfully struck a deal with the nine-year-old's father to sell her to an Arab family for $410,000.
The story dominated headlines across India yesterday after News of the World reporter Mazher Mahmook posed as a wealthy Dubai sheik interested in adopting the child star.
Rubina's father, Rafiq Qureshi, admitted yesterday to having met the undercover reporters but says he did so only because the couple claimed to be big fans and wanted to meet his daughter.
Rubina also denied her father tried to sell her, telling an Indian newspaper: "We had just gone to meet them and though they offered to take me away, my father refused, saying that he couldn't let me stay away from him."
: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman" by author Jamie Reidy, himself a former Pfizer sales rep, }
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