Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what I’ve seen over the past week either in film or television. On the film side, if I have written a full length review already, I will post a link to that review. Otherwise, I’ll give a brief snippet of my thoughts on the film with a full review to follow at some point later. For television shows, seasons and what not, I’ll post individual comments here about each of them as I see fit.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Wreck-It Ralph

Although those who aren’t fans video games will probably miss many of the references, this entertaining Disney flick is an entertaining family film with some compelling visuals and loving craftsmanship.

Reminding me a bit of the DreamWorks formula, an audience-friendly subject that doesn’t stick too closely to the Pixar mystique or the Disney princess saga (though you could argue for the latter). It’s clear that Pixar’s Brain Trust had some influence on the film as it is filled with visual flair, methodical plot developments and a keen awareness of the broadness of its potential audience base. While it isn’t the crowning achievement that Pixar frequently attained, it’s on par with and frequently better than much of what DreamWorks has put out in recent years. It’s interesting to see how Disney is evolving in a positive direction while DreamWorks and Pixar seem to be sliding a bit.

The story, about a video game villain who longs for companionship when being constantly ignored by his fellow game characters, breaks out of his game and attempts to win a medal to prove that he isn’t just some destructive oaf living out of a landfill. John C. Reilly seems to be the perfect voice for the title character Wreck-It Ralph infusing him with melancholy, grit and determination. The story moves along at a nice clip, features some interesting plot developments and is never dull on the eyes. Whether the 3D is compelling enough to see in that format, I can’t really say as it seems mostly unnecessary with the vibrant depth inherent in the canvas.

Arbitrage

Richard Gere delivers a performance he should have been yielding for sometime. It’s vulnerable, fierce and determined. It’s probably one of his best performances to date. Susan Sarandon is wonderful in a brief performance while the rest of the cast acquits themselves well even if none of them are real standouts.

Gere plays a wealthy corporate father figure whose children are part of his vast estate, but to cover holes in his finances, he borrows from a “friend” contingent on the sale of the company. When he crashes his mistress’ car, killing her in the process, he struggles to protect his family, his career and his company in the face of a reluctant businessman intent on buying his company but dragging his feet.

There’s a certain familiarity with Gere’s character. There are strong similarities to Donald Trump, but his genuine desire to protect his family and others seems at odds with the more fiery and unforgiving Trump persona. Regardless of our ability to connect the two persons, the film examines the extent to which greed can destroy lives, even those who’ve built their success and wealth on the backs of the poor and unfortunate. It shows a wealthy man both ignorant of the world around him while being intensely connected to it. Gere creates a sympathetic character whose machinations are ultimately despicable. For the film to work, you have to at least like the person even if not the actions and that’s where the film’s success lies.

The Sessions

Strong performances highlight this rather unusual film about a Polio-afflicted poet, dependent on an iron lung for support who wants nothing more than to experience the joys of sex even if he is physically incapable of performing the act himself.

John Hawkes diverges from his typical sleazy bad guy motif and delivers a heartfelt and lovable performance. His character is a wise-cracker who understands his unique disability, but refuses to let it define him. When a psychologist recommends a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt) to help him cope with his desires to be a functionally sexual person, his apprehensions, inner turmoil and frailties begin dismantling his calm facade.

While Hawkes is the star of the film, Hunt delivers a warm, endearing performance as the sexually liberated surrogate who slowly develops a relationship with Hawkes as he struggles to accept that his condition has inflicted emotional distress on him and that he needs to move away from the idea that God doesn’t want him to be happy. I have long been an ardent dissenter over Helen Hunt’s appalling victory for As Good As It Gets, but I won’t begrudge her the success she’s had with this performance. While it has its imperfections, her character guides the audience’s emotions with ease.

Skyfall

Everyone seems to love this movie and I’m hard pressed not to admire a great portion of it. However, I’m having trouble reconciling all of this with a climax that is frustrating, hurtful and so heavy-handed that it makes me angry about the franchise. Sam Mendes wasn’t a bad choice to direct the project, but the film strays far from the Bond motif, while sticking to many of its conventions. Having a credible cinematographer does help the festivities, but I’m just so disillusioned that I don’t know what to think. This is why I have not yet assigned it a rating and will need to reflect on it more before I can write any kind of review.

Cloud Atlas

Click here to read the review