Frothy Ruminations

In a grimy, washed out, post-war world, one man steadfastly marches west to fulfill a vision. The rogue Eli vows to protect his holy book at all costs, whether against curious onlookers or roving gangs, and to never stray from his path of righteousness, both literally and figuratively. The Book of Eli is a seriously badass film, with Denzel Washington offering just the right amount of panache and stoicism in a role you’d ordinarily expect to see played by Bruce Willis or Will Smith.

Eli (Washington) is a relic from long ago, before the wars robbed the world of its people. He remembers when the blinding flashes of light came and the beginning of the nuclear winter that soon followed. He has little in life: a machete, a couple of guns, a bow and arrow, an iPod, and a book. Although the book is never explicitly named in the movie, it’s a King James Bible, and the religious overtones aren’t even a little bit subtle. Eli, whether he seems himself like this or not, is a prophet chosen to bring the good word to the western shores, through a barren wasteland in which people are scared and aimless and whose lives lack spirituality.

As his arsenal might indicate, Eli is by no means a pushover. He has catlike reflexes and is an excellent marksman. The man can handle himself in a fight. He looks a little weathered (there are a few references to his age), but he seems to be in tremendous mental and physical shape. He is so resolute in his single-minded journey that he doesn’t even stop to lend a hand when a gang of toughs attacks a man and a woman pushing a wheelbarrow. Eli pushes on toward the town, not wishing to stray. (Naturally, he’ll meet up with those same toughs just minutes later.)

Every hero must have some kind of villain, and for Eli it’s Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who rules the local town with an iron fist. Carnegie’s quest is to find a Bible, because he realizes – even as a small-time despot – that if he can get people to follow the teachings of the Good Book, he’ll really be able to own them; he sends out marauding gangs to look for one, because after the wars every known Bible was burned. To maintain his hold and even expand to other towns, Carnegie must have that book.

At the town, Eli is joined by Solara (Mila Kunis), the daughter of Carnegie’s woman (played by Jennifer Beals), who’s also blind. Solara wants to escape her one-way, dead-end, two-bit town, but the man with the machete works alone. He’s like Dirty Harry, or something.

The movie is not without its faults, however. Carnegie’s intentions seem ambiguous, even unnecessary. Also, it’s not clear whether we’re meant to think Eli is a man on a mission or is actually protected by some greater power. That is to say, it’s obvious that Eli himself believes the latter, but whether this is actually true within the film’s own parameters is a little murkier.

Then there’s the inclusion of Solara herself; it’s almost as if she’s there as a pretty face to offset all the dreary, dust-spattered machismo floating about. Give the film a softer edge. But it’s a serious character who has quite a bit to do with how Eli spends the rest of his journey, and Kunis isn’t up to the task; she’s far, far too lightweight an actress for such an emotionally demanding role, and the movie suffers as a result.

Finally, the twist that comes right at the very end of the movie is a little… odd. You might not see it coming, and you might even rub your eyes a few times to figure out if what you saw is what you thought you saw. To me, the twist just plain didn’t matter. I have read elsewhere that this twist is crucial to the movie, but I don’t agree; it just felt out of place. This twist is meant to explain the preceding two hours away. It’s supposed to make you slap your forehead with realization. But the way I see it, if you buy into this twist, fine; if you don’t buy into it, you still have a good movie that delivers what it promises: a lot of ass kicking in a post-apocalyptic world of the near future.

Book of Eli: ***

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is, to use a lazy term, forgettable. It suffers from a not-quite-with-it leading man (who also wrote the screenplay) and scenes that are more cringe worthy than uncomfortably hilarious, not to mention a dragged-out, unnecessary ending. But other than that, it was okay.

Peter (Jason Segal) is a musician who writes the ominous music for a hot crime show on TV. His girlfriend Sarah (Kristen Bell) is one of the stars of said show, and all is well until she breaks up with him while he’s naked. (Okay, that was sort of funny, although I could have done without the full frontal, personally.) After weeks of pining and whining, Peter is encouraged by his stepbrother (a sardonic Bill Hader) to take a vacation, which Peter does – to Hawaii.

But wouldn’t you know it, Sarah and her new beau-with-whom-she-cheated-on-Peter, Aldous (Russell Brand), show up at the exact same resort at which Peter is staying – seems it’s one they talked about visiting. Oh, this might be awkward, huh? Thanks to the good graces of the hotel’s comely customer-service rep (Mila Kunis), Peter gets the best suite in the house.

So he’s in a tropical resort with his now-ex and her man right there. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty, of course, which is what you expect from a raunchy slapstick comedy like this. But it doesn’t always work.

One problem is that Peter isn’t quite the likable schlub that you’d get from, say, someone like Seth Rogen. Sometimes he’s a sweet, sensitive guy, and other times he’s a bit of a jerk; but either way, he’s so passive that it seems as if the character just disappears. The blame for this has to rest with Segal, who doesn’t seem really cut out for being a leading man. He’s nice, he’s affable, but he has little gravitas or appeal.

Another problem is that there are a few mean-spirited moments. I mean, it’s all well and good if the villain does something mean to the hero, because then we feel added sympathy toward the hero. But when the hero acts like a jerk, he has to believably redeem himself, and here it’s just a little too limp of a redemption for me.

On the bright side, Russell Brand does a lot with what could have been a one-note role, that of a womanizing rocker who’s theoretically Sarah’s new boytoy. I haven’t really encountered the British funnyman before, and I was very happy to see him steal every scene he’s in. Must be something about that accent and the nihilistic, devil-may-care attitude.

Equally luminous was Kunis, in a wonderful performance as the desk girl who finds herself in the middle of an ex-lovers’ battle. Kunis is not only beautiful to look at, her personality and delivery engage you to really believe there’s something more going on behind those eyes. Not a small accomplishment for an attractive actress – they’re a dime a dozen. Kunis’s Rachel isn’t perfect; she’s just as susceptible to petty jealousy and hurt as anyone else, and it takes a good actress to project that sort of emotion.

The ending is really bad, though. There was a point in the movie where everything could have ended nicely. This is a comedy, after all, so a happy ending is sort of what we’re geared up to expect. And it doesn’t matter if a happy ending is neat and tidy, with no loose ends; it just needs to be satisfying. So the movie ends, but it doesn’t – it drags on for another thirty minutes or so, back to the mainland. I guess everyone figured only a literal change of scenery would salvage the movie. But they were wrong.

**