I made the mistake of reading too much about Tropic Thunder before I saw it , but what I read made me want to see it. And while it was worthwhile for Robert Downey Jr.’s performance alone, Ben Stiller got the biggest laugh on a sight gag near the end of the movie (I wonder if anyone laughed as hard as I did at that scene). Seems like Jack Black was somewhat wasted or under used in this film. The Simple Jack (I Am Sam) movie-within-a-movie was absolutely hilarious as was the discussion about it between Downey and Stiller. However, if I hadn’t know about it would been much funnier.
The Visitor directed by Thomas McCarthy on the other hand somehow slipped under the radar. It was a brilliant piece of film making. Richard Jenkins, whom I mainly know from Six Feet Under, puts in a nuanced performance as an aimless college professor sleepwalking through life since his wife has died. He life is changed when he finds that his apartment in New York has been rented to a couple of illegal aliens a charismatic Syrian drummer and his Senegalese girlfriend. His life is forever changed when allows them to stay with him as they look for another apartment. This is a complex movie that is several films at once: a New York film, a post 9-11 film, a love story, a tragedy, a character portrait, and more.
I, too, was impressed with The Visitor. It might be my favorite film I saw this year, though Synecdoche, NY is up there too.
Posted by: Eric | December 14, 2008 at 07:01 AM