I saw the North American Premiere of this movie on Saturday March 8, 2008 as part of the SXSW film festival, and it has the best storyline and worst production of any of the movies that I saw during this festival. About the production - the camera was shaky, a lot of the shots are in-and-out of focus, and the sound was terrible. Many of the cars that drive by in the scenes are louder than the characters talking. About the story - we follow a traveling salesman while he is trying to sell investments into a product that he knows nothing about. The lead actor Jeff Clark (who plays Thomas Lindsay) does a marvelous job of evoking the audience's sympathy. The story is one of the most interesting and unique that I have seen in a narrative feature in a long time. As I watched the credits, I realized that the filmmaker Jake Mahaffy wore many different hats while making this film (writer, directer, camera) which explains why the production was so bad. I hope that he continues to make films because the production issues can be fixed with money; great stories are priceless.
The filmmaker and lead actor were present for the viewing and a brief Q & A. I was surprised to learn the lead actor was actually non-actor, and the only other actor who had a significant role was Jake Mahaffy's father (who plays Tom's boss Paul), who was also a non-actor. Somebody asked what it is like to work with non-actors. Mahaffy's response was very interesting and enlightening. He said that it doesn't make any sense to write a script and make a non-actor memorize it. So instead, he tries to communicate a concept of story and feelings, and much of the story is non-scripted. For example, there is a great scene with Tom Lindsay and his boss Paul. Mahaffy instructed Clark that he was doing a great job as a salesman, and Paul really likes him. Mahaffy separately instructed his father that Tom was doing a terrible job, and he needed a severe ass-chewing. The approach worked, and the scene was great!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
SXSW Film - Friday March 7
Friday March 7 marks the beginning of the nine-day 2008 SXSW Film Festival here in Austin, TX and, incidentally, the beginning of a forced weeklong shutdown at my employer, Applied Materials. My girlfriend Carmen is also on Spring Break this week from her full-time studies at the Universtity of Texas College of Pharmacy. We decided to spend the week watching the SXSW films, hanging out downtown, and basically being tourists in our own town. A SXSW film pass this year cost $70 and are available at Waterloo Video at 6th and Lamar.
Friday night I was planning to see the opening night film called 21 directed by Robert Luketic and starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne. The movie was scheduled to start at 9:30pm at the Paramount Theatre, but Carmen was scheduled to work until 9pm. I planned to get to the Paramount early to stand in line, and she could just meet me when she got there. On my way downtown, I stopped by the CVS to give Carmen her film pass and a change of clothes and shoes because it was a very chilly night and I am a sweet and thoughtful friend. She was very appreciative. She was working with a pharmacist named Barbara who I thought was pretty cool.
I headed downtown and parked at the State Parking Garage at 13th & San Jacinto. It was a few blocks from the Paramount at 8th & Congress, but I was well-bundled so the walk was good. I walked up to the Paramount Theatre from the Capitol, and I could see a line of badge-holders practically all the way down 8th street. The line for pass-holders (like myself) stretched all the way down the other side of the block down 7th street. I waited in line with a very nice lady named Andrea. We chatted about movies until the line moved to let us into the theater which was about 9:00pm. I was getting kind of nervous because Carmen had not arrived yet, but she was scheduled to work until 9:00pm. I was already seated when she called at about 9:15 saying she was at Braker and I-35. Now I was really nervous.
Matt Dentler welcomed us to the SXSW film festival and introduced the director Robert Luketic who introduced the film. Still no Carmen. During the opening credits of the movie, I got another call from Carmen telling me they would not let her into the theater. :( I was so sad! But, at the same time, I was not giving up my seemingly comfortable seat to leave the movie that I waited in line for over an hour (in the cold!) to see. I couldn't really talk on the phone because the movie had already started, but I wanted to send her a text message to tell her that I was staying. After about 5 minutes of fiddling around with my phone, I realized for the first time that I do not know how to send a text message; I only know how to reply to one. My heart was sinking as I kept thinking to myself, "why can't I figure this out?" I racked my brain to recall an occasion where I had sent a text message from scratch, and I could not think of one. Because I never had. Because I never needed to. Until now. Luckily, Carmen sent me a text to tell me she was leaving, and I could then hit "Reply" and tell her simply "I m stay." That sounds dumb. I took three more minutes to add three more letters so the message now reads "I m staying." That's close enough to English for her to get the message. She texted back to apologize for not getting there early enough, but I was done with texting, and I put my phone away. I smiled at the lady that was one seat away from me, and I think she understood from my half-hearted smile and my struggles with the phone that the empty seat between us was no longer being saved.
Friday night I was planning to see the opening night film called 21 directed by Robert Luketic and starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne. The movie was scheduled to start at 9:30pm at the Paramount Theatre, but Carmen was scheduled to work until 9pm. I planned to get to the Paramount early to stand in line, and she could just meet me when she got there. On my way downtown, I stopped by the CVS to give Carmen her film pass and a change of clothes and shoes because it was a very chilly night and I am a sweet and thoughtful friend. She was very appreciative. She was working with a pharmacist named Barbara who I thought was pretty cool.
I headed downtown and parked at the State Parking Garage at 13th & San Jacinto. It was a few blocks from the Paramount at 8th & Congress, but I was well-bundled so the walk was good. I walked up to the Paramount Theatre from the Capitol, and I could see a line of badge-holders practically all the way down 8th street. The line for pass-holders (like myself) stretched all the way down the other side of the block down 7th street. I waited in line with a very nice lady named Andrea. We chatted about movies until the line moved to let us into the theater which was about 9:00pm. I was getting kind of nervous because Carmen had not arrived yet, but she was scheduled to work until 9:00pm. I was already seated when she called at about 9:15 saying she was at Braker and I-35. Now I was really nervous.
Matt Dentler welcomed us to the SXSW film festival and introduced the director Robert Luketic who introduced the film. Still no Carmen. During the opening credits of the movie, I got another call from Carmen telling me they would not let her into the theater. :( I was so sad! But, at the same time, I was not giving up my seemingly comfortable seat to leave the movie that I waited in line for over an hour (in the cold!) to see. I couldn't really talk on the phone because the movie had already started, but I wanted to send her a text message to tell her that I was staying. After about 5 minutes of fiddling around with my phone, I realized for the first time that I do not know how to send a text message; I only know how to reply to one. My heart was sinking as I kept thinking to myself, "why can't I figure this out?" I racked my brain to recall an occasion where I had sent a text message from scratch, and I could not think of one. Because I never had. Because I never needed to. Until now. Luckily, Carmen sent me a text to tell me she was leaving, and I could then hit "Reply" and tell her simply "I m stay." That sounds dumb. I took three more minutes to add three more letters so the message now reads "I m staying." That's close enough to English for her to get the message. She texted back to apologize for not getting there early enough, but I was done with texting, and I put my phone away. I smiled at the lady that was one seat away from me, and I think she understood from my half-hearted smile and my struggles with the phone that the empty seat between us was no longer being saved.
Review of 21
21 was the Opening Night Film for SXSW 2008. It follows the story of a group of MIT students who learn to count cards during Black Jack games so they can win lots of money in Las Vegas. The film was directed by Robert Luketic and stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne.
I enjoyed this film. It was a good festival film, meaning the movie was focused on the story much more than the special effects that are staples of most blockbusters these days. The story in 21 was good, not outstanding or ground-breaking or controversial, but good, and well-within the boundaries of standard Hollywood fare. This movie had no surprises with respect to the story or plot. The only surprise for me was the outstanding performance by the lead actor Jim Sturgess who portrayed the story's hero Ben. The character of Ben was so likeable, and he looked so good on screen. The character made a transition from vulnerable nerd to confident casino stud, and he was so likeable the whole time. He held his own in his scenes with Spacey and Fishburne. This actor is going to be a big star.
On the other hand, the Kate Bosworth character was ridiculously underdeveloped. I heard a comment from another moviegoer calling her "window dressing." I wish she had either better character development or had been left out of the movie altogether.
Josh Gad turned in a noteable performance as Ben's best friend Miles. He did not have many scenes, but he was quite memorable. He is definitely another young actor for us to keep our eyes on.
After the film, the audience was entertained with a Q & A session with Ben Mezrich (author of the book Bringing Down the House on which the movie was based), Jeff Ma (the real-life MIT student on which the book was based), and Jim Sturgess (the lead actor of the film). Many of the questions were directed to Jeff Ma and his experiences in Vegas. Apparently, the hardest aspect of his experiences was trying to get hundreds of thousands of dollars on the plane back to Boston.
I enjoyed this film. It was a good festival film, meaning the movie was focused on the story much more than the special effects that are staples of most blockbusters these days. The story in 21 was good, not outstanding or ground-breaking or controversial, but good, and well-within the boundaries of standard Hollywood fare. This movie had no surprises with respect to the story or plot. The only surprise for me was the outstanding performance by the lead actor Jim Sturgess who portrayed the story's hero Ben. The character of Ben was so likeable, and he looked so good on screen. The character made a transition from vulnerable nerd to confident casino stud, and he was so likeable the whole time. He held his own in his scenes with Spacey and Fishburne. This actor is going to be a big star.
On the other hand, the Kate Bosworth character was ridiculously underdeveloped. I heard a comment from another moviegoer calling her "window dressing." I wish she had either better character development or had been left out of the movie altogether.
Josh Gad turned in a noteable performance as Ben's best friend Miles. He did not have many scenes, but he was quite memorable. He is definitely another young actor for us to keep our eyes on.
After the film, the audience was entertained with a Q & A session with Ben Mezrich (author of the book Bringing Down the House on which the movie was based), Jeff Ma (the real-life MIT student on which the book was based), and Jim Sturgess (the lead actor of the film). Many of the questions were directed to Jeff Ma and his experiences in Vegas. Apparently, the hardest aspect of his experiences was trying to get hundreds of thousands of dollars on the plane back to Boston.
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