August: Osage County; Labor Day; Lone Survivor

Alright, I'll be honest with you guys. I saw these movies over a month ago and don't remember enough to give full length review on August: Osage County, Labor Day, and Lone Survivor. So here are a few mini reviews in the interest of burning off the obligation that has been over my head for the past 6 weeks or so.


August: Osage County

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I'm a firm believer that sometimes all a great film needs is a great cast and a great screenplay. Luckily, August: Osage County has both.

In the wake of a loved one's death, the estranged Weston family reunites in their Oklahoma home, where the family matriarch Violet (Meryl Streep) still resides. In almost no time at all, their days quickly shift from getting reacquainted to unraveling all the dirty little secrets they have, ranging from drug addiction to scandalous relationships.

The dialogue here is among the best I've ever seen in a film. Whether it be the family dinner scene where Chris Cooper rambles away a two-minute excuse for a blessing or the lunch scene Julia Roberts verbally force feeds her mother, when the Westons were together, I didn't let a word escape my ears.

It was even better coming from its cast, full of Emmy and Oscar winners and nominees. Meryl Streep was fully deserving of her 18th nomination from the Academy. As for Julia Roberts, not only did she hold her own in the start-studded cast - she stole scenes from Meryl Streep, and that's not an easy thing to do. Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, and Abigail Breslin also impress - and there are no complaints on my part.

I'm a little sad that this didn't hit theaters sooner, because it would have knocked The Wolf of Wall Street right off of my Top 10. The portrayal of this unconventional family is impeccable - Director John Wells and Writer Tracy Letts have made a masterpiece.

Rating: 5/5


Labor Day

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  In 2013, so many movies led with an impressive start, but ultimately provided a bit of a let down in their latter halves (Inside Llewen Davis, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club). In Labor Day, the start proved to be slightly shaky. With poorly written dialogue and so many potential directions it never went in, Labor Day wasn't very promising. Fortunately, it got better as it went along, and I know for me, I'd rather a movie gradually gain my interest than suggest to me a good movie was coming, only to let me down.

In 1987, Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith, Changeling) is about to start another school year. He lives with his mother Adele (Kate Winslet) and only sees his father every Sunday when he goes out to eat with his stepmom and stepbrother. On Labor Day weekend, the mother and son go out shopping for school supplies, only to be coerced into bringing fugitive Frank (Josh Brolin) back to their home.

Frank doesn't hurt his inadvertent hosts. Instead, he cooks with them, plays baseball, and fixes up their home. We find out Frank may not be that bad of a guy after all, and eventually he and Adele being to fall in love, but the romance becomes complicated when police and local residents become suspicious when looking for Frank.

As I mentioned earlier, Labor Day lays out a few paths the movie never followed to the end. Frank's past, Henry's budding sexual interests, and even Frank and Adele's love story are subjects that the filmmakers tease us with, but never go anywhere past the surface with. And although the first part of the film leaves you wondering where they're going with this, it leads to a tense climax, and ends with a happily memorable epilogue as a result of getting better every minute. Thus, the final impression Labor Day leaves is positive, even though the first part of the movie doesn't really match the mood.

Rating: 3.5/5


Lone Survivor

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  What's a war movie when everything goes right? Non-existent.

Now, to be fair, Lone Survivor is based on a true story, but as expected, everything goes wrong. The good guys? Navy SEALs on a mission to apprehend a Taliban leader. While trekking through the Afghani mountains, the troops run into two young and one elderly Taliban members. They know that if they execute them on their way to complete their mission, they would be reprimanded and the SEALs would be slandered by every news outlet in the world. So they decide to let the men go, hoping they can return to their camp by the time the Taliban finds them. Shocker: they don't.

Cue the mind-blowing action scene, where the SEALs fight back against a surrounding army of Taliban hiding in the trees. The film and sound editing was superb, making my eyes pop and my body cringe with every gun shot and body drop. The tension was relentless, which made me very angry when the film wasn't nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.

The lone surviving SEAL finds himself in an Afghani village, where I must say he spent a little too much time. I'd have preferred this part of the film to be shorter, but I appreciate its purpose in the story, especially since, and I reiterate, it's a true story.

The action would have been even better had we gotten to know each of the key SEALs as individuals. The movie lacked characterization, which would have made the death scenes more hard-hitting and emotionally impacting.

Still, the acting is commendable and Berg's direction is gripping. All in all, it's one of the better action films of 2013, although I wouldn't rank it as highly in comparison to some of the other entries in the canon of war films

Rating: 4/5