Review: Olympus Has Fallen

I meant to catch Olympus Has Fallen at the local cinema during its theatrical release, but with two assaults on the White House slated for 2013 (the other being White House Down), I decided to take a pass on this one.  Because it featured a C-level star in Gerard Butler and was being released during the first quarter or 2013, I felt like it would probably be the lesser of the two much the same way Deep Impact was a (very) poor man’s Armageddon.  Having finally had the chance to watch the action vehicle, I can tell you that it is not a good movie.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is completely un-fun to watch.

The plot of the movie focuses on Butler’s Mike Banning – an expert secret service agent who is forced to make a tough on-the-job decision and is thus removed from his spot on the president’s detail.  Despite his banishment, he manages to get involved when a group of Koreans manage to infiltrate the White House and unleash an all out attack on the most secure building in the United States.  Butler thus spends the rest of the filming trying desperately to save President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) before the terrorist brigade can achieve their ultimate goal.

The director of this film, Antoine Fuqua is fondly remembered for the fantastic job he turned in with Training Day – a very solid movie that helped Denzel Washington earn his first Oscar.  What most people should remember though is that after said film, Fuqua failed to impress with movies like Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, and Shooter – a most lackluster trio of films.  Still, I went into this film hoping that Fuqua could pull a good narrative from what seemed would be a complete mess.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Olympus Has Fallen, has some fun sensationalized action sequences that are large in scale but completely defy logic.  Still, that’s not the point.  Realism gets thrown out the window pretty early on.  This film is geared towards those who are jonesing for straight up action.  Guns, rocket launchers, helicopters, nuclear warheads – there’s no shortage of fisticuffs and explosions.  In fact, had the film been comprised of two straight hours of non-stop action, it would have played better. Sadly though, Butler and his fellow combatants have lines to speak and every time one of them opens their mouths, the movie gets worse.  The blame for that goes to writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt.

I think we’ve seen enough of Gerard Butler to know that he is not the caliber of actor who can overcome terrible lines.  In fact, he almost basks in them, especially when you put a bulletproof vest on his chest and an assault rifle in his hands.  He’s not terrible in this role – as there are junctures in the film where he is actually decent, but whenever he has to sell something more than grand machismo, it falls apart.  Aaron Eckhart as President Asher fares even worse.  He single handedly turns the Commander-in-Chief into a walking set of clichés with hammed up expressions and tired sentiments that feel like they were ripped off from a Successories poster.

As for the rest of the cast, Morgan Freeman turns in the stock Morgan Freeman performance.  It feels like one of his past performances could have just as easily been copied and pasted in this film and completely saved him a trip to the set.  Radha Mitchell, Dylan McDermott, and Angela Bassett fail to impress in this film though it’s not entirely their respective faults as each were cast as paper-thin characters with no depth whatsoever.  They could have been replaced with unknown actors and the movie would have been no worse off.  Theirs represents a very disappointing waste of talent.

My biggest beef with this film though comes in the form of Rick Yune.  He, of Snow Falling on Cedars, The Fast and the Furious, and Die Another Day fame, has never been able to act and apparently still cannot.  That he still gets cast in anything defies all logic.  It’s painful to watch him speak a line or cast a look; there’s just no acting talent there whatsoever.   And his ability to speak Korean (ditto for those cast as his cohorts) is so jarring to the reality of this film that it strips whatever shred of credibility this film has left.  It’s amazing to me that in this day and age, the producers of a one hundred million dollar project can’t manage to find someone who can provide proper voice over work. 

So as you can see, there are a lot of issues with this movie.  Despite this, I am not willing to completely cast it aside.  Sure, most of Olympus Has Fallen’s action stretches your disbelief, but that’s what works best about it – that it basks in the nonsensical as if it were straight out of the mid 90’s.  For those who like this kind of unabashed action, there’s always a place for another bombastic adventure short on the merits of storytelling, but long on cool visuals and logic defying stunts.  If you are this type of person, then you should definitely rent this film.  It will provide you with two hours of moderate entertainment.  However, if you require dialogue, coherent plot points, and real acting, then you will want to take a pass on this one.  It will fill you with regret at about the twenty-minute mark.  The choice is yours.

Standout Performance:  Ashley Judd.  She gives the movie exactly what it demands from her.

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Review: Playing for Keeps

One of the best things about a buffet is that you get a little bit of everything - prime rib, king crab, lasagna, shrimp cocktail all piled sky high on an overpopulated plate.  One of the worst things about a buffet is that while you can a little big of everything, none of it is done particularly well.  That more or less sums up the biggest problem plaguing Playing for Keeps starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel.  There are a bunch of subplots running concurrently in this film beneath the umbrella of the central narrative, but none of those side stories are particularly compelling or entertaining.  The result is a film that feels more muted than emotive.

The plot of the movie focuses on Gerard Butler’s George, a former soccer great, who has fallen on tough times in the aftermath of his playing career.  Recently relocated to Virginia, he tries desperately to reunite with his estranged son and ex-wife (Jessica Biel) while trying to find a job to alleviate his financial woes.  In a completely unforeseen turn of events (sarcasm should be noted), Butler becomes his son’s team’s soccer coach in an attempt to mend fences shattered by the selfish behavior of his past.

This premise makes the film sound like some decent family fare packed to the gills with melodrama that builds an emotional crescendo, culminating with a warm and fuzzy moment.  And this very well might have unfolded perfectly had director Gabriele Muccino’s film not veered off into “Desperate Housewives” territory.  What started off as a movie with soccer images, families, and a central father/son relationship, almost literally takes a sharp left turn onto Wisteria Lane in a not so subtle attempt to make sure that this film caters to as large a target audience as possible.  Sadly, vamping up the familial themed plot serves only to muddle up the  tone and vibe of the film.

However, one of the more positive aspects of this film is Gerard Butler, who seemingly finally found a role perfectly he was perfectly suited to portray – that of a past-his-prime burnout with a reputation for poor life-choices and philandering.  It almost makes you wonder if writer Robbie Fox wrote the part with Butler in mind.  The moppy hair, the disheveled clothing – it’s as if the powers that be let him onto the set after a late night without stopping for making and wardrobe.  And sadly, that gives his character a modicum of believability.  I dare say it may be Butler’s most credible work since 300 – though it’s not nearly as interesting. 

Working opposite Butler is Jessica Biel as his ex-wife Stacie.  In regards to Biel, let me ask you this.  When was the last time you walked out of a theater and thought to yourself how great she was in that movie?  Three years?  Five years?  Never?  Well fear not, that streak (however long it is) will remain intact.  In Playing for Keeps, she isn’t as soulless as she was in Total Recall (2012) or as inept as she was in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, but of all the women to be featured in this film, her character clearly represents a step down in regards to screen presence.

As for the rest of cast, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Judy Greer, and Catherine Zeta-Jones look and feel at least a decade past their respective primes but they are for the most part satisfactory as cynical individuals who are cavalier with their indiscretions as a means to navigate the banality of their every day lives.  While collectively the presence of their characters in this narrative  greatly undermines the overall direction of the film, the seasoned actors do manage to provide an entertaining moment or two.  On the other end of the age spectrum, Noah Lomax (as Butler’s son) shows himself to be as capable a child actor as I have seen in a while and that helps to offset some of what ails this movie.

So when you put all these pieces together ,you are looking at a film that is an absolute pass as a rental.  It’s not quite  a RomCom nor is it family fare; and there’s not enough of either genre embedded in the film to satisfy anyone who might be tempted to watch.  And really, there are too many other titles in this sphere of filmmaking ranging from mediocre to fantastic to spend your time on this one.  If you’re really looking to satisfy your Gerard Butler fix (not that anyone in this world would or should require one), I would suggest you take a look at Chasing Mavericks.  While I haven’t seen it as of yet, I can’t imagine it being much worse than this film.

Standout Performance:  Noah Lomax.  In retrospect, it’s not entirely surprising that the youngest member of this cast turned in the best job.

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