In 2008 David and Jacquie Siegel were at the top of the world. David made millions from starting one of the largest timeshare businesses in the US and with his second wife Jaqueline they were in the middle of building the largest single family house in America. Modeled on Versailles in France, this dream house was a 90,000 square foot mansion in Orlando with over 30 bathrooms, 10 kitchens and a view from the top balcony of the nightly fireworks over nearby Disney World. Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield began a film to document the Siegel's, their life and the building of their mansion when the financial collapse of 2008 happened. That event, and it's impact on the Siegels, their business and their "Versailles" turned Greenfield's film and the Siegel's lives into something different all together from what they'd originally planned.
David Siegel made millions with his Westgate Resorts, a group of time share properties across the US. He married Jacquie and while she may seem like a "trophy" wife since she is thirty years younger than the 74 year old David, they had seven children together and on the surface, at least in the beginning of the film, it seems like they have a stable relationship.
Over two years of filming, Greenfield manages to first show how the Siegel's dream of building their "Versailles" is almost coming to fruition. Jacquie takes us on a tour of the half completed house and is almost giddy with excitement about showing us around the place. But then the floor droops out and the film becomes a document of the personal impact of the real estate bubble and the impact it has on the time share mortgage game. That game, where the monthly payments from timeshare owners fund the entire sales operation and how when those payments stop coming in, as more and more people are impacted by the economic downturn, the Westgate business starts to crumble.
Jacquie and her kids
However since David seems to always be working, even before the economic downturn, the cameras mainly focus on Jacquie and life around their current Florida mansion, hence why the film is called the "Queen" of Versailles. David is featured, with a couple of his scenes that are both shocking and sad as well as focuses on David's son from his first wife who runs the Vegas Westgate office, an office that quickly turns upside down after the market drops.
David's credit dries up and when you've mortgaged just about everything for your future it means even the rich billionaires like David have huge set backs. It is one of the best "riches to rags" stories you will ever see, especially because you feel that everyone in the film is being up front and honest about what they are going through. It is also a cautionary tale of how money problems can possibly affect a marriage.
And while Jacquie may at first appear to be your stereotypical dumb blond, she isn't. She is smart, just uneducated in the ways of the world and her heart is in the right place. She cares for her children and her husband and has faith that he will be able to turn things around. Jacquie says that when she met David "he said 'trust me' and I put my trust in him" and you see how David knows how many people are holding on to the hope that he can figure out a way to turn things around.
an aerial view of the 90,000 square foot "Versailles" outside
of Orlando about half way through construction
There are many moments that you'll remember for a long time after the film ends, these include the elaborate Christmas party where David tells his fellow party goers how he was able to buy back his outstanding $18 million dollar loan, that the bank wasn't willing to write down for him, via a third party for $3.5 million. This shows not only how skilled David believes he is at business deals but also how the banks, the economy and the entire financial system were so far upside down they were willing to make deals just not a deal with the original owner of the loan. Ironically, things don't go as well after Jacquie's trip back home to the small town in New York where she grew up. That trip affords her the opportunity to reconnect with one of her best friend's from her teenage years. That friend's house is going into foreclosure and even a $5,000 check from Jacquie that more than covers the amount owed on the mortgage isn't enough to reverse the foreclosure.
And David's frustration over the door to the house being left open and the number of lights that are left on in the house is something anyone can relate to where there was an argument over a high electricity bill. The fact that none of the people in the house wants to step up and say that they will make sure the door is shut or that the lights are turned off if not needed, says a lot about the way these people live in an alternate world even when faced with the hard truth about their finances. Jacquie's spending at first seems to be out of control as well, including buying Christmas gifts for her kids that include new bikes, when they already have a garage full of them, but the film also shows Jacquie's attempt to sell off some of her possessions at low prices to families who are really in need to give back to the community.
Lessons learned include: don't take anything for granted and live within your means. Don't mortgage everything you have and most definitely, always plan for your future.
The film was nominated by the DGA for outstanding directorial achievement and is definitely worth a Redbox rental or adding to your Netflix queue.
Trailer for the film:
Interview with Director Lauren Greenfield as well as clips from the film:
Les Misérables is one of those stage to screen musical adaptations that gets most things right in the transfer from live musical to celluloid experience. As one of the most successful stage musicals, Les Misérables is a worldwide phenomenon so it seemed only natural that a film version would eventually happen. However, the fact that it took almost thirty years since it first premiered to become a film is something that I don't think anyone expected.
Based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo, and set in the early to mid 1800's, Les Misérables tells the epic story of Jean Valjean who was jailed for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew. His original five year sentence becomes almost twenty after he tries to escape making him a very bitter and desperate man. However, when a bishop saves him, that act of kindness that gives him a second chance and how that event turns him into a positive force is the original tale of "paying it forward." His redemption and how that changes him is the force behind the emotional journey of the story while the fact that he did run away to become someone else and is being hunted by a police inspector is the major driving element behind the plot.
Hugh Jackman as "Jean Valjean"
As Valjean, Hugh Jackman is giving a stellar performance, one that not only just earned him a Golden Globe but also an Oscar nomination. Much has been written about how director Tom Hooper had the actors sing live during filming instead of lip syncing to a pre-recorded audio track. This tactic allowed the actors to not only provide more emotions to a song based on being in the moment on set verses being in a studio weeks or even months before shooting actually began and they had a chance to become and discover their characters but also allowed them to try various takes on the songs during the filming process. Jackman benefits greatly from this choice. His two dramatic solos in the film, "Valjean's Soliloquy" and "Who Am I?" are so full of emotion seemingly derived from that exact moment the film was shot that I don't think he would have won that Golden Globe if the songs had been pre-recorded.
Anne Hathaway as "Fantine"
Likewise, Anne Hathaway also benefits from this filming choice. Her "I Dreamed a Dream," arguably the best known song from the show, is delivered in one seamless take that perfectly captures the anguish of her character Fantine and the journey her character has been forced to take. It is an extremely memorable and heart wrenching moment and I have to believe that Hathaway is the front runner for the Oscar for Supporting Actress after already winning a Golden Globe as well as numerous other awards for her performance.
Russell Crowe is Javert, the inspector who makes it his lifelong mission to hunt Valjean down and while Hooper mentioned he cast actors who could sing instead of singers who could act, Crowe is able to hold his own against his more vocally gifted co-stars. Sure Crowe's voice is a little on the softer and gruffer side, but I liked the way his singing was more internal and seemingly coming from an unbalanced man, which was clearly in line with the character of Javert. While he can't hold some of the notes as long as some of the stage Valjean's have, I thought his performance was as calculated as his character is and I like it more and more that I think back on it.
Russell Crowe as "Javert"
Several of the supporting cast fair pretty good, particularly Eddie Redmayne as Marius who has a certain beauty in both his acting and singing that connect very clearly with the material. Samantha Barks as Eponine and Aaron Tveit as Enjolras are two actors who have performed in numerous musicals in London and Broadway respectively, so their voices are the best in the film, but they both are also perfect in their parts with Barks especially touching as the girl in love with someone who doesn't love her back and who knows it.
Amanda Seyfried as "Cosette" and
Eddie Redmayne as "Marius"
Amanda Seyfried is Cosette, Fantine's daughter who Valjean adopts and who Marius loves. And she is fine in the part, which of all of the roles has probably the least amount of good material to latch onto. As the comic duo the Thénardiers, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen play Eponine's parents and Cosette's original caretakers who factor into many of the plot points. While both are clearly up to the challenge of the material, and I especially liked Bonham Carter's contributions, fortunately Hooper and the other contributors have wisely cut back on some of their material that was in the stage version in order to not have the comical moments over shadow the more serious ones of the film.
Samantha Barks as "Eponine"
Colm Wilkinson who created the role of Valjean both in London and on Broadway plays the part of the Bishop whose actions are the catalyst for Valjean's journey. It is a great touch to have Wilkinson in the film and playing this part and he expertly delivers what is needed.
William Nicholson has taken the original sung through musical and made changes to the script both alone and in consultation with the original French creators Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, English librettist Herbet Kretzmer as well as producer Cameron Mackintosh to fill in some of the more vague moments of the musical. By adding in some things from the original novel, as well as moving some of the songs around, the overall effect is a tighter show with a clearer dramatic arch. The movement of two of the big songs, Fantine's "I Dreamed a Dream" and Eponine's "On My Own" to be in more dramatic moments of their character's journeys are two simple changes that made me think "Of course it makes more sense to have those songs at those points in the show." I'm curious to see if those same changes, or at least the movement of "I Dreamed a Dream," are made for future productions of the stage version.
Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen
and Isabelle Allen
The look and feel of the film is similar to what Hopper did with the tv mini series John Adams that he also directed, it has a gritty, bleak look, seemingly in tone with the time period the film is set in. Hopper also chooses to shoot most of the solo songs in close-up with minimal cuts. This gives a more direct, internal feel to those monologues which works very well in my opinion. Are there some quibbles I have with the film? Of course. Some scenes that are shot in harsh daylight could have benefited from more moody evening lighting. Seyfried's singing is a little thin especially around the higher notes. The main plot point of the second half of the film, around the student's revolt and the building of the barricade is still a little unclear and I miss a few things from the stage show like the use of the ghosts during "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." But this film of Les Misérables is one that I will gladly revisit again and again. Is this the greatest movie musical ever, no, but is this a story of such emotion and depth, most definitely.
While the film is still in theaters, the blu ray/DVD has just been announced with a March 19th release date. Amazon link for the blu ray/DVD is below.
Is there anything that Meryl Streep can't do? After showing us what she is capable of in dramas, comedies and even musicals I was about to think the only thing left for her to take on would be to play a man. But then I realized she already did that when she played a male rabbi in the tv version of Angels in America. She recently took on the role of Margaret Thatcher in the film The Iron Lady which earned her a third Oscar and her 17th Academy Award nomination.
The Iron Lady is a pretty good film that shows Thatcher's rise to fame and all of the controversy she created with the decisions she made while she was in power. While the film touches upon the key points in Thatcher's career, it really isn't a typical docu-drama but is really more like a memory play with the older Thatcher looking back upon her past and the various decisions she made. The fact that this is all surrounded and continually interrupted by the older Thatcher having what appear to be dementia based hallucinations that include her dead husband being present and his comments on her memories, her past decisions and their children, makes The Iron Lady rise above many other linear driven biographic films.
Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher
Jim Broadbent provides another quirky character to his long list of work as Margaret's husband. Streep and Broadbent together are simply splendid in their ability to make you feel the love the two of there characters have, warts and all, and in this relationship and everything they went through, it seems there were plenty of warts.
Director Phyllida Lloyd provides a steady hand to the events and expertly manages the flashbacks, confusion and her direction of Streep, though I'm sure Steep needs little direction. She and Streep previously worked together on the film of Mamma Mia, which was Lloyd's film directorial debut, she also directed the London, Broadway and National tour productions of that show. The Iron Lady is a completely different film and thus makes a fine follow-up to the popcorn fun of Mamma Mia and should provide plenty of future feature directing opportunities for Lloyd.
I really like how the film shows how powerful people can become powerless as they get older. This brought up comparisons to Ronald Regan's later years as he fought Alzheimer's. While the film does focus on the key moments in Thatcher's career including the miners strike, the Falkland Islands war, the Irish National Liberation Army assassination of her campaign manager and the hotel bombing where she and her husband were almost killed, the film is really the story of how dementia and old age impacts a person. And when the person was formerly in a powerful position like Thatcher the downfall of dementia can be an all encompassing sense of powerlessness.
Broadbent and Streep
The film doesn't really take a stand on Thatcher and her politics, instead showing the good parts and bad of her 11 year run as Prime Minister. In fact, someone who knew nothing about Thatcher would basically see a story of a woman and the personal, political and public obstacles that got in her way. I was fine with how it showed the personal impact of a public life and the impact it has on your family and less concerned that the filmmakers didn't take a stand about her politics.
I liked how we saw the strained and very distant relationship she has with her children, possibly somewhat due to the poor relationship she had with her own mother as well as her focus on power. I also appreciated the focus on Thatcher's view that being in public office is more about what you can do for the public and less about what you can do for your own career. A point not shared by many politicians world wide who seem to be more focused on doing and saying what they need to in order to further their own careers. Of course for Thatcher once she got a taste of the power the drive for more of that continual power seemed to be just as important to her as her belief that she was doing what was right for the public.
I also liked a line of dialogue that the ghost of her husband has when Margaret is watching videos of her young children. He basically tells her, when she accidentally rewinds the video, "You can rewind the past but you can't rewrite it." A comment so true for anyone looking back at their life and even more so for someone in power who might thing some of their decisions were now possibly not the correct ones.
Streep as the 80 year old Thatcher
And while Thatcher is portrayed as an uncompromising person, she is often referred to several times as a grocery store owner's daughter. She herself says that she would never be a wife who stays in the kitchen doing the dishes. Both of these references come into play in the scenes that bookend the film. In the opening scene, we are in a modern day corner grocery store and, ironically, when Margaret goes to buy a pint of milk no one recognizes her. I particularly liked this portrayal of a well known person who used to have all of the power now not being recognized anymore. But I especially liked the ironic ending of the film that refers back to the person she said she would never be.
Much has been written about the uncanny resemblance of Streep to Thatcher that the Academy Award winning make up designers Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland created. But what amazed me most wasn't the makeup, hair or accent but actually Streep's body movement as both the younger and especially the older Thatcher. Just watch the opening sequence when she is walking down the street or when she is getting dressed for the dinner party and you don't see a 60 year old Streep but an 80 year old Thatcher. And even when she is sitting still so much is said through Meryl's eye movements. It is a towering performance and one well deserving of the Oscar.
The movie The Tree of Life is either one of the most amazing movies ever made or one of the worst. After sitting thought the 2 hour and 19 minute film I believe it is one of the worst and over 2 hours of my life that I will never get back.
Now, don't get me wrong, the film has some of the best cinematography and special effects you'll ever see, very good performances from Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain as a husband and wife in the 50's as well as a low key performance from Sean Penn as the grown up son of Pitt and Chastain in current times. It has an interesting central story about a young son who does what his father tells him to do but is always troubled by the actions of his father as well as the death of his brother. Something that both Hunter McCracken as the young Jack and Penn as the older both are very good at portraying. However, it is one of those films that is so pretentious that it just comes across as being a film that makes a lot of wrong choices. The plot goes pretty much nowhere over the two hours and while director Terrence Malick gets good performances out of his cast he should have spent a little more time in editing both the script and the film so it didn't come across as such a sprawling mess that basically skips over plot elements and just ends.
I mean, there are even dinosaurs in it -during the creation of the universe section of the movie, yes there is about a 10 minute part of the movie all about that. (see the clip below) When did you think you could ever say there were dinosaurs in a Brad Pitt movie? Is this a documentary or a film about family dynamics in the 50's?
Avoid at all costs unless you have nothing better to do for 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Both John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill are mostly known for their frat party humour in films like Step Brothers and Superbad. So having both of them star in the movie Cyrus you would think you're in for another sophmoric laugh fest, but Cyrus is actually a somewhat serious film, which might explain why it didn't do very well at the box office, only grossing $10 million. I'm guessing that moviegoers went in thinking they were going to get one type of movie but ended up with another, which isn't very good for positive word of mouth. However, Cyrus is actually an extremely well made film with a smart script and Reilly and Hill give well mannered performances.
The film, which also stars Marisa Tomei, tells the story of John Kilpatrick (Reilly) who is divorced and depressed. His ex-wife (Catherine Keener) who still feels somewhat responsible for him, pushes him to go to a party where he meets Molly (Tomei.) The two of them hit it off and before they know it are in a somewhat serious relationship. And while both of them have their baggage, Tomei's baggage is pretty big. Her son Cyrus (Hill) who is his early 20's, lives at home and Cyrus and Molly have a very close co-dependent relationship, and Cyrus is very jealous of anything that gets between him and his mother.
While you can imagine where the story will go, the script has some nice elements to it and all three of the leads give extremely good performances. Tomei and Reilly have many serious credits on their resumes, so it is Hill who really gets to show what he is capable of, and I'm sure this role will get him many more serious acting jobs in the future. The film is directed and written by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass
Reilly and Hill
But don't mistake what I've said so far and think that this movie is all serious as there are several laugh out loud moments. The film is more on the low budget independent movie front instead of a big budget Hollywood comedy, so I'm sure that might also explain why it didn't do better at the box office.
So if you're a fan of Hill and interested in seeing what he is capable of doing outside of Superbad, or if you're just looking for a different kind of movie then check out Cyrus.
In this age of remakes and sequels it is nice to find a movie that is almost 100% original. Win Win is that movie. It perfectly combines elements from many genres to become a genre of it's own. And the fact that it doesn't always go in the direction you think it will and doesn't tie up all of the lose ends in a perfect bow by the time the credits roll, made me like it even more.
Paul Giamatti is Mike Flaherty, a New Jersey lawyer who volunteers as the wrestling coach for the local high school. When he finds his law business isn't paying his bills and with a wife (Amy Ryan) and two small children at home, he stumbles across a way to bring in some extra money each month, even though it is very suspect and pretty much illegal. Add in a teenage runaway who used to wrestle and who has other demons in his past who Giamatti becomes somewhat of a surrogate father to and you end up with a film that is part legal drama, part sports film, part coming of age movie, part family drama and when you add it all up Win Win ends up being a big "win win" in my book.
Giamatti and Shaffer
Giamatti once again makes a role completely realistic, honest and genuine. Ryan also has many great moments in the film and together she and Giamatti are natural, tender and touching as a couple who have to deal with things they aren't exactly ready for. The movie was released earlier this year so I'm kinda thinking both of them, and the film, might find themselves with Oscar Nominations in just a few months.
Alex Shaffer is the teenage runaway and Shaffer actually won the New Jersey State Wrestling Championship last year which makes him more than adequate to play the part. The fact that this is also his film debut is a bit of a shock as he gives a sincere and natural portrayal of a somewhat troubled and lost youth. The film also stars Bobby Cannavale and Jeffrey Tambor as Giamatti's former high school wrestling buddy and the assistant coach with Nina Arianda as Giamatti's secretary. All three of them provide some nice comic moments in the film with Cannavale a stand out. In fact, though the movie is more on the dramatic side there are several laugh out loud moments.
Giammati and Ryan
Writer / director Thomas McCarthy has provided an entertaining and heartfelt experience. I don't want to say much more about this movie as the less you know going in the more I think you'll enjoy it. Just know that fully fleshed out characters, realistic dialogue and a first rate ensemble cast combine to push this movie over the finish line with gusto.
