Movie Haiku - Criminal & In Good Company

Criminal
Dir: Gregory Jacobs
Cast: John C. Reilly, Diego Luna, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Mullan

Reilly hires Luna
hatch plan to sell forged banknote
but who's conning who?

This is a totally unnecessary remake of the Argentinian film Nine Queens, which itself only got released here last year. Not that I've seen the original (yet), but I'm sure it's preferable to this Hollywood adaptation. The plot is straightforward enough - Reilly's character meets Luna in a casino and persuades him to help pull off this one big con he's got planned. At the same time he's also busy screwing over his own sister (Gyllenhaal) who happens to work at the hotel where this scam is being pulled. Well, this is all bread-and-butter stuff really; not bad, but nothing we've not seen before. You're waiting for the final twist but when the denouement comes it just makes you question whether what has just happened really holds together; certainly in hindsight a number of key events rely too much on coincidence for my liking. The actors do their job okay with the material on offer, and it's good to see Peter Mullan pop up as the victim of the pair's con, but with such a familiar story and some lacklustre directing, we're left with a distinctly average viewing experience.

soulmining rating: **

In Good Company
Dir: Paul Weitz
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johannson

Young man is Quaid's boss
secretly dating daughter
feelgood not schmaltzy

Now this was a pleasant surprise. It's a basic two-hander; you've got Quaid playing this aging family man, working hard to support his family, who finds himself demoted when his company is taken over and they appoint their own young hotshot (Grace). It's the relationship between these two characters which holds this film together so well. Quaid - with one daughter (Johannson) starting university, and his wife expecting their third child - is naturally quite hostile to this newcomer, and his new ways of dealing with the business. Grace meanwhile is a lot less confident than he first appears, with no experience in this line of sales and a failing marriage at home. Things get even more awkward (and comedic) when Johannson seduces Grace, but ultimately it's a story where all the characters end up learning a lot of life lessons from each another. This could have so easily fallen into saccharine movie cliche, but director Weitz obviously benefitted from his time in the UK (where he made About A Boy) and never once fumbles the story, managing to keep the events grounded in reality, and never succumbing to an unnaturally happy conclusion. Quaid seems to be getting better with age and is assisted by a fine performances from relative newcomer Grace and the beautiful Johannson. The soundtrack too is full of cool tunes, yet never intrudes onto the drama on screen. A really enjoyable little movie, definitely worth checking out.

soulmining: ****