Toronto Finish
Due to being hit with the flu bug when I returned from Toronto, this final report about the Toronto International Film Festival was delayed.
As always, there were some films I really wanted to see that I missed and a couple of others that I wish I had missed, but overall I’d say it was an excellent festival.
During the final days I had the opportunity to interview Sidney Lumet and Michael Caine. Lumet is an amazing man, so full of life at age 83, and still a terrific filmmaker. Go here to hear this interview.
His Toronto entry, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, is one of my favorite festival films, a cynical, nasty and tasty melodrama about a family that puts the “dys” in dysfunctional starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney.
Caine was in town to promote the new version of Sleuth. Caine starred in the original and now takes on the role played by Sir Lawrence Olivier. He, co-star Jude Law and director Kenneth Branaugh were a charming trio, delightfully hawking their new movie. I’m not so sure a modern audience will enjoy a two-character game of one-upmanship, but I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to hear Michael Caine talk about his craft. Some other filmmakers brought great movies to the fest. The Coen Brothers have returned to top crime drama form, ala their debut Blood Simple, with the crafty, evil No Country For Old Men. John Sayles’ might finally have a modest hit on his hands. His blues music infused drama Honeydripper, starring Danny Glover, Charles Dutton and Stacy Keach, is a delightful blend of character-driven storytelling and foot-stomping music.
My favorite fictional film at the festival was one of those small-scale flicks that should ride the wave of acclaim at the fest to stateside success. Juno, director Jason Reitman’s follow-up to Thank You For Smoking, is about a smartass and practical 16-year-old (Ellen Page) who finds out she is pregnant. The movie is a funny mix of tasty dialogue, a fabulous ensemble of actors (Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney) and a talented director on a roll.
However, when it comes to the best film I saw, the winner is the heart wrenching documentary Body of War. This film, directed by talk show icon Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, captures the agony of the 5 percent of our nation being asked to sacrifice the most — the soldiers in battle and their families. The film is about Tomas Young, now 25, who was shot and paralyzed from the shoulders down while serving in Iraq. Not only an anti-war statement, it really shows us the graphic details of what it really means to be paralyzed. This movie had me in tears.
Here are my star ratings (my scale is zero to four) for the 28 films I saw in Toronto:
The Orphanage (Spain) **
The Brave One **
L’ennem Intime (Intimate Enemies, France) **1/2
Michael Clayton ***
No Country For Old Men ***
Rendition **1/2
4 Days, 3 Hours and 2 Minutes (Romania) *1/2
Juno ***1/2
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers **1/2
With Your Permission (Denmark) **1/2
Then She Found Me ***
Jane Austen Book Club ***
Brick Lane (Britain) **1/2
Sleuth **
Margot at the Wedding **1/2
Mad Detective (Hong Kong, China) ***
Cleaner ***
Deficit (Mexico) *1/2
Girl in the Park ***
Honeydripper ***
Death Defying Acts (Australia) **
Married Life **
Closing the Ring (UK/Canada) *1/2
Before the Devil Knows Your Dead ***
Man From Plains ***
Bill ***
King of California ***
Body of War ***
(Pictured are Michael Caine and Kenneth Branaugh, and Ellen Page and Michael Cera in Juno.)