Day 15: Murder and Drugs

Monday, May 2, 2011

DAY 15, MOVIE 1:

Murder on the Orient Express (1974), directed by Sidney Lumet. This is a Sidney Lumet film I’ve wanted to see for a while. As I said before in a previous blog post, Sidney Lumet is one of my all-time favorite directors, and I hope to see all of his films at some point. Murder on the Orient Express stars Albert Finney (one of my favorite actors) as a detective who investigates a murder on a train. I love a good murder mystery, so watching this seemed like a natural choice. The main plot of the movie is mostly confined to the train, which was fine with me. Lumet has proved once before that he can make an exciting story in a single location with his masterpiece, 12 Angry Men. However, the storytelling was rather basic, and even felt repetitive in the middle. The story consisted mostly of Albert Finney interviewing suspects, and coming to a conclusion of who the murderer is. It’s straight forward, and everything we’ve seen before. The real highlight of this movie is Albert Finney as detective Hercule Poirot. Last week I had said that The Dresser was probably Finney’s best performance, but now I retract that statement. Finney gives a performance unlike any of his other work in Murder on the Orient Express. It is an over-the-top performance, with the accent and loud speaking voice, but that’s what I liked about it. It was Finney’s ostentatious portrayal of the detective that got me through this movie, and I can’t help but think that the film would have been extremely drab without him in the lead role.

DAY 15, MOVIE 2:

American Gangster (2007), directed by Ridley Scott. In my opinion, American Gangster is Ridley Scott’s last good movie. I’ve been a fan of some his work, and he is definitely talented, and I hope he will soon redeem himself from his last two movies. But despite his recent missteps, American Gangster is a very solid film. And even though this film doesn’t add anything new to the crime genre, it is still an example of excellent storytelling and was one of the most entertaining movies of 2007. This movie is based on the true story of drug kingpin Frank Lucas, and the cop trying to bring him down. Director Ridley Scott extracts superb performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe; Washington giving what I think is his best. Much like The Departed, this movie follows two characters on opposite sides of the law, until they meet up at the end. So what we have here is a dual-edged story with some fine performances. As for Scott’s direction, his films are usually highly stylized, but without sacrificing the impact of the story. This time Scott brings his style more down to earth, making for a grittier, truer to life experience. He lets the characters inhabit their characters, so they can give the story the personal touch that’s so important to the overall impact.