Quiet Applause For A Mediocre Year: Movies of 2008

Photo Credit: Warner Brothers

by Guest Contributor Brian Robinson

If there is one thing I know about being a movie lover its that at the end of the year anyone that knows you live for movies will ask, “So what was the best movie you saw this year?” And, as usual, I will have to equivocate by trying to categorize the best KIND of movie I saw this year. What was the best comedy? The best drama? Or simply what was the best time I had in a theater? Yeah, I over-complicate it. I am all Golden Globes that way.

I am not a nostalgic person by nature. I detest those inevitable “Year in Review” lists we see in every magazine. Why do I need to see a review of a year I lived through? But I do enjoy those “Best of the Year” Lists and can’t help but want to make one myself. So before listing my picks, let me say in advance I completely understand when you will say I am off-base and just plain wrong picking “that” movie for this list. These kinds of lists are inherently debatable since it attempts to take something completely subjective and make it objective; one’s opinion of what’s worthy is always someone else’s idea of whats vastly unworthy.

Now, this year was particularly mediocre. Somehow, I feel like I always start off saying that; at least it seems that way. I think there have been a number of fine-to-great movies since the turn of the new century, and almost none of them came out this year and even fewer of them were American made. When compiling my list below, I really felt it turned out to be a list of simply OK movies rather than a list of “best” movies. I really wonder how many, save for one, will be remembered two years from now? In looking at this list, its really been a year of fine PERFORMANCES rather than a year of great fully successful movies. Alright, enough patter, here’s the list:

“The Dark Knight”. Fine, fine, call me a “fan-boy”, but this movie went well past what is required for a good “comic book” movie. Nolan’s masterpiece is flat out the best movie based on a comic book character, ever. It does what all true masterpieces do in that it successfully speaks to themes bigger than what it seems to be about. Who would expect a movie that has characters created in 1939 would be such a sharp and stinging commentary on our world in 2008? Its a flat out dazzling movie that has something to say about a “war on terror”, rendition, torture, wiretapping, the media and our willingness to sacrifice what makes us who we are to be “safe” from what we don’t understand. And Ledger as the Joker was iconic. I mourn never being able to see him in the role again, and he’s (brilliantly) ruined it for any other actor to take on. I don’t care that this movie is based on an ink and pencil source, it was THE best movie I saw this year.

“Let the Right One In”. In a year of vampires moving to the fore in our entertainment (HBO’s fun “True Blood” and “Twilight”) this movie found a way to make vampires real-world scary. Chances are you didn’t see this Swedish import at the local multi-plex, but it will be worth seeing on DVD as soon as it arrives and before the inevitable American remake waters it down to digestible bites. This movie respected its pubescent characters enough to let them be in horrible danger as well as horribly dangerous in ways natural and supernatural. Although, can one really call a decades old vampire in a little girl’s body ‘pubescent’? Smart and beautifully shot (save one moment of really poorly done CGI) and just damned good.

“Tell No One”. Another imported film that actually had roots in an American novel. This French, ‘Hitchcockian’ thriller was head and shoulders above any other American mystery movie this year…although, were there any? Leave it to the French to go all Beatles on us by taking something so American, tweaking it, and feeding it back to us. Lots of twists and red herrings, but ultimately satisfying in its conclusion.

“Reprise”. Ok, this is getting a bit ridiculous, but here is another foreign film from Norway that had it all over the US films this year. A thoughtful, plaintive and incisive look at what possibilities success, friendship, and relationships hold for a group of male (and female) twentysomethings. A first effort that is impressively assured in terms of direction, writing and editing that I can’t wait to see whether it all holds up on a second viewing. It stuck with me.

“I Have Loved You So Long”. Another French movie (with a British star) that really gave me an emotional thrill this year. Kristen Scott Thomas gives the performance of her career as a woman recently released from penitentiary who attempts to insert herself back into the world and a family that has erased her from their history. What she was in for is a detail the movie keeps from us almost the entire film, but really, I didn’t find it that much of a mystery — after all, how many crimes can a person commit that would lead their own family to disown them? Thankfully, the list just isn’t that long. But, the power of her performance as a woman who long ago shut herself off emotionally from the world to survive prison and her crime was heartbreaking and real.

“Revolutionary Road”. Back to America with this one – even if its the America of the 1950s. DiCaprio and Winslet carry the piece through some pretty tough waters here. Its not an easy movie to pull off when both lead characters are so damn unhappy and there are barely any moments to breathe between the accusations and screaming matches. But, I hand it to Sam Mendes and crew for not pulling punches and letting the audience into this nightmare of a marriage. Um, thank you??

“The Visitor”. This movie defines this year’s theme of the performance being the movie. To see Richard Jenkins finally doing a lead in this decent drama was just so satisfying. He’s always a dependable actor when he pops up in comedy (“Burn After Reading”) or drama (“The Kingdom”) or sludge (“Rumor Has It”). His slow burn character here maintains a realism even when the story leans toward sentimentality. There is a moment in the movie where most actors would be tempted to start digesting the scenery, but Jenkins holds the character true to his nature and it makes the entire movie that much better for it.

“Redbelt”. Chiwetel Ejiofor does something I don’t think I have ever seen in a David Mamet movie: he makes his character totally relatable and real. As much as I enjoy Mamet-directed movies, he has never allowed his actors to completely take them out of his very specific style and let them breathe as humans. Ejiofor’s character, ‘Mike Terry’, connects deeply with us in his struggle for respect and decency in a world that has short supply of either.

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David Mamet’s Redbelt. Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Classics

“Slumdog Millionaire”. This is a movie I find typifies the sort of year I have had at the movies. I liked this movie. Liked, not loved. It was beautifully shot, well edited and acted and took me someplace I have never seen in a context I never considered. But, when all is said and done, it felt like warmed over Dickens to me. “Oliver Twist” goes Bollywood. But, then again, I was a guy who never felt all that great about “Little Miss Sunshine” and this seems like this year’s required crowd-pleaser.

And as I said earlier, there were plenty of movies that contained great performances in them where the rest of the movie just lie there:

“The Wrestler”. Regarding story: we have seen it 100 times before. Regarding performance: Mickey Rourke reminds the world why he was such a big deal to begin with. A career topper, no doubt.

“Milk”. Sean Penn can work miracles. Compare this character/performance to his “Dead Man Walking”. Is this the same actor??

“Rachel Getting Married”. I have never gotten the deal with Anne Hathaway…until now. Demme does wonders with this young actor and elevates her into a different class altogether. This movie felt like Robert Altman was alive again.

“Frost/Nixon” and “Doubt”. I combined these two as they were both former plays brought to screen with strong leads and well written scripts. But, for all of their star power, I felt they were just OK films. “Doubt” in particular could have used a better director, although Streep is really fun to watch here.