By Ed Koch
Volume 75, Number 11 | August 3 – 9, 2005
Koch On Film
“March of the Penguins” (+)
Last week I was having lunch in Brooklyn with two friends. They asked if I had any movie suggestions, and I responded that regrettably the pickings were slim. One of them asked if I had seen “March of the Penguins,” and I responded that I was waiting for it to be shown on public television. He said, “Don’t wait. It’s spectacular.” So I decided to see it immediately. Believe me, it is an enjoyable experience, and I recommend it to you.
When the penguins in Antarctica reach the age of five, they leave the ocean. They walk, and sometimes slide, for 70 miles until they reach a patch of ice where they locate a mate. (This arrangement is for one breeding season only). The female hatches a single egg, which is incubated first at the feet of the female and then at the feet of the male. The female and male separately make this 70-mile trip to and from the sea four times. Having starved for months at a time, the purpose of these trips is to eat in the ocean and then return with food which they will regurgitate for both mate and chick. When they finally return to the ocean for the last time, the trip is only a few hundred yards away since, with the passage of time and change of weather, the ice has melted considerably.
The photography is stunning, and the narration provided by Morgan Freeman promotes an anthropomorphic attitude towards these flightless birds. The documentary naturally favors the penguins, and when a leopard seal goes after one of the parents who returned to the sea to fatten up, the audience roots for the penguin. If we were shown the leopard pup needing its mother’s milk and she needing food to produce it, we might have been conflicted. You will probably be able to see this documentary on PBS in the future, but it won’t be as good as seeing it in the theater on the really big screen.
“Happy Endings” (-)
There are just too many subplots in this film and not enough of a shared story for them to make sense to the viewers. The acting on the part of everyone is fine and in some cases superb, but that talent cannot make up for the lack of a good script.
The film has nearly a dozen plots. Two central characters are Mamie (Lisa Kudrow), an adviser to women at an abortion clinic, and Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who ultimately becomes a singer in a band. The drummer in the band is Otis (Jason Ritter), a young man in his 20s who is sexually conflicted. Otis’ father is Frank (Tom Arnold). Pam (Laura Dern) and Diane (Sarah Clarke) are a lesbian couple. Pam, the mother of a child we never meet, was artificially impregnated. Their friends include two gay guys – Gil (David Sutcliffe) and Charley (Steve Coogan) who turns out to be Mamie’s stepbrother.
The film has lots of flashbacks and fast forwards. We learn that as an adolescent Mamie sought an abortion. Into her life enters Nicky (Jesse Bradford) who knows a lot about her youth. He pressures her to do a documentary which he needs for his scholarship application.
Some of the situations are reminiscent of the British television series, “Queer As Folk.” But that series was better than this movie and far better than the American version of the television show which ran last year and is once again on Showtime.
There is an enormous amount of energy on the screen and lots of good dialogue in the script, but the story is far too complicated and at the same time far too inadequate.
“Hustle & Flow” (-)
This was a difficult movie for me to rate, probably because of the age factor and the fact that I could not understand about 85 percent of what was said.
The story, set in Memphis, Tennessee, is of a pimp, Djay (Terrence Howard), who wants to become a rap star. The three prostitutes that Djay works vary in character and demeanor. Shug (Taraji P. Henson) is gentle, caring and pregnant. Djay may be the father, but he denies it. Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) who has a son is feisty, hostile and willing to stand up to Djay, for which she ultimately suffers severe punishment. Nola (Taryn Manning) is white and someone in whom Djay seems to take a special interest.
Under the guidance of a friend, Key (Anthony Anderson), Djay makes a demo record and with great effort and guile gives it to a professional rapper, Skinny Black (Ludacris, a/k/a Chris Bridges), hoping he will help launch his career. Skinny Black disses him, provoking the film’s major violent episode. The scenes of Djay trying to promote his rap career are interesting and at times poignant. He works very hard to achieve his goal.
The movie contains scenes and incidents that I would have expected to engage my interest and provide an experience that would have warranted a favorable rating from me. They did not. I suspect it was my inability to understand much of the dialogue, disgust at what I did understand which included misogynist and violent lyrics directed at women, and the constant use of the “N” and “F” words. I left this movie experience with sad and negative feelings.
One of the producers of the film is John Singleton, the highly regarded director of “Boyz n the Hood.” The writer and director of the film who is white, Craig Brewer, told one reviewer that the film is based on experiences from his own life.
A younger person with whom I saw the film (G.N.) had no problem understanding the dialogue and lyrics. We saw it at the Loews Theater in Manhattan on 34th Street West of 8th Avenue. It is patronized by a predominantly African American audience. The loud responses from the audience to the screen action made it clear that they understood much more than I did and that they were totally enjoying the movie experience. If you decide to see this flick, let me know by e-mail how you would have rated it. (eikoch@bryancave.com)
– Ed Koch
