Robert Davis on Film: Polanski, Plus Five Good Movies Out Today

This week, in the Zurich airport, on his way to accept what surely ranks as one of the most ironic lifetime achievement awards in recent history, Roman Polanski was arrested. The event has kicked off a voluminous but, so far, manageable series of email jokes and Twitter debates, and the Internet has made instant experts out of people who'd never offered an opinion on the subject in the 31 years since he committed the crime but now have views that end in exclamation points. Welcome to the electronic water cooler. (My favorite quip is so good it practically writes itself.)

In Paste last year we reviewed a documentary about the Polanski case, and, as the film shows, the story alone offers plenty to debate. But the recent swirl is also a reminder that cinema—the films, the people who make them, the events that exhibit them (Polanski was headed to a film festival), the documentaries that reflect on them, the whole ball of celluloid — continues to be a catalyst for discussion. Like any mass medium, it's both a uniter and a divider, bringing people together so they can stick each other in the eye. Or, you know, find common ground and whatnot.

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New in theaters this weekend: five good movies. I can't remember the last time that phrase was applicable, but all at once we have a healthy choice of films that seem designed to appeal to five different audiences. But film is the uniter-divider, and I can imagine each one of these five kicking off a post-viewing discussion.

My two favorites both feature a relatively unknown stage actor, Michael Stuhlbarg. He plays the title character in the excellent new film from the Coen Brothers, A Serious Man, and he also plays a principal in the intriguing debut by Antonio Campos, Afterschool. Have the Coens made one of their best films or are they just making fun of people? I contend the former. Is Campos justified in making a clinical examination of horrific, video-filtered violence? Maybe, and his command of the medium makes Afterschool feel more like the accomplished films of Michael Haneke and Gus Van Sant than one by a first-time director.

Pixar is releasing 3D versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 as a double feature in 1,600 theaters nationwide. The special event will presumably till the soil for a brand new Toy Story that arrives next year, but the second film in the series remains one of the studio's best, and it's hard to pass up a chance to see it. As for controversy: first, 3D effects are a gimmick whose resurgence says more about studio fears than about the desires of viewers. I haven't seen the new versions of the Toy Stories, but I doubt the glasses add to or detract from the films' inherent charms. Second, expect to pay a premium to see the double feature. They'll give you the 15-minute popcorn break for free.

The great Ricky Gervais stars in The Invention of Lying, an awkward and lumpy comedy. Gervais is making his big screen directing debut (co-directing and co-writing with Matthew Robinson), and although he lacks finesse behind the camera, I admire the film anyway. It only half-heartedly traces the implications of its high concept, but it rather remarkably uses the premise to launch a religious satire that sounds like a hard sell in the US. But here it is. Between this and the Coen film, the multiplexes are tackling some pretty heavy theological issues this weekend, with humor and compassion. The film's funniest scene is an inspired riff on the vagaries of doctrine, and the film also includes one of the most touching scenes I’ve seen this year, perfectly acted by Gervais. The premise sounds like a Jim Carey comedy; the execution, while not as smooth, exceeds it.

Finally, we have yet another debut from a new, young filmmaker named Drew Barrymore. Stepping behind the camera to direct Whip It, she brought together every funny actress who can roller skate, including Juno's Ellen Page. It’s aimed squarely at teen girls, avoids alienating the boys, and feels at times like it spilled out of a make-your-own-movie kit. Teen girl is made fun of by the cool kids? Check. Finds something she’s good at? Check. But somewhere in the final third it gets me, mostly by doing something that's simple but rare. It asks us to think a little more about each character's life. Who are these cardboard cutouts, anyway? Why don't the mother and daughter get along? Can they? If this movie cracks open a market of broad comedies for girls, let's hope the imitators can muster a similar insight into families and friendship. Teens deserve it.

Oh, Michael Moore has a new film, too. I'm sure it'll stir the pot. I've liked his previous films, I think the new one has its moments, but its stirring emotion rather than explaining, and in the complex debates of the day, we have plenty of one and too little of the other.

Related Links:
25 Indie Films to Catch This Fall
Toronto 2009: A New Film From the Coen Brothers
Review: Capitalism: A Love Story