Feast of Love (2007)

I've never been a fan of films that could be categorized as "slice of life." Similarly, I don't enjoy films that have tons of characters with disparate stories that for too much of the film their paths don't cross. While Feast of Love has elements of both of these types of films, it actually does pull it off.

Feast of Love takes place in a small town of Oregon. Morgan Freeman portrays a college professor on permanent sabbatical. While away from the school, he gives advice to his acquaintances. Another major character is Bradley Thomas, played by Greg Kinnear. He keeps looking for love (sorry for the cliche) in all the wrong places. Along the way we meet a realtor that offers more than a house, and another young couple believes that love can save all. Through it all, Freeman is the father figure that glues this all together as he plays the paternalistic role to the rest of the town.

There is a medical tie in to Feast of Love. At one point, one of the characters catches a football, and ends up on the ground in need of CPR. Can that really happen? Unfortunately this can occur as the energy transfer sends the heart into an arrhythmia. Thankfully, there was an ER doc on the scene. What does she do? Two precordial thumps that reestablish a pulse (which only rarely works outside of Hollywood), and a run to the hospital in a station wagon. As they are stuck in traffic, it shows why they would have been better off waiting for the ambulance which could have provided meds and defibrillation. Too bad they didn't have an AED at the game as it could have given this guy a much better chance.

Anyway, Feast of Love is a disjointed and mildly haphazard look at this grand experience known as life. While it's not always pretty, it gets the job done.

Overall Grade: B-

Reviewed by Jonas

Unknown (2006)

Continuing my string of mediocre films this week is Unknown. It features Greg Kinnear, and Joe Pantoliano. The premise is that five guys wake up in a warehouse, and have no idea how they got there. They are locked in, bulletproof glass, reinforced doors and all. Despite there being two working phones shown, the five of them never use them to call for help! As the film progresses, we glean that two of them were involved with the bad guys, and the rest are just caught up in this. Unfortunately, we never progress beyond this point. Unknown simply has too many loose ends, and more confusion than clarity. After the first twenty minutes, we just have these folks all on each other’s throats scavenging for weapons, and preparing for the final confrontation as we wait for the ones that put them in there to arrive. Unknown drops below the mediocre level, and would be best to live up to its namesake. Leave it on the shelf at Blockbuster, and move on to anything else.

Overall Grade: D

--Jonas

Fast Food Nation

Since the topic of fast food got on the menu of Hollywood film making we’ve seen films made like Super Size Me, and now Fast Food Nation. This time, rather than look at fast food’s high caloric content contributing to our obesity epidemic, the topic du jour concerns the lack of safety to our food supply. Anyone who doubts the relevancy of this topic only needs to look at the recent issues with the pet food supply here in America as an example.

The story is told as a fictitious plot that involves the apocryphal maker of a hamburger, known as “The Big One” (an obvious stand in for Mickey D’s Big Mac), and some graduate students in microbiology finding that there is bacterial contamination in the burgers. This results in a marketing executive taking a trip to Colorado to the slaughterhouse, and seeing firsthand how the meat is processed. Along the way, he stops for some burgers, and meets some folks willing to talk about what really goes on at the plant, and it isn’t pretty. Let’s just say they have to trim a few items to make a profit on a dollar menu item, and cleanliness and safety don’t make the cut. Yeah, it’s graphic at times, and makes us wonder if we should take up vegetarianism, but this half of the movie is true to the mission of the title with a compelling theme and plot.

Somewhere through writing this long screenplay, they decide to water the whole experience down with a subplot that takes up at least half of the film, and threatens to take it over at several points. Not content to just bash our food safety at fast food restaurants, the film departs into the exploitation of illegal aliens. They show them crossing the Mexican border, passing through safe houses, and ending up working at the same meat packing plant. Along the way, we’re reading the English subtitles to the Spanish dialogue that goes on and on, but is advancing the main plot at a snail’s pace- or not at all. It never really ties all together, and at several points it feels like we’re watching two separate movies that got pasted together in some video editing experiment for YouTube. Granted, maybe the point is that big business exploits the illegal aliens, but in my view, that is too large of a theme and should warrant a separate film, like in A Day Without A Mexican.

I think Fast Food Nation’s message would be better told in more of a documentary format like Super Size Me. Some of the scenes in the meat packing plant left me wondering how much of this truly happens, and what proportion is Hollywood’s version of it. It’s a shame that a century later than when Sinclair Lewis wrote about the unsanitary conditions in Chicago meat packing plants that not much has changed. If you’ve been looking for a reason to eat less McDonald’s, or just want to be shocked and grossed out, then Fast Food Nation is for you. The rest can proceed through the “Drive Thru” to other fare.

Overall Grade: C

Invincible (2006)

No, there's never been any shortage of "stand up and cheer" football movies. Invincible, starring Mark Wahlberg, attempts a fresh take on this well repeated classic formula. This time it incorporates the real life saga of Vincent Papale, and takes us to the archives of 1975 football when a new NFL coach decides to hold open field tryouts! Papale is a very "down on his luck" bartender who tries out for the team. Faster than we can say "Hike," Papale is at the Philadelphia Eagle's training camp! As he barely keeps his "head above water," the rest of the team does not share this newcomer's enthusiasm, and would be more than pleased to send him packing back from whence he came. Along the way, his buddies from the ol' neighborhood bar in South Philly provide some much needed encouragement. The setting is well created with an entire fleet of mid-70's autos, and also used many relevant songs of the era, including such artists as Jim Croce, and Bachman Turner Overdrive. While Invincible is predictable with a lower case "p," it is still quite enjoyable. I recommend it even to those who are not die hard football aficionados as it is a story worth watching.

Overall Grade: B+

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Bad News Bears

Billy Bob Thorton stars in this new twist on the old "Bad New Bears" franchise. Thorton plays the role of the coach who is a "has been" major leaguer who works by day as the local exterminator, and moonlights as the drunk coach of the losing little league Bears. There are a lot of humorous one-liners, and the kids turn in a excellent and entertaining performance. In the end, the coach ends up learning the true meaning of the game. While I needed a 7th inning stretch at one point, I also laughed out loud at several points. The movie is definitely for a more adult crowd than the originals.

Overall Grade: B+