Snippet Reviews: A Mighty Heart, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and The Invasion

A Mighty Heart (2007)

It seems that over the last few years, somewhere between the tabloid covers and the Tomb Raider sequels, most of us have forgotten just how talented Angelina Jolie really is. It's difficult not to recognize that talent once again with her portrayal of real-life Marianne Pearl, wife of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (played by Dan Futterman here), who was kidnapped by a Pakistan-based terrorist group in 2002. Once news of the kidapping reaches Marianne and company, her home becomes a chaotic collection of officials and friends from around the world, all working towards the same goal, of bringing Daniel home before time runs out. Though basically told as a police procedural it's that procedure that helps to maintain the tense environment throughout the film as Marianne and her camp scour the city, attempting to track down Daniel and his assailants. Rather than succumb to self-satisfactory melodrama, seasoned director Michael Winterbottom manages to craft a painfully realistic (mostly on account of Winterbottom's use of digital video) testament to the benefits of intercultural cooperation and communication, despite the inevitable outcome of Marianne's tragic situation. Final Grade: B+

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)

If whimsicality were currency, writer/director Zach Helm would be bankrupt. Dustin Hoffman channels a twisted combination of Willy Wonka and Gene Shalit as Mr. Edward Magorium, the 243 year-old owner of the Wonder Emporium. Nevermind that his store, filled with every sort of colorful bauble imaginable, is smack dab in the middle of a busy New York City street, and there is no one yet to have noticed that this magical toy store has a life of it's own. After Magorium announces to his assistant Molly (Natalie Portman) that he has chosen to bequeath the store to her, things around the Emporium begin to go a bit haywire. Jason Bateman makes a welcome turn as Henry, the deadpan accountant sent in to sort out Magorium's finances, but even he fails to reach his potential and ends up as a cardboard cut-out of a fully developed character. Director Helm, who's writing credits include 2004's Stranger Than Fiction, is not only far too aware of his own quirkiness but also rather unsure of what message he wants to convey. Helm bravely plays with the type of sensitive subject matter not typically approached in family pictures, but even those themes fail to really strike an emotional chord. Final Grade: D

The Invasion (2007)

Another year, another re-make. After two big screen treatments of Jack Finney's novel "The Body Snatchers" the question is, do we really need another? Nicole Kidman is riveting, per usual, as a Washington D.C. psychiatrist who begins to notice strange behavior in her patients and neighbors after a space shuttle crash lands containing an alien virus. It's an eerie tale, but never seems to amount to much else. A lame attempt to intertwine social commentary on the nature of humanity and violence is made, and Jeffrey Wright is criminally underused. Final Grade: C-

Margot At the Wedding (2007)

It's important for viewers to know ahead of time that Noah Baumbach's wry, somewhat sadistic follow up to his 2005 sleeper The Squid and the Whale is not exactly a "comedy". Whoever dares enter a screening of "Margot At the Wedding" should probably be warned that they will be met with much more screaming, crying and cussing than raucous laughter. Despite ingredients that under normal circumstances would just equal a blinding headache, Baumbach has crafted another insightful tale of the parents and their children who seem to be entering emotional adulthood simultaneously.

Margot (Nicole Kidman), a New York-based short story writer, is teetering on the edge of sanity (and alcoholism, it seems). She and her son Claude (Zain Pais) are invited to attend the marriage of her estranged sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Malcolm (Jack Black), a hapless doofus who spends his time sending in written responses to music reviews. To say the least, Margot does not approve. Her arrival inevitably leads to the revealing of long-buried neurosises and painful secrets.

Not since her Oscar-winning turn in 2002's The Hours has Kidman been this good. Her Margot is mind-bogglingly vicious, but just vulnerable and inept enough for us to find loathing her a difficult task. We manage to muster some semblance of sympathy for her. She knows that she is not a nice person. In one scene, her husband (John Turturro) has made the trip up to her sister's home, against her wishes. They're driving late at night when they spot a woman on the side of the road, cradling her injured dog who's been hit by a car. Margot's husband, Jim, pulls over to help, taking the woman and her dog to the vet. "You make me feel guilty," she says, attempting to prove her insensitivity towards the woman and her crisis. "I wouldn't have stopped." She's aware of her own venom, even as it comes catapulting from her mouth.

Pauline makes for a somewhat watered-down version of her sister. She's considerate and insightful, but it doesn't take long before her "abnormalities" begin to surface. Leigh, wife of writer/director Baumbach, is outstanding as always, having built up a sturdy repertoire of winning performances over the last two decades. Black holds up surprisingly well playing opposite two of the most seasoned and talented actresses working today. He's smart enough to understand his own range and forfeits his typical senselessness for sincerity, and a more genuine hilarity, despite Malcolm having more than his fair share of buried secrets.

The crazy, mixed-up family gathering is certainly not an uncommon plot device, but it's not often that it's carried out with such precision and wisdom. The film is plagued by an occasional loose end, one in particular being an awkwardly undeveloped relationship with Pauline and Malcolm's neighbors, who have a tendency to slaughter and roast whole pigs in their backyard. That said, Baumbach's writing is razor sharp and he's managed to illicit a number of great performances from his cast to create a marvelous character study. It can't be assured that by the end everyone has learned their lesson, but it's probably safe to say that every character finishes the day just one step closer to sanity.

Final grade: A-