And the Verdict is...

Movies like Erin Brockovich and Michael Clayton explore class action lawsuits well. A movie like The Verdict lends character to the same. Paul Newman is reservedly spirited in his passion - unsure but moving forward with the vestiges of a once-unshakeable discipline and conviction. Victory in the end is equally sombre, at long last after a long grey spell in one's life not the least because of betrayal in love. The lone man, the underdog, pitted against the power and might of a top of the line law firm and its armies of minions - the audience would be, in the classical sense, rooting wholeheartledly for the underdog, except for one fact - this is no protagonist cast in perfection, but a man whose decline and the attendant evils of the same cast a long shadow over his unmistakable talent and passion. This is a movie that is worth several viewings if only to catch the nuances in Pal Newman's glittering performance

Several Excellent Men (and one Woman)

Jack Nicholson plays strong characters - period. And it is a thrill to watch him go head to head with Tom Cruise (and a muted Demi Moore) in A Few Good Men - a movie to be remembered for its passionate performances. Jack Nicholson's misplaced sense of righteousness, honour and duty leads him to a course of action that, eventually, society cannot condone. A great movie for enthusiasts of courtroom drama, not quite so for the gender equality brigade (!). I do not find Tom Cruise convincing as a military man with an unflinching sense of duty to God and country - it is more Jack Nicholson and his little fiefdom in Guantanomo Bay that lingers in one's mind. And the "piece of shit" piece at the end of the courtroom drama was wholly unnecessary. Worth a watch, but not quite a remarkable movie

Parenthood

Today we went out with Rikk to Barista for the first time. He started crying almost immediately. It was only with patience and comforting him, that we were able to get him to settle down. Parenthood is teaching me patience and self-discipline. Kramer vs Kramer explores the pain of divorce and throws Meryl Streep's self-indulgent departure ostensibly for self-discovery in harsh light against Dustin Hoffman's renewal, self-sacrifice and determination. Through a great deal of patience and discipline, the man Kramer develops a hitherto nonexistent bond with the son Kramer, without giving away too much by way of career. In contrast, The Pursuit of Happyness pits Will Smith in an elemental struggle to secure a permanent position in a big brokerage while battling poverty and being a single parent. It is interesting that after a gap of 27 years material success is clearly shown as pretty much an imperative in the latter movie, and is something of an afterthought in the former. Who says times are not getting tougher??

De Niro, Hard

Raging Bull, a Martin Scorcese film of 1980 that won Robert De Niro a Best Actor Academy Award, is the struggle of a boxer against himself and his temperamental nature. Each bout is a struggle against his own elements, his superlative talents shining through even as his personal life falls apart in equally swift sharp bouts of banal rage and wanton indiscretions. At the end of it all, the director clearly wants the viewer to side with Jake De La Motta and his seesawing between unchecked aggression and spells of remonstrance. La Motta's struggle on hindsight seems to be to find peace with himself, to sequester violence to the confines of the ring alone. Great movie.

Minority Report

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 movie starring Gregory Peck, delightfully nuanced, skips clear of being a morality tale, and delivers a dispassionate tale of a black man wronged and perhaps killed in custody, during the Depression. What is remarkable about the movie is that the setting of the context is done through the eyes of children. It is only the trial scene and subsequent events that are delivered without intermediation. Hard times make for a setting of ambiguous relationships and definitions of rightfulness. In contrast, The Green Mile attempts to be lyrical, magic and reality interweaving in a closed world of limited characters cast firmly in black and white. The movie struck no chord with me. I suppose that to a majority this was a heartwarming tale - just seemed a tad fairytale to me - the dumb big black guy that endears us with his powers of healing, the magical mouse - seems to be a cruel joke to those that actually wait on death row, bereft of such magical diversions

Watched Kevin Spacey in 21 - a timepass flick on MIT maths whizzes ruling Vegas, and the victimized nerd finally getting his moral compass in order and going one up on his guru. Give it a miss