Recliner Reviews | Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz deliver in ‘Big Eyes’
“Big Eyes”
Visionary director Tim Burton decided to leave out all the special animation and flights of whimsy in this dramatic period piece. The story follows the painter Margaret Keane through her career in the ’50s and ’60s as she creates prolifically while her husband takes all the credit for her work and reaps the rewards.
It also details the circus-style court case that followed. The always incredible Amy Adams plays Margaret with her usual understated resilience. Christoph Waltz devours the role of the husband Walter Keane. Waltz spins the character into a lovable con man with the appeal of a carnival barker or a snake oil salesman.
The cast is full of brilliant bits and pieces from supporting cast members. Burton does take it over the top in some scenes, but this story seems hyperbolic by nature. It won’t make your eyes pop out with visual pyrotechnics, but it does tell quite the big tale – worth a watch.
“The Babadook”
Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent makes her feature film debut in this horror flick about a mother struggling to raise her son after her husband’s death. Her son has issues, and after she reads him a bedtime story about the evil and mysterious Babadook, they both have really big issues.
Kent mixes in a few really great schools of horror. There’s the psychological terror of the Hitchcock school. There’s the Australian drive-in tradition of making the most of a low-budget and violent exploitation. There’s the Japanese genre’s use of symbolism. There’s the haunted house trope. Then, there’s the American style of stealing from all these other styles to make either a great movie or a mess.
Kent makes this a horror experience. To be honest, it gets a little hard to watch – the use of children’s screams and penetrating sounds. Some of the images pummel you toward the end. But that’s what horror movies are supposed to be – disturbing or horrifying – worth a watch.
“The Captive”
A movie about missing children can be cumbersome enough, but in the hands of writer/director Atom Egoyan, it could be beautifully confusing or an utter mess.
Egoyan has been known for taking tough subject matter and handling it with both compassion and open-ended realism. His movies often frustrate audiences because they’re non-linear and leave off key resolutions. This one can be equally frustrating. But lead actor Ryan Reynolds gives his all to make it work as a dad suffering when his daughter is kidnapped.
Mireille Enos (“The Killing”) also does her job in a quiet, tortured role. Kevin Durand continues to make a career of playing creepy and menacing characters. It’s Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman as the investigators who give clunky performances here.
The story moves all over the place, shifting until all that’s left is an OK premise and some nice acting caught in the middle of a lot of mediocre movie trappings – pass.
This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Recliner Reviews | Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz deliver in ‘Big Eyes’."