By Chris Luckett
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| Image property of E1 Films |
The first film of today’s bunch was the
weakest. We Have a Pope (Habemus Papam)
is a dramedy from Italy that succeeds, but doesn’t stand out in any real way.
It’s a tried-and-true movie formula, gussied up to look fresher than it really
is. One need only look to any movie in which a groom gets cold feet and spends
the running time contemplating going forward or running away, to see the worn
inspiration for this film.
In We
Have a Pope, the time has come to elect a new leader of the Catholic
Church. None of the voting cardinals can agree on a candidate and none seem to
want the position. Through a plot catalyst, one cardinal (Michel Piccoli) is
elected to be the Pope. He then spends an half and a half wandering the streets
of Rome, wondering whether to accept the position or resign.
The film is entertaining, in its own way,
and even contains scenes of amusement. (While the Piccoli’s cardinal wanders
Rome, the rest of the cardinals spend the conclave in such activities as an ad
hoc volleyball game.) The problem isn’t that nothing much happens beyond
wandering and pontificating – others, like Gerry
or Before Sunrise, have made that
conceit work; the problem is that the wandering and pontificating that is done
isn’t interesting. Even the ending lands with a thud, when it clearly was
intended to surprise.
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| Image property of 20th Century Fox |
What did surprise was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It looked like an “old person”
movie, to put it in the blunt words kids these days are using. Instead, it
ended up being a vibrant, riotous comedy that just happened to star legendary
British thespians instead of Apatow alumni.
It should have been more obvious from the
start. After all, the director, John Madden, also directed the Best Picture
Oscar-winner Shakespeare in Love. On
top of that, the seven leads are played by Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie
Smith, and Billy Nighy, among others. The chemistry they all create is
downright magical.
Watching experts do what they do best can
be riveting, and the acting in The Best
Exotic Marigold Hotel is rife with scenes of jaw-dropping brilliance in
both performance and execution. Best of all, it’s one of the funniest movies of
the year – for any age group.
Capping off the evening was a more modern
comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed. Almost
feeling like a comedic, hipper version of K-PAX,
it follows a reporter (Jake Johnson) and his two interns (Aubrey Plaza and
Karan Soni) as they try and track down the author of a bizarre classified ad
seeking a partner for time travel.
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| Image property of Alliance Films |
When they finally track down Kenneth (Mark
Duplass, in a welcome return following Monday’s screening of the brilliant Your Sister’s Sister), he seems like the
next Unabomber. Plaza’s Darius begins spending more time with Kenneth, though,
and starts to see more to him.
The plot kicks into cruise control for a while, as far as their storyline goes. It all builds to a climax, though, that
really leaves the audience unsure of what will happen. By the time the end is
approaching, it almost seems just as plausible that Kenneth is telling the
truth as that he’s crazy. The ultimate truth is satisfying, while still leaving
questions. Safety Not Guaranteed hasn’t
been one of the outright best of this festival, but it’s an fun comedy with an enjoyable
cast and its own amusing charm.
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