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Tribeca Film Festival 2012 (Day 4): “Deadfall” and “2 Days in New York”

My last day attending screenings at Tribeca was very interesting indeed. I decided to skip Free Samples, a mumblecore-type movie with Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Ritter on my Tribeca list, after I hearing some not some good things in title of reviews (I try not to read them in fear it would affect my opinion). Instead, I “rushed” for a showing of Deadfall, a thriller starring Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde, which I read better things about. Was that a mistake? I’m not sure yet but read my thoughts on the fill below. Later that evening, I attended a special screening of 2 Days in New York, the followup to the 2007 film 2 Days in Paris. The writer/director/star Julie Delpy was in attendance as well as Chris Rock who also stars. Their after-film panel was great; I’m so glad that I finally got an opportunity to hear Julie Delpy, someone who is really well known in the independent film world, talk about her process.

Deadfall: I originally passed on this movie about a killer/robber Addison (Eric Bana) and his femme-fatale sister Liza (Olivia Wilde) who, after a casino robbery, split up to make a desperate dash in the cold northern US to the Canadian border. I think I did because I was afraid it was would be a run of the mill B-movie thriller with no grand standout moments. I was mostly right though the film did have some enjoyable moments to like. (SPOILERS) In the moment, we find the two main leads in a car accident that kills their partner-in-crime and getaway driver as well as any hopes of having a clean getaway. It appears to be the dead of winter, and to have the best chance of reaching the border, split the money and make plans to meet up after they have found means to get to Canada. Each experience things in their time apart that changes them. In the case of Addison, for the worst (he steals, kills, and loses a finger, people!) but for Liza it was maybe for the best (she flirts, seduces, and ultimately chooses to live a different kind of life). All in all, Bana says all the right crazy things and makes all the right irrational moves, but like his Alabama accent, it’s not totally believable. Wilde flaunted her sex appeal at all the right moments but her character didn’t have the emotional depth that would believe her change for the better in such a short time. What I did like about the film was the very sympathetic and misunderstood ex-boxer, ex-con Jay (Charlie Hunnam) who by coincidence, get pulled into the lives of the two crooks on the run due to his weakness for Liza. For me, Hunnam carries the film, first playing lover and friend to Wilde’s character, then the direct opposition to Addison, and finally savior to his parents who are taken hostage at the end of the film in a standoff the leaves Addison dead at the hands of his sister. The film did have some great cringeworthy moments needed for any good thriller and a very heavy brother-sister relationship that bordered on incest that I wished would have been explored more to give the film more complexity. My Grade: B-

2 Days in New York: I love Julie Delpy, mostly because she has given me (with Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater) two of my favorite movies of all time - Before Sunrise and Before Sunset - and my favorite on-screen couple. Because of this, I usually follow Delpy’s film projects closely. 2 Days in New York finds Marion (Delpy) broken up from Jack (Adam Goldberg), her funny, fast-talking boyfriend in the first film 2 Days in Paris and father of her son Lulu, and now in a relationship with the supportive and mild-mannered Mingus (Rock). When her father from Paris come into town, we witness the clash of cultures (French vs. American vs. American minority) and plain ol’ human decency. (SPOILERS) The movie swings from one wild moment to the other, much like its film predecessor - the hilarity that ensures from language barriers, the cat fights between Marion and her slutty sister (in French no less), the lack of boundaries of Marion’s family, Mingus conversations with a cardboard cut out of Obama -  all framed as a story we discover Marion is telling her daughter, with the aid of puppets, on how she came into the world. The film does to me often rely too heavily on culture stereotypes for its laughs, and as in the past, I didn’t find Rock completely comfortable with scripted comedy. However, this is a worthy entry in the 2 Days series (can I call it that now?). My Grade: B-

Thank you goes out to the shorts filmmaker I met on the street who gave me his ticket; I got to sit in filmmaker’s row for the film screening which only amplified my experience! 

Check out the teaser trailer for this film below:

Post-Tribeca To Do List (continued):
6. Stop watching Eric Bana movies until he proves he can repeat his Munich performance
7. Watch out for more great roles from Charlie Hunnam
8. Brainstorm ways to make Julie Delpy my new best friend

Tribeca Film Festival 2012: My Picks

More films announced, more films to add to my ever growing list. Yesterday, the last batch of films that will screen at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival were revealed. This time they were from the Spotlight and Cinemania sections, as well as the Special Screenings and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival lineup. Here are more films that I hope to have a chance to see: 

2 Days in New York
Directed and written by Julie Delpy

Synopsis: This deliriously witty follow-up to 2 Days in Paris finds Marion (writer/director Julie Delpy) living a comfortable life in New York with her latest hipster boyfriend, Mingus (Chris Rock, brilliantly playing it straight), and their two young kids from prior relationships. A riotous comedy of cultural errors ensues when Marion’s totally unhinged, gleefully unfiltered family arrives from Paris to meet Mingus for the first time. Why I want to see it: Ahh, second chances. I missed this when it premiered at Sundance this year, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to see it during Tribeca. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a HUGE Julie Delpy fan from Before Sunrise/Before Sunset and the prequel to this one, 2 Days in Paris. I’m also coming around to the charms of Chris Rock; he is, after all, the first celebrity I ever met (email me, and I’ll share the story with you).

Free Samples
Directed by Jay Gammill, written by Jim Beggarly

Synopsis: Jillian is having a bad day. She’s got a raging hangover, she’s starting to think dropping out of Stanford Law to become an artist wasn’t the best career move, and things are weird with her faraway fiancé. Can spending the day parked in an ice cream truck doling out samples—and a good dose of sass—to oddball Angelenos shake her out of her quarter-life crisis? Jess Weixler, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jason Ritter star in this quirky comedy. What I want to see this: Tatted Jason Ritter! Ice cream samples (wait is this channeling The Wackness?)! Twenty-somethings who think quarter-life crises are a real thing! An undisclosed role for Jesse Eisenberg! 

Hysteria
Directed by Tanya Wexler, written by Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer

Synopsis: Set in 19th-century London at the peak of Victorian prudishness, this racy romantic comedy tells the surprising story of the birth of the electro-mechanical vibrator. A progressive young doctor (Hugh Dancy, Adam) has his hands full relieving the city’s affluent society women of their melancholy, until an accidental discovery electrifies their lives forever—and sends sparks flying between him and a feminist rabble-rouser (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Why I want to see this: Ooo, I’m familiar with this story on how the vibrator was actually discovered (though I won’t tell you how I heard ::giggle like a schoolgirl::) and it’s so interesting that they actually created a feature around this story. I have been waiting for something new from the very talented Hugh Dancy so this may just do the trick. 

Take This Waltz
Directed and written by Sarah Polley

Synopsis: Margot (Michelle Williams) and Lou (Seth Rogen) are happily married. Their life is thrown out of order when Margot falls for another man and is forced to choose between the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of the unknown. Writer-director Sarah Polley’s follow-up to her acclaimed film Away From Here is a quirky, uncommonly heartfelt look at the evolving nature of love and the difficulty of sustaining a relationship over time. Why I want to see this: I can’t help but be interested in a world, no matter that it is fictitious, in which Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen are married. Simple as that. 

Your Sister’s Sister
Directed and written by Lynn Shelton

Synopsis: Jack (Mark Duplass) hasn’t recovered from his brother’s death. His best friend—and late brother’s ex—Iris (Emily Blunt) sends him to her family’s isolated cabin for some quiet reflection, but complications, rivalries, and surprising revelations arise when both Iris and her heartbroken sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) end up at the cabin as well. Lynn Shelton’s long-awaited follow-up to Humpday heralds a graceful maturation of the reliably against-the-grain filmmaker. Why I want to see it: Yet another film I missed at Sundance. I really didn’t have any plans to see this movie but everywhere I went in Park City, I heard people talking about it and how great it was. That’s enough for me. 

Julie Delpy Talks "2 Days in New York", Possibility of Acting Retirement

…Uhh, she can’t retire until we get a (great) third film in the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset franchise. Though had been reported that this was going to happen, Delpy revealed that it is far from certain. Not the happiest news in the world. Let’s at least hope for the theatrical release of 2 Days in New York, her Sundance feature follow-up to 2 Days in Paris.