Oleanna
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Canada
Movie Reviews of Oleanna
Movie Review: Just Makes the Grade
Summary: 3 Stars
It's always been a puzzle to me why some screen adaptations of stage plays work just fine and others fail miserably. Lately, I've been watching a fair number of them--not for the sole purpose of answering that question, mind you: it just seems to have worked out that way. Good thing, too, that I haven't been hellbent on resolving that issue, because I'm no closer to an answer now than I've ever been.Sure you can talk about how successfully the play has been "opened up" for the screen. In the case of OLEANNA, the answer would be "not very much at all." It is, as others have noted, still very much stagebound. Like the female student, we feel virtually confined to the professor's office. Theatergoers have to accept such conventions as a (usually) necessary theatrical limitation. But in the context of a film, it becomes almost unbearably claustrophobic.
And I see from reading other reviewers' comments, that I'm hardly alone in finding the dialog too mannered. For long stretches at a time, the two protagonists (well, actually, antagonists) do nothing by interrupt each other. Some interruption makes for a more natural representation of actual conversation, but when neither character actually gets to complete an entire sentence, it is anything but natural. It's just irritating. Mamet, who reportedly writes to a metronome, should probably have turned the darn thing off this time out.
And of course there's that constantly ringing telephone. That would likely have driven me nuts even as a theatrical device. On film it's too much.
Mamet is always interesting enough to make almost any of his projects worth watching (at least once). And William H. Macy is his reliably quirky self. The quintessential character actor, he shines when given the lead role. Despite the mannered dialog, he is able to plumb his character's proverbial depths and create a fascinating portrait of a tortured academic, whose ambition, though very real, is hampered by nagging self-doubt (to say nothing of his doubts regarding his chosen profession).
Debra Eisenstadt as his student antagonist doesn't have as rich a palette to work with. Her character goes from insecure, diffident student, somewhat in awe of her brilliant professor, to near militant, bent on the personal destruction of her former instructor. The actual transition seems to have been made deliberately vague. She seems to have fallen under the influence of an unidentified but apparently quite militant "group" and finds some new strength and a sense of identity therein. With a moral certitude unique to the very young, she has no qualms about sacrificing her professor's life and career on the altar of "political correctness."
Which brings up the subject of the film's "message." The film's tagline is "Whatever side you take, you're wrong." And that simply is not true. As riddled with self-doubt as the professor is, he is clearly the more sympathetic character. Yes, both "sides" are aired, but it is clear almost as soon as the nature of the conflict is articulated, that the tortured but intellectually honest professor doesn't stand a chance against the newfound black-and-white worldview of the "true believer" student.
All of this conflict could have made for gripping cinema. What you actually are likely to come away with is that "hmmm-it-probably-worked-onstage" feeling. And that's too bad. Given the potentially incendiary subject matter, it really should have been a better film.
Movie Review: The World Is Not A Sewer, David Mamet.
Summary: 3 Stars
First, the problem I have with this movie. ... Then the problem I have with David Mamet.
Let's face it, in this movie both characters are up to no good. The student uses power to attack the teacher, and the teacher uses his power to belittle and harass the student.
The student was attacked verbally, at first, and then, at the end of the movie, quite clearly attacked *physically.* It doesn't matter the provocation, the teacher physically attacked the student. Likewise, the student went to far in destroying the teacher's career as well as whatever consequences occurred in his private life.
So what does that suggest David Mamet wants to say about human nature? I certainly am not the first one to maintain that David Mamet is misanthropic; it's a now-common criticism of his work and of his worldview. Add to this his recent "conversion from soft-left liberal to Milton Friedman right-wing conservative and what do you have? Someone who is (now) convinced that people are *not* essentially good at heart and therefore (and here's where the politics come in) why try to change society for the better, those lousy people out there, outside the high, well-built walls of the rich and superrich ... will only screw things up.
This has been the path others artists of Mamet's generation have taken, most notably Martin Scorcese and Woody Allen. They remind me of the line fascist-like Joseph Cotton had in Alfred Hithcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" -- "Don't you know that the world is a sewer."
I reject that. And for an artist of Mamet's talent and abilities to feel that way is worse than a violent crime, it's a crime against history. It's a crime against all those people who historically have struggled to make the world a better place. I wonder how many hours David Mamet's father and grandfather, and perhaps mother and grandmother and great grandparents worked per day, per week and under what conditions. I wonder how they would have gotten by if the army of people who fought and struggled and died for an eight-hour day and safe working conditions and the right to organize, I wonder how well they would have fared if instead of fighting these people became cynical and negative and fell in love with Corporate America (as Mamet clearly indicated in his recent left-to-right "conversion article" The Village Voice).
Here's a man who savaged capitalism and the corporate mentality in "Glengary Glenross" -- and now *loves* corporations, can't live without them, tells us that, after all, we must need and love them, they provide so many of the things we want. ... You know, like economic depressions, multi-billion dollar bailouts, slave-sweatshop labor, global warming, foul air, low-paying, dead-end jobs, ownership of the political process.
In short, what can David Mamet possible write or create in the future that speaks to the "felt-lives" of millions of people? Answer: Not a thing.
Movie Review: so mad at the end of the movie it aint funny
Summary: 3 Stars
aight this review has spoilers, this is for the people that saw this film and were appalled like me and wanted to see what others thought of it,
first off, i know some people and the box cover says, who's right and whos wrong yada yada, aight what total bull.
the retarded chick ( im callin her that cause she's a friggin retard) was out to get the professor from the start, and once he slapped her, he should have went all the way and killed her. its something she deserved for the backstabbing that she did, and the rape? cmon . i tell u i never saw this guy's movie before, but i give him props for gettin me mad as hell at the end of the movie, wish the girl would have died thuogh
Movie Review: Okay Movie
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie is very slow, and only focuses on two actors in the movie. It's about a student that needs help by her intructer; but takes things personal. To the point where she accuses her instructer of rape and battery. At the end of the movie, the instructer eventually loses his cool and beats his student up. Because of the students smart mouth, along with the students threats. This movie is better to watch on television; instead of buying the movie. Because this movie is very slow that is why.Movie Review: Great story, terrible acting
Summary: 3 Stars
Saw this on the stage and was blown away. However, in this movie version, the acting is just mechanical, wooden and unconvincing. It really spoils such a solid play. Half the time, I feel like I am watching a continuation of GlenGarry GlenRoss.