“Bus 174”
ThinkFilm
Not rated
(out
of four)
In “Bus 174,” documentarian José Padilha
engages in suspenseful filmmaking as he explores
the political landscape of Rio de Janeiro through
a famous bus hijacking in the summer of 2000.
A media circus surrounded the bus during negotiations,
and Padilha cuts together the coverage of multiple
TV crews and interviews with people who are on the
bus. Padilha’s tight and tense editing alone
would make for solid entertainment, but he doesn’t
stop there. The film reaches a surprising level of
understanding with the hijacker and condemns the
government in which prisons are overcrowded and barely
run while a large number of children live on the
street without aid or pity.
“The Dreamers”
4 reels (out of four)
(See review)
“Hidalgo”
Touchstone Pictures
Rated PG-13
(out of four)
“Hidalgo” recalls the melodramatic action
of ’40s and ’50s with a…well,
without much modern touch. The film is a well-made
Middle-Eastern Western about a cowboy and his trusty
titular mustang who participate in a 3,000-mile race
across the Arabian Desert. Without giving anything
away, the result is a very close one for an endurance
race.
Hot off his last film’s Oscar sweep, hunk Viggo
Mortensen plays Frank T. Hopkins, a part-Indian who
hides his cultural identity and becomes an emotionally
scarred alcoholic when he unknowingly delivers the
orders for the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. In Buffalo
Bill’s show and looking like Tom Cruise in “The
Last Samurai,” he finds a new lease on life
when he learns about Arab culture.
The film’s main asset is its action sequences,
including a dramatic sandstorm and a Spielberg-esque
rescue scene from an action director’s dream
village. The film balances its elements well, without
letting the drama get overly sappy or predictable.
“Starsky and
Hutch”
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13
(out of four)
“Starsky and Hutch” proves that with
the proper tone, set of actors, and a willingness
to try whatever is necessary for a laugh, it is possible
to make a good film based on a “classic” TV
show. Despite the recent failed attempts at enlarging
old small-screen hits like the feature-length music
video “Charlie’s Angels” and the
stilted, uninspired “I Spy,” the studios
continue to churn them out, and now one has been
done right.
Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller bring their own comic
chemistry to the hit ’70s buddy cop series.
The laid-back Wilson plays an unambitious crooked
cop and Stiller plays an uptight law enforcer. It’s
all buddy formula, but they bring life to it. Director
Todd Phillips gracefully executes some very amusing
gags, resulting in something both fans and strangers
to the show will find amusing.
(Full review available here.)
jeremy@red-mag.com
