From: Sam Hallgren
To: Adam Kempenaar, Eric Baker
Subject: The final countdown
4. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese) - I saw this film on the heels of my heretic comments about Scorsese in this forum a week ago. The first 40 minutes of the film confirmed my opinion of Scorsese as someone who has been too hastily canonized. Then the film completely won me over with its epic theatricality and the huge scope of the storytelling. The film is a mess of over-plotting and misplaced ambition, but what an experience. It is an understatement to say that Daniel Day-Lewis gives the performance of the year. It is one of the most awe-inspiring performances I have ever seen in my life. If you’re going to see it, see it on the big screen. And try not to go in expecting a masterpiece. It’s an event.
3. Roger Dodger (Dylan Kidd) - This film doesn’t even get into theatres without Campbell Scott’s performance as the eponymous lead character. It’s not a bad script; but without the depth and intelligence that Scott brings to the role, the character comes off as inexcusably vile and misogynistic. As it is, it’s one of the best “talking” movies since “Glengarry Glen Ross.” The plot is pretty flimsy, but acts as a great device to get Roger talking; and that’s what makes this movie so great. It’s a film-length character study, and Kidd puts Roger in every conceivable scenario to show off the character’s various dimensions (or lack there of). This movie makes it into my top ten -- and so far into my top ten -- because Scott delivers the most sustained, honest performance I’ve seen all year. Just a pleasure to watch.
2. Adaptation (Spike Jonze) - Adaptation may be self-indulgent and unsatisfying, but it’s not cynical. The movie is searching for something: truth, happiness, normality (to be honest, I don’t know). It manages to take itself very seriously and all the while sustain a great sense of humor about itself. I found it completely original and creative and fun -- and, at the same time, I found it moving and serious and thought-provoking. And it has the best ensemble cast of any movie this year. Jonze and Kaufman have set a standard of creative originality that is unmatched by anyone else working today. I’ll take all this film’s faults for the sheer audacity and good humor of the attempt.
1. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson) - To be honest, I’m not sure how this film ended up as my best film of the year. I suppose, like Adaptation, I was won over by its creativity and its commitment to its own eccentricity. I loved being able to abandon any sense of the “real world” (as I know and understand it) and instead accept the reality of Anderson’s film. I wish more films would use this kind of carefree (but disciplined) logic. The movie left me feeling giddy and fulfilled -- like I had eaten some delicious exotic fruit. I know I had some problems with this movie when I saw it, but for the life of me I can’t remember a single one. I can’t wait to see it again.
-Sam
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