Tag Archives: Based on a True Story

Selena

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It’s time for a film about a singer that I was not particularly familiar with. That said, those are the kinds of films where you can learn the most. After all, if you watch a film based on someone that you are already very familiar with, then naturally you aren’t going to learn a whole lot. So that makes a lot of sense. It’s a reasonable film but the pacing can really slow down to a glacial pace at times and the movie didn’t do a very good job of getting you to support the main romance when that seemed to be the goal.

The film starts off with Abraham trying to get some good gigs for his band but it doesn’t work out and eventually they have to disband. He tried to get over music for a long while but it’s one of those things that you just can’t get away from. He realizes that his daughter Selena has talent and wants to make her into a star. To this end he begins to contact all of his old friends to try and get some opportunities lined up but it won’t be easy. The family will have to fight hard to keep everyone together here.

It’s definitely a rocky start for Selena as her first few venues don’t have many people showing up but that makes sense. It takes a lot to break out in this industry and while her father sees her talent, to the outside world it’ll seem like he’s probably just bias towards his family. That would be completely understandable after all. Still, she eventually begins to prove herself and naturally that also means she starts to get a whole lot of popularity. That comes with a lot of positives and negatives.

Midway through the film a guy shows up and a romance starts immediately. It was easy to see why Abraham was real skeptical though. This guy is a bit shady right out of the gate and at the first opportunity he does get in with the wrong crowd and causes a ton of trouble. Yes, he says that he loves Selena but as Abraham points out, she is super rich and popular. There would be a lot of incentives for the guy to say that. Selena believes it’s true love but does come across as naive with how quickly she thinks this.

She had already given him a lot to worry about with how she had started to dress up in more risqué fashion so he was just trying to make sure that things didn’t get too crazy. Perhaps at times Abraham would overstep but I’d say on the whole he did a good job as a parent. His biggest mistake was probably opening up the restaurant that ended up failing. Taking risks is fine but not when you’re playing with the family money. That really put everyone in a tough spot.

As for the music itself, it seemed decent. None of the tracks were super memorable but I suppose the style of music can sometimes blend together a bit. The songs also rarely got to play all the way through so maybe that could have helped to tip the scales a bit. I was still glad to have some songs involved to shake things up though. Music is something that can always enhance a movie. The songs themselves don’t even have to be amazing or anything like that, it just helps the tempo and pacing.

In a way since this is more of a slice of life film, there isn’t a whole lot more to get into. Between songs and events we see that the family stayed really close and were still together even once she had gone professional. That was nice to see since it can be rare for the group to stick together like that. She seemed to have a good support network and if she had been able to go on for longer then I’m sure her popularity would have only continued to grow.

It was a nice change of pace to have a film like this that didn’t have a ton of tragedy throughout. Aside from the ending, it’s really an upbeat film all the way through. Yeah there are some issues that they all had to face here and there but nothing super dramatic. Often times when you see a film based on true events, you’re expecting a lot of death and controversy. Instead we mainly just got to see a glimpse into what it can be like to go from a normal life to being mega rich/popular. Music stories tend to be inspiring because they can happen to anyone. You have to have the drive and conviction to make it happen as there will always be many opportunities to give up midway.

Overall, Selena is a film that should teach you a good amount about the person behind the songs. If you’re more interested in her actually singing then this might not be the perfect film for you. They definitely chose to focus on her life story more than her musical career. You still do get to hear the main songs though so ultimately there is still a balance. How much you enjoy the film will ultimately depend on how engaging you find her story to be. This isn’t really my kind of film but it seemed like they did a good job of going through the big events.

The Courier

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The Courier is one of those films that I can definitely say I hadn’t heard of before. It’s a pretty interesting story although I do think it did not end up sticking the landing. The final part of the film just ends up being more on the weaker side. Still, I imagine their options were limited on what they could really do considering the fact that it is based on real events so it’s not like they could just make everything up. I’m not sure how many liberties were taken with this one or not since I was not familiar with the events but I assume the general layout/beginning and end are close to what happened.

The film starts by explaining how things are still tense during the cold war and people don’t really know what the Soviet Union will do next. The West needs an informant and so they decide to bring in well known businessman, Greville. M16 and the CIA convince him that this mission won’t be crazy dangerous and they really need someone to just go in and act natural. He will end up getting something from their contact Oleg and then he can come home. It’ll all e real easy but are they hiding something from him?

The movie also ends up adapting the big Cuban Missile Crisis so it was interesting to see that play a role in the film. Tensions were definitely high all around and everybody was seen as suspicious. So honestly no matter what the CIA and M16 said, this was always going to be super dangerous. Even if Greville played everything perfectly, it would still raise a lot of eyebrows to see how often he was entering Russia. That puts you on a list no matter what and he tempted fate a little too much.

He’s presented as a nice guy who is fairly honorable and so he didn’t want to just ditch Oleg and leave the guy to his fate. A really good quality without a doubt but on the other hand it also means that he was basically entering into a no win situation. Both Oleg and Greville should have left much earlier and each one just underestimated the other side. A key thing to always try to do is imagine that the enemy has the same level of abilities that you do. So as you’re gaining more and more intel then it should come as no surprise that they will be doing the same.

A big subplot in the movie is the marriage trouble Greville is having with his wife and the big reason is because he didn’t tell her what was really going on. That was a big mistake on his part. No matter what anyone says, you can always tell your wife what is happening. No secret should be too big because if you can’t trust her with that, then your relationship is already doomed as it is. If he had come clean about this then perhaps she would have been upset and told him not to go but at least she would know exactly what was going on. Yeah the risk is higher since she can mess up as well but I think you have to take that risk.

Oleg was also keeping secrets and his makes more sense since he was actively betraying his country. It makes a lot of sense why his wife would likely not be on board with that. Still, the same rules apply here. If you can’t even trust your wife then you are already lost. Oleg had the most dangerous role here since he was a high level official working within the enemy territory. It’s why he should have played things a bit differently but of course hindsight is always undefeated.

The CIA and M16 are definitely very shady the whole time. They basically use their pieces for as long as possible and then ditch them eventually. The M16 guy at least seemed to care a bit and wasn’t going as far but the CIA lady was definitely real eager to use the pieces for as long as she could. She definitely put them in really great risks here and of course that did not play out so well. Like I said before, the ending isn’t quite as fun and that’s because it definitely gets rather dark and gruesome. The movie doesn’t shy away from showing you the tougher parts about being a spy.

It’s definitely not all fun and games like in James Bond. You’re in incredible danger at every point and once you’re caught, death is the last of your worries. It’s why I always wonder how characters will just be at gunpoint and meekly follow the villains. Your best bet is to run and they end up landing a fatal shot or something. A quick death is what you want. If you’re captured then your chances of survival approach 0 and it will be a really long period of time for you. Every minute will feel like forever. Of course in the moment it can be tough to make a decision but the important thing is to never let yourself get taken anywhere. Try to drill that into your mind as much as possible.

Overall, The Courier is definitely an intense film. It shows how difficult it is to be a spy and also how the government can put some quick pressure on you to get the job. Greville was a bit naive in how easily he let them convince him to take up the job though. He basically threw away his secure life for this and while it turned out better than it could have, that won’t always be the case. 9 times out of 10 these kinds of shady deals from the government are not going to work out well for you and it’s best to decline. If you have the CIA or another agency walking up to you and asking you to do something, you probably want to say no. There will be a lot of guilt tripping and soft threats but as long as you haven’t actually done anything, then you’re good.

Seabiscuit

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It’s time for a big drama film. This one’s definitely long so they have time to cover a whole lot of ground. It’s a pretty interesting film about just how hard it can be to compete in horse races. The characters may not always be the greatest and the film has some pacing problems but on the whole they do a good job with this one. By the end of the adventure you will definitely have no doubts on the legacy of Seabiscuit. Definitely one of those horses who fought hard all the way through to the end.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Charles who ends up becoming super rich when he gets into the car business. This guy had serious talent as a seller and was also very innovative. He managed to succeed in completely changing the business landscape. When the great depression hit, lots of families were affected though and Red’s parents end up having to leave him alone. Red has a tough time growing up as he loses in horse racing and boxing. Well, one day, Charles gives him a chance as the guy has decided to get into the horse business. He gets a horse named Seabiscuit and is eager to see just how far he can get. The horse is deemed by everyone to not be ready for this level of competition but Charles has never listened to the experts before and doesn’t intend to do so now. He will follow his instincts to the end. He even brings in Red to ride the horse.

Naturally the guy is considered to be an underdog. Seabiscuit is just missing the competitive fire to win after being messed with for so long and Red has a massive chip on his shoulder that is always holding him back. Red just isn’t willing to back off and sacrifices races when he’s crossed. In a way both of these fighters will have to surpass the odds and Charles has dreams of them even defeating the legendary Mr. Riddle and becoming the best horse in all the world. Is such a thing even possible?

It’s different from other dreams after all. If you want to be the best Tennis player in the world, at least you are playing the matches yourself. In a setup like this you have to count on the jockey, the horse, and everyone else to do their parts. You can’t win this on your own talent alone. So Charles may be a great business man and he’s been around the block but for this reason I would say this is his most difficult challenge yet. I appreciate that he is always patient and tries to look on the bright side of things though. It’s not always the easiest thing to pull off. He did rebound a bit quickly on the romance side though.

Meanwhile the coach Tom may have been the best character here. He did a really good job of constantly researching the opponents and giving good advice. Additionally, he was kind to the animals and didn’t want to destroy them just because they couldn’t compete anymore. He definitely did really well throughout the film so I have no qualms with him. Naturally Seabiscuit was also a lot of fun. Definitely a tough horse but it makes sense when we see how all the races were rigged for Seabiscuit to lose back in the day. That had to be rough.

As for Red, he’s the weakest of the main characters. The guy messes up way too often. He had a rough upbringing after leaving his folks so I can get the first bit of things but he doesn’t really learn his lessons. When he gets depressed he wastes money and has pointless affairs instead of improving his skills. I think that’s the worst part about the guy. If he used even half of that drive to make himself a better jockey then I would have way more respect for him. The fact is that he is easily rattled. Not telling his team that he only had partial vision was also really selfish of him.

I would say that the gravity of the situation doesn’t really get to him until the end of the film and by then it ends up being a little too late for him. The guy is determined by the end so I will give him that at least. His friend who helps out in the climax definitely felt like the better jockey overall though. He felt way more professional as if he was always in control. With him I think Seabiscuit would have won even more races but of course Red is still good in his own right. He did well in creating bonds, I just think this guy was still even better.

Meanwhile Riddle made for a pretty good opponent. I do wonder if there were any scandals about him being responsible for rider injuries though because if not then that was definitely a bold play on the film’s part. I liked him quite a bit as the antagonist. The guy may have come across as cruel but he’s just being a good businessman. You don’t want to take on all challengers because you have way more to lose than to gain. I also imagine that travelling too often will weaken the horse as well. Now the guy also did seem nervous so it’s a mixed bag for him but overall this is the kind of opponent that you want to have.

I’m not well versed in horse racing at all but the final level did feel a bit cheesy with how weak the world champion horse looked. I would have expected a lot more pop out of him and for this to not have even been close. Instead, Seabiscuit was the one who had to be slowed down at one point after the huge lead. I’d be surprised if that’s how things really played out. I’d also figure that the faster horse would just be dominating but I suppose that part’s also different from human racing in that there is more to it than that. You have to ensure that the horse constantly runs at full power or you could lose a race that you might’ve won.

That said, I can never support animal racing like this irl. It seems way too tough on the horse and naturally I don’t support all the hitting in order to make them go faster. It all seems barbaric and in general I don’t like seeing animals in any activity. The finished product might look fun but the road there is often really intense. The best horse might be treated really well but the ones who lose could be in for a tough time.

Overall, While this film may not get me into horse racing, it does a good job of showing how technical the whole process is. There is a lot of strategy put into every different part of the sport so it has complexities like any other. You could probably trim a lot of the fluff out of the film and it would flow better so just know ahead of time that this is a pretty long one. If you like horse racing then you should have good fun here and if you don’t, then you’d probably want to skip it. That’s ultimately the make or break point. The film sure gets a lot more right than wrong though.

Ordinary Angels

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It’s time for one of those inspiring films based on a true story. As I always say it’s nice to watch ones where I’m not familiar with the actual events because then it’s all new territory for me. I get to just enjoy the story and see what happens. It’s a good story and of course you’re looking forward to the happy ending because if it went sideways then things would have really been ugly. That said, the characters are all dealing with a lot of flaws and trauma of their own so there aren’t very many perfect characters. They go quite far with this so it’s not exactly a happy go lucky film the whole time.

The movie starts by introducing us to Ed who has had a tough time of things. He lost his wife at a young age and has had to take care of both his daughters by himself. This is not easy and it has also broken him financially as his youngest daughter Michelle is extremely sick and needs constant doctor visits. Ed is someone who is very good with his hands and works a laborious job but it hasn’t exactly given him the down time to get his life back in order. He has no insurance, no real connections, and so the debts continue to get higher and higher. Fortunately a lady named Sharon hears about this and decides to help out. They may be strangers to her but she wants to make a difference and as the film goes on we learn more about her personal life as to why that is.

So right away I will say that my biggest issue was with Ed for the most part. Sharon does a whole lot to help him out, literally raising thousands of dollars early on to get him out of a jam. I can understand Ed silently resenting this to an extent because he wants to be able to take care of his kids on his own and I get that. The main problem is that he doesn’t really hide this at al and doesn’t treat her well even after she helps out so much. I think the worst of it is after Sharon makes a personal visit to the hospital and gets their board of directors to stop Michelle’s entire bill. Keep in mind that this bill was around half a million dollars.

That’s a bill that would have been impossible to ever get out from and while Ed thanks her, he goes back to being upset at her almost right after. It was really excessive. He was finally justified near the end of the film when after yelling at her some more, Sharon went back to her alcoholic ways and passed out when she was supposed to be watching the kids. That was really bad of course and so she should stay away from that point. Ed finally had a good reason to be upset at her but this was late in the film and even then he pushed her to it.

Ed is fundamentally a good guy trying to help his kids but I do think the movie fumbled a bit in playing it up this strongly. Meanwhile for Sharon she has her share of setbacks as well like when she continues to drink even while lying to her best friend. It can definitely be hard to beat any addiction and drinking is definitely one of the strong ones. That said, she still does her best to keep on helping out. She doesn’t get much closure with her son but you can’t win every battle. At least she does have the satisfaction of knowing that she was able to directly save a life now. I imagine that would be a strong component to help prevent her from getting into drinking again.

We get a pretty intense climax towards the end of the film as well as the characters are rushing to get through a snowstorm in order to get to the hospital. The storms get real intense as the film goes on and it’s a reminder of how strong the weather is. Even nowadays there are plenty of storms that people don’t dare to try and cross because they can completely wreck even the strongest of planes. The fact that somebody actually showed up to help after the TV broadcast was great. There was a really strong sense of unity here. When you see all of the negative headlines online it can be easy to be completely jaded on the whole idea of community spirit but it definitely still happens in some places. I imagine it might be tougher in a big metropolitan city but that’s why it’s good to at least know your neighbors. Build some relationships so everybody helps each other out and that definitely goes a long way. Who knows you could end up helping to save someone’s life someday.

Finally it was also refreshing to finally have a film about helping each other out without any big ulterior motives. It wasn’t because Sharon fell in love with Ed or anything like that. She just really wanted to help out and this was her chance to do something that wasn’t done for her when she was going through a tough time. Of course since it’s based on a true story that’s probably why it played out this way since I’m sure otherwise it would have gone down the Hollywood angle but this way just makes a lot more sense. There are plenty of reasons to help someone out without needing there to be romantic love in some way.

Overall, Ordinary Angels is a good movie about team spirit and how one person can make a difference. Perhaps you can’t do quite as much as what Sharon pulled off here but everyone has a lot of opportunities to do what they can to really help out. There will always be reasons that pop up as to why you might not want to help but the opportunities are still there. If you’re ready for a happy ending then you should check this one out. Like I said before it’s not fully happy so you need to prepare for the drama and trials but at least you know it’s heading towards a satisfying conclusion so that’s always a load off. I’m sure one day it’ll backfire and I’ll watch a film about a true event that has a sad ending but hopefully that day is really far off from the present.

Rudy

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Imagine you’re getting ready to win a big Football season when all of a sudden a kid walks up to you and calls himself Rudy. You’re probably going to be a little confused and worried all at the same time because you life’s never going to be the same. Well that’s what happened in this film based on a true story. Rudy really turned the whole Notre Dame story on its head and he did so with ease!

The movie introduces us to Rudy who has always liked College Football. His family are really into it as well and so Rudy says that one day he will join the team. The problem is that he’s rather small and doesn’t have a very athletic build. He usually isn’t able to keep up with the other kids and this has been true even once he grew up. He’s now 22 and still hasn’t achieved his dreams. Well, he decides to head to school and give it a shot but does he really have what it takes to win?

Naturally it’s all a longshot, I’m sure many people tried exactly what he did and got turned away at the door. Ultimately you need perfect timing and a lot of heart to pull this off. So you’re rooting for Rudy and are glad that it worked out but you can definitely see why the coaches would be skeptical. Each Football game requires a lot of concentration and talent. All it takes is one wrong loss to start a streak of losses so you don’t want to mess with the flow. The film does a good job of showing just how unassuming Rudy is but of course the catch to that is that at the same time he just doesn’t feel like he’s Football ready.

It’s an uplifting story regardless as you are glad things worked out well for him. Socially it was tough as well as his family was rather hard on him the whole time and then he found himself single for a good part of the journey. He also had to try and be someone’s wingman in order to get the tips he needed to succeed at school. That’s a rough setup I have to admit because the whole thing is already a red flag for anyone he approaches. Why would you go out with someone who isn’t confident enough to ask them out himself? Fortunately the friend gets braver by the end of the film as well.

It would have been nice to have gotten more Football screentime though. I know this is Rudy’s story and since he didn’t take the field until the very end that would have been tough but seeing more Football action would have been great. That is some of the best stuff after all. We do get to see Rudy training though as he gets destroyed on the field a whole lot but never gives up. Now that is true dedication. He always had the heart for this even if he didn’t have the talent.

There was a nice employee at the field who also pointed out how things were looking up either way. Rudy got a great education thanks to this which is more than most people can really say. A lot of the time you have to choose between education or sports but in this case he got both so he will be pretty well set for after his very brief career ended. It takes him a while to really appreciate this though.

The movie tends to be on the unassuming side so don’t expect a grand soundtrack, dynamic camera angles, or any big splash type scenes that stand out. Instead this is all about the journey and it’s a well written one. The movie is fairly long but feels fast as you’re watching it. Because of how direct the film is, there isn’t a whole lot to say about it though. You more or less know what’s going to happen from the overall vibes that the film has but the execution doesn’t leave you with any problems.

If they ever did a sequel, maybe we could see what Rudy got up to after his career was over. I imagine it would essentially be a slice of life film but with this crew I think it would work out. It would still be interesting enough and at the end of the day that’s why writing is so important. Any film could and should be entertaining if it’s handled right and this would probably be one of my best go to examples. Because on paper you might think it sounds a bit boring but it’s good quality nonetheless.

Overall, Rudy is a fun film to watch. I would say there isn’t a whole lot to it next to other biographical films. You don’t have a ton of tragedies happening to the main character and the actual payoff is very fast. That said, it’s fun to watch a light film like this. Sometimes you don’t need all of the extra stuff. Just give me an entertaining film with a good story and I’m set. This film had both of those aspects so I felt pretty good on this end. If you like Football or enjoy a good story then I’d say to check this one out.

One Man’s Way

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I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with the book about positive thinking but apparently it was a big enough deal where the author got a movie so that’s petty neat. I do tend to agree with positive thinking, it’s a good way to go and it’s easy to implement. I remember one of the classic steps they say online is to make sure you never start a sentence with “but” “however” or other statements that immediately show you’re going on the other side. Instead you passively address the idea and start the counter claim. That’s also considering if you even need to debate the idea at all. Generally I just take everything in stride and go from there but everyone takes these things are their own pace.

The movie introduces us to Norman who is sure that he never wants to be a pastor when he grows up. He gets teased about it a lot at school and so he’s gotten used to thinking that it is all a drag. When he grows up though, he is able to talk someone into saving her life by taking a risk and realizes that preaching actually is his calling. He is first placed in a smaller church that has seen some turnover recently. This is his chance to really make a difference and he’s nervous but it ends up going well. This is also where he meets the girl that he ends up marrying and this prepares him for the big time. Will he be able to survive in the largest church in America though? Additionally, he aims to write a book about positive thinking but it is controversial.

Since the book’s controversy is the big part lets address that right away. Basically the skeptics felt like he was putting too much power in the person. The book talks about how you and God can do anything and so some felt he was putting God in the position of being a being that takes orders. Someone to use rather than to worship. His main point was more so about believing that God can do anything as is in the scriptures. So it comes down to how you interpret the lines. Ultimately I thought what Norman was conveying was fairly clear so I didn’t have a problem with it.

In the same way that you won’t get everything you pray for, a miracle isn’t something you can command into being. Often times you won’t get the outcome that you are hoping for but there is nothing wrong with the initial ask. You then just have to keep on living and move on to the next thing. That’s just how these things work and if you do read the book under the notion that you can somehow control God then you’re going to be in for a rough spot.

Towards the end of the film we see a miracle which rekindles Norman’s faith and steels his resolve that he made the right move. It was definitely a good moment and you’re glad that things ended well. That said, things could just have easily gone the other way and it’s important to not be too held up by the outcome. Otherwise when things don’t go well you may blame God and that’s a problem you set up for yourself. If he did answer every single prayer and request then the world would be in chaos as a lot of them directly oppose each other and not every wish is a good one. So you just have to be grateful for the miracles that you do get to experience.

Meanwhile the romance plot initially is a bit on the rougher side. Norman really wants to date Ruth and so he follows her around and chases after her for a while. He figures there’s nothing wrong with the chase so long as there is a glimmer of hope. I would take a much weaker stance on his since after the second or third rejection that seemed like a closed book but ultimately she said yes so it worked out. From then on she was a strong supporter the whole way and was instrumental in helping get the book published.

It’s always nice seeing teamwork in these things so even if I had a hard time buying the romance initially, these are based on events that really happened so that’s just how it goes. The film does pretty well to balance out a lot of the origin story while also keeping in some events from once Norman got super popular. The opening half is definitely the focus though I’d say and we really see a lot of his character.

Starting out as the pastor to an already established church has to be super stressful. You’re just not sure if they will take to your style of preaching or not and you have to show up every week and get to know everybody. The atmosphere can get real thick real fast. Then once he was on a roll, having to move to another state is like restarting the adventure. To be clear he didn’t have to move but it’s one of those promotional opportunities that seems like it would be really hard to turn down. Little did he know that all of the battles would really start from there.

The writing is on point and I did enjoy the quick debates. I would have liked a more prolonged debate about the book though where each character sits down to make their points. It’s usually fast though but I understand since on Youtube the debates can be 2-3 hours but in a movie you obviously can’t spend that amount of time. Like 15 minutes would have been good though and would have strengthened some scenes like the older pastor expressing why he didn’t like the book. There wasn’t enough time to really flesh that out.

Overall, One Man’s Way is a pretty solid movie. It definitely shows how there will always be a lot of obstacles in your path no matter what route you take. Being a well loved pastor would make things a bit easier you’d think but Norman is attacked a whole lot once he gets big. That’s just going to happen though, everyone faces their trials. He ends up doing well the whole time and for my two cents, I think the book seems to be a good thing. The main issue ends up being around reader comprehension I’d say and while the critiques can be fair to an extent, his book wouldn’t rank in the top 500 in terms of controversial ones for me because at least it is positive. I’d say to check the movie out if you aren’t familiar with this guy.

The Hoodlum Priest

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It’s time for one of those intense films based on a true story. Dealing with criminals can always be a difficult balance of going hard but also leaving room for redemption. Naturally it depends on the crime itself and the scenarios around it. Well this story is about one priest who decides to make a difference here but his methods are very controversial. Will you take his side by the end of the movie or will you agree with his critics? That’s the big question here.

The movie starts out with a guy asking Charles for help in setting up a big robbery. He just met a guy named Billy who recently got out of prison and figures this could be a good setup. Charles tells him that this is a mistake because Billy isn’t experienced enough and then after that it is revealed that Charles is a priest. The intro is pretty solid because with the dramatic music and sound effects, you are introduced to Charles as a villain. Then as the film goes on, you see exactly what is going on here. It turns out that he actually uses his position as a way to get close to people who are either criminals or who used to be in order to talk them out of it.

The approach isn’t 100% though. As Charles even admits, he can’t stop every crime. Some criminals are going to go through with their plans no matter what and at that point all he can really do is just try to mitigate the damage. The most controversial part is that he won’t report the crime ahead of time so it still happens and then trouble starts. I understand the logic of why he doesn’t step in, because if a plan leak even once then his influence will be gone. It’s a tough policy no matter what side of the fence you’re on though because at the end of the day a crime is a crime.

I think he could be a little too soft on the criminals like in the final scenes with the shootout but ultimately the film does go to great lengths to show his compassion. At no point does Charles ever forget that they are all people just like him and bad decisions just ended up putting them on the wrong path. Not all criminals are equal after all, context matters a whole lot in a crime. Some crimes are completely indefensible and I would argue committing them inherently means that the person is already too far gone. Other more mild crimes like theft are still bad but it’s easy to see how you could redeem someone from it.

All that is to say that the film takes a very fair approach to this. I didn’t feel like they slanted it too far in Charles’ favor or anything like that. They just gave you all of the facts and let you come to terms with it on your own. It’s a nice way to do it and it gives me the impression that the rest of the film was portrayed fairly as well. Aside from Charles and his battle with all the critics, the main subplot was about Billy. Billy tries to get back to earning an honest living but it isn’t easy as his direct supervisor doesn’t like him from the start. Then when there is a theft, Billy is automatically assumed to be the one who did it. We never learn who truly stole the merchandise but the important part is that Billy was blamed.

Unfortunately he takes it pretty badly and ends up doubling down which just makes the situation a whole lot worse. The climax really ends up being Billy’s fault, things had really been looking up to. It ultimately was a difficult situation and did show why Charles’ idea of the halfway house had merit. Giving people more tools to re integrate into society and also just people to talk to could go a long way. It’s a pretty solid concept and while it would be difficult to implement, at least he got it off the ground.

I didn’t think the ending of the film was all that good though. It would have been better to have just had a big time skip with the house in operation or ending right before the final scene. Having the drunk show up and all the craziness just felt like a super odd ending. I don’t think the halfway house itself was super controversial so the movie could have just gone with a more upbeat ending instead.

Since the film doesn’t have much time for subplots, I will say that the romance tends to be rather weak here. There wasn’t really a need to add a romance plot for Billy. I suppose if that was in the records then they wanted to set it up but it’s another example of a romance that just felt way too fast without any real reason for starting. I can’t critique it too hard though because if that’s how it happened in real life then that’s just how it went.

Overall, This was a pretty interesting story. I certainly didn’t know much about how the half way houses formed and Charles made for a very interesting priest. It must have been really tough to have been scrutinized so much and with everyone against him as well. Definitely not an easy spot but he didn’t falter and kept on making his arguments to the end. While I may not have agreed with him on everything, it is clear that he was trying to do the right thing. If you’re unfamiliar with the history of these events then it’s definitely a good one to check out. It really goes into detail here.

I Heard the Bells

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It’s time for a film based on a true story. I’m actually not super familiar with the poem or the guy that the film is centered around. Like I’ve said in the past though, that can actually be a good thing sometimes. It means that the whole adventure will be really fresh and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I wouldn’t say the film ever manages to capture your interest but if you really like the war time environment then you can appreciate the film’s attention to detail.

Okay so the film starts off with a normal family like for Henry and his family. You know the general premise of the film involves tragedy and so the whole time you’re sort of waiting for that to happen. Well, finally it does. His wife ends up burning to death after a tragic accident and then one of Henry’s sons goes off into war and gets badly injured. Henry decides not to write poems anymore as he no longer sees the joy in life. The film is about him learning to experience fun things again and move on.

It can be tough to move on after something bad happens though and for that reason I wouldn’t have blamed him if he never made a poem again. You can never really tell someone when the right time to move on is because that time table will change for everybody. It’s also particularly tough when we’re talking about a close death like what happened to his wife. It’s also just such a tough way to go, there was nothing peaceful about her passing after all.

It’s a reminder to me of why I never liked all the sophistication of old style dresses and garments. The fact that they were so tight that you often needed someone else to help you take them off is crazy. Clothes should be practical in addition to be stylish. Anything that is a potential fire hazard in the sense that you can’t take it off is a bad idea. This was a crazy accident and not the norm but I would say that the point still stands.

As for the son who went off into war, I thought his decision wasn’t bad. He tried communicating with his father first but the guy completely shut down after his wife died. There was no talking to him and the kid wanted to serve his country so he went over to do that. I would never fault that kind of behavior. If he had stormed off without even trying to talk then that would be bad of course but here he exhausted all of his previous options so there really wasn’t a whole lot more that he could do. At least that’s the way I see it.

Henry went through a lot but it is definitely fair to say that he didn’t handle the situation well. He still had 3 kids to take care of and wasn’t there for them emotionally for a very long time. It will come across as harsh but once you have a family to take care of then you can’t afford to shut down like that. It’s just one of the many prices you have to pay when you have kids. You have to continue taking care of them no matter what happens.

Usually I’d try to explain how the film could have been more interesting for me but it’s difficult to think of what it could do. A wild soundtrack would probably feel out of place here even if I would welcome it. There’s not a whole lot you can do about the boring scenery since this takes place back in the olden days. I suppose being less historically accurate would help things but that would hardly be something you could spin to the writers.

The only tangible thing I would mention would be to severely trim down the opening act. We don’t need to see the peaceful life early on, lets just jump right to the tragedy. Have some opening narration about how Henry was married once and now he is married a second time and then the wife dies. From there we jump on the path back to his enjoying life again. You can do this in an easy 80 minute adventure that doesn’t take too long and then we reach the climax. The longer it drags on, the more the film exposes the lack of a big cast and your just not being very interested in what’s going on. It’s easily one of the most boring films I’ve seen in a minute and usually when that happens it’s just a mix of a whole lot of things. The setting is the primary component but it also means nothing else was able to salvage the experience.

At least with the war we got a little action I suppose but even there everybody was being annoying. The kid tries to get into the fights but his commander mentions that he’s being given fake secure jobs at the behest of his father so that he stays safe. The commander can’t be bothered to say this in a nice way either. I forgot what reason they said for why a poet would have such sway but apparently Henry had enough pull to make massive requests like this. The kid still got injured anyway but Henry did his best. Maybe seeing some more of the tension at the army base could work and it did get a reasonable amount of screen time. Just keep it going, it was more interesting than the tales back home.

Overall, The film’s not really my cup of tea but I assume it was probably a pretty close picture of what happened back in the day. When you’re based on a true story, it’s not like you can change the source material or anything like that so I don’t go too hard on the film. At the end of the day it’s meant to be an uplifting story and you’re glad that Henry was able to get it together. Either the story is something that interests you or it isn’t. I’ve never been one for poetry myself. My idea of a poem is that every other sentence has to rhyme and any other structure doesn’t feel like a poem to me. I also don’t find that poems really move me, so in effect the film was starting off on a rocky basis from the jump. If you are really interested in poetry…well that’s actually not a huge part of the film either so you just need to be really engaged with the characters I suppose.

Donnie Brasco

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a film based on a true story. These always tend to get pretty intense and I wasn’t familiar with this person so it was all new to me. It’s a pretty interesting story and while it is long, it keeps your attention the whole way. The main character does look pretty bad the whole time though so I hope he was maybe just being humble or over correcting a bit when telling the story.

The story starts with a very well known gangster known as Lefty walking into a coffee shop and seeing a guy named Donnie. Donnie is super good at spotting fake jewels and so Lefty brings him into the fold. Donnie may have shown up out of nowhere but he is good at what he does and so Lefty decides to trust him. The two of them become good friends and Lefty teaches him the ins and outs of the business. What he doesn’t realize is that Donnie works for the government as a double agent and is here to put an end to the mafia for good. Will Lefty realize what is going on in time?

Being a double agent has to be one of the toughest jobs in the world. You’re really living a double life the whole time and you’re in critical danger for the whole mission. One single slip up and you’re read. There is a ton of pressure here and of course you’re making friends with the guys who will ultimately be put in jail or murdered so you have that on your conscience as well. It’s definitely a job that only some people could ever hope to pull off and Donnie is good. He’s a really good agent so he does a good job in the mission.

So I have no qualms with how he handles his duties on the job. He got a ton of intel and really got his way into the ranks. I would say the only big misstep was in agreeing to vouch for another government agent who was clearly not as good. Where he falls apart is in the family business. He keeps his family completely in the dark and does start to have a really hard time breaking free of his gangster role. He just doesn’t talk or act the same as he used to and does get pretty cold with his wife. The instant he hits her is when you know he’s too far gone and that things weren’t really going to be the same. It was unfortunate to see him crumble so hard there. Particularly since his boss Lefty was shown to be a good family man even if he was a ruthless gangster.

All of the mobsters at the top have to have a super ruthless exterior. You can’t show any kind of weakness there. That being said, you do have to be able to turn the switch on and off. I ended up liking Lefty a lot more for this reason. Yeah he is a crook and it’s important not to lose sight of that for even a moment. Even when the guy is acting nice and doing the right things, it’s not like he has suddenly become a saint. He still does rob people for a living and does whatever the mafia tells him to.

It’s just easier to root for a mob who at least has some principles over someone who has none. It’s really as simple as all that. For example you have Sunny as another big villain and you can easily tell that he would cross a lot more lines than Lefty ever would. Sunny is the kind of guy who really lets power get to his head and the further he rises up, the more unstable he gets. The members can all see it, but really can’t do much about it. The mafia is run as a very tight ship and if you step out of line then you get whacked.

It’s for this reason that some of the really high up bosses get a little complacent and overconfident though. They forgot to watch their backs or even realize that eventually someone would make a move. One of the big sources of fear with the Mafia is that you often know ahead of time when you are about to get bumped off. Most of the characters go off silently to be executed but Sunny is a little more proactive than that. I do think he had the right idea there because why would you just allow yourself to be murdered without putting up a fight? That would make absolutely no sense to me.

I would say that the government looks rather undisciplined and scattered in comparison. They aren’t always in communication and when they do show up, they start barking orders without looking at the situation. They were basically ready to blow up Donnie’s operation at the drop of a hat for another one. After all the time he already put in there, that’s definitely insulting to put it mildly. They definitely could have been more supportive and helpful. It’s not a writing problem as the film’s writing is quite good the whole time. That’s just their role here.

The movie’s writing really shines with how it introduces a lot of characters and gives them all personalities very quickly. Some stories really have a tough time getting you to understand the characters but that wasn’t an issue here. Additionally the pacing was on point and there weren’t any real strong negatives to hold it too far back. I would probably say we could cut out all scenes of Donnie’s home life but I understand that if the events were mentioned in the original story then it would be difficult to cut them out.

Overall, Donnie Brasco is an interesting film. It can be fun to see the mobster world for a while there. You’re definitely rooting for them to get taken down the whole time. You need the cops to show up and put a stop to all of this. I know a lot of it comes down to not having a ton of proof or wanting to draw out the big guns but you’d think a solid raid from after they robbed the nearby traffic machines would be good enough. At one point in the film, just about all of them are rounded up but then they are released right away. I get the feeling that the burden of evidence is really high in these cases and the mob must have some strong people on the payroll. Either way if you are up for a solid mob story then it’s hard to imagine a flick doing much better than this one. It really ticked off all the boxes

Friday Night Lights

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It’s time for a Football film which is always fun but we’re going all the way back to the high school days this time around. That means it’s naturally not going to be at quite the same high skill level as the other professional titles. I would also say one mistake is the film focuses less on the Football itself and more on the personal dramas. That may be the point but ultimately it does mean that the film can’t possibly keep up with the bigger sport titles. I want to see my big Football plays and feel the hype.

The main plot of the film is about the Panthers as all of their players and even the coach are feeling a ton of pressure. The town is expecting a championship this year. They have one quite a few in the past and so they need another one. Of course that is rather difficult as players constantly shift in and out as they graduate or go to other schools. This pressure also threatens to break a lot of the players and they have a hard time leading ordinary lives. When you mix this inexperience with their massive pressures you definitely have a recipe for absolute disaster.

Naturally the Football scenes that we do get are pretty fun. It’s a sport that is always super fun to watch. It’s energetic, athletic, and generally pretty awesome. How can you really go wrong with any of that right? In the final game we really see the opponents playing dirty and trying every trick in the book. Hopefully that was well documented or it would definitely come across as the writer being extremely bias here. After all he was basically alleging that the other team outright cheated in order to win and was not the better team on the field that day. It all can be true of course, I just don’t know the original events all that well to say one way or the other.

When we’re not on the Football field is when things aren’t quite as solid. For one player his drama is that he fumbles the ball constantly and so his father takes that super personally. He gets crazier and crazier as the film goes on until we reach the inevitable climax. It’s definitely one of the more intense plots to be sure. If anything that’s probably subconsciously what made him fumble more and more as he overthought it.

Meanwhile you had the quarterback who was not really thinking for himself and just doing what others told him to. Whether it meant taking pictures or being in a one night stand, he would let himself just be dragged around without thinking about if he actually wanted to do this or not. It was not really a good look for him since as the quarterback you are supposed to be the one in control the whole time. Letting yourself be controlled goes against absolutely all of that.

The film doesn’t really take much of a stance against the main characters in their daily lives but even that seemed rather morally bankrupt. Everyone was just having affairs and being all crazy because it was expected of them for being Football stars. I expected the film to have some kind of a storyline about that and how this is a part of the vicious cycle but it didn’t really go there. I would argue the whole vibe of them having to live it up and be teenagers who were really wild is another big problem.

The pressures the quarterback got to not be so mild mannered and to party hard with the rest of the characters is hardly unique to a Football town but at the same time it is a problem anywhere you go. So that would have been a real good topic to tackle as well. You could definitely drop the scenes with fanservice and use them to focus on the story more instead. It’s definitely one of those things that adds up and is why I wouldn’t put this on the same level as any of the really big sport titles. This one just isn’t quite there yet and is unable to really just rely on the writing to tell its story. I feel like it could have been way higher quality if it put in some more effort.

Now as a film based on a true story I imagine there are some things that would be hard to cut. Some things happened and you have to put a little focus on them but in the middle of that there are a ton of options on the director on what to include and what to cut. I think those are the decisions that could have been handled a whole lot better. Like I mentioned in the intro as well, I think you definitely could have put in more scenes of the actual Football games being played as well. Considering that the whole town basically lives and breathes the sport, it is absolutely central to the title anyway. So give us more of that.

Overall, Friday Night Lights really goes deep on just how tough pressure can be. Ultimately if something gets to the point where you are no longer enjoying the game then you know that it has definitely gone too far. It means that you need to really go back to the drawing board and really figure out what happened. The film has a reasonably happy ending of course but it is quite telling that none of the players ultimately stuck with Football. It does feel like such an environment would make that pretty likely. Why stick with something where you probably have a ton of bad memories with by that point? Yeah leaving and making a fresh start makes sense. If you’re looking for a Football title I would definitely recommend something like Draft Day instead.