James Rocchi At The Movies

Fall Season Films - Picks And Pans

CBS 5 Film Critic James Rocchi

As Fall arrives, Oscar contenders line up at local theaters -- as well as some movies you might overlook in all the end-of-year hype. Here are some picks and pans for October.

The Kingdom
3 out of 4 reels
As Peter Berg's new action-thriller 'The Kingdom' begins, the opening titles show … a timeline of the history of Saudi Arabia from 1932 to the present day: It's not what you'd normally expect from a Jamie Foxx action vehicle. Foxx is a Ronald Fleury, a FBI special agent who begs, threatens and bluffs his way onto the scene of a massive terror bombing at a Western worker's compound in Saudi Arabia -- bringing his team (including Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) along with him.

Between global politics and regional turf wars, Fleury and his team can't get much done; Saudi cop Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom) and his men are similarly restrained, but eventually, the teams stop taking 'no' for an answer. 'The Kingdom' combines run-and-gun action with thought-provoking cultural and social commentary. It's a rare film that can switch between the two, but Berg (and screenwriter Matthew Carnahan) skillfully manage the jumps between close-and-cruel action and larger-scale ideas.

Most action films are adrenaline fantasies designed to send you swaggering out of the theater; 'The Kingdom' leaves you with questions that linger long after the shock and awe of the film's action has worn off.


In the Valley of Elah
1 out of 4 reels
As the director of 'Crash' and writer of 'Million Dollar Baby,' Paul Haggis has earned a reputation as an Oscar-winning master of tough material and heartfelt social dramas. But Haggis doesn't make movies that happen to win Oscars; he makes Oscar-winning movies, and there's a big difference. 'Crash' and 'Million Dollar Baby' were full of cheap manipulations, easy coincidences, shoddy storytelling and lame cheats; 'In the Valley of Elah' is no different.

Tommy Lee Jones is an ex-military man whose son has gone missing after coming home from a tour of duty in Iraq; Jones sets out to find his boy, aided by local cop Charlize Theron. Jones is great, but the script -- co-written by Haggis -- is full of mis-directions, sloppy symbolism, self-important posing and a fairly insulting kind of simplicity. (Every character in the film who has served in Iraq comes home a drug-addled sociopath -- not one, not some, but all.)

The fact that 'In the Valley of Elah' will probably get several Oscar nominations, and even a few wins, says far more about Haggis's capacities as a savvy film marketer than as a sincere film maker.


Into The Wild
2 out of 4 reels
Sean Penn adapts Jon Krakauer's best-selling book about the life and death of Christopher McCandless (here played by Emile Hirsch), who left his life behind to seek a life 'off the map' in the wilds of Alaska. We all know how Krakaeur's best-selling book ends -- with McCandless's body found in an abandoned school bus -- and for all of Penn's artful-yet-pretentious direction, it's hard to see 'Into The Wild' as anything but a slow-motion suicide note.

The supporting cast is superb, including Catharine Keener, Hal Holbrook, Vince Vaughan and many others. But Penn's screenplay is so overwrought and obvious that it drains any humanity out of the story; instead, you're watching a series of cliché poses with 'dramatic moments' of voice-over narration interspersed with beautiful outdoor cinematography and outdoor action that feels like it's on loan from a Mountain Dew commercial.

McCandless's death is a tragedy and a waste, but you can't help but walk out of 'Into The Wild' feeling as if, in some bizarre way, Penn approves of his subject's willingness to follow his idealism all the way to an early grave.


In the Shadow of the Moon
4 out of 4 reels
Director David Sington's documentary about the American effort to reach the moon is a great example of how a simple idea and strong execution can make for an amazing film. Sington combines restored archival NASA footage with all-new interviews with the surviving Apollo astronauts -- with the exception of Neil Armstrong -- and you sit, amazed, as these seemingly-ordinary men talk about their truly extraordinary experiences.

'In the Shadow of the Moon' is inspiring and awesome, yes, but it also has a great sense of humor and humanity. Tragedies are discussed with sincere feeling; secret behind-the-scenes moments are spilled with hearty laugher. Sington doesn't just show us one of humanity's greater achievements; he shows us the people behind it, and that makes 'In the Shadow of the Moon' a moving, near-spiritual experience.

All too often, science documentaries can be dust-dry or made to fit the confines of TV; 'In the Shadow of the Moon' is human, heartfelt and well worth witnessing on the big screen.

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