DVD Reviews: Libertine, Everything is Illuminated

Occasionally, if I see a new DVD, or hit the movie theater, or see a play, or get a new CD . . . I might drop a mini-review here. What better place, right?

Since our schedule is hectic, and a two-year old can make watching a movie from start to finish a difficult proposition, our DVD buying and viewing has slowed down considerably. What we usually do is this: unless it's a "must-have," we usually wait and make a trip once a month to stock up on used DVDs. If we get three or four movies, it might take us a month to watch them, especially during the school year.

The well was dry, so I hit Hollywood Video over the weekend. (I hit Hollywood because I fear the monolithic Blockbuster as the video equivalent of Wal-Mart, and Wild and Woolly Video is too far away.)

Quick bio sidenote: I was a video store manager for Roadrunner Video for 2 1/2 years, from right out of high school until not long after I turned 21. For a young single guy with few bills and only a high school diploma, it was a good gig. Free rentals. Free posters. Free screeners. A trade show trip that had some memorable moments. My district manager and I became friends and we're still close today. Also, my wife worked there for a short time -- that's where we met and began dating, which is whole 'nother story....

Where was I? Oh yeah, I bought Munich, A History of Violence, and Hustle and Flow, none of which I've seen before -- or seen yet as of this posting. I also rented The Libertine and Everything is Illuminated, which we actually were able to squeeze both in over the weekend.

The Libertine will make you a Johnny Depp fan, if you're not one already. I've said for years he's a genius, and if there's any justice I'll work with him in some capacity (perhaps as a gopher!) before my planetary gig is up. The movie covers the last few years of the controversial Earl of Rochester (Depp), a late 1600's De Sade-type writer and hedonist He's ably backed by John Malkovich, Samantha Morton, and some other fine British character actors. The screenplay is based on a play and sounds it; this is mostly a compliment, especially for Depp's opening monologue. But the dreary candlelit-and-smoke-monotony of the cinematography (not to mention the often handheld and strangely loose-focused camerawork), while atmospheric, get wearying. The second hour gets more interesting, starting with a shocking play Rochester writes to "honor" Charles II (Malkovich), and as syphillis disfigures Rochester I often forgot it was Depp and got pulled into the Earl's inevitable demise. Be warned: although this movie has sex and nudity, it is far from sexy or erotic. Overall, the movie has commendable acting and set design, but is only worth the watch if you're a fan of Depp or the history of late-1600's English theater.

On the other hand, you must rent Everything is Illuminated, based on Jonathan Safran Foer's book (which I have not read, but now wish I had). Elijah Wood plays Foer as he goes to the Ukraine to try to find the woman that saved his Jewish grandfather from the Nazis in 1942. How did this movie get overlooked for Oscars?? Acting, screenplay, editing, all wonderful, and the story is a moving one. I must give huge props to Liev Schreiber, an actor who I always thought was decent -- but who ever thought he could direct and write (he debuts in both areas for this film)? The screenplay is literary and the direction inventive without being pretentious in either category. Let's hope he's another Clooney and gets a second chance to helm a picture.