The Art of War
Starring Wesley Snipes and Anne Archer. Directed by Christian Duguay.
There are action movies and then there are action movies. In watching The Art of War, there is little question that Wesley Snipes aspires to becoming the next action hero, now that Sly, Bruce and Arnie are getting too old for the job. But it’s also obvious that Wesley doesn’t want your basic mindless shoot-em ups. The Art of War, while displaying a pretentious edge, succeeds as an adult political thriller with some intelligent thought.
Snipes does the Cruise Mission Impossible thing as Neil Shaw, a special agent for the United Nations specializing in covert operations that gathers secret information in order to force states to remain honest and avoid conflict. Under the direction of his boss (Anne Archer), Shaw is assisting in China’s signing of the World Trade Agreement, only to become framed for the Chinese Ambassador’s assassination. Shaw is now a fugitive, and with the help of a Chinese interpreter (Marie Matiko), he tries to uncover the operatives behind the conspiracy to keep China out of the west.
There’s plenty of cerebral politicizing in the script, but Christian Duguay’s sharp and clear direction allows the viewer to catch up with the events easily. And although Snipes would like to steal the show with his super-human physical endeavours, it’s really the script that lifts The Art of War above the mediocre fare of action movies of the past few years. Sure, there’s the predictable ending and the requisite chase scene, but this made-in-Canada thriller makes up for them with a story that certainly doesn’t cater to the lowest common denominator.
If you like action movies with a little bit of brain to it, The Art of War may be what you’ve been looking for this summer.
Chutney Popcorn
Starring Nisha Ganatra and Jill Hennessy. Directed by Nisha Ganatra.
A cute title and an ambitious project by Canadian director and star Nisha Ganatra, Chutney Popcorn falls unfortunately victim to a predictable and simplistic plotline.
Reena (Ganatra) thinks she’s an artist, but her mother and sister, Sarita (Sakina Jaffrey) think she’s flaky and that her lesbianism will soon wear off. After Sarita discovers that she’s unable to have children, Reena offers to become her baby’s surrogate mother. And while Reena’s girlfriend Lisa (Jill Hennessy) doesn’t mind the idea at first, the rest of her friends are outraged that she perpetuates “heterosexual family values”. Sarita also changes her mind, prompting Reena to consider keeping the child to herself, but this doesn’t wash well with Lisa.
There’s plenty of going around in circles in Chutney Popcorn. We know already where the story is going after the film’s first quarter. After that it’s only a matter of patience and watching the belly grow and the tempers flare until the inevitable ending arrives. I don’t want to give it away, but Chutney Popcorn is in every regard a chick flick. There can only be a happy ending.
Aside from its predictability, Chutney Popcorn does have some interesting sequences about cultural identity and belonging in a modern-day society. Reena’s Indian heritage – and controlling mother – don’t make things easy for the girl, but ultimately it’s what keeps her real and grounded. It would’ve been nice to have seen more of the family conflict.
Cecil B. Demented
Starring Melanie Griffith and Stephen Dorff. Directed by John Waters.
John Waters films are always a hoot to watch, be them corny (Hairspray), outrageous (Pink Flamingos) or serious (Pecker). Furthermore, it’s the unpretentious quality to them that makes watching this offbeat filmmaker’s work over and over enjoyable.
Cecil B. Demented is without question a Waters film, but contains a sophomoric edge to it that doesn’t put it in the director’s best of list.
Cecil B. Demented (Stephen Dorff) is a guerilla filmmaker who, with the help of his very strange crew, kidnaps a Hollywood starlet (Melanie Griffith) and forces her into appearing in his film. The idea is to film among the unsuspecting public, regardless of who gets killed or hurt. After all, the film is the most important thing and not who sees it.
Cute concept that of a renegade filmmaker who takes on the establishment, and the script is ripe with industry jokes and jabs. But it becomes all so maudlin after awhile, and the campy atmospherics come across a childish. However, Melanie Griffith is terrific as the bimbo primadonna who’s done very little respectable film work in her life. In fact, I commend her courage for practically playing herself in the film (at least I hope she realizes that that’s what she’s doing).
Cecil B. Demented is John Waters trying to be as outrageous as possible, and unfortunately he goes overboard without being edgy or original. Too bad. But this scribe’s not despairing. She has enough faith in the Baltimore-based director to believe that he’ll be back in old form in no time.
