What the Flick

The Oscars are less than a month away, and this year I'm going to have seen ALL of the best picture nominees: THE AVIATOR, FINDING NEVERLAND, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, RAY, and SIDEWAYS. But I haven't seen them all quite yet. So here is my take on 2 of the nominated movies, with the rest to follow shortly.

If SIDEWAYS gets the prize for best scenery in a supporting role, GARDEN STATE gets the prize for best movie using NJ as a setting. It tells the story of an LA actor/waiter (writer/director/star Zach Braff) who returns home for his mother's funeral and to face his past. There's his doctor father, his slacker hometown friends, and a cute lying epileptic girl (Natalie Portman) who ends up stealing his heart. This film is obviously the work of a young person, but one with real talent; the story is talky but sincere, and the music is [as advertised] good. For a break from the NJ of the SOPRANOS, check out this little corner of the GARDEN STATE.

FINDING NEVERLAND is a beautifully sentimental movie about childhood and maintaining one's childlike sense of wonder at the world. Based on a biography of Peter Pan author JM Barrie (best actor nominee Johnny Depp), it tells the story of his friendship with the boy and family who inspired that tale. Barrie meets the "darling" Llewelyn Davies family in the park one day and quickly takes to the 4 fatherless boys and their charming, plucky mother (Kate Winslet). They've fallen on slightly hard times after the father's death, and Barrie kind of adopts them over the objections of Mrs Llewelyn Davies' socially connected mother (a still beautiful Julie Christie) and the concerns of Mr Barrie's wife. Barrie has come to a dead end in his writing career until inspired, and perhaps more importantly enthusiastically welcomed and loved, by the 4 little Llewelyn Davies and their mother. As it turns out, tragedy has not abandoned the Llewelyn Davies family, and this part of the story lends a melancholy to the film that will absolutely not leave a dry eye (literally, everyone in the theater was sniffling as the credits rolled). Not believing in "warts and all," director Marc Forster leaves out the inconvenient fact that Barrie and Llewelyn Davies met prior to the Mister's passing, but there's no disguising the genuine affection and connection that developed between the two. Still, it's a hopeful story about finding wonder and joy and love in unexpected places as long as one "just believes." Best picture? I don't see that, but the actors were all wonderful, and the little boy who plays Peter, with his funny ears and glasses, will steal your heart (he was nominated, but did not win, as best supporting actor by the Screen Actors Guild).

You have all seen what I thought about 4 of the 5 Best Picture nominees. That leaves just one, THE AVIATOR. And after GANGS OF NEW YORK, I never thought I would say anything by Martin Scorcese deserved it, but THE AVIATOR gets my vote for Best Picture of 2004.