Crosscuts: Brief DVD Reviews

NAR ■ Life (2015), Cinedigm, 2016, 111 mins, B. Jordan is intense and earnest as the $14.93 • As readers of this column know, Crosscuts sophisticated but hard-edged fighter. I’m a huge James Dean fan and Anton BRIEF DVD REVIEWS Sylvester Stallone turns in a meditative, Corbijn’s film serves up another win- affectionate performance as Rocky in ning portrait of the actor. Dane DeHaan GRANT TRACEY the twilight of his years. “Your legacy” is as Dean is spellbinding. He expertly indeed “more than a name.” portrays many of Dean’s mannerisms and artistry: the childlike goofy giggle; Saint Jack (1979), Scorpion Releas- the quiet mumbling; his sincerity; his ing, 2015, 112 mins, $19.95 • This sleepy-eyed aloofness; his non-sequitur character-driven cult classic, courtesy of sense of fun; and his distrust of author- Peter Bogdanovich (adapted from Paul ity and refusal to play the Hollywood Theroux’s sharp-edged novel), centers “glamour” game. Corbijn’s story centers on Korean War vet Jack Flowers (Ben around Dean’s friendship with photog- Gazzara) and his Vietnam War–era rapher Dennis Stock (Twilight’s Robert “cathouse.” Flowers’s clients include a Pattinson), an indie artist who photo- group of faded English colonialists who graphs the star prior to the release of can’t quite come to terms with the fall his first big film, East of Eden (1955). of Rue Brittania. His enemies include Together the two men journey from an angry knife-wielding triad. Eventu- LA, to Dean’s hometown of Fairmount, ally Flowers forms an unholy alliance Indiana, and on to Times Square, New with Schuman (ex-CIA?) who after the York, where Stock takes his famous icon- fall of Saigon asks Flowers to assassinate ic photo of Dean, shoulders hunched, a gay US senator. Theroux’s writing cigarette dangling, walking in the rain. emphasizes small moments, dramatic Through Dean’s presence and encour- beats, and low-key interactions. Gazzara agement Stock discovers a hidden aspect takes his time, earning each authentic to his own artistic vision. Inspiring and was equally damning. A riveting, pow- moment, and his final grand gesture is a elegant. erful tribute to investigative reporting real crowd-pleaser. Powerful. Deserving and the pursuit of social justice. of rediscovery. Spotlight (2015), Universal, 2016, 129 mins, $29.98 • When Marty Baron Creed (2015), Warner Brothers, 2016, Panic in Year Zero (1962), Kino Lorber, (Liev Schrieber), an outsider and a Jew, 133 mins, $28.98 • Remake or rewrite? 2016, 93 mins, $19.95 • Dystopic becomes Editor-in-Chief at The Boston Who cares? Director Ryan Coogler shocker from American International Globe, he challenges his investiga- serves up an intertextual delight linking Pictures (the cats famous for 1960s tive reporters, the Spotlight team, to this new story of Adonis Creed (Apollo’s biker films) arrived in the theaters just pursue a story that he subtly suggests son) to the Horatio Alger–esque Rocky before the Cuban Missile Crisis and has been buried for years: predatory Balboa (now the young fighter’s trainer). plays more like a war film than an SF Catholic priests and systemic child Adonis and Rocky were longshots; each nightmare. An atomic blast scars the abuse. With his prodding, Spotlight, a got a surprising title shot; each special- California skies and panic ensues as group of earnest truth seekers (featur- izes in body punches (remember Rocky highways and small towns are jammed ing an ensemble, powerhouse cast led and the bloody, knuckled-up sides of with greedy merchants, looting juve- by Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, beef?); Rocky was trained by Mick niles, and doped-out punks. Former and Mark Ruffalo), discover a decades- (sporting a knit cap); Adonis is trained Academy Award winner Ray Milland, long cover-up that reaches the upper by Rocky (sporting a beaten Bowery who also donned the director’s cap for echelon of Boston’s religious, legal, and Boys black fedora and then a knit this brooding film about survivalist government hierarchies. In a city of cap!); Rocky had Adrian in his corner; strategies, sinks into violence as he grips 1500 priests, 87 of them were abusing Adonis has Bianca in his; both fighters his .45 and barks out orders to his fam- children. And the survivors’ stories are were featured with stirring montage ily, driving their trailer and supplies into harrowing. Many came from disadvan- sequences showcasing their unorthodox the hills for cover. Jean Hagen is his by- taged backgrounds and wanted to be workouts. And prior to the fight, Adonis the-book wife and effervescent Frankie loved and recognized by God. Yes, the sports a variation on the red, white, and Avalon gives the film crossover appeal psychosexual damage to their psyches blue trunks his father wore when he first with the kids. Gilbert Warrenton’s stun- was horrifying, but what these priests fought Rocky. Ultimately the quest is for ning photography rides a sharp line be- did to these young peoples’ spiritual self-respect and the ring becomes a way tween pastoral tranquility and irrational lives, destroying their belief systems, to complete part of that journey. Michael chaos. ☐ Summer 2016 NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW 45 .

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