Movie Review: Lincoln

"Lincoln"

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Distributed by Touchstone Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks Pictures,

Participant Median and Relliance Entertainment

Theatrical Relase Date: November 9, 2012

     At the risk of sounding un-American or racist, this movie is a snoozefest.  It's a bit like looking at a 150 year old broadcast of C-SPAN.  

     The plot concerns the passage of the 13th Amendment.  That's it.  Lincoln is a recently re-elected second term President, mired in an unpopular war and fighting a partisan fight to pass the constitutional amendment which would guarantee the abolition of slavery.  The same political gridlock and Congressional shenanigans plaguing 21st Century Washington D.C. are at play here.

     Daniel Day-Lewis is absolutely incredible in his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln.  After a while, though, the masterful performance becomes lost in the story which moves at glacial speed.  Some of the other casting is a bit suspect.  This particularly applies to Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln who plays this role like the 19 the century version of Forest Gump's mother.   

    It was fun to see many familiar sights from the Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia areas where the movie was filmed.  The Virginia State Capitol is transformed into the U.S. Capitol and the old Petersburg train station is featured in several early scenes.

     This movie is about a very important historical achievement by probably our most effective and revered President.  It probably won't rate as one of Hollywood or Spielberg's greatest accomplishments because of the pacing and long tedious scenes dominated by dialogue and political rhetoric.  If you go, I'd suggest a stop at Starbuck's for a double Cafe Americano first.

Movie Review: "Flight" starring Denzel Washington

"Flight'

Starring Denzel Washington

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Paramount Pictures

Release Date: November 2, 2012

      Addiction does not discriminate.  It does not care what color you are, what religion, what socioeconomic group you represent or what occupation you may have.  Addiction makes honest people into liars, sane people delusional and successful people into convicts.  It is that potent.

     Addiction also has the ability to make people use their friends and loved ones to fuel its desires and needs.  Addicted persons quickly divide their loved ones into groups of enablers and enemies.  The person who is unfortunate enough to fall prey to this disease will use anyone and everyone to fulfill his or her own needs, often to the humiliation and disappointment of family, friends, co-workers and, at times, even perfect strangers.  The disease saps the afflicted of even the basic reasons for living, turning life into and obsessive search for the next drink or fix.  Contrary to some popular opinion, addition is not a sign of "weakness" or personality defect.  It is a disease with genetic and social origins and consequences.  

     All of this behavior is perfectly on display in "Flight", the story of an alcoholic commercial airline pilot who miraculously lands a defective plane, saving the lives of the majority of people on board.  The pilot is Whip Whitaker who is portrayed magnificently by Denzel Washington.  Whitaker is initially hailed as a hero but quickly turns villain when it is learned that blood toxicology tests taken at the crash site revealed him to be heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol.  The majority of the movie shows us Whip's desperate attempts to control his addiction while trying to salvage his reputation and career.  The wide ranging ripple effect of an individual's addiction is very dramatically and realistically shown in Whip's co-workers, life-long friends and, first and foremost, in his family. 

     This movie is very well done and joins a group of important and honest portrayals of addiction.  The crowd reaction was interesting.  During several scenes there was inappropriate laughter.  I can only figure that this came from the public's discomfort with the thought of a functioning professional being addicted to drugs and alcohol.  People aren't used to thinking of their pilot, their judge or their doctor suffering from addiction.

     This is a very well done movie and the acting by the entire cast is exceptional, led by the sterling performance by Denzel Washington. 

Book Review: Canada by Richard Ford

Canada

Author: Richard Ford

Publisher:  Harper Collins

Date of Publication: May 22, 2012

Pages: 418 (Hardcover Edition)

     I was about to give up on contemporary fiction when along came Richard Ford’s brilliant Canada.  Ford, the only author to have won the Pulitzer Prized and the Pen-Faulkner Award for the same novel (Independence Day) has been called “One of his generations most eloquent voices” (“The New York Times”) and “One of the finest curators of the great American living museum” (“The Washington Post Book World”).  Canada does nothing to detract from that reputation.  Indeed, it enhances it.

     

     This story is told in the first person by Dell Parsons.  It is a reflective and melancholy sixty six year old Dell who relates the cataclysmic events which occurred in his family when he was fifteen.  Part One of the book is set in Great Falls, Montana and the year is 1960.  Dell has a twin sister named Berner and two completely mis-matched parents.  Dell and Berner live isolated lives, peculiar children of very peculiar parents.  Part Two of the book shifts to Saskatchewan, Canada.  Dell tries to reconcile what has happened to disrupt and scatter his family and to try to discover who he is to become.  Part Three is brief as the older Dell tries to bring his family story full circle and reconcile his sister’s story with his own.

     

     Ford is truly a master of the writing craft.  Sentences are pitch-perfect.  His eye for detail is intense and never burdensome.  His writing is mesmerizing and never dull.  He is able through this attention to scene and detail to bring rural Montana and Canada to life.  The author uses hints about coming events, revealing small future plot details as enticements to read on.  Ford, in fact, tells the whole plot in the opening two sentences (sixteen total words)!   The main characters, particularly Dell’s parents, are complex and compelling in spite of their pedestrian situations.  Dell spends a lot of time alone with his thoughts and imagination.  He is fascinated with the game of chess, hoping to make his mark in the world by becoming a Grand Champion.  He learns the specific duties and expectations of each chess piece and is enthralled by strategies such as attacks, defenses and sacrificial gambits.   Ford uses the game throughout Canada as a grand metaphor for life itself.  Towards the end of the book Dell goes so far as to say:

“There is much to learn here from the game of chess, whose individual engagements are all part of one long engagement seeking a condition not of adversity or conflict or defeat or even victory, but of the harmony underlying it all.”

    

      This is a book about fate, life’s incongruities, unfairness and disappointments.  It is about how we have to react to unforeseen actions and circumstances (much like in the game of chess) and how failure to adapt can be calamitous.  The author makes a strong statement about predestination without ever using the term.  Even though Canada is far from an action-packed adventure, it is nonetheless an enthralling story which surprises and challenges the reader.  It is one of the best written books I have read in quite some time.  

Book Review: The Lost City of Z by David Grann

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

Author: David Grann

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Date Published: February 2009 (Hardcover Edition)

Pages: 352 (eBook Edition)

     David Gann is a staff writer for "The New Yorker" and has written about varied and unusual topics. None, however, are more unusual than the story of British explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett which he tells in The Lost City of Z.  This book is intriguing on several levels.

     First and formemost, this is the story of Colonel Percy Fawcett.  This eccentric was a soldier, an explorer, a dreamer and, in his later years considered somewhat of a quack.  Early in his explorer career he was funded by the Royal Geographic Society and led many successful  trips to South America, including one during which he mapped the entire eastern boundary of the country of Bolivia.  He used primitive maps and devices to plot his locations.  He showed an incredible bravery and an uncanny immunity to illness and fatigue during his expeditions, often willing his companions forward during particularly harsh times.  In his later years Fawcett became interested in the occult and wrote articles about the after life and the spirit world.  These did not enhance his reputation as a scientist and undermined his attempts to fund his attempt to find  the mythical city of "El Dorado" (or city of gold) which had been searched for by many previous European explorers.  He finally arranged one more trip to the Amazon to find what he called "The Lost City of Z", taking his oldest son with him.  In 1925 Fawcett and his entourage disappeared into the jungle and their fate was never discovered.  Over the years, stories abounded regarding Fawcett and his son.  It was feared that they had been killed and eaten by cannibals, had been captured and assumed into a primitive culture or, finally, thought to have actually found their elusive lost city and become the rulers of the unimaginably rich tribe.

    Secondly, this book is a modern attempt to find the true story behind the disappearance.  The author uses modern technology, including Google Earth and satellite imagery, as well as personal research records held by Fawcett heirs and the Royal Geographic Society to try to discover Fawcett's plan for his 1925 expedition.  Fawcett used codes and obfuscation in order to confuse competitors who were also searching for the lost city, making the author's work somewhat of a detective story as well.  Grann does a tremendous job juxtaposing his modern investigation with Fawcett's paranoid and somewhat maniacal plans.  The contrast between Fawcett pouring over ancient maps and records from explorers of the 17th and 18th centuries and Gann's use of computer guided research is remarkable.

     The author successfully recreates the magic and fantasy of this 19th century explorer, rightfully described as the last of his generation in a rapidly evolving 20th century.  Fawcett clung to his maps and intuition while his competitors were using airplanes and radio communications.  Fawcett was and remains a legend, a model for Arthur Conan Doyle (The Lost World) as well as appearing in a 1990s "Raiders of the Lost Ark" novel.  The Lost City of Z captures this man and presents him with all of his bravura as well as his foibles and idiosyncrasies.  I enjoyed The Lost City of Z very much and recommend it highly.

Lady, Go Die

Author: Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane

Publisher: Titan

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Pages: 272 (Ebook Edition)

     Mickey Spillane introduced iconic private investigator Mike Hammer in 1947's I, the Jury.  Spillane passed away in 2006 after a long and illustrious career and appointed Max Allan Collins, a noted writer in his own right (The Road to Perdition), as his literary executor.  Collins has completed many unfinished Spillane works including this novel which is, in fact, the long lost sequel to I, The Jury.  

     Collins has done a masterful job of maintaining the traditions of Spillane and Mike Hammer.  This reads as the logical and artful follow up story.  The basic plot is familiar.  Trouble finds Hammer who is on vacation with his secretary Velda in a seaside resort town north of Manhattan.  A missing person investigation turns into a murder case and leads Hammer on a wild ride through high stakes gambling, local police corruption and, eventually, to an unlikely villain.

     The trademark Spillane tough-guy dialogue is here and the male chauvinism remains intact.   The sex scenes are a bit more explicit (possibly representing Collins' contributions) but the rampant racial prejudice in I, The Jury is absent.   I think the plot here is a bit tighter which is interesting given that this is a collaborative writing effort.  All in all, this is a very readable and entertaining story which is well worthy of being the sequel to I, The Jury.

Book Review: I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane

I, The Jury

Author: Mickey Spillane

Publisher: E. P. Dutton

Pages: 287 (e-book edition)

Publication Date: Original Hardcover, 1947

                                                                                       

     Mickey Spillane was a World War II veteran (Army Air Forces) and prolific writer of crime fiction who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2006.  He was awarded a “Grand Master” Award by the Mystery Writers of American in 1995.  He initially began his writing career crafting stories for comic books and then moved into short fiction for pulp magazines of the 1940s.  In order to make a down payment on a new home he wrote his first novel I, The Jury in 19 days and it was published in 1947.  The book sold over 3.5 million copies before the first movie version was filmed in 1953.  A subsequent remake was filmed in 1982.  Most importantly, this novel introduced readers to the iconic main character, ultimate “tough guy” private investigator Mike Hammer.

     

     The story is a good one.   It is told in the first person perspective by Mike Hammer.  Jack Williams, one of Hammer’s war buddies (like Spillane, Hammer is a WW II veteran) is killed following a cocktail party which he hosted.  Jack is a former police officer who lost an arm in the War and works as an insurance investigator.  Called to the murder scene by a mutual friend, detective Pat Chambers, Mike Hammer makes a solemn vow to find and kill the perpetrator, not wanting to rely on the justice system to avenge his buddy.

     

     What follows is a classic procedural as Chambers and Hammer conduct parallel investigations, focusing on the party guests.  Both investigators have problems finding anyone with the opportunity or the motive to commit the crime.  The difference in the investigations is that Hammer procures information in unorthodox and often illegal ways.  The characters are complicated and the perpetrator, when finally revealed, is surprising.  The author writes in short, descriptive sentences illustrating that he honed his writing skills on short fiction.  This does not detract from the novel.  In fact, it is actually refreshing to read a story not encumbered by unnecessary facts or digressions:

“The sorrow drifted from her eyes, and there was something else in its stead.  It was coming now.  I couldn’t tell what it was, but it was coming.  She stood tall and straight as a martyr, exuding beauty and trust and belief.  Her head turned slightly and I saw a sob catch in her throat.  Like a soldier.  Her stomach was so flat against the belt of her skirt.  She let her arms drop simply at her sides, her hands asking to be held, and her lips wanting to silence mine with a kiss.’       

    

     I, The Jury is certainly dated.  Sexism and racism abound.  The author’s characterization of African-Americans is absolutely brutal.  Spillane’s stereotypical black dialogue and roles (maid, bartender, shoe-shine boy) reflect the extreme prejudice and segregation which existed in the 1940s.  The book was considered decadent at the time and was generally dismissed by critics because of the amount of explicit sex and violence which Spillane included in this and subsequent novels.  There is a definite chauvinistic attitude towards women here and the sex and violence is far from subtle but I, The Jury is still very tame by today’s standards.   Interestingly enough one of the most outspoken early advocates of Mickey Spillane’s work was none other than Russian-Ameerican novelist, philosopher and playwright Ayn Rand.

      I enjoyed reading I, The Jury and I expect that I will read more Mickey Spillane.  It is fairly obvious how much contemporary crime fiction writers owe Spillane for almost single-handedly creating the genre.   The man could certainly tell a great story.  

Book Review: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Date Published: November, 2008 (Hardcover)

Pages: 336 (Trade Paper)

“Outliers are those who have been given opportunities –

And have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.”

-          Malcolm Gladwell

     Malcolm Gladwell is a former business and science reporter for “The Washington Post” and is now a staff writer for “The New Yorker” magazine.  He has written many best-sellers including The Tipping Point and Blink.  He uses counter-intuitive logic to take new and different looks at our world and how humans interact.  In Outliers Gladwell uses both well-known and obscure stories to explain why certain individuals are super successful or become “outliers” – that is their performance deviates greatly from their cohort.

    

        In the opening chapters the author explains that sociologists feel that success is a result of what they call The Matthews Effect or “accumulative advantage.”  Most folks would feel that the biggest advantage a child could have would be being blessed with above average intelligence or ability. Gladwell contends that IQ is just a threshold and that “practical intelligence” (knowing how to say the right things, what’s appropriate behavior in certain situations, etc…) is just as important.  There are many other factors in play which determine if an individual is to become and “outlier”.  He uses the Canadian National Hockey team as an example of the advantage of birth date.  Because the cutoff birthday for the select youth hockey teams is arbitrarily set at January first, the teams tend to be stacked with kids born in the first few months of each year.  These kids are bigger and more physically mature than children born later in the year in their same grade level.  The players on the select teams then receive better coaching, play more games and eventually become the elite players that go on to receive college scholarships and even play professionally.  Gladwell backs up this contention with real data from the Canadian National Hockey team and the National Hockey League, showing that most of the players have birthdays in January, February or March!

    

     Gladwell then goes on to explain what he calls the “Ten Thousand Hour Rule.”  He contends that in order to perform any skill at the highest “outlier” level, an individual must practice his craft for at least ten thousand hours.  He notes how hard that is to accomplish, not only from a personal commitment standpoint, but also from an opportunity level.  Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time for those ten thousand hours to be attainable.  He uses two examples of this rule coming into play.  The first is Bill Gates, who happened to go to a high school where a “personal computer station” was available  and through family connections was able to access computers at the University of Washington to further hone his passion for software design.  By the time he was a young adult he had his ten thousand hours of computer experience under his belt when none of his contemporaries came even close.  Another fascinating example of this the author uses is The Beatles.  In the late 1950s The Beatles were just one of hundreds of young British bands playing clubs and getting by.  They were hired to play bars in the red light district of Hamburg where they were forced to play eight to ten hours a day, seven days per week.  After several stays in Hamburg, The Beatles had their ten thousand performance hours and rose above their contemporaries in their ability and stage presence.

     

     The author does not neglect the influence of cultural and socio-economic class difference.  He notes that there are different parenting approaches to education.  He expounds on the fact that middle and upper class parents practice a style of “concerned cultivation” of their children, generally being very involved in the child’s education and often extending the learning process at home.  The poorer class tends to utilize a style of “accomplishment of natural growth”, tending to leave the education of their children to the schools themselves and being more “hands off” in their approach.   

    

     Gladwell uses the last half of the book to delve into the factor of cultural influence.  He studies a group of Jewish lawyers who were all born in the era of The Great Depression.  Their parents were all immigrants with strong work ethic who worked exceedingly hard to succeed in the garment industry in New York.  These young men did not have the cultural advantages of their non-Jewish peers, went to lesser law schools (being denied admission to the Ivies because of their ethnicity and religion) and took work that the bigger established firms felt were beneath them.  This work involved corporate mergers and take overs, work the larger firms wouldn’t touch.  Along came the 1970s when these men were approaching their most productive years and the laws changed and corporate work became very important and lucrative.  These lawyers were in the position of having the most experience and over the next several decades prospered greatly, becoming the legal “outliers” of their generation.  Gladwell notes that these men were indeed lucky AND they helped themselves through the rigid work ethic they learned from observing their parents.  “Luck is winning the lottery.  They were given an opportunity and they seized it.”