In Contention

Tag: What Doesn’t Kill You

  • 12/15 Oscarweb Round-up

    Will Smith• Nathaniel Rogers goes back to the well with some updated Oscar predictions. [The Film Experience]

    • Charles McGrath writes up the upcoming “Revolutionary Road” release. [New York Times]

    • Philip French remembers a bleak year in cinema. [The Guardian]

    • Similarly, John Horn notes the box office success of some challenging films this holiday season. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Speaking of challenging films, Andrew O’Hehir talks to Steven Soderbergh about “Che.” [Beyond the Multiplex]

    • Susan King, meanwhile, talks to Brian Goodman about his life-turned-movie in “What Doesn’t Kill You.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • Andy Serkis comes out from behind the CGI masks of his most famous performances into acceptance as a fine actor. [The Times]

    • Donna Freydkin chats it up with “Seven Pounds” star Will Smith. [USA Today]

    • Glenn Kenny on Hollywood finally turning classics into digital masterpieces. [Popular Mechanics]

  • Posters for ‘Nothing But the Truth,’ ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’

    Yari Film Group has just released the poster art for its awards season duo, Rod Lurie’s “Nothing But the Truth” and Brian Goodman’s “What Doesn’t Kill You.”  Each of these films is struggling under the weight of big-spending studios this season, and it’s a shame.  Each contains an exemplary 2008 performance (Kate Beckinsale in “Truth” and Mark Ruffalo in “Kill”).

    I also really like the poster design.  Okay, so the “Kill” one-sheet is a clear rip-off of “The Departed,” but I still like it.  And the “Truth” poster is crisp and sophisticated, not as on-the-nose as it could have been.  Nice work overall in what has been an awful year for poster art.  Have a look:

    Nothing But the Truth and What Doesn\'t Kill You

  • Under the radar: ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’

    Quite why the Yari Group has chosen the mid-December maelstrom to unload “What Doesn’t Kill You” is something that escapes me. Brian Goodman’s debut film was warmly received at Toronto and then seemingly disappeared from people’s memories altogether, only to resurface now with this rather enticing trailer. But with such a late arrival, it seems to me that a small-scale endeavour like this risks getting lost in the crush.

    All the more frustrating, then, that from where I’m standing, it looks really rather good, in a lean, no-nonsense kind of way. It’s yet another entry in the ever-growing subgenre of Boston crime stories, but appears to have some genuine grit and conviction. It’s inspired by Goodman’s own experiences, and is co-written by Donnie Wahlberg. (Who knew?)

    I’m excited to see such an evidently expansive role for the wonderful Mark Ruffalo, while Ethan Hawke apparently continues his interesting career trajectory from baby-faced heart-throb to scuzzy character actor. Reviews are on the mark so far: Variety calls it “a fine example of traditional American storytelling,” while the Hollywood Reporter believes it to be a career high for both Ruffalo and Hawke. No mean feat, that. Count me in.

  • Audiences to handle ‘Nothing But the Truth’ in Toronto

    Kate Beckinsale in Nothing But the TruthThe final announcements for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival will land tomorrow morning, and one of the films that will be on the list is Rod Lurie’s “Nothing But the Truth.”

    The festival organizers have been hopeful that they could show the flick as a Gala and now they’ll be doing just that. ‘Truth’ won’t release until December, leaving quite a gap between the festival bow and the domestic unveiling. But this is a good move if early buzz is going to start building for actors Vera Farmiga, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda and, to a lesser extent, Matt Dillon.

    I suppose now is as good a time as any to mention that I saw an early cut of the film a few weeks back. And to be sure, I think Beckinsale is going to turn a few heads with her work as a reporter caught on the fence between the security of a source and the demands of the federal government. It’s a de-glam role but not in the typical sense. She is still beautiful throughout, of course, but seems capable of wearing that tired look of a downtrodden warrior.

    Alan Alda is, as usual, a perfect fit as Beckinsale’s attorney. He rolls the dialogue off his tongue in just the right ways and when he’s off screen, I was left wanting more of him. That can go a long way in a supporting campaign. Speaking of which, Vera Farmiga is an absolute firecracker every moment she’s on the screen as the Valerie Plame-like outed CIA operative Erica Van Doren.

    In the film, Lurie is taking what we learned from the Plame affair and spinning it into the realm of (not-so-unthinkable) fiction. He explores the vague nature of shield laws and the perfect track record “national security” enjoys over the First Amendment in this regard, and he does so in typical Lurie fashion.

    Lurie has always been a filmmaker willing to face down tough issues in his films, displaying a knack for boiling them down to a serviceable and entertaining essence. He’s also proven to be more than capable of drawing stellar performances out of his actors (Jeff Bridges, Gary Oldman, Joan Allen, Samuel L. Jackson). I think we could be looking at his next dance with the awards season with this effort.

    Anyway, now is not the time for an in-depth review of “Nothing But the Truth.” Something along those lines will drop closer to the festival, but for now, I’d wager it is a film that will have some support. Hopefully it’ll get the same from a studio with nothing else on the slate this year.

    (Also playing at the fest, by the way, is the Lurie-produced “What Doesn’t Kill You.” That film will be looking to make a splash in an already indie-heavy TIFF slate with Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke starring.)

  • More announcements from TIFF

    Toronto International Film FestivalPaul Dano and Zooey Deschanel are to be featured in “Gigantic” with John Goodman in a supporting role. In “Lovely Still,” acting icons Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn portray two seniors who find love late in life struggling with the baggage that comes with a life so long lived.

    “Lymelife” looks interesting, a film seen through the eyes of a young boy, portrayed by Rory Culkin, and what happens when an outbreak of Lyme disease hits a small town. Alec Baldwin portrays the boy’s loud mouth father with strong support from Cynthia Nixon, Timothy Hutton and Kiran Culkin in a film executive produced by no less than Martin Scorsese.

    One of the more intriguing films of the fest will be the US film, “The Stoning of Soraya M”, a study of an Iranian woman falsely accused of adultery which is a crime punished with death by stoning. Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo stars in the film.

    Mark Ruffalo is back in town with more than one film, co-starring with Ethan Hawke in “What Doesn’t Kill You” about two friends looking out for one another in a tough Boston neighborhood. The film was produced by filmmaker Rod Lurie, who’ll be in the thick of the Oscar hunt this year with his own “Nothing But the Truth.”

    The other titles include “Rain” from the Bahamas, “Cold Lunch” from Norway, “Vacation” from Japan, “Apron Strings” from New Zealand, “Better Things” from the United Kingdom, and “Daytime, Drinking” from South Korea.