Reviews
for the Week of 2/22:
If it were up to Louis
Kahn, downtown Philadelphia wouldn’t have contained a single road.
Everyone would’ve parked their car outside of the city and walked about
its paths. We can be thankful that things didn’t turn out that way, for it
would have been a total disaster. Despite this, Kahn, in the eyes of most,
was one of the most influential architects to see the light of day. He
immigrated to the United States in the early nineteen-hundreds from
Estonia, not exactly certain of what he would do in the new country.
Later, he would combine traditional and modern architecture to create some
of the wackiest buildings in the history of the world. Some of them
amazing and some ridiculous, his masterpieces are known to outnumber his
failures, and he is famous for exactly this. Kahn’s most acclaimed work is
the most fitting one for his story—the capital building in Bangladesh,
which was the savior for a dying city.
However, while Kahn’s
artistic skills may’ve been profound, his home life was far from such. He
reproduced with three different women and his concept of family was
stretched, to say the least. No one ever knew much about his personal
life, not even his only wife. My Architect chronicles the journey
of one of his sons, Nathaniel Kahn, in trying to discover who Louis really
was. At most, Nathaniel received one visit per week from his father, but
usually less. He does blame his dad for his undesirable childhood, but
that’s not what this documentary is about. My Architect both
depicts the life of Louis Kahn and his rationalities (or lack thereof) in
life, but it is, more importantly, a piece of discovery. Nathaniel knows
just as much about his dad as his audience, and this will allow viewers to
accept the picture, and understand the filmmaker behind it.
Real life has always been
more fascinating to me than fiction, but I haven’t fully realized this
until as of late. With this film and Touching the Void, which I
reviewed last week, I’m seriously considering only seeing documentaries in
every January and February I live, from here on out. These two months are
responsible for most of the horrors in the world of cinema, but not in
this genre. There’s something refreshing about reality; drama is so much
less pure, even when it’s at the top of its game. My Architect
often comes across as unbelievable, for the mystery surrounding Kahn is so
great, even to his immediate family. Every person Nathaniel talks to about
his father has something different to add to the story than the previous
interviewee. Several documentaries last year, such as the extremely
overrated Spellbound, were far too repetitive, ultimately leading
to their failures. This one is always captivating, and even though much of
it is flawed, Nathaniel’s budding work in film is what Louis’ was to
architecture—powerful in its traditional eloquence. This is a basic piece
of work, but certainly also a poignant one.
Nathaniel comes pretty
close to discovering why his father did what he chose to, but is also
incredibly far away from doing so. He realizes that Louis’ intentions were
the right ones, but his motivations were misguided. Was he responsible for
this? Of course, but his faults can be forgiven. A fellow architect says
that his work was very reflective upon his life, raw and honest, though no
one understood why. After viewing My Architect, I most definitely
agree. Sadly, however, while Nathaniel may understand why his dad chose to
leave the cracks in the plaster of his projects as was, he will most
likely, never comprehend why several pieces of the man’s life are
completely unknown. By the end of My Architect, he has come to
terms with Lou in spirit, though, and this is the next best thing to
knowing him. It may be just as inconvenient for Nathaniel as downtown
Philly could’ve been for its residents, but it’s good enough for the
audience.
With the exception of being a part of the voice
cast of Ice Age, Welcome to Mooseport is Ray Romano’s debut
in a motion picture, despite his enormous prior success in the medium of
television. It is a bit surprising that he didn’t start acting in film
sooner, though, considering his fellow primetime-favorites have led
successful careers. Take “Friends” star Jennifer Anniston, for example.
While I have no question that Romano’s “Everybody Loves Raymond” is much
more of a quality program than “Friends,” the two shows have their
similarities. Likeable casts, appealing premises, and long runs with big
fan bases. The only difference is Anniston first appeared on the big
screen over five years ago. Finally, though, Romano has converted to film,
to many people’s happiness. The good news is that he delivers a solid
performance here, as does his veteran co-star Gene Hackman. The bad news
is that their work is stuck in a one-note, dopey little creation that
would’ve only worked as a straight-to-video release, intended for
Saturday-night viewings which would permit viewers curl up on their
couches when watching.
The writing is actually creative in spurts, but
aside from the occasional moment, the script of Welcome to Mooseport
has nothing working in its favor. Romano plays Handy Harrison, a
small-town plumber, who offers to run for mayor of his city, when the
current one, who has consecutively run for years, passes away. Little does
Handy know, Mooseport’s new resident, ex-president Monroe Cole (Hackman),
has entered the race. When he discovers this, Handy plans on dropping out,
but when Monroe makes a move in attempts to win over his long-time
girlfriend, he’s suddenly determined to win the election. It’s almost as
easy to write a one-sentence synopsis of Welcome to Mooseport as it
was for screenwriter Tom Schulman to pen the movie. It is simply a
predictable film, a lightweight concoction, comprised of sophisticated
potty-humor targeted at adults. This may sound fun, but it’s actually kind
of painful, in its own right.
With each “twist” in the film, I was able to
correctly predict one more portion of the plot. There are much less
creative directors than Donald Petrie in the industry, but he’s so
blatantly obvious in his style, Welcome to Mooseport is almost a
depressing experience, which is exactly the opposite of what it should be.
Why it is so hard to create an entertaining piece of fluff these days
baffles me.
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