Love Crime (Crime d'amour)

2 Paws
Seen recently at the Dundee Theatre (still musty, still open)

This is what happens when mean girls grow up.

Kristin Scott Thomas (Christine) and Ludivine Sagnier (Isabelle Guerin) are quite a pair - not exactly BFF material. We're not given any idea why Christine is the way she is, although judging by her clothes, her car and her crib, she's used it to her economic advantage. In contrast to Christine, we get some sense that Isabelle's behavior stems from her upbringing or an undiagnosed mental illness - most people don't gather up and rinse out their breakfast dishes in precisely the same pattern of movement day after day.

This is an odd little film - the absence of a soundtrack for most of the 104-minute running time is unnerving, and the corporate world that writer/director Alain Corneau has created is just plain strange - what the hell do these people do for a living?

It kept my attention, though, and now I've got some great tips on how to deal with an evil boss.

Bonus Bones: 0
Not a chien to be seen.

The Ides of March

1.5 Paws

Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema

An A-list cast does not an A-list movie make.

History is filled with good political drama (Munich, Three Days of the Condor, name your favorite here), and although The Ides of March looks and sounds like a good one (they got the cinematography right), it's just not. The problem? The script. Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of Hollywood's portrayal of women on screen. In Ides, you're either a doting sap (Jennifer Ehle's Connie Morris), a hooker with a heart of gold (Evan Rachel Wood's Molly Stearns) or a harpie shrew (Marisa Tomei's Ida Horowicz).

We all know power corrupts the well meaning as well as the weak. You don't have to be a Washington insider to experience it - just watch politics at the local level. So, writer/director George Clooney, if you're not going to reveal some new truths, at least give us a plot line that's worth our ticket investment, plus popcorn.

Bonus Bones: 0

The campaign trail is no place for the furry and four-legged.

Moneyball

2 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema

When did Brad Pitt turn into Robert Redford?

I'm not obsessed with Mr. Jolie and his brood (although it seems many are), so I don't track his every move. Thinking back, the last film I really liked him in was 1992's A River Runs Through It, which was directed by - hmmmm - Robert Redford.

As baseball gm Billy Beane, Pitt's contemplative moments on screen - especially when he looks to the side - are quintessential Redford (think Three Days of the Condor or Jeremiah Johnson). I was so distracted by the similarity that it interfered with my enjoyment of the film, which tells a great story and features a sweet performance by Kerris Dorsey (Casey Beane).

If I were calling it from behind the plate: the lame performances by the veteran scouting squad, strike one; the flashback overkill (we get it, already), strike two; and that damn visor, strike three.

Bonus Bones: 0
We're in the midst of a dog drought re: recent releases. I may have to settle for a tailless dolphin if things don't change soon.