Beirut

Last night I saw Beirut, starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike.

Mason (Hamm) is an alcoholic former diplomat who previously made a life in Beirut. It's been ten years since he lost his love in a night of gunfire. He returned to America shortly thereafter and has never looked back.

Unfortunately, his country needs him and summons him to return to the "scene of the crime" because his closest colleague/friend has been taken hostage and the kidnappers only want Mason to negotiate. Reluctantly he returns to the horrors he left and thus begins a game of cat and mouse between the Americans (amongst each other) and the terrorists.

Really, it's a pretty straightforward story, with good guys and bad guys and damaged guys who fall somewhere in between. Though Mason and his chauffeur Sandy (Pike) spend a lot of time together, sparks never fly for them, which seems like a missed opportunity for an otherwise one-dimensional plot.

The reason to see this is Hamm, who looks more like Don Draper than his real self, and melts comfortably back into the drunken/angry/smart hero role. He's great.

As for the story, well, if you lived during the 1980s, it will conjure up bad flashbacks of depressing evening news broadcasts showing violence and death that seemed to have no end.

If only we'd come farther since then, this would be easier to stomach.

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Gone Girl

Tonight I saw Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

Remember when Scott Peterson's attorney called him a 'cad' for having an affair with Amber Frey, but implied that didn't make him a murderer? That his wife Laci's disappearance wasn't necessarily connected just because of his bad behavior?

Well, Nick Dunne (Affleck) has found himself in a similar situation.

Without giving anything away about what his character is actually guilty of doing, Nick's wife Amy (Pike) has gone missing and his judgment has been admittedly poor as the small Missouri town where they reside rallies to search for her.

On his side are his hot-shot attorney Tanner (played to perfection by Tyler Perry) and his twin sister Margo (Carrie Coon); both think he's a certain degree of idiot, but neither thinks him a murderer. Sure, his wife is/was an uppity, cold New Yorker with few—if any—friends to speak of, and he's an out-of-work writer, numbingly co-owning the town bar with his sister, but for all their typical married couple problems, he had no reason to kill her.

And that's about all I can tell you about the story.

Those who were fans of the book for which the film is based won't be disappointed in how the original author, the amazing Gillian Flynn, adapts it for the big screen. The characters gain even more dimension, and smaller players emerge stronger and more visible in the chaos.

I wasn't surprised I loved this film, but I was shocked at how long it was since it felt like it went so fast (it's actually well over 2 hours). I loved being on the edge of my seat, though I knew (generally) what was going to happen. I adored seeing the state where I went to college re-capture all of its small-town charm with endearing cops and annoying neighbors amongst the flood of do-gooders. I relished in the graphic scenes of sex and violence; none of which felt gratuitous.

I appreciated the way the men gasped more than the women did in my theater, and no matter how unlikeable the characters became, I still ended up rooting for them in some weird, warped, dark way.

The world needs more satisfying twisty thrillers like this one.

Barney's Version

This morning I saw Barney's Version, starring Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike.

I'll swear when I watched the trailer of this it was being marketed as a comedy. Once I was about 30 minutes into the film, I realized I must have been mistaken.

Barney (Giamatti) is a sad sack of a man who has a habit of marrying the wrong women. His first wife is a hippie artist who we never quite understand his connection with; his second wife, played by a spirited Minnie Driver, is a rich brat with beautiful breasts who wins him over with her cleavage.

It's no surprise that by their wedding day, Barney is already looking elsewhere. Unfortunately, it's on his wedding day when he spots "The One."

Miriam (Pike) is a guest on his new bride's side, and catches his attention by simply looking stunning in her bright blue dress. After one conversation with the beauty, Barney knows he's made a huge mistake marrying his second wife. He begins courting Miriam right then and there, never giving up his pursuit for true love.

Of course, like many neurotic Jewish characters, Barney is his own worst enemy. Once he gets what he wants in any given situation, he carelessly discards it in favor of behaving like a bachelor.

And then his kids begin hating him, and we begin hating him, and the story takes an even darker turn with his health problems.

All of the acting in this film is great—no argument there—but the way Barney's character is written, I had trouble feeling any empathy for him.

Why would anyone want to spend time with this unattractive, uninteresting man, let alone build a life with him?

I only wish I hadn't wasted two hours trying to figure that out.

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