Quick and Dirty

Three more movies this week, and three more not-quite-detailed-enough reviews.

The Road: Desolation is the name of the game in the film adaptation of Cormac MaCarthy's The Road. Starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-Mcphee as a father and son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, The Road thrives on hopelessness, but doesn't quite succeed. It's never established what brought devastation to the planet, but that doesn't matter. The world is a place of filth and destruction, and the scenery serves as a major character. The backdrops are breathtaking and callous, providing an overwhelming sense of isolation. However, that's The Road's greatest asset. There isn't much of a plot in the film, it's plainly a story of a father and son attempting to make it through the day. In order for a story so simple to work, the film needs to grab audience with gut-wrenching emotion, and that's where The Road misses the mark. The Road has all the ingredients to be a unique and moving experience, but it's merely a disturbing movie without any heart. Grade: B

Up in the Air: There hasn't a been a film more timely this year than Jason Reitman's (director of Thank You for Smoking and Juno) latest, Up in the Air. George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, a middle-aged man devoted to his job as a "corporate grim reaper." He flies across the country firing people whose bosses are too chicken to do the dirty work. It's on his cross-country travels that Ryan meets his equal, Alex (Vera Farmiga). When she describes herself to Ryan she says, "think of me as yourself, only with a vagina." However, the pair's love affair is thrown into limbo when a recent college graduate (Anna Kendrick) proposes that Ryan's company round up the traveling "firing squad" and conduct all firings via the Internet. The events (and surprises) that follow are storytelling at its best. Clooney was made for this role, and Farmiga is superb as his sparring partner. It's the role of her career, and the chemistry between she and Clooney is reminiscent of other great Hollywood pairings. Kendrick too is a standout, she sheds any memory of appearing in the Twilight films, and creates a character that is both high-strung and emotionally transparent. Above all, it's Up in the Air's timeliness that determines its success. As thousands of Americans continue to lose their jobs, Up in the Air shows us that it's not our careers that define us, rather that we are defined by those we love -- and they're the reason we wake up every morning. Grade: A

The Young Victoria: God Save Emily Blunt. In The Young Victoria, an overly-romanticized tale of the life and times of England's Queen Victoria, Blunt transcends an unfocused script and mediocre direction to do the improbable -- she makes The Young Victoria watchable. The film begins with Victoria as a teenager destined for the throne, and follows her through her initial years as ruler. The script jumps between the political and the romantic, dabbling in the story of Victoria's scheming family while touching on her desire to find a loving and equal partner. The film doesn't go far enough with either subject, merely skimming the drama, and as a result The Young Victoria is a bore. Blunt, however, saves the day. Her Victoria is unabashed and layered, and had the film been better, the Oscar buzz surrounding this must-see performance would be deafening. Grade: B-