Jane Eyre: Not Your Grandmother’s Version—Movie

 Jane Eyre has been given a fresh coat of paint and it’s stunning to behold. Directed by Cary Fukunaga, based on Charlotte Brontë’s novel, with screenplay by Moira Buffini, Jane Eyre 2011 is romantic, eerie, and very well-acted.

Mia Wasikowska, seen most recently in The Kids Are Alright, is perfectly cast as Jane. She infuses her character with just the right amount of quiet spunk to stand up to Mr. Rochester and all other obstacles that come Jane’s way.

Michael Fassbender is a revelation as Rochester. My only point of reference for Rochester is in the form of Orson Welles from the 1944 version I’ve enjoyed countless times on television and Orson Welles is no Michael Fassbender. Welles played the role as sinister and brooding. Fassbender‘s Rochester is more eccentric than sinister and more lonely than brooding. Not to make less of Orson Welles, but Fassbender’s interpretation is more entertaining to watch and complements Wasikowaska effortlessly. And wow, is he gorgeous in a Daniel Day-Lewis kind of way.

But I digress. The supporting cast is impeccable, too. Jamie Bell as St. John Rivers, Jane’s rescuer and potential suitor, brings just the right touch of denseness and sweetness to his role. He’s proven to be a very versatile actor. Judi Dench is just right as Mrs. Fairfax, Rochester’s housekeeper, and is far more likeable than was the 1944 version. Sally Hawkins, so bubbly and perky in Happy- Go-Lucky, is nearly unrecognizable in looks and tone as Jane’s heartless, greedy Aunt.  Finally, Amelia Clarkson as the young Jane and Romy Settbon Moore as Mr. Rochester’s charge, Adele, are very real and unprecocious in their respective roles.

Fukunaga is a former cinematographer and it shows. Although Jane Eyre 2011 is more bare-bones than other productions, it has a melancholy splendor about it that is highlighted by the hauntingly beautiful piano and violin solos throughout the film.

Jane Eyre 2011 is not your grandmother’s Jane Eyre, but it’s destined to be a classic on its own.

Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema 7235 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD

Landmark E Street Cinema  555 11th Street NW, Washington, DC

Loews Shirlington 7 2772 South Randolph St., Arlington, VA

3 ½ nuggets out of 4

Joan Rivers at the Strathmore: Offensive, Foul and FUNNY

Joan Rivers: Where does the stamina come from? Does nothing embarrass you? How do you keep your material fresh? How do you manage to have any friends? Those are the four questions I want answered come Passover time.

In a sold-out performance and an audience of every race, gender and age, Joan Rivers took the stage at Strathmore’s Music Center Thursday, March 24, and  for 60 minutes brought on the zany and the profane. With the energy of a 25 year-old, the limber 77 year-old Rivers literally leapt on stage in some sort of gold and black ensemble and began insulting everyone near and far.

 And it was hilarious.

She began with her “can we talk?” and we were off to the races from there. Rivers is an equal opportunity offender. No one is off limits…not even her late husband. But to quote her,”grow up.”  With no notes, no breaks for sips of water, Rivers worked every part of the stage and even mimed sexual acts on the floor.

And it was hilarious.

Her potty mouth makes Sarah Silverman seem virginal. Whether it’s describing some of the men she’s “met”, talking about her friends’ children or ripping the celebrities she’s encountered in person or just watched over the years, she says what we think , only it’s a lot funnier coming from her.

Since her winning run on Celebrity Apprentice, Rivers’ career has been given new life. She’s the host and real wit on the weekly Fashion Police, her reality show with her daughter Melissa, Joan Knows Best has just been renewed, and her line of QVC jewelry remains a best-seller. But as her documentary, Joan Rivers, a Piece of Work showed, she works very hard at her craft. She didn’t wake up one day, snort tons of coke, utter two catch phrases in some sort of manic episode and have the keys to Radio City Music  Hall handed to her.  She’s earned every laugh she’s gotten and received more than her share of hard knocks along the way.

No gig is too small for Joan Rivers.  With the Strathmore she got the venue and the appreciative crowd she deserved.

And it was hilarious.

Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane North Bethesda, MD 20852

 

An Ideal Husband: A More than Ideal Production–Theatre

A witty Oscar Wilde play, a terrific cast and breathtaking costumes and sets make for a highly entertaining production of the Shakespeare Theatre’s An Ideal Husband.  Under the direction of Keith Baxter, Oscar Wilde’s wry humor comes to life and feels as fresh today as it might have when first produced in 1895. And certainly politicians with skeletons in their closet are nothing new…today’s rogues just don’t handle their misdeeds with the same panache as Wilde’s Sir Robert Chiltern.

An Ideal Husband’s cast is one of the best the Shakespeare Theatre has assembled in quite some time. Many of the area’s premier character actors are doing their finest work in this production. Nancy Robinette never disappoints and as Lady Markby she’s in top form. Floyd King as Phipps, the servant, is an absolute joy to watch. King does more with a shrug of the shoulders or the lifting of an eyebrow than most actors do with a page of dialogue. Not to be outdone is Shakespeare veteran David Sabin, as the Earl of Caversham, K.G. He is perfect as the worried, demanding father of Lord Goring.

And what of the leads? Cameron Folmar is wonderful as the happily unemployed raconteur, Lord Goring. In lesser hands Goring could be very difficult to convince as a romantic heterosexual, but Folmar  somehow manages to do it. Emily Raymond is terrific as the devious Mrs. Cheveley. As Lady Chiltern, Rachel Pickup is perfectly cast as the wife with the difficult task of softening her steely outlook on everything she holds dear, particularly that of “the ideal husband.” And Gregory Wooddell as Sir Robert Chiltern, the politician with a past, does a very good job in bringing to life a somewhat stodgy character. The only false note in the cast is Claire Brownell as Mabel Chiltern, the sister of Sir Robert, who has a not so subtle crush on Lord Goring. She literally screams her lines and I found myself covering my ears every time she came on stage.

According to the play’s notes, Oscar Wilde, when summoned to the Prince of Wales’ box following the play’s opening, apologized for its length. Yes, An Ideal Husband is long. But we’re in agreement with the Prince who reportedly replied, “Pray, do not take out a single word.”

Runs through April 16

Sidney Harman Hall 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC

The Trip to Bountiful:Get on Board NOW—Theatre

The Roundhouse Theatre’s production of The Trip to Bountiful is a must-see for anyone who loves terrific acting, a wonderful script and just an all-round fabulous theatre experience.

Director Timothy Douglas has gathered as close to perfect an ensemble cast of actors that one can imagine and he does Horton Foote’s play proud. The fact that the cast, all but one, is  African-American is beside the point, other than giving actors a chance to shine. And shine they do.

There aren’t enough words of praise that one can heap on Lizan Mitchell as matriarch Carrie Watts who just wants to visit her Bountiful hometown once before she dies. Mitchell literally sparkles in her role. It’s as if the part was created just for her. It’s one of the most amazing performances that I have ever witnessed. But the rest of the Bountiful cast also astounds. Howard Overshown as Ludie Watts and China J. Hardy as his wife Jessie Mae feel like a real couple. As off-putting as Hardy’s character is, she makes you understand where Jessie Mae’s pain and anger comes from and that she is more than some disgruntled shrew. Jessica Frances Dukes is mesmerizing as Carry’s traveling companion, Thelma. Rounding out the cast is Doug Brown as the patient bus attendant and Lawrence Redmond as the empathetic Sheriff. Their parts are small, but important, and they both make the most out of them.

The Trip to Bountiful is one of the best productions to be staged in metropolitan DC in years. It’s a trip that should be taken immediately.

Runs through April 3

Round House Theatre  4545 East-West Highway  Bethesda, MD

Biutiful: Tragic on so many levels—Movie

Biutiful, written by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobone and directed by Iñárritu is relentlessly depressing and long, but does feature some wonderful acting courtesy of Javier Bardem.

Bardem stars as Uxbal, a man living on the edge of Barcelona society.  Devoted father of two, separated from his mentally unstable wife, he makes ends meet by engaging in all kinds of low-level illegal activities. In the beginning of the film, Uxbal learns he has cancer and his shady busy dealings take on more urgency as he struggles to accumulate enough money to take care of his children and some of the other less fortunate in his life.

Biutiful, ironically titled, contains so many tragedies, it becomes hard to keep track and ultimately care. Parental separation, illegal labor practices, mental illness, immigration issues and death…each topic could be a movie unto itself.  That one can even sit through more than two hours of one depressing topic after another is a tribute to every actor. The international cast is wonderful.

Told in a circular narrative, we really learn no more at the end than we did in the beginning of the film. Perhaps that is Biutiful’s ultimate tragedy.

2 nuggets out of 4

Another Year: Another Terrific Leigh Film—Movie

Single middle-age women beware! Do not see Another Year alone.  Unless you are at the top of your game, by movie’s end you’ll want to throw yourself off a building. Another Year is that realistic.

Written and directed by Mike Leigh, Another Year is the story of a happily married older middle-aged couple, Gerri and Tom, and their very unhappy friends and relations, told through the changing of the seasons during the course of a year.

In winter we meet Gerri (Ruth Sheen), a psychotherapist, treating the most in-need- of-treatment for depression woman ever portrayed on the screen, Jane (Imelda Staunton).  Staunton’s role is brief, but memorable and shows us how kind and patient Gerri is. In winter we’re also introduced to Gerri’s secretary, Mary (Leslie Manville) and Gerry’s husband, Tom (Jim Broadbent). Spring is Mary’s story and Mary is a mess. Cute, stylish, desperately perky and very unhappily single, Mary is painful to watch.  Summer is the story of Ken (Peter Wight) and continued decline of Mary. Obese, drunk and clueless, Ken is a long-time friend of Tom and is a fatter version of Mary. Autumn introduces us to Ronnie (David Bradley), Tom’s recently widowed brother. Tom seems to keep all of his emotions buried inside and barely says a word. 

As with all Mike Leigh films, Another Year’s actors are called upon to do a lot of improvisation and boy, are they fantastic. However, this movie clearly belongs to Leslie Manville’s Mary. When Manville is on-screen, you can’t take your eyes off her, and even if you want to, Leigh won’t let you. His close-ups on Mary are relentless and force you to witness her pain, shame and heartbreak. Manville can do more with the movement of her mouth or the crinkle of her nose than most actors can do with pages of dialogue. She’s simply amazing and so believable. How she wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award is beyond comprehension. Every single woman over 45 will identify with her. It’s inconceivable to me that Another Year is written by a male. Mike Leigh really gets us women.

Depressing as Another Year is, it’s also full of wit and witty dialogue. And yes, even a sliver of hope.

4 nuggets out of 4

The Company Men: Compellingly Told—Movie

The Company Men, written and directed by John Wells, gives a very realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be laid off, how people react differently to being down-sized and the impact those circumstances have on one’s family. That such a depressing subject can hold your interest from beginning to end is a testament to good writing, directing and a terrific ensemble cast.

Set in New England during the financial havoc of 2008, The Company Men revolves primarily around three men of varying ages. Ben Affleck tops the bill as Bobby Walker, a high-flying sales executive for GTX, a company with roots in shipping, now a conglomerate of some sort. He becomes part of a large group of  GTX employees recently down-sized. For Bobby the news comes as a complete shock and he doesn’t take the news well. Affleck does a fantastic job of portraying Bobby’s anger and his long bout of denial. His character just assumes that his unemployment will come to an early end. That his way of life has changed for the forseeable future finally sinks in when Bobby’s down-to-earth wife, Maggie (Rosemarie DeWitt), cancels his country club membership, forcing him to face the reality of his situation.  Running out of severance, Bobby reluctantly accepts the construction job offer from his blue-collar brother-in-law, Jack Dolan, played terrifically by a completely unglamorized Kevin Costner. 

Down-sized right after Walker is middle-aged co-worker Phil Woodard, acted to melancholy perfection by Chris Cooper. Tommy Lee Jones rounds out the GTX threesome as Gene McClary, long-time friend of GTX founder, James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson), as well as a long-time company employee.

The Company Men is the flip side of 2009’s Up in the Air. At first you might wonder how the layoff of highly paid white men can resonate with the average person, but then you realize that a layoff is a layoff and it’s all relative. Company Men shows perfectly the angst of unreturned phone calls, the frustration of being one of hundreds turning out for a single job and the humiliation of not being able to provide for one’s family in the style to which everyone has become accustomed. Is the movie without flaws? No. Accents come and go; the ending might be a tad too pat; and I don’t know anyone, myself included, who leaves a job after a long tenure with just one box. But The Company Men is a story compellingly told, fabulously acted and well worth your time.

3 nuggets out of 4

Cymbeline: Shockingly Terrible—Theatre

There’s no good way to say this: the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Cymbeline is a mess. Miscast, shockingly acted in the negative and poorly conceived and directed, this whole production is completely unworthy of the Company.

Some of the problem is the play itself–it’s all over the place. Part tragedy, part comedy, part romance…Cymbeline ultimately fails at all three. For the theatergoer, it’s like watching at least three plays at once…nothing weaves seamlessly together. 

In order for Cymbeline to work, it’s heavily dependent upon excellent, believable acting. This production of Cymbeline does not have that. But thankfully it does have four good performances– Gretchen Hall as Imogen, Cymbeline’s daughter and Michael Rudko as Morgan,  Justin Badger as Polydore and  Alex Morf as Cadwal, father and sons respectively. Over the course of 2 hours and 20 minutes, these are the only actors who actually act and are right for their parts. Gretchen Hall is wonderful as the wronged daughter and wife, but there is only so much she can do. When Morgan and his two sons enter the play and interact with Imogen we finally feel as if the clouds have parted and the light of good acting has entered.

At the beginning of the play, when we learn that Imogen has sacrificed the love of her father to marry Posthumus, we expect there to be a good reason for such devotion.  Then we see and hear Posthumus, performed by Mark Bedard.  Him? This is your great love? This pipsqueak of a man with a tinny voice?  This role is so miscast it detracts from the entire play. Equally wrong for his role is Leo Marks as Cloten, one of the play’s villains and son of the Queen. Marks plays his part for cheap, easy laughs. The only shtick he doesn’t use is the twirling of his mustache. And what to make of veteran actors Ted Van Griethuysen as Cymbeline and Franchelle Stewart Dorn as the Queen?  Van Griethuysen seems to have phoned in his performance and Stewart Dorn is just painfully awful. Finally, what have they done with Andrew Long? This terrific actor would have been wonderful as either Posthumus or Cloten. He could have elevated Cymbeline to something special. Instead Long is relegated to an insignificant part as ambassador Caius Lucius. He does what he can with this role, but comparatively speaking, it’s still an insignificant part.

It’s hard to know what to say about the directing of Rebecca Bayla Taichman. The insertion of the Vespa from out of nowhere pretty much says it all.

I can’t remember when I’ve been this disappointed on so many levels in a Shakespeare Theatre Company production. Enough said.

Lansburgh Theatre

450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004

Runs January 18 2011—March 06 2011

Scion: A mouthwatering experience—Restaurant

Why do some restaurant locations just seem unlucky? No matter how good the food, the restaurant closes. Such has been the story of 2100 P Street NW. Let’s hope the luck has changed for the best. Scion, an American restaurant with an Asian flare, deserves a long stay in its convenient, easily accessible location.

Scion’s appetizers run the gamut from vegetable spring rolls to rock shrimp tempura to smoked salmon to honey glazed brie and much more. My dining companions and I recently sampled all of these items and found all of them to be delicious.

Appetizers were followed by entrees. Vegan or vegetarian, no worries–a delectable dish awaits. My sautéed shrimp and scallops over spicy white bean succotash was a tad spicy but absolutely delicious. One of my companions said her crab cakes with rosemary herb garlic fries melted in her mouth. The Syrah braised beef short ribs with mashed potatoes had mixed results. One loved it, another found it slightly overcooked. Both agreed that the portion was enormous. Turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes was deemed unsuccessful, but the pumpkin goat cheese ravioli was a crowd pleaser.

Try and make room for dessert, because they are wonderful. We sampled the carrot cake, chocolate cake and the cheesecake. All were divine.

An extensive offering of wine, beer and cocktails, and friendly customer service round out a wonderful dining experience. Scion is a terrific addition to the DuPont Circle neighborhood and deserves to be a resident for a very long time.

2100 P Street, NW  Washington, DC  20037   202-833-8899       

scion@scionrestaurant.com

Hours: Monday – Thursday  11 am to 11 pm, Friday – 11 am to midnight, Saturday – 10 am to midnight

Sunday – 10 am to 11 pm

Brunch served Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 3:30 pm

Country Strong: Plot Weak—Movie

What to make of Country Strong, written and directed by Shana Feste?  The film is ostensibly the story of country singer Kelly Kanter (Gwyneth Paltrow), who, on the insistence of her manager husband, James (Tim McGraw), is prematurely released from a rehab center for alcohol and drug abuse to begin a new tour. But somewhere along the line the secondary story of the secondary leads takes over and unfortunately for the film, it is far more interesting.  

Paltrow is fine as the beleaguered singer. She seemingly has the accent down and she can sing, but something is off. Maybe we’ve seen this story too many times, but you never really connect with her or her story. As we learn what caused her most recent collapse, it’s obvious to all that she’s still struggling with inner demons. But what got her started down that path to begin with? We never really find out and if we did it might make the story more compelling. 

Enter Garrett Hedlund as Beau Hutton and Gossip Girl’s  Leighton Meester as Chiles Stanton. Hutton is an aspiring singer-songwriter who worked with Kelly while she was in rehab and had/has a love affair with her. Stanton is a former beauty queen hoping to make it as a singer. Both are recruited to open for Kelly on her comeback tour and the two of them begin to fall in love while on the road.  These two have terrific chemistry together and boy, can they sing! Hedlund’s voice has a fabulous tonal quality and sounds very much like Jeff Bridges’ Bad Blake would have sounded before the alcohol set in. Meester is fantastic, and truth be told, her character is way more interesting than Paltrow’s. Often seeming like the only person who can really act on Gossip Girl, she shines in Country Strong.

And riddle me this…in a country music film with actors who are not professional singers singing, why have a real country singer, Tim McGraw, if you don’t intend to have him sing?   McGraw can act. He’s actually very good in this movie, but he could have done more.

Country Strong has potential, but never reaches it. Wait for Netflix and then watch it for Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester. Let’s hope we get to see more of both of them in future movies.

2 nuggets out of 4