A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING Review

Any film that chooses to embrace Electric Light Orchestra, or for that matter acknowledge how wonderful ELO truly is, is okay in my books. This bodes well for A Hologram for the King as it seemingly has a lot to offer, but ends up offering as much in such a fashion that it feels it's holding back on the best, most interesting stuff. I haven't read the novel by Dave Eggers on which this film adaptation is based, but from being familiar with Eggers style and having his influence be strongly present during my college years I can see how this book, which was published after I graduated from college, would seem like a natural progression for the writer. He is getting older, so too are his protagonists, but the existential questions still remain-just in different forms and from different perspectives. Though I haven't read Eggers' novel it is easy to see the main ideas and themes the author was addressing come through in the opening moments of director Tom Tykwer's (Cloud Atlas, Run Lola Run) film. Tykwer takes us through the deconstruction of what more or less defines success in Western culture and strips it away from our protagonist before dropping him into Saudi Arabia where success and satisfaction are still measured in many of the same ways, but where society has a more narrow view of how those rewards should be distributed and touted. Still, the film doesn't look down upon its main setting so as to say we have it all figured out in America and they should take note, but rather it displays the still very present complications and struggles alive within a well to-do, middle-aged white guy that should seemingly have it all, including any opportunity he desires. Most writers place their surrogates into characters who mimic themselves which translates to an abundance middle-aged white guys, but here the choice to have the lead character fit this profile is a strategic one, a decision that greater emphasizes the difference in having it all and having what is meaningful. I'm still not sure if there is an analogy or metaphor that we should interpret from the title, but it seems it should naturally have an underlying meaning. I bring this up because much like the title of the film the contents feel as if there should be more to them, something that anchors the ideas and makes them feel more substantial; effecting viewers in greater ways. Instead, A Hologram for the King simply skims the surface, albeit an interesting surface.

ENOUGH SAID Review

There were several factors that seemed to weigh in on the idea that Enough Said might not be more than a film anyone would ever care to talk about, but would serve as a pleasant diversion only to end up somewhere down the road all but forgotten with its simple poster and intentionally low-key indie status. Both stars of the film, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini, are well-respected names with extremely strong credentials as far as television work goes, but neither of them had ever become more than recognizable supporting characters in most of their big screen roles, though for some reason I always believed Gandolfini would grow into more of that unconventional leading man that attracted a built-in audience. All of this to say that the film took on much more weight with the passing of Gandolfini this past summer. Suddenly, this was not only one of his last movies, but his very last starring role. Upon first seeing the trailer I didn't think much as it looked to be little more than an adult romantic comedy that explored love lives after divorce and while likely intelligently written it also possessed a plot device that seemed rather hokey and something that might serve as the basis for a half-hour sitcom rather than an entire movie. What comes to be surprisingly effective about Enough Said though is that it isn't at all what you expect it to be. It doesn't play into the conventions of that otherwise despised genre that makes love look like an accessory rather than a necessity in life, but it takes on the emotion and all the baggage that comes with it in the varying relationships one has as they're passing through the middle section of their lives. This is as much about being a parent as it is a developing relationship, this is just as much about friendship and the different dynamics of every relationship as it is about a crazy coincidence that brings several different people together who share a common friend, and in some cases more than that. This is a film that subtly and comfortably approaches getting old while embracing the younger generations around it and while maybe not learning something from them, at least gaining a new experience that gives them a new perspective on life. Again, all of this to say that Enough Said is cute, often very funny, and one of the more purely enjoyable experiences I've had at the movies this year.