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Invisible
Workers DIRTY PRETTY THINGS: Directed by Stephen Frears. Written by Steven Knight. Produced by Robert Jones, Tracey Seward. Executive producers, Paul Smith, David M. Thompson, Tracey Scoffield, Allon Reich, Teresa Moneo and Julie Goldstein. Cinematographer Chris Menges. Editor, Mick Audsley. Production design, Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski. Music, Nathan Larson. Costumes, Odile Dicks-Mireaux. Starring Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sergi Lopez, with Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Wong, Zlatko Buric. BBC Films. Miramax Films, 2003. R. 97 minutes.
You've probably never heard of the actors in Stephen Frears' impressive dramatic thriller, Dirty Pretty Things, except for Audrey Tautou (Amelie). A movie about immigrants from wherever working menial jobs in London may not sound like your kind of movie. But in the Third World, good people work hard just to survive. And if they're lucky enough to immigrate or escape to a developed country, they work even harder to move into secure jobs that pay a living wage. Most stay trapped as the lowest workers in the city's underbelly, where they are invisible. There they may become so desperate even the unthinkable looks like a way out. Forgive the preaching. Frears doesn't do any of that in this smart, sharp film. Instead he creates characters you care for, places them in degrading jobs with sleazy bosses and cranks up the tension at every turn. Be warned: You may be disturbed by some visuals and by the unpleasant content of this movie. Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is an illegal from Nigeria, where he was once a doctor. He now works two jobs. He drives a cab and is the night desk clerk at the Baltic Hotel, which has seen better days. Okwe's corrupt bosses think nothing of requiring the hired help to break the law. Once they discover Okwe has training as a doctor, the hotel manager and the cabbie dispatcher boss pressure him for unsavory favors. Just to stay awake, Okwe chews so much green-leafed quat that he hallucinates. When and if he sleeps, it's on the couch in the flat of another immigrant, Senay (Audrey Tautou), a Turkish woman who cleans rooms at the hotel. They work different shifts and must meet surreptitiously, always in a public place, to exchange the key to the flat. Senay is afraid of the ruthless immigration officials and of her boss, Señor Juan (Sergi Lopez), who's called "Sneaky" by all the hotel's immigrant workers. One ordinary work day, Okwe's boss at the taxi stand asks him to play doctor because he thinks he has a venereal disease. When everyone there turns up with VD, Okwe gets antibiotics from his chess partner and fellow immigrant, Guo Yi (Benedict Wong), who works in a hospital crematorium. At his night job, Okwe is told by a friendly prostitute leaving the hotel, Juliette (Sophie Okonedo), to check the room she was in. He finds an overflowing toilet. He fixes the toilet but is disturbed to find it jammed by a heart, a fresh human heart. Curiosity leads Okwe to investigate, but he ends up in places he doesn't want to be. While this is not an upbeat tale, neither is it unremittingly grim. Strangers in a strange land may band together in unexpected ways to achieve similar goals. As in Frears' High Fidelity, his characters find humor, love and beauty in ordinary life, even selflessness. And Frears has worked with immigrant themes before, in 1987's Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, with a script by Hanif Kurishei, who also wrote for Frears' 1985 My Beautiful Laundrette, starring then-unknown Daniel Day Lewis. Screenwriter Steven Knight is a novelist, a comedy writer, a speechwriter and co-creator of television's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Fired up to write a novel, Knight had a Turkish friend who introduced him to London's sweatshops, which led to the idea of immigrants as invisible, expendable workers. Before the end, Knight allows hope to enter the story, and it's a better film for it. Dirty Pretty Things opens at the Bijou on Friday, Sept. 12. Highly recommended for Chris Menges' cinematography; Frears' even-handed, elegant direction; and Okwe's cool dignity under stress. I look forward to seeing more of Ejiofor and am pleased to see Tautou take on more dramatic roles.
Cabin Fever: Four college friends vacation at a remote cabin, but one of them gets very sick, and the others struggle with life and death decisions as their terror rises. Directed by Eli Roth; stars Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Dirty Pretty Things: Stephen Frears directs Audrey Tautou and Chiwetel Ejiofor as immigrants in London who work at the same West London hotel, a secret underworld of illegal activity. Thriller. Excellent performances and a weird beauty. Highly recommended. R. Bijou. See review this issue. Fighting Temptations, The: Cuba Gooding Jr. plays an ad exec who inherits money only if he conducts a rural gospel choir. Co-stars Beyoncé Knowles. Musical comedy directed by Jonathan Lynn. PG-13. Sneak at 7 pm on 9/13. Cinemark. Grind: Four skaters follow their idol on his summer tour in an attempt to get noticed, get sponsored and become stars themselves. Directed by Casey La Scala; stars Mike Vogel, Vince Vieluf, Adam Brody, Joey Kern and Jennifer Morrison. PG-13. Movies 12. Matchstick Men: Ridley Scott directs this tale of a couple of grifters working small-time cons, until personal issues arise. Stars Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, with Alison Lohman and Bruce McGill. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. No Good Deed: Alternate title: House on Turk Street. Directed by Bob Rafelson, based on a story by Dashiell Hammett, this limited release stars Samuel Jackson, Milla Jovovich and Stellan Skarsgard, whose performances reportedly make the film. R. Cinemark. Once Upon a Time in Mexico: Directed by Robert Rodriguez. Antonio Banderas as El Mariarchi, now involved in international espionage. Costars Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Secondhand Lions: Haley Joe Osment is sent to his great uncles' rural Texas farm, where the city boy has much to learn. Robert Duvall and Michael Caine may have been bank robbers. Written and directed by Tim McCanlies (writer, The Iron Giant). PG. Sneak at 5 pm on 9/14. Cinemark. Under the Tuscan Sun: Diane Lane plays writer Frances Mayes in this screen adaptation of her best selling book about buying a run-down villa in Italy and creates a new life. PG-13. Sneak at 7:30 on 9/13. Cinemark.
CONTINUING: American Wedding: Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are getting married. Now if their friends and family will just stay on their best behavior. Right. American Pie's crude humor lives on. Also stars January Jones, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Seann William Scott and Eddie Kaye Thomas. R. Cinemark. Bruce Almighty: Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston star in this tale of a at TV reporter, who has a really bad day, rages against God and receives more than he expected. PG-13. Movies 12. Charlie's Angels Full Throttle: McG again directs the angels — Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and ex-angel Demi Moore — to save the government's witness protection program, from which classified info has been stolen. Written by John August. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Daddy Day Care: Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garlin lose their jobs and can't afford day care for their sons, so they open their own facility. Comedy directed by Steve Carr also stars Anjelica Huston, Steve Zahn and Regina King. PG. Movies 12. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star: Sam Weisman directs David Spade in his role as a 35-year old out of work actor who hires a family so he can relive his childhood and finally grow up. With Mary McCormack, Jon Lovitz, Craig Berko, Rob Reiner. PG-13. Cinemark. Finding Nemo: Pixar's computer-animated fantasy of two Clownfish, Marlin and his son Nemo, who get separated in the Great Barrier Reef. Written and directed by Andrew Stanton (A Bug's Life), with voices by Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, Allison Janney. Very highly recommended. G. Cinemark. Online archives. Freaky Friday: Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan play a quarreling mother and daughter who accidentally switch bodies. Ooops! Mark Harmon plays the mom's fiancé. Directed by Mark Waters, based on Mary Rodgers' book. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online archives. Freddy vs. Jason: The ultimate celebrity death match: Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) takes on Jason "The Face Mask" Voorhees (Ken Kerzinger), in this film directed by Ronny Yu. R. Movies 12. Hollywood Homicide: Fast-paced action comedy directed by Ron Shelton stars Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as cops, with Isaiah Washington, Lena Olin, Bruce Greenwood, Master P., Lolita Davidovich, Dwight Yoakum, Keith David and Martin Landau. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Hulk, The: Director Ang Lee's action-adventure adaptation of the Marvel Comics series hits darker notes than usual superhero comics. Scientist's (Eric Bana) inner demons change him after a catastrophic experiment. Also stars Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, Josh Lucas and Sam Elliott. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Italian Job, The: Back in town again. Mark Wahlberg leads a heist that's double-crossed by one of his crew. Charlize Theron plays a safecracker in this cool revenge movie. Also stars Edward Norton, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland. Highly recommended for its pure entertainment value. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Jeepers Creepers 2: High school basketball players, cheerleaders and coaches are stranded on notorious highway, and they have to struggle against a winged nightmare. Directed by Victor Salva, stars Ray Wise, Jonathan Breck and more. Horror, violence and language. R. Cinemark. Johnny English: Inept Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) tries to solve who has stolen the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Accompanied by his assistant Bough (Ben Miller), Johnny bungles his way through one scrape after another. Directed by Peter Howett. PG. Movies 12. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Based on the comic book miniseries by Alan Moore, directed by Steve Norrington, the movie stars Sean Connery, Peta Wilson, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Naseeruddin Shah, and Tony Curran. PG-13. Movies 12. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde: Reese Witherspoon is Elle Woods, Harvard Law, class of 2001, now in DC on behalf of pet animal's rights. Luke Wilson's her boyfriend, Jennifer Coolidge's her manicurist, Sally Field and Bob Newhart are new. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld directs. PG-13. Movies 12. Matrix Reloaded: Second chapter brings Neo (Keanu Reeve), Trinity (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) closer to solving the enigma but also puts them in greater danger. Written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski, it also stars Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith and Gloria Foster. R. Movies 12. Online archives. My Boss's Daughter: Comedy directed by David Zucker stars Ashton Kutcher, whose boss, Terrence Stamp, asks him to look after his house for a night. But he has company, including the beautiful Tara Reid and strange visitors. PG-13. Cinemark. Open Range: Kevin Costner directs and stars with Robert Duvall in this traditional Western. A corrupt cattle baron (Michael Gambon) forces the cowboys to take up arms. Also stars Annette Bening, whose restrained performance is warm and real; Abraham Benrubi, Diego Luna. Recommended. Cinema World. Cinemark Online archives. Order, The: Writer, director Brian Helgeland's mystery, thriller, horror film stars Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Peter Weller, Benno Furmann and Mark Addy. Ledger belongs to an arcane order of priests known as the Carolingians. R. Cinemark. Cinema World. Pirates of the Caribbean: Non-stop adventure directed by Gore Verbinski stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Depp sashays, Rush dissembles, Bloom fences and Knightley swashbuckles. Depp and Rush's over the top performances are great. Recommended. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online archives. Rugrats Go Wild: Nickelodeon's animated diaper set meets up wit the Wild Thornberrys after being washed ashore to a desert island from a storm-wracked cruise ship. Directed by Norton Virgien and John Eng. Bruce Willis voices Spike the dog. PG. Movies 12. S.W.A.T. Police Special Weapons and Tactics unit buddies Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell star in this action-thriller based on the 1970s TV series. Also with Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J. PG-13. Cinemark. Seabiscuit: A has-been racehorse becomes America's Depression-era success story. Seabiscuit gets support from jockey Tobey Maguire, trainer Chris Cooper, and owner Jeff Bridges. Written, directed by Gary Ross based on Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling non-fiction book, it also stars Elizabeth Banks, William H. Macy. Highest recommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online archives. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: DreamWorks animated pirate adventure tale stars the voice of Brad Pitt as Sinbad, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marina, and Michelle Pfieffer as the goddess of chaos. Joe Fiennes plays Proteus, a rival pirate. Directed by Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore. PG. Movies 12. Spy Kids 3D: Game Over: Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara continue to embrace the family business — spying — but this time the Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone) may be their nemesis. Also, Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino. Special 3-D viewing glasses required. Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. PG. Cinemark. Swimming Pool: Charlotte Rampling plays a famous British mystery writer and Ludivine Sagnier plays a sexually precocious teen in Francois Ozon's suspense drama set in the South of France. Beautiful, moody piece. R. Bijou. Online archives. Twenty-eight Days Later: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) directs scary horror film set in a post-cataclysmic future, where a deadly virus sweeps through earth's population, leaving people in a chronic state of killer rage. Stars Christopher Eccleston, Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Megan Burns and Brendan Gleeson. New possible ending. R. Movies 12. Uptown Girls: Brittany Murphy stars as the freewheeling daughter of a late rock legend, but when her inheritance is stolen, she's forced to get a job as a nanny to precocious Ray Schleine (Dakota Fanning), an "eight-year-old going on forty." In a comedic battle of wills, each discovers in the other a true friend. Directed by Boas Yakin. Also stars Heather Locklear. PG-13. Cinemark. Winged Migration: Documentary directed by Jacques Perrin shows many bird species making round trip migrations of up to 10,000 miles up close. Ingenious ultralight aircraft let movie's 13 cinematographers fly right next to, in front of or below the birds they were filming. A moving film. Highest recommendations. Bijou. Online archives.
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RELEASES ON VIDEO Enigma (2002): Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet and Jeremy Northam star in Michael Apted's WWII drama about cracking the German code and saving the war for the Allied forces. Burdened by many subplots, the film offers the viewer secrets, spies, a missing woman and romance in addition to history. Recommended. R. Online archives. Enough: Jennifer Lopez tries to get away from her abusive husband, played by Billy Campbell ("Once and Again"), in Michael Apted's drama. Also, Juliette Lewis, Noah Wyle. PG-13. Monty Python and the Holy Grail Collector's Edition: The usual suspects pull out all the stops in this wild 2-disc set, which includes the script, commentary, mindless sing-alongs and much, much more.. Next week: Bombay Talkie (1970), Daddy Day Care, The Dancer Upstairs, Heat and Dust (1983), Holes, A Mighty Wind, Shogun and 24: Season Two. |
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