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film
Continued from Page 43
lusciously melodramatic “women’s picture” mode
(The Flower of My Secret and Talk to Her), you’re
in for a spectacular treat. In any case, the Spanish
auteur’s touch is so sure by now, one goes to any
new film of his confidently expecting a certain
singularly vivacious brilliance, and Volver doesn’t
disappoint.
Penèlope Cruz returns the favor Almodovar
granted her when he basically launched her inter
national career with 1997’s Live Flesh (as well as
giving her a plum role in 1999’s All About My
Mother): She is the pillar of Volver’s several story
lines and ensemble female cast, and she gives a
remarkable performance as Raimunda, a strong, life
loving woman who happens to be stuck in a dirty
kitchen sink of a marriage. When her husband turns
out to be even worse than she thought, events take
a turn that leave her and her daughter struggling to
get by. Meanwhile, the rest of the female members
of Raimunda’s family (including Almodovar
stalwart Carmen Maura in a most unusual maternal
role) learn that they didn’t know one another as
Queer director Pedro Almodôvar reunites with actress Penelope Cruz with Volver.
well as they thought, and the revelation of some
buried secrets, along with their sheer need for one
any gay cinephile will assure you, is a queer tradi | core. Colorful, warm, funny, yet ultimately
another’s support, leads them to buoy each other up
tion unto itself, with a queer coterie including
immensely moving, Volver is a both an eminently
through their conflicts and struggles, both with one
George Cukor, Rock Hudson, Rainer Werner
worthy example of the genre and yet another jewel
another and in their respective lives.
in Almoddvar’s already dazzling oeuvre. A
Fassbinder, John Waters and (more recently) Todd
—Christopher McQuam
Opening Dec. 22 at Cinema 21, Volver is
Haynes and Almodovar all having had their
enamored flirtations with the genre. This kind of j
possessed of the same assurance that Almodovar
film at its best is deceptively sumptuous, enticing j We Are Marshall
brought to 2004’s Bad Education; it’s a beautifully
made, virtually flawless film without a drop of sweat
Director McG (Charlie's Angels) delivers a
the viewer into an artificial, heightened, hyper-
on it. It is far less specifically queer in content than
heartfelt, emotional and inspirational movie based
dramatic world that is nevertheless far from
on the true story of a 1970 plane crash that killed
was Bad Education, but the “women’s picture,” as
escapist, with devastating emotional realities at its
the whole Marshall University football team
on a flight home to Huntington, W.Va., and
how the aftermath affects a small town.
Some people thought the university should
start up a new football team, while others
believed it would be too painful and a con
stant reminder of the tragedy. When the
school finds a new head coach (Matthew
McConaughey), he gathers players who, for
the love of the game, honor the memory of
the dead team. I’m not a football fan, but
this movie kept my attention. Don’t forget
to bring tissues! Opens Dec. 22. A-
—YPB
Wondrous Oblivion
Take Billy Elliot, remove the economic
tension, replace it with racial tension, and
you’ve got this charming but not highly orig
inal feel-good film about two families m a
silent struggle for social acceptance from
their working-class South London neighbors
in the 1960s. Eleven-year-old David
Wiseman is obsessed with cricket yet plays it
poorly. His father, a Jewish accent-heavy
workaholic, and his young, beautiful mother do
their best to raise their small family. Dennis Samuels
(well played by Delroy Lindo) and his Jamaican
family move in next door, where he erects a cricket
net and is quick to take David under his wing. The
Wiseman family is suddenly faced with losing the
shred of decency their bigoted neighbors have
shown them till now. Opens Dec. 15 at Hollywtxxl
Theatre. B-
—Malka Geffen ©
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