Weekend Glomming

We had a bit of a Christian Bale weekend here at the Cake Eater Pad.

The husband picked up The Machinist the other day at the video store and we finally got around to watching it on Friday. (Thank you, Blockbuster for your no late fees policy!) It seemed a bit dark and I wasn't really sure what the plot was about, but...that, ultimately, turned out to be a good thing. Hence, I'm going to skip describing the plot because I don't want to spoil it for you.

It's a fabulous, if dark, movie. It all just depends upon how you like your stories told. If you want everything to happen quickquickquick, this movie is most definitely not for you. The pace of it will drive you mad. However, if you don't mind the time it takes for a flower open up when sunlight graces its petals, you'll like this film. Because, to continue the metaphor, the plot opens up just like a rose when the sun hits it first thing in the morning. You have to wait a while for it to start blooming, but when it does, you've become utterly caught-up in the story. Ulitmately, it's one of those films where you watch for clues, which are delivered sparingly, you put them together, you form your hypothesis about where it's going and when you're found to be correct, you're satisfied instead of disappointed.

Bale is utterly mesmerizing to watch in this film. How he manages to stand up, let alone walk and talk and breathe, is beyond me. He dropped sixty pounds for this role. He looks like---and I'm sorry for this comparison but it's true---his head should be shaved and he should be wearing striped pajamas. Every bone in his body just sticks out, hence all of his movement, his facial expressions---every little thing he does to get this character across---is heightened. When you receive a flashback to the past, and he's at his normal weight, he seems almost too hale and hearty. This, undoubtedly, was the intention, and it works. I just hope he didn't damage himself in the process.

The Cake Eater Verdict: Spend the money and watch it. You won't be sorry.

Both the husband and I were keen to see Batman Begins. It lost the toss of the coin last weekend (we actually do flip coins to decide which movie gets watched first, or whose movie we see. It's only fair.) so it had to wait until today.

If Keaton's your favorite Batman currently, well, Bale will forever be your favorite after seeing this movie. He's my favorite now. He even does the "I'm Batman" thing perfectly. I would wager that this is where Keaton wanted to go with the character, but where he wasn't allowed to roam because of Kim Basinger's idiotic Vicky Vale, Tim Burton's effects showboating, and Jack Nicholson's over the top villain.

This is the Batman movie we've all been waiting to see. This is what Ebert said in his review and I completely agree with him:

{...}I said this is the Batman movie I've been waiting for; more correctly, this is the movie I did not realize I was waiting for, because I didn't realize that more emphasis on story and character and less emphasis on high-tech action was just what was needed. The movie works dramatically in addition to being an entertainment. There's something to it.{...}

It does work. Very well. I've always been one of those freaks who likes Batman, but who always wished they'd spend more time on Bruce Wayne. Yeah, sure he fell into a cave when he was a little boy and was swarmed by bats and this affected him, but until this movie came along, you never really had a plausible explanation as to why he chose the bat as his symbol, what it really meant to him. With this movie, you do, and it fits perfectly. Not too neatly, because then you'd lose part of the mystery of Batman, but it fits plausibly enough, the ends are tied up loosely, not with Boy Scout knots, and it works.

And while we're on the subject of plausibility, well, this movie has it in spades. You could almost believe that, given the tools he has and how he got them, well, he could exist today. The Batmobile is the perfect example: I could completely see where someone would come up with that for military purposes. The supporting characters are plausible as well. Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon is just a regular cop. He refuses to go on the take, but he doesn't rat anyone out either. He's not someone of above-average intelligence, outstanding political skills, or holier-than-thou-morals but rather someone who just wants to get the job done; a decent man who knows his limits. In every other Batman movie (or even the tee vee show) you have a "Commissioner Gordon" who always reminds me of someone who could have been cast as a supporting player in Plunkett of Tammany Hall.. I'd always wondered how Batman and Gordon got chummy in the first place, and in this version you finally get a plausible explanation: Gordon was kind to Bruce Wayne when he lost his parents as a child. The then-commissioner came in, shooed Gordon away, and tried to treat a little kid, who just happened to be rich, like he was an adult, informing him that they caught the guy. Gordon was kind, and that's what counted.

I, quite literally, could go on about this movie for quite some time, but I'll spare you. Because it's late and I want to go to bed. So, I will simply say that you really should go and see it. It's a great movie.

Posted by Kathy at June 26, 2005 11:58 PM