Swiss Army Man

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert/Starring: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Swiss Army Man is odd; no doubt about it. It is unpredictable, fun, amusing but also infuriating at times. The story is deceptively simple but its plot is hardly complicated. If you demand your movies be tethered to realism, this ain't your flick. Depending on your taste and expectations, this film will either be great fun or unending tedium. It exceeded my expectations but with some objective distance, much of its charm and off-the-wall humor will almost certainly evaporate. If my opinion of the movie seems decidedly noncommittal, it's because I can't seem to completely make up my mind about it.

Paul Dano plays Hank; a young man who is stranded, presumably on an island, though the place is hardly tropical and the environs seem strangely Pacific Northwest. As Hank, ragged and desperate, stands atop a plastic cooler with a noose around his neck; ready to consummate his suicide, he sees a body washed up on the beach. Suddenly Hank is gripped with curiosity and hope. He calls out even as his feet dangle precariously above the ground. A fortunate snap of his makeshift noose cancels his suicide, which frees him to investigate the body.

He finds the body belongs to a young man (Daniel Radcliffe), whose eyes seem lifeless though his body shows signs of life. How Hank determines this is given away in the trailer. All I will say about it is that it involves flatulence. As the audience will soon discover, flatulence plays a significant role in the film; it becomes a strange tool Hank exploits deftly (don't ask). Soon Hank discovers the washed up body has other attributes, which may not qualify him as a superhero but prove useful, nonetheless.

Hoping the young man will help him get off the island, Hank drags him to shelter inside a cave. When the heretofore mute young man actually speaks, Hank is horrified but also delighted that Manny, as he is subsequently called, is alive and capable of speech.

As Manny slowly comes to life and conversation, we learn little about his past or how he washed up on the island but we learn much about Hank. In Hank's possession is his cellphone, which features a picture of a beautiful, young woman Manny finds alluring. Wanting to share her identity with his new friend, Hank tells Manny the woman is someone he saw on the bus every morning but never had the courage to speak to. Manny becomes infatuated with the girl and before long, Hank makes a mock-up of a bus with debris and junk found on the island and even dresses himself to resemble the woman for Manny's delectation.

As the story moves along, it remains unclear just where Hank is stranded and if he is really stranded at all. The sheer ubiquity of human garbage makes Hank's claim about needing rescue suspect. One begins to wonder if Manny is actually real or just Hank's mental projection.

But in the meantime, Hank (and we) become acquainted with Manny's multi-talents. Utilizing Manny's flatulence, the two men are able to leave the island, motorboat style, with Hank riding his friend's back. How well one is attuned to the depiction of bodily functions in movies will determine how and if one finds this scene (and all the scenes involving flatulence) funny or just plain juvenile. They arrive at a place that looks pretty much like the place they left, which supports the idea of the island as a state of mind rather than a literal, physical place.

Hank also finds Manny's talents extend to dispensing water, like a drinking fountain, firing makeshift projectiles from his mouth and firing a grappling hook from his throat (again, don't ask; you have to see it for yourselves), among others.

It becomes apparent as we move further that the story isn't really about the two men but Hank's existential problems he faces in life, which include an unhappy relationship with his father and his inability to deal with his feelings.

The story reaches some kind of resolution when the two men discover civilization is literally beyond the next hill. They turn up in the yard of the woman in the cellphone photo (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has been in some very interesting films of late), who is naturally aghast to see Hank and his shabby appearance. We see that the young woman has a family and a suburban home, which makes her inaccessible to Hank. Shortly thereafter, the two men become a news item, which brings Hank's father to the scene.

Though the denouement is positive for Hank, the mystery of Manny's real identity eludes everyone, as he vanishes as quickly as he arrives. It doesn't take a genius to see Manny is an allegorical figure and a manifestation of Hank's better angels or psyche or however the viewer chooses to see him.

How all this plays and how well the filmmakers sell the movie's premise is partly contingent on the performances of its two principle actors. Paul Dano excels at playing emotionally or psychically wounded oddballs and is quite exceptional here. Radcliffe is no less odd and no less affecting. One can give him credit for being a good sport; playing a character with off-color physical attributes is probably a challenge.

The Daniels; as the writer/director team call themselves (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), have brought something out of the ordinary to summer cinema. With Independence Day stinking up the multiplex, it's nice to have something as strange as Swiss Army Man as a unique alternative.

I didn't love The Daniels' film but it left me guessing, which is always a quality worth paying for. We'll see if the film endures.

10 Cloverfield Lane

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Dan Trachtenberg/Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr.

It is always a treat when a plot doesn't immediately reveal secrets but slowly teases them out; keeping the audience on tenterhooks. It is even better when a story seemingly reaches some kind of resolution, only to shift into a higher gear; revealing a larger problem the protagonist must confront. 10 Cloverfield Lane, the smart and thrilling new film by first-feature director Dan Trachtenberg, does just that. Just when the heroine, Michelle (wonderfully played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) thinks she's overcome one terrifying ordeal, a more frightening problem presents itself. Trachtenberg's film, which bears only a titular resemblance to the 2009 film produced by J.J. Abrams, feels like two halves of two good films spliced together to form one really good one. His film is a mix of several genres, all of which form a seamless, effective narrative.

The film doesn't dawdle as the story's pace carries us quickly along. Michelle has just broken up with her boyfriend and has left their home behind. While speeding away, she finds her car has been violently forced off the road. Upon awakening, she finds one knee in a brace and herself chained to a wall in what looks like a basement. She also finds herself in her underwear and hooked up to an IV while her belongings are in sight but out of reach. Using the IV stand, she is able to collect her possessions, including some matches, which she uses to light a fire, which she thrusts into the ventilation duct in hopes of drawing attention from someone on the outside. Hearing the sound of heavy footsteps, the door to her locked room opens jarringly to reveal her captor; a rotund man named Howard (an exceptionally creepy John Goodman) who calmly informs her that he saved her from the wreckage that was her car. Frightened and unsure of Howard's intentions, Michelle begs for her own life. She also asks for her freedom while promising not to inform the authorities about her abductor. What Howard explains to Michelle is particularly strange, as he insists that something catastrophic has occurred outside; a nuclear attack that has rendered the outdoors irradiated and uninhabitable. He also tells her she is safe inside a survivalist bunker; a refuge of his own design built specifically for the predicament in which they find themselves.

The next day, Michelle finds she is allowed to leave the room and upon doing so, she meets another occupant; a youngish man approximately her age named Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), who wears one arm in a sling. She asks if he too was kidnapped but he insists his presence is strictly voluntary; as he begged Howard to allow him entrance into the bunker. He also mentions having done work for Howard in the past.

As Howard introduces them to the larger living area of the self-contained bunker, questions about his motives dog Michelle and Emmett (as well as the audience). Is Howard on the up and up; has a nuclear exchange with the Russians really come about or has an alien presence he refers to as "martians" arrived for colonization? Michelle naturally remains suspicious and is horrified to hear Howard tell Emmett that an excursion outdoors won't be possible for one to two years with the supposed, widespread radiation. Her suspicions about Howard's claims are further fed by the rumbling sounds she hears emanating beyond the bunker.

Though odd, Howard seems reasonably stable until a dinner conversation between Michelle and Emmett prompts a violent outburst. During his angry tirade, Michelle manages to steal his keys to the outer doors and later, during a tense exchange between she and Howard, she manages to temporarily trap him inside her bedroom while she hurries to unlock the outer doors. A terrific, nail-biting scene where Michelle desperately tries to remove the various locks to the outer doors with Howard in hot pursuit is particularly thrilling. When she shuts the inner door behind her, Howard begs her not to open the outer door. But when she looks through the window, she doesn't see carnage and a devastated landscape but sunshine and cornstalks swaying in the breeze; though moments later, a woman approaches the glass. As she pounds desperately on the window, demanding to be allowed inside, Michelle notices facial injuries, as if the woman had been exposed to radiation. Horrified by the woman's appearance and her violent, angry pleas, she returns inside, satisfied that Howard's claims have been corroborated.

At this point, the story becomes deliciously complicated. Not only must Michelle and Emmett contend with a violent, paranoid psychotic but with a world that may no longer exist as they knew it. The idea of characters being held prisoner by a madman and nuclear fallout makes a multiple-crisis plot irresistibly fun. But the screenwriters cleverly dole out more surprises and mysteries as the story unfolds. Again, we're left with more questions about what might actually be happening in the outside world and what other motives Howard may have for keeping Michelle and Emmett imprisoned.

The tension between Howard and Emmett and Michelle comes to a head when he discovers the two have been secretly designing an environmental suit from a shower curtain and plastic soda bottles. A shocking development makes it necessary for Michelle to plot an escape, which eventually propels the story from the horror genre to something conspicuously sci-fi. The surprise awaiting her (and the audience) is unexpected.

To reveal more about the story would be criminal, for much of its dark charms involve the element of surprise.

A chunk of praise for Trachtenberg's terrific film can be awarded to John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who bring their brilliant best to their respective roles. One may hope the role of Michelle is a breakthrough career move for Winstead, who has yet to crack the hard nut of stardom. She is perfectly cast for the part of a smart, resourceful, and tough woman; one who deals with every setback and harrowing development with pluck and grit. Goodman, ever the pro, is deeply creepy as Howard.

Trachtenberg, in his directorial feature debut, shows an old hand's talent for staging action. His camera work is taut, economical and to the point but he crafts suspense and horror from a story whose genre leanings are never fixed.

10 Cloverfield Lane is nice little pastry for Mid-March. One can only hope it finds an audience before super-hero films begin to trickle into movie houses. An imaginative, well-conceived flick deserves as much screen-time as Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will undoubtedly receive. If that $250 million juggernaut can deliver a worthwhile cinematic experience, we'll know it soon. We already know what Dan Trachtenberg can do with a meager $5 million budget and a talented cast. Imagine what he could do with a Jupiter-sized budget.

Kill the Messenger

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Michael Cuesta/Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Platt, Tim Blake Nelson, Andy Garcia, Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen and Ray Liotta

Based on the late Gary Webb's book Dark Alliance, director Michael Cuesta's Kill the Messenger tells the true story of a journalist who discovers the CIA is behind Nicaraguan drug trafficking and distribution in American cities. The real meat of the story is how the CIA used the drug-sale proceeds to finance the Contras war against the communist, Nicaraguan government during the eighties. The film also tells how the government subsequently discredited the story and impugned Webb's journalistic integrity.

Jeremy Renner, who shares a producer credit, plays Gary Webb, reporter for the small time newspaper The San Jose Mercury News. His family has moved from Cleveland following a mini-scandal involving Webb and a female colleague on the staff of the local newspaper. Webb's affair with the woman ultimately led to her suicide, which he and his wife Sue (Rosemarie DeWitt) are trying to put behind them.

After writing a story about the government's illegal seizure of drug dealer property, Webb receives a call from a mysterious woman named Coral Baca (portrayed by the stunning Paz Vega), who agrees to meet him in a diner to discuss her drug dealing boyfriend's arrest. Though Coral uses Webb to help free her boyfriend, she gives him a government transcript accidentally forwarded to her which details the testimony of a powerful drug dealer named Danilo Blandon (Yul Vazquez) during a federal trial. The testimony deals indirectly with cocaine and issues of national security involving the CIA. Sensing the story's enormity and its vast implications, Webb brings his idea for a series of articles exposing the CIA's drug connection to his editor Anna Simons (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who in turn enlists executive editor Jerry Ceppos (Oliver Platt) for guidance and oversight. While the editors are naturally wary of the story's legal fallout, they are also well aware of its power and scope.

Webb follows a lead, which brings him face to face with a powerful drug dealer serving time in a Nicaraguan prison named Norwin Meneses (Andy Garcia). Meneses offers more devastating details about cocaine shipments and CIA activities. Webb's investigation leads him further to a Washington higher-up named Fred Weil (Michael Sheen) who confirms the story's validity though not without some ominous warnings.

As one might expect, the government is on Webb's heels and it isn't long before a contingent of dark suits meets with him to bully and scare the journalist into dropping the story. After making a veiled threat, Webb informs them he will print the story. Webb's gutsy decision endangers himself and his family. To facilitate the spread of his story, Webb creates a website called Dark Alliance; an online collection of articles dealing with the scandal.

The story makes an impact in the newsworld, which earns Webb interviews on major network programs and fulsome praise from his editors. But as Webb pursues the story further, his family life suffers, leading to his exile from his home. His son also becomes aware of the Cleveland affair, which causes acute resentment.

As Webb's story becomes mainstream, the government begins to respond to the story. In a cunning turnabout, the government uses the very same news media that exulted in Webb's success. The government is then able to foment anti-Webb sentiment, which helps create a perception of journalistic fraud in the public eye. It is inevitable that all the sources we see Webb interview for his expose recant their stories, leaving him unable to refute the news media and the government's claims of fraud. Webb's diminished stature weakens his editor's moral support and trust.

The hornet's nest Webb disturbs ultimately leads him to resign from his post at the San Jose Mercury News when it becomes clear he no longer carries the confidence of the editorial staff and the paper's legal counsel.

The whole story of Gary Webb and his muckraking article, while fascinating and important, seems out of place in twenty-first century movie houses. There is a whiff of datedness to it. In this new world of terrorist anxieties and Middle-East upheaval, a story about CIA turpitude in Central America seems almost irrelevant. Though the film subtitles inform us that the government finally released documents confirming Webb's story in 1998, the general public was blissfully distracted by the Monica Lewinsky scandal. It seems that even a mere decade after the events Webb described in his articles, the public was already inured to their shocking implications. If only Webb had posted his story in 1990 and this film had been made soon after, both would have made a more powerful statement.

Cuesta's movie is hardly dull or bad; it is actually quite interesting but this isn't the era of All the President's Men; we're no longer shocked to learn the CIA or the government has had its grubby hands in filth. Vietnam, Watergate and the Iran/Contra affair have erased any lingering doubts we may still have as to our government's capacity for dishonesty and hypocrisy.

The terrific performances, led by an excellent Jeremy Renner, are many, even when screentime is at a premium for some castmembers. Oliver Platt and Mary Elizbeth Winstead are excellent, as is Rosemarie DeWitt. Michael Sheen, Barry Pepper and Ray Liotta are onscreen for a fly's life but they are memorable. Cuesta also keeps the film's pace steady but urgent. Tension is established and sustained

I liked the way the disclosure of Webb's Cleveland affair is made a kind of moral parallel to the exposure of the CIA's immoral operations. Everyone has some dirt under their carpet but to what degree one is accountable for their wrongs, personal or public, either redeems them or, in the CIA's case, leaves them condemned.

I admire Jeremy Renner for wanting to tell Gary Webb's story. I would hate for Hollywood to stop making movies about muckrakers and I would hate it more if said muckrakers stopped being nosy about government malfeasance. The movie is merely a case of too much too late.

The government report must have given Webb a small sense of satisfaction but even up to his death, he still had his detractors and critics. The subtitles tell us his death in 2004 was sucide though he sustained two bullet wounds to the back of his head (!).

Though well-depicted, well-directed and exceptionally acted, Kill the Messenger left me feeling I had just tried on a shirt I wore back in high school, only to find it out of style and hopelessly ill-fitting. If awards were doled out for meaningful intentions, producer and star Jeremy Renner could win a tall, golden statue, but he'll have to settle and hope for healthy box-office instead.