The Company Men (2010)

Most of us, maybe all of us, know somebody who is represented by the main characters in this movie.  That makes it a little more real, a little too real, and a little painful to watch.

Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones are guys in the way upper middle class who lose their jobs. There has been a ton of that going around in the last half decade.  If we have not experienced that ourselves, who know someone who has.

The painful process of losing one's job and making the necessary life-adjustments is only vaguely familiar many of us.  There but for the grace of some higher power go we?  Several scenes in this movie are painfully real.

Watch this with someone who has not lost their job recently.

No Country For Old Men

This is NOT your normal "Best Picture" winner. This is not even your normal movie. The characters are deeply disturbing. It is a brilliant piece of work. But, like other work of the Coen brothers, it is not for everyone. This movie will most likely leave you with more questions than it answers. If it does, then it has succeeding in defending itself. What other movie from last year are people still talking about?

Has crime and criminals changed so much over the years that there is no place any more for the techniques and attitudes of old-time law enforcement officers? This is just one of the questions posed by the Coens in this script.

When I said the characters were disturbing, I meant all of them. The good guys AND the bad guys here are all deeply flawed individuals. There are no white-hat-wearing heroes. The villain is as dark and fearsome as they come.

Javier Bardem truly earned his Best Supporting Actor Oscar here. Cold-blooded is the only way I can think to describe his character. The Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) trying to figure out what is going on in his county calls Bardem's character a ghost. But the string of dead people across West Texas is real enough. The paradox here is the common sense of the "old men" are not shared by the new techniques of the new cops. Neither alone is enough to catch or hold the bad guy. He is too smart and too fast.

Josh Brolin is perfect as the Viet Nam vet living out his days in rural Texas. His instincts and skills keep him alive, and few steps ahead of the bad guy. But, it's not just the bad guy who is after him. No spoilers here.

I'm guessing you will not be happy with the ending of this movie. It is abrupt and at a very odd place. I even fast-forwarded through the credits to see if there was more movie after them. Nada. And this is where the real questions may begin for you as they did for me. What just happened? What does that mean? Can they really leave it at that?

Watch this movie with someone who does not need to tidy ending.

In The Valley of Elah

The Valley of Elah is where David defeated Goliath. Who is David in this movie and who is Goliath is still a bit unclear to me, but the story is referenced a time or two. I suppose on some level, the character of Tommy Lee Jones is David. Small by comparison. Simple and humble. His Goliath is a little more complex though.

Jones' character likens Goliath to a monster. When he tells the story to a young boy, it is intended to teach the boy how to face his "monsters". It may well be that the monster facing Jones' character is the truth. Or, it could be the Army. Or it could be the war in Iraq. I think he found if difficult to handle the truth.

His sons followed his example and served in the military. His youngest son served in Bosnia and then later in Iraq. Shortly after returning from Iraq, the son disappears. Was he AWOL? Was he killed by drug gangs? Was he lured away by a woman? Few clues are left behind. Seemingly.

Charlize Theron is almost unrecognizably thin in her role here a the only local police detective who helps Jones find his son. Once again she goes to great lengths to physically become her character.

Susan Sarandon plays the mother of the missing soldier. It is a small role, but heart-breaking. She is brilliant.

Many said this movie was anti-war and unpatriotic. Few characters in film history have been more patriotic than Jones' character. I did not find this movie either anti-war or unpatriotic. I did however, find it disturbing, and sad. Regardless of the truthfulness of the events in this movie, few can deny that soldiers today are far different than those of the greatest generation. War is different. The enemies are different. The problems are different.

This movie will most likely not change your opinions about Iraq, or Bush, or anything else. This is not a political movie. It is a gut-wrenching murder mystery. Opps, I just gave away one of the early questions. Sorry.

I can recommend watching this movie, because it is well-made. It is a very compelling story, even if you may not want to watch every scene. Some shots are pretty grisly. So, watch it with those who serve in your thoughts. Then go out and find a way to help them cope; either as a group or as individuals.

Space Cowboys

Clint Eastwood stars in and directs this very fun story based on the old axiom "Age and treachery with always overcome youth and vigor".

With the popularity of Senator John Glenn's geriatric space experiments in 1998 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, timing of Space Cowboys was perfect.

Eastwood was able to bring huge talent to the project with the expected magical results.

Tommy Lee Jones (Coal Miner's Daughter, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and The Fugitive) plays yet another role he seemed born to play. A very touching scene sums it up for him late in the film when he lovingly compares himself to an aging aircraft. This type of writing and acting is throughout the movie. Each character has a Hollywood moment.

Donald Sutherland (Kelly's Heroes, M*A*S*H, Backdraft, and Kiefer's father) plays the role every man over 60 dreams of. He is an uber-hip ex-astronaut who designs roller coasters. Who would not want this guy as a Grandfather?

James Garner (The Great Escape, Support Your Local Sheriff, and Victor Victoria) rounds the group of senior ex-jet-jockeys brought back into service to save the planet from sure destruction from antiquated nuclear weapons in decaying earth orbit.

Marcia Gay Harden (First Wives Club, Meet Joe Black, and recently Into the Wild) adds enough feminine touch to the main character group to keep things in balance.

Other names of note who come and go in the story are James Cromwell, Blair Brown, Jay Leno, William Devane, Loren Dean, and Rade Serbedijza.

Watch it with someone who is older and wiser.

The Missing

This movie is first and foremost a story of redemption and forgiveness. This is not your typical blockbuster directed by Ron Howard. It is dark and haunting, but it is complete. There is nothing missing. It shows the complete range of movies Howard is capable of bringing to the screen.

Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black series, Lonesome Dove series, and Al Gore's roommate at Harvard) leaves his family to "go injun" in this story set in 1885 New Mexico. His medicine woman daughter, Cate Blanchet (LOTR series, Aviator, and the next Indiana Jones movie) runs a ranch with her daughters. Daddy and daughter can't stand each other who turning their back on what the other considers important.

But, when girls are being kidnaped by thugs, and one of the girls is a granddaughter of Tommy Lee Jones, Daddy and Daughter unit, begrudging unit to get all the girls back. Jones is true to his Cherokee roots and goes after the bad guys. If you think you know what happens, think again.

Sounds sort of stock, but if you'd like to see a new twist on a western theme; and a bit dark at that, I recommend this one. Watch it with someone who does not jump too far when scary things happen.