Hacksaw Ridge Review

4.0 Stars

Hacksaw Ridge is the story of an Army Medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who was the first to ever receive the Medal of Honor for bravery without having fired a single shot.  His father Tom (Hugo Weaving) fought in World War I and it took its toll on Tom who turned to drinking and was often violent with his family.  It was his father's violence that prompted Desmond to commit to the Scripture's command that "Thou shalt not kill."  He refused to even pick up a gun.  Things got even tougher for Tom when both of his sons enlisted in the army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor launching the United States into World War II.

Desmond did not get along with his superiors in boot camp due to his opposition to guns and killing.  Refusing to train on Saturdays as it is the Sabbath, didn't earn him any popularity points with his fellow trainees either.  Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) made his training as hellish as possible and Desmond was beaten in his barracks by the other soldiers who viewed his conscientious objections as cowardice.  But Desmond did not give up their names when asked who attacked him.  He took everything they threw at him and persevered.  The day the squad was released from training, Desmond was arrested for his insubordination making him miss his own wedding day.  Only the testimony of his father saved him from a court martial.

Desmond's stand against killing continued in Okinawa, Japan as he refused to take up a weapon against the enemy, even though he believed their cause was just.  Instead, he regularly risked his own life, unarmed, to aid his wounded brothers away from the front lines to get medical attention.  In all, Desmond rescued over 75 men without ever firing a shot.

Hacksaw Ridge marks Mel Gibson's return to the Director's chair after a ten year hiatus after Apocalypto in 2006 and The Passion of the Christ in 2004.  Hacksaw Ridge has been nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture of the Year, Best Leading Actor (Andrew Garfield) and Best Director (Mel Gibson).  Gibson 2 for 2 in Oscar wins, both for Braveheart in 1996 that earned him the Best Picture of the Year and Best Director.  Hacksaw Ridge is another installment in brutally graphic, tragically realistic, touching and character-driven movies in Gibson's repertoire.  I was concerned about Andrew Garfield in this role.  He started gaining major recognition with his role in The Social Network in 2010 followed by a reprized role as Peter Parker / Spider-man in two Spider-man movies.  But this is quite a different role for Garfield and he more than rose to the occasion.  In fact, his performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination (Casey Affleck won for Best Actor in a Drama) and an Oscar nomination.

I was also concerned about Vince Vaughn in this very heavy movie.  I love him in his comedies, but he failed to impress in the second season of True Detective.  Granted, everyone failed to impress in that series follow-up, but particularly Vaughn who wasn't very convincing in his dramatic role.  While he was more than adequate in this role, he still proved to be the dimmest star shining in a sea of brightly burning suns. Vaughn will never be mentioned alongside the greats like R Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket, Louis Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman, or Christopher Walken in Biloxi Blues. 

That being said, early comments on the film, the notoriety of Gibson's previous works and the preview made me very optimistic for Hacksaw Ridge, so I gave it an anticipatory 4.0 Star Prediction.  And I'm going to stick with it giving it a solid 4.0 Stars.  It really had everything.  It started with a tragic family story torn apart by alcohol and violence.  It had a beautiful love story that was so pure and sweet.  It made you love and support Desmond in boot camp and feel for him as his fellow soldiers attacked him.  It ended with a brutal, graphic, realistic war reenactment.  That is one of Gibson's specialties: graphic violence that isn't just for the sake of being bloody, but rather because that's what actually happened.  And that's how you look at it.  You don't ask, "Why did that movie have to be so violent?"  Instead, you realize just how violent the war was and that makes Desmond's heroics just that much more incredible. Hacksaw Ridge was well worth the money in the theatre, definitely worth the 6 nominations, and a contender for a spot in my home collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see. 

Hacksaw Ridge Preview

Hacksaw Ridge is the story of an Army Medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who was the first to ever receive the Medal of Honor for bravery without having fired a single shot.  His father Tom (Hugo Weaving) fought in World War I and raised his sons Desmond and Hal to be seekers of peace and to never raise a weapon.  The War took its toll on Tom who turned to drinking and was often violent with his family.  Things got even tougher for Tom when both of his sons enlisted in the army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor launching the United States into World War II.

Desmond did not get along with his superiors in training due to his opposition to guns and killing.  Refusing to train on Saturdays as it is the Sabbath, didn't earn him any popularity points with his fellow trainees.  Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) makes his training as hellish as possible and he is beaten in his barracks by the other soldiers who view his conscientious objections as cowardice.  But Desmond did not give up their names when asked who attacked him.  He took everything they threw at him and persevered.  The day the squad was released from training, Desmond was arrested for his insubordination making him miss his own wedding day.  Only the testimony of his father saved him from a court martial.

Desmond's stand against the war continued in Okinawa, Japan as he refused to take up a weapon against the enemy, even though he believed their cause was just.  Instead, he regularly risked his own life, unarmed, to aid his wounded brothers away from the front lines to get medical attention.  In all, Desmond rescued over 75 men without ever firing a shot.

Hacksaw Ridge marks Mel Gibson's return to the Director's chair after a ten year hiatus after Apocalypto in 2006 and The Passion of the Christ in 2004.  Hacksaw Ridge has been nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture of the Year, Best Leading Actor (Andrew Garfield) and Best Director (Mel Gibson).  Gibson 2 for 2 in Oscar wins, both for Braveheart in 1996 that earned him the Best Picture of the Year and Best Director.  Hacksaw Ridge looks like yet another installment in brutally graphic, tragically realistic, touching and character-driven movies in Gibson's repertoire.  I was concerned about Andrew Garfield in this role.  He started gaining major recognition with his role in The Social Network in 2010 followed by a reprized role as Peter Parker / Spider-man in two Spider-man movies.  But this is quite a different role for Garfield.  Most of my trepidation subsided by watching the preview.  I was also more than just a little unsure about Shia LaBeouf in Man Down, but he absolutely slayed that performance in my opinion.  Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert, and pretty much everyone else who's opinion matters saw it differently, so I could also be wrong about this role for Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge.  Though he seems to be getting a much warmer reception.  I'm also concerned about Vince Vaughn in this very heavy movie.  I love him in his comedies, but he failed to impress in the second season of True Detective.  Granted, everyone failed to impress in that series follow-up, but particularly Vaughn who wasn't very convincing in his dramatic role.

That being said, early comments on the film, the notoriety of Gibson's work and the preview make me very optimistic for Hacksaw Ridge, so I'm giving it an anticipatory 4.0 Star Prediction.  I think it will be well worth the money in the theatre, hopefully worth the 6 nominations, and a contender for a spot in my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Fred Claus Reviewed

Fred Claus is the story of Nicholas Claus' (Paul Giamatti) older brother Fred (Vince Vaughn). It tells how the two brothers grew up and even though Fred was the older brother, he constantly lived in the shadow of Nick. We all know what Nick grew up to be, but what about his older brother? Well, he grew to be a well-intentioned, misguided Repo-man looking for his one big break. And that break is going to be a new casino, and all he needs is $50,000 to get it started. He schemes a plan to make some quick cash which gets the local Santa union riled up, lands him in jail and also in hot water with his girlfriend (Rachel Weisz). Out of desperation, he calls his brother Nick to bail him out and also hits him up for the 50 large. Nick agrees, but it seems he's in a bit of a bind himself and tells Fred he can have the money if he comes to the North Pole to help out during the Christmas Crunch time. There are more good kids asking for more toys than ever before and Nick is afraid they might not make it on time. To make matters worse, an efficiency expert Clyde Northcutt (Kevin Spacey) will be evaluating Santa's Toy Shop, and he's got a grudge against Nick. Clyde has already put the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny on notice and would love nothing more than to shut them down and streamline their Toy Shop down to the South Pole.
Vaughn's character was completely predictable; however, just like his girlfriend Wanda (Weisz), we just can't help but love him. His quick, sarcastic wit keeps us chuckling. He's basically a nice guy, just needs something to prompt him to dig down deep to be the great man he's destined to be. Giamatti is great as Santa Claus and I applaud the original take on the story: he takes his generosity and jolly demeanor and becomes a holiday figure as his career. The story is original, seeing Santa through the eyes of his jaded older brother, however it is a Vaughn movie, so the sequence is the same as every other Vaughn movie: good guy, witty sarcasm, has one big scheme that will make everything alright, that falls through, a life lesson must be learned, and a happy ending is sure to follow. Spacey was great as the vengeful Efficiency Expert, but then again, Spacey is great in everything. Unfortunately, when there was about 30 minutes left in the movie, you could already tell exactly what was going to happen: you knew what Fred's moral conscience would force him to do, you knew why Clyde was so angry with Santa and what Santa would do to turn it around, and you knew what would happen with Christmas and with every relationship hanging in the balance.
As far as Christmas movies go, I give them credit for originality in story. The set was amazing. Santa's Toy Shop was something out of a modern Norm Rockwell variety. Probably one of the most original scenes, a scene I haven't seen in a Christmas movie before was Christmas morning at the North Pole where the elves all gather to watch the kids opening their Christmas presents. It did tend to get a bit goofy at times - certain sound effects were completely unnecessary and as silly as the "biff", "bang", "booms" of the old Batman TV series; and there was a brother's support group with Frank Stalone, Stephen Baldwin and Roger Clinton that was good for a slight chuckle, but really wasn't necessary. So I was delightfully surprised, but not blown away by this movie. Then again, it's not really intended to be one of those movies. I don't see this being a new Christmas Classic and I don't see it joining my DVD collection, but I did enjoy it more than I thought I would.
So kudos to Vaughn and Giamatti. And what is the next movie that will either blow me away or leave me wanting a refund? We shall see . . .

Fred Claus Preview

Fred Claus is the story of Santa Claus as seen through the eyes of his older brother Fred. Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. Chaos and disaster put this Christmas at risk when St. Nick's older brother Fred pays him a visit to the North Pole. From the preview, this looks like another quirky Vaughn film - sharp, witty one-liners pave the way for a good guy a little down on his luck to the road of redemption. Vaughn is always the every-man's man who speaks what's on his mind, mildly offending the recipient of his comments while making the audience chuckle. In the end, he's the guy we're rooting for and while his one big scheme that will make everything alright doesn't quite turn out the way he plans, he learns a valuable lesson along the way and a happily ever after is sure to follow. Rachel Weisz from the Mummy Movies, Kevin Spacey from American Beauty and Kathy Bates from Misery round out this cast which actually gives me more hope that this will be a film worth watching. Plus, I'm a sucker for Christmas movies. That being said, Vaughn doesn't stray from his usual characters and film formula and it's tough to make a good, quality Christmas film that hasn't been redone a dozen times. However, to my recollection, I don't know of another film featuring Fred, St. Nick's older brother. So I'm skeptical, but anxious to see what this film has to offer. I think it's going to be silly, a couple touches of heart, but not a new Christmas classic. Instead it's going to be worth renting, but not one I'd clear our room in my DVD collection for. We shall see . . .