AFI, Day 2

Okay, so today was Day Two for me at the AFI Fest. My overall "celebrity" count has shot up to five, as I saw Patrick Swayze and (I think) Anthony Lapaglia coming out Andy Garcia's new movie, The Lost City. I also saw Debbi Morgan (best known for her Independent Spirit Award-winning performance in Eve's Bayou) at the entrance to the Arclight.

So, here's what I saw today:

A Dios Momo - Shot on DV in Uruguay, this fable about an illiterate paperboy who dreams of becoming a soccer star combines neorealism and fantasy in a way that is reminiscent of DeSica's Miracle in Milan. Though its heart is in the right place, the execution's just not there: the boy who plays the main character is certainly a cute little fella, but he doesn't have the chops that the film demands.

Also, there are a number of shots that came out pixelated (including all of the footage from a crucial sequence of shots of the kid at the end of the movie). Additionally, though the framework of the story seemed promising, many of A Dios Momo's scenes fail to deliver to their full potential. Grade: C-

Tsotsi - Already picked up for distribution by Miramax, this movie must either be getting great reviews or a lot of hype, because the screening sold out and they had to close the doors five minutes before showtime and turn people away. It seemed like everyone sitting around me was wearing one of those red "industry" passes (producer-types, etc. apparently), so this certainly has to be a hot property.

Well, given the atmosphere surrounding the film, I have to say that I was sorely disappointed by what I saw. In the first 10 minutes, we're introduced to a petty crook named Tsotsi (which literally means thug in the local language) and his gang, setting up a promising bunch similar to the gangsters from City of God. After Tsotsi comes away from a botched carjacking with a baby, we get some Three Men and a Baby action that isn't all that amusing.

From there, the movie sleepwalks from scene to scene, squandering one chance after another to thrill, amuse or provide much insight into the main character's often-puzzling actions. After the movie, the director stated that the novel the film is based upon spent a lot of time explaining the character's thoughts and motivations, and even offered some insight into one of the scenes in the movie. Well, I'm sorry bub... you can't go to every multiplex in America and explain what's going on in your movie; if you didn't get it on celluloid, then it doesn't count. Grade: C+

Swimmers - The best film that I saw today was Swimmers, a character study whose pitch-perfect dialogue reminded me of films like In the Bedroom and The Station Agent.

Set on Maryland's eastern shore, the film concerns a family whose youngest child, 11-year old Emma, suffers a serious ear injury. Soon thereafter, as if they weren't facing enough financial turmoil, the father's boat sinks and the insurance company only offers him a small settlement. Having lost his boat, the father bounces from job to job and struggles with drinking too much. While all this chaos swirls around her, Emma befriends Merril, a grown woman (Deadwood's Sarah Paulson) who is dealing with issues from her own troubled childhood that has recently moved back to town.

Driven by characters more than story, the beauty of Swimmers (unlike the first two films I saw today) is in the execution -- incredibly knowing, well-written dialogue that rings true as a bell, actors who thoroughly understand their characters inside and out, and a lyrical (yet understated) visual presentation that cares more about conveying an authentic sense of place over flash. Grade: A-

An American Haunting - In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not much of a horror aficionado. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that my wife is a big fan of scary movies, I almost certainly would've been seeing something else. She seemed to think this was pretty solid (giving it a 4 out of 5 on those little voting slips they hand out), but I was considerably less impressed than she.

As far as the story, it's supposedly based on "the only time in US history where the government has acknowledged that supernatural forces were responsible for a man’s death." After her father (Donald Sutherland) loses a legal dispute with a neighbor who's reputed to be a witch, young Betsy Bell begins to undergo a nightly regimen of torture at the hands of some supernatural force. She has nightmares, is chased by wolves that may or may not be there, and gets tossed around her room like a rag doll (or Mrs. Ike Turner).

I hardly found the film as "terrifying" as the program coordinator seemed to intimate that it would be (although, it's not like she was gonna tell a room full of people that the movie sucked, even if it did). I don't know; rather than trying to tell a story, it appeared to me like the filmmakers were just trying to string together a bunch of scenarios which would allow them have something creepy pop out at someone with the volume cranked all the way up, or throw poor, screaming Betsy around the room a few more times. Grade: C