A Look Back: The Emperor’s Club

In the movies, if you wish to charm your balky charges into accepting you, a number of options are available. You can simply wait them out, or if you prefer to take a more proactive role, you can follow the lead of Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music,” and let your wards hang out with you during a thunderstorm, then follow that up by making them hideous play clothes from drapery. If you’re a coach with a plucky but ragtag team, playing hardball at first but then gradually coming to see your players as individuals should do the trick. If you’re a teacher, it’s always a bonus if you can take Shakespeare and turn his work into a rap song. Letting your students play soccer while shouting inspirational quotes worked well for Robin Williams in “Dead Poets Society,” and later on for Kevin Kline in a similar film, “The Emperor’s Club,” getting his students to dress in togas did much to ignite their latent passion for Latin history. Let me explain further.

“The Emperor’s Club,” based on a short story by Ethan Canin, relates things from the teacher’s viewpoint both during his tenure at a prep school and then years later when he reunites with his class as adults. Kevin plays the lead, and except for a chaste flirtation with the school’s sole woman teacher (Embeth Davidtz) has settled into a decades-old bachelor lifestyle. His main relationship is with his Latin history class, particularly his three top students played as teens by Rishi Mehta (The Earnest Minority), Jesse Eisenberg (A Second Earnest Student), and Paul Dano (Yet a Third Earnest Student), all of whom are eager to compete in the end-of-term “Mr. Julius Caesar” contest – a history trivia competition. However, a wrench is thrown in their plans by the arrival of new student (Emile Hirsch) who has been living like a renegade. Though Kevin immediately assumes responsibility and even visits Emile’s father (Harris Yulin), he’s rebuffed, as Harris wishes Kevin to teach only history, not values. This cannot stand, though, and eventually Kevin stumbles onto the key to unlock Emile’s inner Good Kid (hint: it’s an impromptu game of baseball).

After Emile begins, however haltingly, to apply himself, Kevin feels obligated to, shall we say, nudge him into the prestigious contest (bumping out Jesse), but then (spoiler alert) Emile goes and cheats – leaving Kevin with a dilemma. Eventually, (more spoilers) Kevin massages things so another student wins – but since Emile knows Kevin knows and did nothing, his respect for the teacher is shot. Fast forward to when Emile and co. are adults, and Emile decides to host a reunion at his lavish home, complete with a re-match of the Julius Caesar contest. And dang, if history doesn’t repeat itself – but the movie adds a twist the story lacks by having Emile’s young son overhear their confrontation. According to Kevin’s character, this is “a story without surprises,” but to movie viewers used to teachers who do the right thing against all odds, “The Emperor’s Club” may come as an intriguing change.

A Look Back: The Social Network

Hey, remember Friendster? Or MySpace? Me either, but Facebook, the subject of “The Social Network,” is still very much alive and kicking. It might be a never-ending debate whether social media does more harm to society than good, or perhaps not, depending on your generation, but it appears to be here for the long haul. Which means, as humor columnist Dave Barry once put it, that it’s possible for someone in this era to waste more time in an hour than their parent did in an entire day. It means trying to drag one’s attention away from fascinating news (“Does Donald Trump Know How to Shake Hands?”), in order to do far duller stuff like say, write one’s blog. Difficult, but not (yet) impossible.

Originally, I thought Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Network,” which came out in 2011, was based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich, which it sort of is, except both projects, the book and the script, were written simultaneously. But they both tell the real-life story of how Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, rose from a humble Harvard student (albeit one already known as a programming prodigy) to become the youngest billionaire (currently the fifth richest) in history. Like Sorkin’s “Steve Jobs,” (the one with Michael Fassbender, not Ashton Kutcher), this is a tale of how the smartest person in the room, with help from a few other smart and savvy people, achieved success, but betrayed a friend and ended successful but not satisfied as a human being. In the opening scene that reportedly required 99 takes, Mark (Jesse Eisenberg) presents a tutorial of how not to treat one’s girlfriend (Rooney Mara). He then, after being offensive, proceeds to compound the problem by a) blogging about his discontent and b) setting up a feature on the college site which allows users to rank two pictures of either male or female students on attractiveness. Surprisingly, this does not go over well with the Harvard administration, but as it turns out, the story’s just getting started.

After Rooney dumps him with the warning, “The Internet is written in ink,” Jesse is approached by preppy crew-team twin brothers (both played by Armie Hammer) who want his help with a social networking site. They also bring in Max Minghella, and in an attempt to improve on the idea of a site for Ivy Leaguers, Jesse develops what becomes Facebook, getting Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) to fund it. Later, Napster co-founder (Justin Timberlake in a Mephistopheles role) Sean Parker comes on board, as its success grows. Because this is interwoven with “present day” depositions of Armie and Andrew, we already know that there has been conflict. While Armie attempts to recruit the college president to aid him in an “intellectual property theft” scandal, the president pretty much laughs him (or both hims) out of the room. Andrew’s problem is that he loses shares in the company, thanks to not reading the fine print on his contract. Ultimately, the lawsuits are settled, providing a valuable lesson for me, at least, who previous to watching “The Social Network,” skimmed the fine print on documents.

When the movie came out, I made two predictions that turned out to be wrong. One, that “The Social Network,” would beat out “The King’s Speech” for Best Picture, which did not happen, perhaps because viewers of the first were apparently divided on whether Jesse’s character was a hero or a sociopath. The second was that by this time in history, Facebook would have evolved into something completely different and not even be called Facebook any more. So much for foresight, but it’s just as well.

Movie Review: Café Society

In “Café Society,” one of the characters puts forth the philosophy that you should live every day as if it were your last because one day, it will actually be. This is not a bad idea, and if you are a character in a Woody Allen movie, you may use this to justify having an affair with a much younger woman. But because it is a Woody Allen movie, you will likely have doubts and several scenes where you express them, as Steve Carell does here. “Café Society” takes place in the nineteen thirties in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles, which are not always the default settings for Allen films, but the central plot remains familiar.

In the movie, Jesse Eisenberg plays a bright, but somewhat naïve young man (read: Allen’s alter ego), who decides he doesn’t want to go into the family business in Brooklyn (which, as it turns out, is a wise decision, as we’re shown right away it has something to do with the Mob). So he moves to L.A. where his uncle (Steve Carell) is a big shot in the movie industry to see if he can pick up something there, and that’s where he meets Kristen Stewart, who offers to show him around and eventually, with whom he falls in love. Kristen’s character works as a girl Friday for Steve’s; she initially came to LA starry-eyed and aspiring to be an actress, but is now over that. Though she claims to have a boyfriend who’s a journalist and travels a lot, it becomes clear that it’s actually (spoiler-alert!) Steve, who is married but is experiencing serious moral anguish about leaving his perfectly lovely wife. Eventually, choices are made, and Jesse winds up back in Brooklyn, managing a nightclub that his brother owns. There is neighbor drama, in which it’s clear the boorish security guard picked the wrong homeowners to blow off. And eventually there’s a reunion between Jesse, Steve and Kristen, in which Jesse may or may not get a second chance.

Last year, Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart teamed up to star in “American Ultra,” which I have not seen, but from the trailers, looks like what might happen if the characters in “Clerks” discovered they were government-controlled agents and were given guns. Judging from the trailers, too, I would say that it is far more action packed than “Café Society,” in fact it looks as if it could be called the “anti Café-Society.” This film does have violence, too, but it’s more stylized; the main conflict plays out away from Jesse’s gangster relatives. The movie is rather sweet, but slight, and as the critics have pointed out, Kristen has trouble filling the shoes of veteran Allen film actresses, Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow, but one day, you never know.

Movie Review: The End of the Tour

In the mid-nineties, which is when the late novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) published the critically-acclaimed Infinite Jest, and “The End of the Tour” takes place, Wallace agreed to a Rolling Stone interview, though not without a great deal of ambivalence. Although it’s his idea, the reporter, a novelist of modest success and Wallace’s contemporary, David Lipsky (played by Jesse Eisenberg) has a stronger reaction to being the one to do this. Reading a hyperventilating review of David Foster Wallace’s latest book to his girlfriend (Anna Chlumsky), he feels envy, even rage.

To make things worse, Jesse has the nagging suspicion that his girlfriend secretly prefers Wallace – and not just as a novelist. But in the end, intrigue wins out, and he persuades his skeptical editor (Ron Livingston) to let him drive out to Illinois in the dead of winter to interview the novelist, who shares his home with two rescue dogs and is teaching at a nearby college. As this is the pre-GPS era, he gets lost and attempts to contact Jason from a pay phone, breath steaming in the frigid air. Bad idea.

DFW, suspiciously: “Where did you get this number?”
DL, warily: “Your publicist gave it to me.”
DFW, even colder than the sub-zero temperature outside: “Well, then do me a favor and lose it.” Click.

One might predict from that exchange that the interview would not go well when Jesse finally shows up, but this doesn’t happen. They go inside and start to thaw – literally and otherwise.

Bon mots from the novelist:

On creating characters: “If you want your character to be funny and smart, have him say and do funny and smart things.”

On the Rolling Stone article: “I want to be in the article, but I don’t want it to make me look like someone who wants to be in Rolling Stone.”

On the Internet (remember this is in 1996): “It’s going to get better and better.” Meaning we’re going to be more and more tempted to spend all our time on it. And it’s going to be harder and harder to look away from our computer screens.

On the view from his home: “Thanks. I can’t take credit.”

This movie contains a lot of talking, as you might guess from a film structured around gathering material for an in-depth interview. Jason turns out to be a junk food junkie (when Jesse offers to take him someplace nice, he picks McDonald’s), so after foraging in a nearby convenience store, they settle in to talk. And talk. Jesse winds up staying over at Jason’s house (although the dogs are suspicious that he’s bunking there at first). He shadows Jason as he teaches a class, does a radio interview and a live reading (no Q&A period, thank you very much), then hangs out with several of Jason’s literary friends, with whom they go see a John Woo movie. Eventually, friction rears its ugly head, and they wind up arguing, not just debating. It’s clear from the beginning, that Jesse is looking for something – something he is not going to find, and Jason – well, he’s ambivalent about just about everything – he’s hyper-aware of the stereotype of the genius writer and  wants to avoid being portrayed that way. Like Kurt Cobain, another Generation X artist that ended his life prematurely, he doesn’t want to be the “voice of a generation.” And Jesse eventually realizes he doesn’t want to be his idol either. It’s not a cheerful movie, but it exemplifies the saying, “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

Movie Review: Now You See Me 2

When a great actor appears in a mediocre movie, I often find myself thinking back to their better ones, which is what happened in “Now You See Me 2.” It shares some similarities with “The Shawshank Redemption,” mainly Morgan Freeman in a major role, Morgan’s sonorous voiceover, a scene set to opera and a jailbreak. Both movies also take the time to dissect a character’s miraculous escape so that the viewer can see exactly what happened – or in this case, five characters. However, the theme has more in common with “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” which is about a group of egotistical individuals learning that they’re more powerful when they work (wait for it) as a team.

The opening scene (just in time for Father’s Day) features a flashback with Young Mark Ruffalo, his dad, a magic trick that goes horribly wrong, and Morgan present as someone hoping to expose the dad as a fraud. Then we’re back in the present, when we’re introduced to the various four Horsemen (only now there’s five): Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo and Lizzy Caplan, who gets to be the newbie. The FBI (headed by Michael Caine) is supposedly hot on the trail of the Horsemen, and Morgan’s character is in jail because of plot points from the last movie that are explained. However, Morgan is planning revenge. The characters wind up in the lair of Daniel Radcliffe, who also has it in for them because of other plot points that get explained – and he forces them to pull off a heist against their will – after somehow transporting them without them knowing it to China. (I’m guessing perhaps the real world version of Floo Powder was involved.) The object: a computer chip that will let you hack into any computer on the planet. (There’s a bit more to their task, but that’s the gist.)

The characters come up with a plan and end up in the lair of yet another evil genius, whose hermetically sealed top secret chamber where the card with the computer chip is gave me another flashback to the TV room in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – it’s white, sterile and difficult to extract oneself from. The escape involves a card trick, that is fun at first, but then goes on a little too long. Eventually, the characters turn the tables on Daniel, Michael and Woody’s annoying twin brother, who insinuates himself in the high jinks, as well early on. At the end, Mark obeys his conscience and gives the Everlasting Gobstopper back, and as it turns out, Slugworth has really been on their side all along. Well, not exactly, but out of the two movies, it’s the one with considerably more magic.