Review: Georgia Rules

By Emma Carroll

All of you folks planning to not see this movie because it stars Lindsey Lohan, don’t make that your reason. And all of you folks planning to see it because she stars in it – be ready for a surprise! This is not your typical Lindsey Lohan flick. Take it from the two guys who were sitting next to me and completely shocked that it wasn’t a “teeny-bopper” flick. “It was really intense!” said one. I agree. Although I knew Lohan had some acting chops after seeing her in Prairie Home Companion, Georgia Rule confirmed my suspicions.


Jane Fonda and Lindsey Lohan in Georgia Rule

This assumed “chick flick” stars Lohan as Rachel, a troubled teen who has been dragged from San Francisco to Idaho, “The land of the famous potato”, where resides her strict grandmother (Jane Fonda). Rachel’s mother (Felicity Huffman) no longer wants to deal with her daughter’s drug-induced mendacity, and so she places her in Georgia’s care. In Small-Podunk-Town, Idaho, Rachel befriends a couple of local townsmen with her charmingly seductive ways. Dermott Mulroney plays Simon, a local veterinarian/doctor who doesn’t have a license to practice on humans. While working for him, Rachel discovers that his wife and child have died in a car accident. While discussing this topic Rachel admits something to him, which he then proceeds to tell her grandmother who then tells her mother. I will not tell you readers what she admitted to him - this would betray a very shocking moment in the film. I, along with many others in the theater, was quite caught off guard by her confession. Once opened, the confession can of worms spreads and wreaks havoc on her already weak family ties.

One of the deeper themes to Georgia Rule is the difference between truths and lies. Rachel has always lied to her mother and stepfather. Simon tells her that she can no longer tell the difference between truth and lie and neither can the audience. Throughout the movie, the audience is pulled back and forth between belief and doubt in the sincerity of Rachel’s character. The viewer cannot be sure, until all is revealed, whether or not she is lying or telling the truth about her ordeal. Meanwhile, the characters within the film are torn between whether or not to believe her story as well.

Though the subject matter here is heavy, the writers impressively interspersed comedy with weighty content. In fact, the movie is quite funny despite the gravity of the topic. The quick exchange between laughs and serious moments threw my fellow audience members off at first. This is what made Rachel’s initial admission so shocking. You are laughing one minute and the next it is all seriousness. Still, the writers used comedy very strategically to lighten the tone, never awkwardly. There was always a chuckle within the tears, and many all out guffaws. Touching on the humor in every situation makes the characters even more enchanting than they already are.

Lohan was excellent in a hefty role. This is a new challenge for her, which she accomplishes well. This deeper side of Lohan has much to admire and I hope to see her in more like this. Of course, Huffman and Fonda shine, but especially Fonda as the tough rule hungry mother/grandmother.

Georgia Rule was more of a surprise than I can say. It was wonderful and I think it will be this summer’s sleeper Thelma and Louise. Even the guys that I was with enjoyed it, and that’s saying something for a “chick flick”! See it. I give it an A-.

Review: Spider-Man 3

By Emma Carroll

The first release of the summer blockbusters, the much anticipated (and much hyped) Spider-Man 3 fell a little shy of my expectations. This episode of the Spider-Man trilogy is releasing in iMax as well as in 35mm. I can imagine that seeing a Spider-Man film on an iMax screen would be amazing, but it has to have the action sequences to justify needing an iMax screen. If you’re just watching a romantic comedy, then spending the extra few bucks isn’t really worth it. I did not get to see Spidey on an iMax, and thought it was definitely exciting to see it on the big screen; I still felt that the romance and relationships far overshadowed the Spidey action sequences.

Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man
The darkest of the three Spider-Man flicks, the third deals much more with wrapping up the details of the Peter/MJ, Peter/Harry and Peter/Uncle Ben/Flint Marko relationships than sending the audience into topsy-turvy Spidey-esque fight sequences. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great sequences. My favorite was the early but brief mini battle between Peter and The New Goblin/Harry, during which both characters struggle to stay a-flight while speeding through the alleys of New York City.

After this point, the movie dove into the drama genre, breaking here and there with a bit of action. Now don’t get me wrong, the story was smooth and interesting. There was just far more character development than there was action. Character development is all fine and good in an action flick, it makes the story more interesting, but this episode of Spider-Man lost a bit of the balance that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The plot, in fact, was great. I really enjoyed the story; it was just expecting more on the front of grand battle sequences.

One part of the film that brought a different, surprising, and quite laughable aspect as a release from the romance and drama, were the antics resulting from the effects of the alien-ized suit. When Peter starts wearing the black suit about halfway through the film, he begins to do some things that Tobey McGuire might not be quite cut out to do. Although the frolics caused by the black suit are quite hilarious, they do begin to get a little ridiculous. I mean, I love short white men doing pelvic thrusts in the middle of the street as much as the next girl – but Tobey McGuire, I much prefer his brooding boyishness to cringe-worthy dancing.

In addition to that, I wasn’t sure at first if I was going to buy into this “alien from another planet takes over Spidey’s suit situation. It seemed a little off - as if it didn’t fit in with the other two chapters of the Spidey Saga. When I think back on the other two films, everything that happened to create villains, and Spider-Man, was somewhat otherworldly. Granted, they were mostly chemically related phenomena, and therefore “easily” explained by physics, not from other planets. This was the reason that I first found it hard to believe that the suite was taken over by an alien life form. I do not pretend to be a Spider-Man comic aficionado, but I didn’t see how aliens from another planet fit in with the comic origins of the story. However, this was how Venom was created - so it must be in there somewhere.

On that subject, Topher Grace was fabulous as Venom/Eddie Brock. As a new character coming into an old cast, he fit right in. His re-creation of the evil Venom was positively creepy. I have to give some props there to the special effects artists as well, for making him visually grating as well, like fingers on a chalkboard incarnate.

One more thing, I did feel a little patronized at the beginning of the flick, when the director decided to rehash the previous two films in visual during an overlong opening credits sequence. It became a bit cheesy and cheapened it a bit, as if the director didn’t think we could remember what had happened in the story up to this point.

When it comes down to it, Spider-Man 3 is a well-done, enjoyable movie. It is not a typical action film, and it's not what people will expect from the trilogy. Except for the fact that everything was nicely wrapped-up in the end, I felt like it was The Empire Strikes Back of the Spider-Man films: dark and evil infested. I certainly recommend the film to everyone, but just be forewarned, it’s not what the hype would have you expect!