Frozen

By Joseph McAleer, Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) – Don’t let the title fool you, “Frozen” (Disney) is bursting with enough warmth and charm to defrost even the hardest Grinchy heart.

Loosely based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” this 3-D animated musical is good-natured, overwhelmingly wholesome fare with something for everyone: Broadway-style show tunes, thrilling adventure, gorgeous visuals, cute-as-a-button characters, and a nice message about the enduring bonds of family.

There are even a few respectful religious overtones likely to please believers.

“Frozen” is a tale of two princesses: Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel) and Anna (voice of Kristen Bell). Anna is fun-loving and spirited, while Elsa, destined to be queen of the mythical kingdom of Arendelle, is reserved, harbouring a deep secret.

Elsa, it seems, was born with the power to create ice and snow at will. This gift was great fun at playtime when she was a youngster. At least, that is, until Elsa nearly killed Anna in a freak accident. The king (voice of Maurice LaMarche) then decreed Elsa must be hidden away for her own safety, and the palace closed to all outsiders.

Eventually, the princesses become orphans (parents rarely seem to survive in Disney cartoons), and coronation day arrives for Elsa. The new queen is burdened by fears of a disaster; Anna, by contrast, revels in the overdue arrival of an open-door policy.

At the coronation ball, Anna falls fast for Hans (voice of Santino Fontana), a visiting prince, and after a spirited song-and-dance number, they announce their engagement. Queen Elsa won’t give her blessing – the two have just met, after all – and the sisters quarrel. Elsa accidently unleashes her powers and throws Arendelle into a deep freeze.

For everyone’s welfare, Elsa retreats to the forest, entombing herself in a mountaintop ice palace. Anna, the fearless optimist, follows her, desperate to help her sibling and undo the eternal winter.

Joining her odyssey is Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff), an amiable mountain man, and his silent reindeer sidekick, Sven. Together, they encounter a comedic snowman named Olaf (voice of Josh Gad), who knows the express route to Elsa’s hideaway.

Amid Everest-like conditions, and with an abominable snowman and an adorable bunch of trolls thrown into the mix, the sisters head toward an epic showdown.

“Only an act of true love,” warns troll elder Pabbie (voice of Ciaran Hinds), “can thaw a frozen heart.”

Directors Chris Buck (“Tarzan”) and Jennifer Lee (who also wrote the screenplay) keep the pace fast and the action lively. Some of the storm sequences may be a bit intense for the youngest viewers, but it is all in good fun.

Preceding “Frozen” is an animated short film, “Get a Horse!” – a clever and funny re-creation of a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon, directed by Lauren MacMullan.

The film contains a few mildly perilous situations and a bit of slightly gross humour. 

 

Blue Jasmine

By Joseph McAleer, Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) – At his best, Woody Allen is a brilliant writer-director of comedic films as insightful as they are hilarious. But in his latest venture, “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Classics), Allen turns the lights down low, presenting the dark and depressing tale of a crazed woman whose life is spiraling out of control.

The grim tone comes as no real surprise, though, since Allen’s inspiration here is Tennessee Williams’ classic play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Thus his title character, played by Cate Blanchett, experiences a decline that parallels the deterioration of Williams’ doomed heroine Blanche DuBois.

Unfortunately, despite a bravura performance by Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine” misfires by trying to derive most of its humor from Jasmine’s mental illness – anything but a laughing matter.

In a story that might have been ripped from the headlines, Jasmine is a Park Avenue socialite fallen on hard times. She had no idea her high-rolling financier husband, Hal (Alec Baldwin), was both a philanderer and a fraud.

Hal’s Ponzi-like scheme, which destroyed the fortunes of his investors, has landed him in prison and Jasmine on the street. Already delusional and an alcoholic, she suffers a nervous breakdown.

With nowhere to turn, Jasmine heads west for San Francisco, to move in with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). It’s a risky choice, as Ginger and her ex-husband, Augie (Andrew Dice Clay), invested in Hal’s enterprise and lost their life savings, which in turn destroyed their marriage.

To Ginger’s credit, she puts familial bonds above past hurts, and shelters Jasmine. But Jasmine’s gratitude quickly turns to disgust. She’s repelled by Ginger’s middle-class lifestyle and, especially, by her beefy mechanic boyfriend, Chili (Bobby Cannavale).

As she descends into madness on a diet of vodka and Xanax, Jasmine strikes out in all directions. She makes a stab at self-improvement, taking a receptionist job and computer classes. She also decides to remake Ginger’s seemingly happy life, encouraging her to dump Chili and seek a “better” match in respectable salesman Al (Louis C.K.) – with disastrous results.

But Jasmine is not made for hard labour or study, only for shallow appearances. She finds a potential means of escape in Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard), a wealthy diplomat with political ambitions.

Jasmine puts on a good show, concealing her past while presenting herself as an ideal and sophisticated partner. She comes close to pulling it off.

In the end, “Blue Jasmine” plays the selfish card. It’s every character for him – or herself, seemingly without concern for the welfare of others, least of all Jasmine.

The film contains cohabitation, implied nonmarital sexual activity, an adultery theme and much profane and crude language.

 

Last Vegas

By Kurt Jensen, Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) – What happens in Vegas goes oh-so-slowly and sedately in “Last Vegas” (CBS).

A geezer version of “The Hangover” films this is not. There’s no gore or raunch, little mention of the physical indignities created by the passage of time, and only delicate references to sexual misbehavior that never occurs. If not for a loud party in a hotel’s penthouse suite, this picture may as well be set in Altoona, Pa. – or, for a really swinging time, Shippensburg.

Except for a couple of sharp quips and sight gags early on, it’s also quite pale as a comedy. So it’s a tame slog unless you’re a completist fan of this group of actors of a certain age going through their paces as their characters rebuild their teenage bonds.

Michael Douglas is the never-married Billy, about to finally tie the knot with Lisa (Bre Blair), a woman 32 years his junior. Age means nothing to her, since Billy has a beach house in Malibu, plus an incredible amount of money.

He decides to get his old pals, formerly known as the Flatbush Four, together for a bachelor party in Las Vegas. Sam (Kevin Kline) is doing physical therapy from a new titanium knee. The twice-divorced Archie (Morgan Freeman) now lives with his son and granddaughter. Paddy (Robert DeNiro) is widowed and still bitter that Billy, formerly his closest friend, didn’t come to the funeral to deliver the eulogy.

After a dutiful round of medication jokes, they all arrive in Sin City, with the added twist that Sam’s hugely understanding wife, Miriam (Joanna Gleason), has given him actual permission to commit adultery.

As quickly as they arrive, they encounter good-hearted saloon singer Diana (Mary Steenburgen). She is everyone’s pal, listening to their problems. Billy and Paddy eventually compete for her, just as they did decades ago over the girl Paddy married, and have to resolve their rivalry of decades ago.

Director Jon Turteltaub and screenwriter Dan Fogelman don’t even bother to make the guys’ judging of a poolside bikini contest anywhere near naughty. Sam talks a lot about chasing girls, but he’s too much the loyal husband to succumb.

Diana smiles broadly while dispensing aphorisms. Archie’s talent for blackjack earns the boys the penthouse suite. Paddy is handy with his fists against impudent younger guys, but if that’s supposed to be a “Raging Bull” reference, it’s quite an oblique one.

The film contains fleeting side female nudity, mild sexual banter and fleeting crass language and profanities.