George Oxford Miller, Reel News, August 2014

George Miller is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and believes that travel is a product of the heart, not the itinerary. See his webmagazine at www.travelsdujour.com.

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Locke (2104) ★★★★

Cast: Tom Hardy, Tom Holland

Genre: Drama

Written and directed by Steven Knight.

Rated R

One person trying to survive impossible odds—when done well, the formula is a nail-biter: Gravity, All is Lost. Director Steven Knight puts us in the car seat, and mindset, of construction manager Ivan Locke (Hardy) during his life-changing ride home from work. His only connection with the world is his bluetooth phone. But instead of going home, Locke redirects his route, and life, so he can sit at a woman’s side in a hospital. He calls his boss to report he’ll miss work tomorrow, the most important day of a huge project, knowing he’ll be fired on the spot. He calls his assistant to walk him through the duties for tomorrow. Then he calls his wife and kids. Ouch! She won’t take lightly why he’s not coming home and will probably change the locks. The suspense builds as the consequences avalanche because Locke takes responsibility for his actions. The astronaut and sailor didn’t have a choice but Lock does, which makes his rollercoaster ride an even more intense psychological thriller.

 

Korengal (2014) ★★★★

Cast: LaMonta Caldwell, Miguel Cortez, Stephen Gillespie

Genre: Documentary

Directed by Sebastian Junger.

Raged R

Who makes the best war movies? John Wayne, Rambo, George Clooney? In this age of embedded film crews, we don’t need melodrama. We can follow real soldiers in real war zones dodging real bullets 24/7. General Sherman famously said “War is hell,” a sound bite to die for. What do the men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade serving in Afghanistan say? With Korengal, director Sebastian Junger revisits the same soldiers who fought in the valley of Korengal that he featured in Oscar-nominated Restrepo (2010). This companion piece explores how the intensity of daily life under fire affects soldiers at the time, and after returning to home. During the firefights, adrenaline keeps them pumped up and allegiance to their “band of brothers” gives them purpose, but PTSD will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Sherman was right.

The Railway Man (2014) ★★★

Cast: Colin Firth, Jeremy Irvine, Nicole Kidman

Genre: Drama

Based on the memoir by Eric Lomax.

Rated R

If you saw the epic Bridge Over the River Kwai, you know how brutal the WW II Japanese military treated POWs building the Burma Railway, still known in Thailand as the Death Railroad. More than 100,000 men died building the route between Bangkok and Rangoon. This story is loosely based on the memoir written by Eric Lomax, played by Collin Firth. The wartime horror unfolds in flashbacks as the older Lomax gradually breaks through the past and tells his new wife Patti (Kidman) how he was tortured. Yet, he talks not just to relieve his deep traumatic pain, he’s discovered his chief tormentor is still alive. Will the knowledge rip open his wounds or lead to a way to resolve the hatred that has poisoned his life all these years? Catharsis or not, “War is hell” doesn’t have an expiration date on this side of the grave.

Go for Sisters (2014) ★★★

Cast: LisaGay Hamilton, Yolonda Ross, Edward James Olmos 

Genre: Detective drama

Directed by John Sayles.

Unrated

In high school, Bernice (Hamilton) and Fontayne (Ross) were so close people said they could “go for sisters.” Then their paths split. Bernice became a parole officer, Fontayne an addict and ex-con. Now after twenty years of estrangement, Bernice needs Fontayne in the worst way. Bernice’s grown son goes missing in Tijuana and Fontayne knows the drug world from the inside out. They re-connect, hire a disgraced LAPD detective (Olmas) and head for bordertown. The three weave in and out of the cartel underworld while meeting a collage of untrustworthy but totally intriguing people. Typical of a John Sayles character-driven drama, this old-style detective story revolves around relationships between new and old friends instead of chase scenes, pyrotechnics, or contrived computer graphics.