DVD Picks & Pans: March Madness Rx

Military.com - Tom Miller

Mar 03, 2008

The March winds have begun to blow and they stir up, among other things, a phenomenon known as March Madness.  Starting later this week with conference tournaments, the air will be filled with jump shots, lay-ups, and more than a few Hail Mary's.  It all leads to two weeks of hyperventilating and alliteration:  Selection Sunday, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and Final Four.  You might consider pacing yourself.  A little Dick Vitale goes a long way.  So, instead of all basketball all the time, schedule a few breaks for a movie or to help the kids with their math (two lay-ups minus one free-throw equals ?) or some quality time with the spouse.  We were never very good at math, and fared even worse with the quality time.  But, here are some movie suggestions

"Into the Wild," DVD-2008 ($29.98, Paramount Home Entertainment) Also available in 2-Disc Special Edition and HD DVD.

Director and screenwriter Sean Penn ("The Pledge") brings adventure writer Jon Krakauer's best-seller about a quixotic (and ultimately tragic) "adventure" in the wilds of Alaska to the big screen as a story of youthful rebellion.  (Think Benjamin Braddock without the Alfa Romeo and mistress.) In reality, the odyssey was more misadventure than adventure, and is better seen as tragedy than indiscretion.  Except in the movies, life on the road is rarely glamorous.

After graduating from pricey Emory University in 1990, young Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) abandoned his affluent suburban life, his family, and most of his material possessions for a life of freedom on the road—a road that eventually led him to the wilds of Alaska where he expected to survive armed with a guidebook and his respect for nature.  Alas, it wasn't enough. 

Emory is a kind of Southern Ivy and carries a comparable price tag.  That's a chunk of change and, in return, McCandless learned several lessons: 1) Someone else (mostly his parents) was responsible for his unhappiness, 2) Materialism is all bad, all the time, and 3) Nature is bountiful and nurturing.  So, he naturally decided to reject his family, give away his savings, and hit the road. 

What he didn't learn could fill a curriculum: 1) His parents might not have been Ward and June Cleaver, but this kid could do with a little perspective.  For all their faults, his parents weren't drunks, didn't beat or molest him, and didn't abandon him to the tender mercies of relatives or foster parents.  Anyway, at eighteen and living away from home, it was time to accept responsibility for his own happiness and move on.  McCandless moved on but without accepting responsibility.  One gets the chilling impression that his odyssey was as much about punishing his parents as about finding himself.  2) He missed the history lecture on the pre-historic nomadic, hunter-gatherer culture that he idealized and hoped to emulate.  Had he paid attention, he would have learned that it was a hard, brutish, and short life.  A life of scarcity and frequently starvation.  Given a choice, these early hunter-gatherers were more than happy to settle down and begin acquiring material things that actually improved their lives. 3) Nature is harsh and unforgiving.  It takes more than good intentions and a guide book to survive alone in the wilderness.  And, clueless professors who rhapsodize about Walden Pond aren't doing impressionable young undergrads any favors.  Thoreau might have been marching to a distant drummer, but not too distant.  Concord was right down the road, and Boston was only nineteen miles away.  4) No man is an island.  When did they stop teaching this in school?  McCandless apparently learned this lesson the hard way in Alaska but too late. 

Okay, so "Into the Wild" is provocative.  It's also compelling regardless of what one thinks of McCandless or of Penn's slant on the story.  Despite everything, McCandless seems to have been pleasant enough, and Hirsch plays him with an infectious charm.  The rest of the cast—McCandless' parents and the folks who befriend him during his travels—is uniformly solid.  Hal Holbrook garnered a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as a lonely military retiree who wants to adopt McCandless.  Catherine Keener as one-half of a middle-aged hippie couple and Kristen Stewart as a teen on the lam are especially good. 

Provocative.  Compelling.  And, memorable.  For a review that takes McCandless and director Penn to task, those are words fit for a marquee.

Military.com Rating: ***

(The basic DVD is barebones.  The 2-Disc Special Edition includes featurettes on "The Story," "The Characters," and "The Experience.")
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"Things We Lost in the Fire," DVD-2007 ($29.98, Paramount Home Entertainment) Also available in HD DVD.

In her Hollywood debut, Danish director Susanne Bier ("After the Wedding") employs her familiar quirky style—handheld camera; flashbacks—to tell a rather conventional and predictable story of personal loss and recovery.

Audrey Burke (Halle Berry) and hubby Brian (David Duchovny) enjoy an idyllic upper-middle class life in suburban Seattle: a brilliant career (for him), a modern up-scale home (for her), and two adorable kids (for them). 

Not only is Brian a brilliant developer but he's also a candidate for sainthood.  He's loyal to old friend and heroine addict Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro) after everyone else has abandoned him.  When he sees a man assaulting a woman, he rushes to her aid without a second thought or a moment's hesitation.  Imagine his surprise when the man pulls a gun and kills him. 

Unable to let go, the grieving Audrey seeks out Jerry and invites him to come live with the family.  Yeah, it could happen.  That's where it gets interesting.  Despite his addiction, Jerry is intelligent, sensitive, and likable.  Before long, he's insinuating himself into the family and Audrey's not sure that's what she really wants.  The denouement is predictable and not especially realistic. 

This is not a bad movie, just not a particularly good one.  Berry and Duchovny are so-so in so-so roles.   Del Toro is somewhat better in a beefier role.  John Carroll Lynch ("Zodiac") appears sporadically as a neighbor, but he steals the scenes that he's in. 

Military.com Rating: ** ½

(DVD extras include audio commentary, deleted scenes, and theatrical trailer.)
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"Magnum P.I.: The Complete Eighth Season," DVD-2007 ($49.98, Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) has it all: tall, dark, and handsome; a former Naval Academy quarterback; a Vietnam hero; use of a beachfront estate in paradise (Hawaii) and a Ferrari; and lots of sexy women.  In return, all he has to do is provide security for the estate, which is owned in absentia by celebrated novelist Robin Masters, and spar verbally with Jonathan Higgins (John Hillerman), the estate's efficient but eccentric English manager.  If Magnum is a babe magnet, he's also a trouble magnet, and his part-time work as a private investigator keeps him busy chasing bad guys and rescuing damsels in distress.

If this sounds rather conventional, it is.  But, it's a popular fantasy, and Selleck has an appeal that crosses gender lines.  And, his prickly relationship with Higgins is a bonus.  Add fast girls and faster cars and you've got a hit. 

"Magnum" ran for eight seasons—from 1980-1988—and was consistently rated in the Nielsen top 20.  Both Selleck and Hillerman won acting Emmys for the show. 

The eighth, and final, season includes all twelve original episodes on three discs.  Guest stars include Carol Burnett, Gwen Verdon, and Amy Yasbeck. 

Military.com Rating: ***

(DVD extras include episode commentaries and a bonus episode of "The Rockford Files" that featured Tom Selleck in a role that led to "Magnum P.I.")
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Military.com March Madness Rating Scale

*       Air ball
**     NIT
***   Final Four
**** Dick Vitale with laryngitis 

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Copyright 2008 by Tom Miller