Toy Story 3

The day I was born, my Grandma gave me a stuffed monkey, which I fittingly named "Monkey." Monkey was my first toy, the first of many. A lot of toys came and went, but Monkey was always there. When I finally outgrew playing with toys, Monkey was one of a small band I deemed worthy to stay in my room as decoration. But at some point, probably when I went to college, Monkey had to be packed away like all the rest. Since then, my parents have moved a few times, and all the boxes of my old stuff have long been shuffled away. Now I don't know where Monkey is, probably stuffed in a box in a shed in Oregon. It's sad that something so important to me at one time could be forgotten so easily, but it happens to everyone as they grow up. Toy Story 3 seems bound and determined to make us all feel truly horrible for having done that to our toys. Indeed, I suspect this film will cause a lot of kids to cling to their toys far longer than they ever should, for fear of betraying the things they loved so much. I'm a grown man and it made me regret not knowing where Monkey is!

Toy Story 3 is a movie that fills me with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, it is a moderate step backwards from their previous string of truly mature features (Ratatouille through Up). On the other hand, it created emotions in me no other film ever has. Toy Story 3 uses the fifteen year history of the franchise to truly pull at your heart strings in ways I don't think any other franchise has ever attempted. By allowing young Andy to grow up, by spacing this film out so far from the last two, it really gives you a sense of the loss these toys are going through as their owner prepares to leave them behind. By film's end, I was in tears. Not sad tears, nor happy tears, but tears of recognition, of understanding. The love Andy has for his toys is palpable, even if it's a bit unrealistic considering his age. And yet, I couldn't shake the thought that the ending didn't feel entirely earned.

See, because this is a sequel, it relies more on familiarity with characters than allowing them to continue to change and grow. The first movie introduced us to these characters, allowed them to develop before our eyes. By the time the third film rolls around, it's just not possible to do that again. So when the film's climax happens, I was affected because of how well developed the characters were in other movies, not in this one. The film basically tacks on the most emotional ending ever to what was otherwise an adventure film. The kind of character development on display, were this an original film, would be unacceptable by Pixar standards. Woody is the only one allowed to grow and mature, while the others are nothing but vehicles for jokes and set pieces up until that ending. Even Buzz, the co-lead character, is pushed to the background, used more as a plot device than as a character.

And yet, the adventure works, the comedy amuses, and the new characters are a delight. I definitely had fun while watching the film. The new characters of Ken and Lotso were certainly entertaining. The staging of the prison escape was thrilling and inventive. And the image of Mr. Potato Head as something other than Mr. Potato Head is comedy genius (as well as raises some strange metaphysical questions about identity). The film tries to balance between these aspects and the emotions inherent in the story, but it errs too much on the side of popcorn entertainment. There's nothing revelatory here, which is really about as slight of a knock as a film can get. Yet I can't shake the feeling that this is as close as Pixar can get to phoning it in.

Whatever my qualms with the structure of the story, I can't deny that the last ten minutes or so are among the best Pixar has ever produced. In a storied history filled with stunning images, none come close to seeing Woody and friends holding hands, waiting for the inevitable. You'll know what I mean when you see it, and it is a breath taker. I've never seen characters come to terms with their uncertain future in such a profound and moving way. If the whole film had been that powerful, it would certainly be the best film in Pixar's repertoire. As it stands, Toy Story 3 has to settle for incredibly uneven: fun and slight, yet powerful and moving just when you need it to be. And when it all comes to an end, you'll be left thinking not just about these characters, but about yourself and your own toys. Those bonds you made however many years ago were important at the time, and Toy Story 3 asks you to remember and embrace them while also moving on.

Charlie Wilson's War

It's interesting how a person can know that something happened without knowing exactly how it happened. Such is the case with my knowledge of the Soviet-Afghan War. I knew of the fact that America helped train and arm Afghans to fight off the invading Soviets in the late 80's, and I knew that this incident played a major part in the fall of the USSR. Yet I never knew how the ball got rolling on our involvement. Charlie Wilson's War is the story of that ball, and, to steal the film's own metaphor, how it has been bouncing along ever since. That may sound like the potential for a long, stuffy, dull film - but you'd be wrong. Actors Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and especially Philip Seymour Hoffman turn this brisk film into a rousing crowd pleaser. It's not one of the year's best, and its Oscar possibilities aren't as strong as might have been expected, but it's the kind of movie that a lot of people will enjoy over the holiday season. I certainly had a fun time.

Charlie Wilson is a boozing, fun-loving congressman, played by Hanks. He gets wind of the troubles in Afghanistan and decides to get involved. He has no idea what exactly getting involved entails, however, until he travels to the wartorn nation and sees firsthand the atrocities that have been happening. From that point there is no looking back, as he begins to work on the largest covert operation in American history. The role fits Hanks like an old glove, and he is charming and fun as Wilson. Yet anyone expecting anything groundbreaking or layered will be slightly disappointed. Hanks never really digs into the role like he has in past roles, occasionally appearing to be on autopilot. I think the same argument people have against Jack Nicholson playing Jack repeatedly can apply here to Hanks. It's fun to watch, but not a revelation.

Speaking of Nicholson, it seems like Philip Seymour Hoffman is channeling a young Jack in his role. I don't think I've ever seen Hoffman light up the screen with charisma before, but here he is really chewing on the scenery, delivering the single best performance in the film. He's a hotheaded, sarcastic, very funny CIA operative named Gust Avrakotos who joins Wilson in the Afghan plight. When Hoffman isn't on screen, this is a good movie; when he is on screen, it's a great one. If this film does turn out to have any awards cache, expect him to be the first to benefit from it. The audience was howling at many of his scenes, yet he never sacrificed the character's fierce intelligence to get a laugh. Hands down, the best scene in the film is the introduction of Wilson to Gust. Spoiling it would be criminal, but it is both hilarious and a great insight into Gust's character.

Switching gears a bit, of this film's weak points, none are more glaring than the miscast Julia Roberts. Even if you feel Hanks isn't doing a whole lot with his role, you at least feel as though he is doing his job effortlessly. Roberts, on the other hand, never sinks into her character, and it brings you out of nearly every scene she is in. And the problem goes far deeper than simply her poor imitation of a Texan accent. Roberts hasn't been on screen since Ocean's Twelve back in 2004, and one gets the feeling that she has forgotten how to dig into a role. Her performance in Charlie feels a lot like that of an actress trying to refamiliarize herself with the craft. Her confidence just isn't there, and it's a shame. Her role was clearly meant to be a fun one, and she never appears to be having any.

The runtime, about 100 minutes, also feels short. That may sound good, and in some ways it is, but I never quite shook the fact that it felt like something was missing. Rumor has it the film has been heavily edited down, and I think that may have been a mistake. A two hour movie is not a chore to sit through if it's as entertaining as this one is, and I suspect another twenty minutes might have made it all flow better. For example, we never understand why Wilson wants to get involved with the Afghan plight. As far as we can tell, his first introduction to the conflict is when he briefly catches a new report on TV during a party. Surely a congressman has enough on his mind that a snippet of new footage isn't enough to so drastically change his life (even a congressman as fun-loving as Charlie is). Also, there is a whole subplot dealing with Wilson being investigated for his partying ways that feels like it never fully develops. We never get the sense that it has any real bearing on the rest of the film or Charlie's work in Afghanistan. Things like these could easily have benefited from a bit more development.

So many political and war related films of late have failed miserably with both critics and audiences, and it's for the same reason in every case: they just seem too dreary and depressing considering what is going on in the world right now. That's not to say a depressing film about recent history can't work (United 93), just that it takes a skilled filmmaker to walk that line between depressing and insightful. Charlie Wilson's War deftly avoids this problem altogether by trying to be a fun film first and foremost, and I suspect audiences will flock to it more than other recent political films. It hits us every once in awhile with a powerful moment (Charlie's trip to a ravaged Afghan town, where he meets two children left disfigured after playing with a mine hits you in the gut, and one really hopes that those kids' appearance was digitally altered and not reality), but those moments are rarely the focus. Charlie, Gust, and to a lesser extent, Roberts' Joanne are all fun people you want to spend time with. They aren't there to lecture you, and as a result you can let the facts of the story sink in without feeling lectured to. It may surprise some, however, to find the film ends on a slightly melancholy and ambiguous note. Yes, Charlie got the ball rolling in Afghanistan, but he has no control over how that ball will bounce after the war is over. The final line of the film, delivered in text, is both decidedly amusing and strikingly sobering.