Sex and Laughter in "Inherent Vice"

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Joaquin Phoenix Gets Groovy in "Inherent Vice"

By Skip Sheffield

Far out man!

Stumble back into the early 1970s with Joaquin Phoenix and “Inherent Vice.”

Thomas Pynchon is noted for his dense, baffling novels such as “Gravity’s Rainbow,” “Crying of Lot 49” and “V.” I stumbled upon Pynchon as a college student and became entranced with his obvious intelligence, humor and total weirdness.

I never read “Inherent Vice,” which was published in 2009, but I recognize Pynchon’s weirdness and extreme intelligence in the character of Larry “Doc” Sportello, played by another celebrated weird guy, Joaquin Phoenix. Sportello is a private eye in Los Angeles in 1970, living in a seaside community very much like Manhattan Beach. Why he is called Doc is never explained, but that’s Pynchon for you.

Phoenix grew huge muttonchop sideburns for his character and his attitude is that of a typical Southern California stoner, always in a marijuana haze.

The setup for the story is a visit by an ex-girlfriend Shasta, played by Katherine Waterston. I was nor familiar with British-born Katherine Waterston, but let me put it bluntly: she is one beautious babe.

The fictional Shasta is involved with a slimy developer, Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts, who does slime very well).

Mickey will disappear, but we will see him again, as we will Shasta. Meanwhile Doc gets a legitimate job from Hope Harlingen (Jena Malone), a former junkie who wants Doc to find her AWOL musician husband Coy (Owen Wilson, who always seems stoned even if he is completely sober).

This is a seventh feature for director Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote the screenplay. It is the funniest, sexiest movie he has done since "Boogie Nights" back in 1997. The film abounds in celebrity cameos and bizaare names, such as Martin Short as Japonica Fenway and Maya Rudolph as Petunia Leeway. Reece Witherspoon is at her deadpan best as Deputy District Attorney Penny Kimball and Josh Brolin is a hoot as a literally square-headed Lt. Det. Christian F. Bjornsen, known as "Bigfoot." What a long, strange trip it is.

A Very Musical "Stars of David"

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All Hail “The Stars of David”

By Skip Sheffield

It is no secret that Jewish people are disproportionately represented in movies and entertainment. That fact is celebrated in the musical revue “Stars of David,” running through Jan. 4 in the Amaturo Theatre of Broward Center for the Arts. The show will play Kravis Center in West Palm Beach Feb. 17-March 15.
The show is based on a book by Abigail Pogrebin and conceived by Aaron Harnick. It stars two of South Florida’s most popular Jewish entertainers: Avi Hoffman and Patti Gardner, and two relative newcomers, Cassie Levine and Mike Westrich.
It is not just entertainers who are the “Stars of David,” it is political figures, lawyers, scientists and financiers. It is no secret that Jewish people tend to be over-achievers. It is a kind of survival mechanism.
The songs of “David” are by a variety of composers; some little-known (Gaby Alter, Abigail Pogrebin and Gordon Greenberg) and others famous (David Shire, Richard Maltby, Jr. and Michael Feinstein). The songs are clever and witty, and except for the theme song “Stars of David,” they are aimed at specific Jewish personalities such as Leonard Nimoy, Aaron Sorkin, Joan Rivers, Norman Lear, Fran Drescher and Gloria Steinem. One of the funniest songs, “Who Knew Jew,” is dedicated to Gwyneth Paltrow. No, I didn’t know. Gwyneth looks as goy as me. Then again one of the most famous and beloved Jews who is not included in this show is Paul Newman, who certainly is one of the most handsome Jewish actors in history. Woody Allen isn’t included either. He may not be as handsome as Newman, but he has made millions of people laugh.
The more I have learned about Jewish people and the older I get, the more my admiration for “the chosen people” has grown. The deal was sealed when I was invited by Ben-Gurion University back in 2008 to visit the State of Israel. The miracles that have been accomplished in that desert country are astounding. I saw first-hand how Israelites live in a constant state of preparedness for surprise attacks, yet go on about their everyday life as if everything was perfectly normal. The scientists and educators of Israel who make medical and technological breakthroughs on a regular basis are to me the true “Stars of David.”
Tickets are $45. Call 800-745-3000 or go to www.ticketmaster.com or wwwbrowardcenter.org.

Once Again "Into the Woods"

“Into the Woods” for the Umpteenth Time

By Skip Sheffield

“Into the Woods” is not my favorite Stephen Sondheim musical. After about the tenth time of hearing the refrain “Into the Woods” repeated I get tired of it. I get it. All kinds of stuff happens in Grimm Fairy Tales’ weird woods.

On the other hand the movie version of “Into the Woods” has a killer cast; not the least of which is Meryl Streep at her witchiest. I could watch the many moods of Meryl all day long. She is clearly relishing playing the bad girl; the wicked witch.

On the other hand we have Johnny Depp, camping it up as the big, bad wolf. For one thing Depp is not big. And in his silly makeup he is about as threatening as a housecat.

The rest of the “Woods” is a mixed bag. I liked little Red Riding Hood, played by newcomer Lilla Crawford. I loved Anna Kendrick’s Cinderella, who figures in all the tales.

In the stage musical the Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) are central to both the comedy and the pathos of James Lapine’s script. To my mind Emily Blunt can do no wrong, and as the childless wife cursed by the Witch, she tugs at the heart strings.

Also recurring in the story is Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) of beanstalk and giant fame, and Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), who lets down her hair to let up her lover.

“Into the Woods” is directed by Rob Marshall, who fared much better with the screen version of “Chicago.” In his defense “Woods” is a much more dense, complicated show. It looks amazing for the most part, but for me the definitive version stars one Bernadette Peters as the Witch and Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife.

"Unbroken" an Earnest, Noble Tribute

By Skip Sheffield

You can’t fault Angelina Jolie for bad intentions. “Unbroken” is as noble a film as we have seen in years, and it’s all true.
“Unbroken” is the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic track star whose B-24 bomber was shot down over the Pacific in World War II. After surviving 47 days at sea in a rubber raft, Zamperini was captured by Japanese and sent to an internment camp, where he spent two and a half tortuous years.
Angelina Jolie directs and championed this film, for which Ethan and Joel Coen wrote the screenplay. The Coen brothers are best known for dark, funny, offbeat films such as "Fargo" and "The Big Lebowski."
"Unbroken" is as earnest and serious as you can get. Thereby lies the problem. It's not very exciting. Sure, it starts off with a bang with the desperate last moments before Zamperini's plane plunged into the sea. But then we flash back to Zamperini's high school years and the ethnic slurs he suffered for being Italian. It seems almost quaint now, but the discrimination against Zamperini just made him stronger.
Jack O'Connell, who neither looks nor sounds Italian, plays Louis Zamperini. He is a very good-looking guy, which might be one of the reasons Jolie cast him.
The other major player in a war of wills is Takamasa Ishihara as Zamperelli's Japanese tormento

r, Mutsushiro Watanbe. One of the most satisfying things about "Unbroken" is the depiction of the grudging admiration that grows between the two enemies.
Louis Zamperelli wasn't the only American hero of World War II. There were thousands of them. It is good to honor them while they remain alive. One by one "The Greatest Generation" is dying off. I salute Angelina Jolie for saluting them.

Boca Symphonia Rocks!

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Classical Music Alive and Well in Boca Raton

By Skip Sheffield

Boca Symphonia rocks!
No, really. The Symphonia Boca Raton plays classical music, but they are not your grandmother’s orchestra.
Violinist David Kim was on the podium for the first concert of the Symphonia’s tenth season, Dec. 21 at Roberts Theatre, St. Andrew’s School. Kim is concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra; a post he has held since 1999. Kim conducts with his violin, not a baton. I couldn’t help but notice he did not have sheet music but an Ipad. Later he told the audience that he has gotten with the program and moved from printed paper to electronic device. This does not mean Kim rejects the past. He plays a 1757 Guarneri violin owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra. He cheerfully admits it is worth more than $1 million.  I love it when musicians talk about their instruments. Guarneri is second only to Stradivarius in value and mystique. In Kim’s hands it doesn’t really matter. He is a master player, as he so readily demonstrated in the first selection of a Baroque program: Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 8. Big it was, indeed.
Even more of a treat was J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, featuring Mei Mei Luo toe-to-toe with David Kim.
The music of J.S. Bach is devilishly complex, but to Kim and Luo it was child’s play. In addition to being a fine player, Luo throws her whole body into expressing the music, which reminds us there is so substitute for hearing music live.
Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” is what music snobs like to call a “warhorse.” I’ll get up on that horse and ride it any time, as the Boca Symphonia made as fresh as it was when composed in 1717.
People worry about the decline of classical music. The good news is it is alive and well and living in Boca Raton. The next concert is Jan. 11, with Gerard Schwarz on the podium and a program of Strauss, Saint-Saens, Mahler/Britten and the mighty Beethoven. Call 866-687-1201 or go to www.thesympnonia.org.

Rough, Tough Reese Rules "Wild"

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Rough, Tough Reese Rules

By Skip Sheffield

Reese Witherspoon rules!
Who knew this tiny, pretty, girly-girl was such a warrior woman? I sure didn’t until I saw “Wild,” which Witherspoon produced and stars in as Cheryl Strayed.
Strayed was a troubled woman who dropped out of everyday life and embarked on a 1,100-mile hike, which she chronicled in her memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail.” British novelist Nick Hornby (“About a Boy”) adapted the book for a screenplay directed by French-Canadian Jean-Marc Vallee (“Dallas Buyers Club”).
Cheryl Strayed’s dropout was triggered by two events: the breakup of her marriage and the death of her beloved mother Bobbi, played by Laura Dern. Oh, there were a couple of other things too. Cheryl got into alcohol and drugs and “graduated” to shooting heroin. She became sexually promiscuous as well. In short Cheryl was a mess at the outset of her ill-prepared journey.
“Wild” is a visually gorgeous film, and Reese Witherspoon is not bad to look at either. Reese is only 61 inches tall, and she probably doesn’t weight more than a large sack of flour. It is pretty funny watching her struggling with a ridiculously huge backpack (she calls it “Monster”) that is just about as big as she is. Reese cheerfully swears like a sailor, bares her body and reveals a bit of her soul in her scenes with Laura Dern, whom I have always loved. It’s nice to see Dern get a decent role, and it does not get much more tragic when a battered, ever-sunny woman suffers and dies of lung cancer at the young age of 45. Dern is only nine years older than 38-year-old Witherspoon, but she has the sacrificing mom thing down beautifully.
Cheryl Strayed is an avowed feminist, which does not necessarily mean she hates men. However, all but a handful of the male characters in “Wild” come off as rotters. The worst of the lot is Cheryl’s alcoholic, abusive stepfather. On the other hand is her endlessly patient, tolerant ex-husband Paul (Thomas Sadoski).
In the end “Wild” is a joyful journey from the depths of depression and self-destruction to the highs of amazing physical endurance, strength and triumph.

Steve Carell Goes Postal for "Foxcatcher"

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Steve Carell Channels His Bad Self for "Foxcatcher"

by Skip Sheffield

Ah Steve Carell, we hardly knew ye.
Typically Carell plays light-hearted comedy roles, and he is very good at it. “Foxcatcher” is more than just a departure. It is a revelation.
Carell plays John E. du Pont of the famous, fabulously wealthy du Pont family. “Foxcatcher” was the name of the Pennsylvania country estate where John E. lived with his elderly mother Jean (Vanessa Redgrave) and a full service staff.
 Jean du Pont loved horses and everything equestrian, including fox-hunting.
John E. du Pont hated horses but had a thing for wrestling, and he fancied himself an expert. That is the impetus for this bizarre story, based on actual events and adapted for the screen by E. Max Frye (“Where the Money Is”) and Dan Futterman (“A Mighty Heart”).
Dave (Mark Ruffalo) and his younger brother Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) were 1984 World and Olympic Gold Metal Champion wrestlers for Team USA. The story begins in March, 1987. The brothers teach and coach at a small college. One day Mark gets a message summoning him to the du Pont estate to meet John E. du Pont in person. Mark did not realize the full impact of the du Pont name, but when he was transported by helicopter to the vast estate, he learns soon enough.
Du Pont wanted both Schultz brothers to come and live at the estate and coach a hand-picked team to compete in the 1988 Seoul Olympics under the Foxcatcher banner. Dave was happily married to Nancy (Sienna Miller) with two children, and he had no desire to be uprooted to suit a rich man’s fancy.
“The rich are different for you and me,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said to his friend Ernest Hemingway.
“Yes,” Hemingway wisecracked, “They have more money.”
Being fabulously wealthy is not just about money. It is about power. John E. du Pont is portrayed as a petulant spoiled brat by Carell, who wears a large fake nose and other prosthetics to make him less handsome. As we watch du Pont browbeat first Mark and then Dave, whom he coerces to work for him despite his better instincts, he becomes uglier and uglier.
Channing Tatum bulked up amazingly for his role, and his wrestling moves are quite convincing. So is the physical beating he takes, in what he says is his most difficult role to date. I believe him.
The outcome of this story is a matter of public record, so I won’t go into it. The take-away for me is that yes, the rich are different, but no, I would not want to trade places.