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acjohnson55
Reviews
The Iran Job (2012)
Amazing look into a society hardly known to westerners
This movie isn't slick enough to win any big awards, but what the filmmakers accomplished is incredible. It's the story of Kevin, a college basketball star from the US Virgin Islands whose career as a journeyman international basketball player takes him to one of the least likely places for an American to end up: Iran. Despite his concerns about the country, he agrees to be brought in as a ringer for an upstart team. He needs to justify the substantial investment the team made in him by leading them to the playoffs, but in order to do so, Kevin will need to do more for the team than simply being its best player.
This story serves as the substrate for a fascinating on-the-ground view of Iranian society, behind the walls created by feuding governments. You see that despite living under an authoritarian regime, the real Iranian people have desires and dreams not unlike their Western counterparts. You see much about their society that is admirable, even as people struggle against the constraints of tradition and an authoritarian government.
One can't help feeling that the world would be a much more peaceful place if ordinary people simply got to know one another. Any movie that can produce such a feeling is worth a watch.
Cedar Rapids (2011)
Okay, but not fantastic
Cedar Rapids definitely provides some good laughs, but don't expect to be laughing throughout. And as with so many recent movies, if you've seen the previews, you've seen about half of the punchlines, anyway. As a former Iowan, I was disappointed that the movie didn't really capture much of the vibe of the state, in my opinion. It might as well have been filmed just about anywhere in the Midwest, with the corresponding title change.
Ed Helms is decent, but he lacks the active style of humor that he brings to The Office. In this movie, it's not so much that he himself is funny as it is that the things that go on around his childlike character are amusing. His Midwestern dialog comes off flatter than I would like, as compared to, say, Fargo, Juno, or Napolean Dynamite, in which the quirkiness of Midwestern dialog really shines through.
But my biggest complaint about the movie is it's cynical morality. By the end, most of the outwardly good people turn out to be jerks, and most of the outwardly amoral people are the good guys. Big surprise. And most of the morally questionable stuff that happens in the meantime turns out to have no real consequence whatsoever; it just happens, we have a few laughs, and then life goes on. Only the main character ever seems to be at all morally conflicted about his decisions, everyone else just does what they do. I'm not saying that movies need to have a message, it's just that this one bypasses any profound moral complexity for its banal approach of simple, inverted morality.
Anyway, I saw the movie because I thought it would be cool to see a movie set in Iowa. If you don't have a similar reason to see it, you won't be missing much if wait to catch it on video--or not at all.
Teach: Tony Danza (2010)
At age 59, Tony Danza takes on one of the toughest jobs out there
The premise is simple. Tony Danza once studied to become a teacher, but then his boxing and acting careers took off and sent him in another direction. At age 59, he decided to give teaching a try. Watching the show, you get Tony interact with students, teachers, administration, and parents. Tony shows remarkable heart and dedication as he navigates difficult situations and struggles to learn how to reach teenagers. Most of all, what comes through is that he clearly cares deeply about the kids.
I'm so disappointed that this show was canceled. I admire Tony Danza for stepping up to try teaching at age 59! After I saw Waiting For Superman, I thought to myself, "that's nice, but I wish they showed what it was really like to teach in the inner city", but of course they don't, because no one would want to watch something so bleak.
But of course! The trick is to get a recognizable celebrity, and put them in the classroom. And it works. As a former teacher, I really identified with the ups and downs Tony went through on the show. I recommended the show to friends and family, but apparently it wasn't enough to keep it on TV. Sad. It's a story that needs to be told.
World of Jenks (2010)
Excellent show, consistently thought-provoking
This show is the best show to be put on MTV in a long time. Andrew Jenks has an incredible knack for getting to know very diverse people and peeling back the layers to see what makes them who they are. I don't know how he picks the people he follows, but without exception, they are more than meets the eye. As other's have mentioned, the main drawback of the show is that Jenks doesn't have more time to tell us about his subjects. Still, he does the most with the time he's given. The show is typically lighthearted, yet manages to challenge the assumptions of the viewer.
The show stands in stark relief to the materialist, hedonistic crap that characterizes most of the network's content and advertisement. Actually, for that matter, it outclasses much of what the "more respectable networks" put on the air, even the sensationalist junk that populates the channels like History, TLC, and Discovery. Considering that most of the MTV's viewership isn't watching MTV to be enlightened, it's hard to imagine that this show is getting the attention and acclaim it deserves. I hope MTV keeps the World of Jenks shine. I, for one, am tuning in.