REVIEW: Snowden

The last Oliver Stone movie I saw was Savages.  It left me feeling unimpressed.  It lacked compelling characters and had a jerky story telling narrative.  It was a long way from the all time classic, Platoon.  That is one of my favourite war movies of all time, and it shows everything that Oliver Stone is capable of as a director and script writer.  It is a haunting tale of a child born of two fathers in war, needing to choose which one to follow.

Going into Snowden, I didn't know which Oliver Stone to expect.  Would it be the one who crafts characters from the ground up, magnifying their struggles, or would it be the more scattershot version that was seen in Savages?  I can luckily say that it was closer to the former than the latter.

Snowden tells the story of Edward Snowden (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a man who needs little introduction.  The movie starts off with his meeting of members of the press and film-maker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo).  Those meetings are central to the film, as the rest is the backdrop of Snowden's story of trying to get into the military, and then ending up being a contractor for the CIA and NSA.

The real strength of this movie is the acting performance by Gordon-Levitt, whose portrayal of Edward Snowden is spot on.  He is soft spoken, patient, and eager to learn.  He is also driven by a large moral compass, which may end up being the biggest weakness of the film as well.  When Snowden is confronted with examples of government overreach, there is no real inner turmoil as to how to respond.  It is clear that Oliver Stone sees Edward Snowden as a hero, and this is reflected in the script and how the movie is directed.

This is a problem because the leaks brought to us by Edward Snowden have caused a huge debate over privacy and security.  It is something that is still reverberating today, as those discussions continue with governments wanting back doors into encrypted messaging systems.  Well, that's not true.  They know that saying the word 'back door' is going to rile the public against them because of the intense metadata that they had collected before, so they don't use this word.  But, what they are asking for is essentially that.  The point is, the Snowden leaks are something that have forever changed the landscape of the electronic world, and there are valid points to be seen on both sides.  The movie steers clear of properly making justifications without villainizing the characters central to that argument.  The fact that there is an obvious bias towards what Edward Snowden did does take some of the teeth out of this movie, which could have otherwise served as a great piece to continue the existing debate.

That issue aside, this is a really solid film from Stone, who uses pacing, his shots, and the score Craig Armstrong to create tension and make it roll out like a thriller in some points.  There have been some great movies that are able to create this sort of tension without having scenes with chases and violence, and Snowden stands up as one of them.

Central to the story is the relationship between Edward Snowden and his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley).  Woodley's performance is easily one of her best, and it is of vast importance to the success of this movie to get the power of the relationship right.  For Edward Snowden to release the data, he is having to choose between what's best for the public interest, or what's best for him.  To not disclose it means he gets to keep his life with his love, but to disseminate it means to possibly lose out on the relationship, as he would have to flee the United States.

The chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Woodley is impeccable.  It is easy to accept them as a couple of love birds, and we are introduced to the struggles that they have to get through to make the relationship work long term.  It is a relationship that is easy to accept and cheer for.  Without that, we would not get a full sense of what was at stake when Edward Snowden made his decision to do what he did.

While I am talking about that, I do realize that I have another small issue with the movie.  It never really invites the audience member into the shoes of Edward Snowden and make them ask if they would do the same thing, risking their lives and their relationships.  This is because the character of Edward Snowden, as portrayed in the movie, is a moving vessel that never really stops to allow the audience to climb aboard.

There have been a few things that I have mentioned as being issues with the movie, but those are more things that arrive out of missed opportunities.  This film could have easily been one of the major cinematic talking points of the last few years, but the bias towards Edward Snowden robbed it of being a topic of discussion in coffee shops and class rooms.  For that, you need to check out the documentary Citizenfour.

While there are issues, what is clear about this movie is that it is a solid work of art.  Stone uses all of the techniques in the book, and borrows some from documentary film making (which could create a disjointed experience for some viewers, but I found it to work).  What we are treated with in the end is a piece of cinema that captures the interest of the viewer, and takes them through the unravelling of one of the biggest social revelations of our time, and it is done while being vastly entertaining at the same time.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

PS - Melissa Leo is fantastic as always.

The Spectacular Now

I could not tell you why, but lately it has been very hard to sit in front of the keyboard and work on reviews.  This does not mean I have not been watching good movies (or bad ones as well), but more so because of the mental game of writing.  I could not say that it is 'writer's block' as it more seems to come down to confidence and fears.  Awful things, those are.  

One of the great coming of age movies from 2013 turned out to be the little known film The Spectacular Now, a movie which looks at the very adult issues that teenagers face while wrapping it in a teen romance theme.  In this movie, there is sort of a typical theme of the popular person developing a relationship with the academic person who is much lower down on the adolescent social ladder.  However, it does not approach it from the normal means of a quest or a dare set upon the ‘cool kid,’ but more from a common understanding that their lives are not in the order that they would like them to be in.

The movie has Sutter (Miles Teller), who is the life of the party and refuses to ever let the party die by constantly infusing his body with alcohol.  After a night of hitting the bottle, he ends up on the lawn of Aimee (Shailene Woodley) who is heading out to do her newspaper route to support her family.  The movie, caught in a scenario that is usually bound into clichés, uses this as a jumping point for the story of the two, who slowly start to develop a relationship, although it is not the best one at times, and grow to be good friends who push and support each other in taking control of their lives.

The pairing of these two actors is an example of terrific casting, as they both play their parts to the point of making the viewer remember back to high school (assuming that the viewer, such as myself, already has high school behind them) and remembering people who were exactly like that.  It is easy to not care much for Sutter, as he does not seem to care about anything and is quick to make a joke.  Life, for him, has a lack of seriousness about it, and there is no forethought to the consequences of any of his actions.  While this struck a chord with me, reminding me of those types from my past and stirring up some good ole angst towards him, it was incredible to witness just how effective director James Ponsoldt and Teller were at bringing in moments where I felt sympathy for Sutter.  While he is easy to judge right away as a useless kid who will never amount to anything, we are able to see the reality of what lies behind the curtain for him (and perhaps others like him) that makes him that way.

Shailene Woodley shows her acting chops in this film, perhaps giving us an idea of just how far her career can go.  She is about to be put on the main stage as the lead in the upcoming Divergent movie, but it is in this film where we can see a multitude of layers that she is able to incorporate into a character.  She plays the shy girl well, but behind what may be a lack of social confidence we see glimpses of a very strong young woman who has not yet come out.  Hindered by her home situation, much like Teller, she needs a push to discover the amazing individual she truly is.  Her performance is without flaw, and without such delivery, a lot of the story and emotional impact of the film would never be able to come to the surface.

Also in this film is Brie Larson, and if you have read some of my other writings or listened to The Breakdown podcast you may have figured out that I am quite a fan of this talented young actress.  She plays a supporting role as Sutter’s ex-girlfriend, and serves as a symbol of how his dysfunctional life can pull someone down with him.  While he is stuck in his own life, not moving forward, we see that once she is clear of his influence she seems able to assert herself into her life with confidence.  It is a bold warning for Aimee that a similar fate could be around the corner.

Such cycles are part of this movie’s makeup.  When you are a teenager, unsure of who you are and how your circumstances have molded you, circling around familiar ground is a perfect way to deceive ourselves that all is safe and familiar.  Sutter’s behaviours of self-sabotage and destruction were powerfully crafted, a self-propelled cycle that showed off the complexities of human struggles.  While it may sound a bit doom and gloom, this is a coming of age story.  It is one about teens turning into adults, hitting moments of recognition, and being faced with choices of what path they want their lives to take, and The Spectacular Now does this all spectacularly.

Rating – 3.5 out of 4 stars