Published: November 15, 2008 09:21 pm            

Movie Review: 'Solace,' 'Bees' provide quality movie options

Editor’s note: A Jacksonville resident has been reviewing movies for friends for several years and has offered to share his thoughts with Daily Progress readers. His reviews come in personal letters to his nicknamed friend, Spud Nut. Our reviewer is Tater Tot, so consequently, the movies get ratings based on potatoes.



Spud Nut,

Daniel Craig plays James Bond like Steve McQueen in “Quantum of Solace” (rated PG-13). Agent 007 is a tight lipped, humorless, vengeful assassin who grieves for lost love Vespa. He hardly even notices the lovely Bolivian secret agent played by Olga Kurylenko in his latest adventure. The action has stunning chase scenes on land, in air, and at sea. The exotic locales are Siena in Italy, London, Port Au Prince in Haiti, La Paz in Bolivia, and Bregenz in Austria. The British Secret Service has gone high tech with iPhones and wall-size computer monitors. The title song is rocked out by Jack White and Alicia Keyes. What does this mean? The franchise is trying to woo the 25 and under audience. But in order to keep the loyalties of the fans who have watched all 22 Bond movies, the script and the director should not have put the classic Bond theme and classic gun pose in the closing credits instead of at the beginning of the story where it belongs. Furthermore, Daniel Craig does not introduce himself as usual with the phrase, “Bond, James Bond.” The one homage to the Bond series is the “Goldfinger”-like death of a woman whose body is covered with oil (instead of gold paint). I liked the movie, but not as much as the last Bond movie when Craig took on this honored role. I miss the mischievous twinkle in Sean Connery’s eye, the humorous gadgets made by “Q,” and the double ententes with the ladies. “Quantum of Solace” has too many quiet pauses that are supposed to add sensitivity to the characters, and some of the British dialogue is hard to understand. Nonetheless, this Bond movie is still worth seeing and earns a two and half potato rating.

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“The Secret Life of Bees” (rated PG-13) has a rich script full of quotable folk wisdom that is destined for academy award nominations for acting (Dakota Fanning) and best screen adaptation of material from another source (the novel by Sue Monk Kidd). A mistreated white young girl runs away from her father and takes refuge with a compassionate black family that keeps bees and sells honey. Her story occurs amidst the racial conflicts of 1964 in South Carolina. No wonder that Gina Prince-Bythewood chose to write and direct this little masterpiece. The super cast includes three mega-divas in Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keyes. Even though this drama will appeal primarily to women and minorities, there is enough meaning in it to make a grown man cry and say Amen. As a coming of age fable, “The Secret Life of Bees” rates three potatoes for sure, and some may rate it even higher.

Tater Tot

        

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