Review for

The Ten Best Films of 2002
By David N. Butterworth

ABOUT A BOY Nick ("High Fidelity") Hornby's acerbic, best selling novel is lovingly and articulately brought to the screen by screenwriters Peter Hedges ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape") and the brothers Weitz (who also direct). In a role he wasn't exactly born to play, Hugh Grant is staggeringly good as a narcissistic 30-something do-nothing who cruises single-parent support groups looking for chicks until he meets his match in 12-year-old Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), the misfit son of one such emotionally vulnerable woman (the ever dependable Toni Collette). "About a Boy" is an irresistible coming-of-age story that convincingly mixes wit with substance. As for Grant himself, it's simply the best work he's ever committed to celluloid.

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE Incendiary filmmaker Michael Moore ("Roger & Me") is at it again in "Bowling for Columbine," an arch, humorous, and altogether scary look at American gun culture. Taking the Littleton, Colorado high school tragedy as his catalyst, the cuddly, disheveled Moore interviews Columbine survivors, prominent officials, and celebrities (among them Marilyn Manson, Matt Stone, and National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston) and blends these commentaries with a deft mix of archive footage, media coverage, "South Park"-inspired animation, and his own inimitable, confrontational style (K-Mart stopped selling ammunition in their stores as a direct result of Moore's attempts to return some bullets still embedded in a pair of Littleton teens!). "Bowling for Columbine"--a documentary which forces you to think even if you'd prefer not to--isn't always pretty, but it's never less than disarming.

INSOMNIA Hilary Swank ("Boys Don't Cry") is a principal among men in "Insomnia," Christopher Nolan's straightforward (compared to last year's "Memento" that is) yet beautifully acted, edited, and photographed film based upon a 1997 Norwegian thriller. "Insomnia" also stars Al Pacino as an L.A. detective who journeys to Nightmute, Alaska to solve a local murder of a young girl and Robin Williams as lead suspect Walter Finch, a Nightmute novelist who was one of the last people to see the girl alive. The spectacular Alaskan scenery, with its mile-high pine trees, encroaching glaciers smooth as glass, and the desolate, rain-swept streets of Nightmute, is awe-inspiring, but so too is Swank as rookie cop Ellie Burr.

THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE A captivating documentary about movie mogul Robert Evans--"Rosemary's Baby," "Love Story," "The Godfather," etc. Producers Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein chronicle Evans's rise (and subsequent fall, including a failed marriage to actress Ali MacGraw, a cocaine bust, and rumored ties to a "'Cotton Club" murder) through a variety of effective techniques, including the use of 3D cutouts, computer animation, archive photographs, newsreel footage, and a smoky voiceover from Evans himself. It's a motion picture of which the film's subject should be eminently proud, an entertaining, slickly produced, and eminently satisfying biopic.

LUCÍA Y EL SEXO (SEX AND LUCIA) - Spain Call it "Y Tu Mamá También" lite, but "Sex and Lucía" was the year's other sexy foreign road movie... and a fascinating one at that! Spanish director Julio Medem's narratively challenging film (culled, apparently, from two separate shooting scripts) starts at the end, almost, and tells the bulk of its story through flashbacks coming back upwards through the middle and then dropping, like a stone, into a hole at the end (to start all over again?). Medem shoots most of the Mediterranean island scenes (and the very naked Paz Vega, who turns in a brave and controlled performance as the eponymous Lucía, seeking out life's meaning after her boyfriend appears to have been killed in an automobile accident) in this white hot bleached-out digital style that brings his picture to life, arousing the senses--and the imagination--in the process.

LE PACTE DES LOUPS (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) - France OK, so it's not exactly Art (although sometimes it aspires to be) but in terms of sheer escapist fare "Brotherhood of the Wolf" was probably The most fun I've spent in a movie theater this year (in that Saturday morning serial/comic book tradition that out muscles Spidey, Bond--even Indiana Jones!). Bloody, busty, and just plain bizarre, "Brotherhood of the Wolf" features Samuel Le Bihan as naturalist/philosopher cum beastmaster Grégoire de Fronsac, the strikingly handsome Mark Decascos as his mysterious Iroquois shaman Mani, and Vincent Cassel ("Birthday Girl") as the bitter, one-armed Jean-François de Morangias, all out to slay the mystical Beast of Gévaudan that's been tearing hapless French peasants limb from limb. "Brotherhood'" is an extravagant--and unashamed--crossover hit, part period piece, part werewolf movie, part martial arts actioner, and even though the telltale beast, when it finally does appear, is a dud, this highly entertaining (if gory) romp is anything but. File under O (for over-the-top).

PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE Adam Sandler starring in the best film of 2002!? Who'd have thunk it. Few filmmakers challenge, surprise, and excite us quite like P.T. Anderson but the writer/director of "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights" does it again with "Punch-Drunk Love," a brilliantly twisted romantic comedy in which a slightly dim-witted novelty toilet plunger salesman (Sandler) falls for wide-eyed Emily Watson. No frogs this time, just a phone-sex ring, a harmonium, and enough Healthy Choice pudding snack coupons to earn this fabulous film the byline of "frequent flyer." Simply put, it's a knockout!

ROGER DODGER An electrifying film debut from writer/director Dylan Kidd, "Roger Dodger" features Campbell Scott ("Big Night") as a suave, witty, smooth-talking ladykiller who takes his 16-year-old nephew Nick under his wing one night in order to show him the tricks of his trade. Kidd's film is claustrophobic and crafty; Scott is razor sharp and remarkable. But hats off too to Jesse Eisenberg (as Nick), Isabella Rossellini (as Roger's boss Joyce), plus Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley as a pair of nightclub patrons who find themselves on the receiving end of some of Roger's tantalizingly outrageous come-ons. Talky and terrific.

SEN TO CHIHIRO NO KAMIKAKUSHI (SPIRITED AWAY) - Japan As conceived by the great Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki ("Princess Mononoke"), "Spirited Away" is an incomparable blend of solid storytelling and endlessly imaginative visuals. Known as the Japanese Walt Disney, Miyazaki reminds us constantly that we're not in Hollywood anymore--his film has elements that surprise and amuse at every turn, images that are consistently fresh and original. There's depth and complexity to Miyazaki's tale: it's artful and courageous, haunting and evocative--a breathtakingly magical animated fable that truly lifts your spirits and carries you away to a world far beyond your wildest imagination.

Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (AND YOUR MOTHER TOO) - Mexico "Y Tu Mamá También" proves that Alfonso Cuarón?s delightful "A Little Princess" (one of my top films of 1995) was no fluke. It's a dynamic--and dynamite--coming-of-age road movie filled with laughter, charm, eroticism, self-discovery, sadness, juvenile high jinks... and is one of the most honest depictions of youth, of adolescence approaching adulthood, to have come out of Mexico (or any other country for that matter!). Cuaron's film excites from the first frame to the last but what makes "Y Tu Mamá También" so rewarding is its complexity--the depth of its political convictions, the lush cinematography, the attention to detail, the cleverness of the writing, the boldness of the sex scenes, and the inventiveness of its narration. Starring Diego Luna and "Amores Perros"?s Gael Garcia Bernal as a pair of libidinous teens and the outstanding Maribel Verdu as the sexy distant cousin ten years their senior who teaches them to be men.

Honorable mention: "Wendigo"
Dishonorable mention: "13th Child"

--
David N. Butterworth
dnb@dca.net

Got beef? Visit "La Movie Boeuf" online at http://members.dca.net/dnb

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