CHLOE

‘Chloe’ has interesting beginning, ending

JULIANNE MOORE (left) and Amanda Seyfred in "Chloe."

Is Amanda Seyfried in every movie filmed these days?
Not that I am complaining. Amanda is very beautiful as well as talented.
And watching her in “Chloe,” I noticed she has the fullest, reddest lips since Mick Jagger.
“Chloe” is dramatic, erotic, entertaining but misses the mark of being a great motion picture.
Julianne Moore plays Catherine Stewart, a successful physician, if you judge her on her spacious, swanky home.
She has a handsome husband, David, played by Liam Neeson, and a musical son, Michael, played by Max Thieriot. Michael, like a few other teens, has an attitude about his parents. Oh yes, and he’s also horny.
Directed by Atom Egoyan, the film opens with the Neeson character lecturing in New York City. He is a college professor who is often hit upon by his female students. A girl, during the discussion, raises her hand and asks if he would be interested in a drink afterward.
Wife Catherine (Moore) meanwhile has a houseful of guests waiting for him in their Toronto home for a surprise party. We see Neeson on the phone with the girl in the background. He’s sorry, he missed his flight, he says.
So the expensive party goes on without the honored guest. But the Moore character is suspicious of hubby. She sees the way his students react to him and how he flirts back, not to mention the texting.
When she sees a photo of an unknown student on his phone, she gets really suspicious.
Often harried at work, seeing all of her patients, she suddenly has a break where she can look down on the city and sees a beautiful, high-priced call girl, played by Seyfried.
Moore arranges a chance meeting in a restroom and engages in conversation. The Moore character wants to know just how far her husband will go with a student.
When you have lots of disposable income, you can do things like hire a hooker, er, escort girl, to come on to your husband and see what happens.
Soon the lovely lipped Seyfried agrees to the plan and reports back. She talks about how she borrowed sugar from his table at a diner and he strolls over to her table to talk to her some more. He’s flirting. The Moore character is intrigued.
So the Seyfried character continues the experiment. She tells of fondling him in the back of a building, a visit to a hotel.
She gets pretty graphic.
Moore is taken back. She decides it has gone too far. She wants it all to stop. But the Seyfried character seems more in control and aware than the much older Moore. She has plans of her own.
The characters are interesting and fully developed. The side story of son Michael is brought into the fold. He has a girlfriend whom Dad allows to spend the night. When they break up, son doesn’t want to hear from Mom.
Ah, but a visit from Chloe would be all right, wouldn’t it?
There are some twists and turns in the plot and Seyfried is showing herself to be a really subtle, first-rate actress, the way she looks, the way she darts her eyes. The way her eyes glint. And to think I used to think of her as just the daughter in HBO’S “Big Love.”
But at some point all of that dirty talk gets a bit repetitive. The escort tells wifie about the latest hubby exploits. She reacts. Lots of restaurant scenes. A good amount of white wine. And lots of mirror, too.
While the film has twists and turns you won’t see coming, the plot could have included a few more subplots or the story trimmed a bit, even though it is only 96 minutes.
But the filmmaker certainly makes the opening and ending of the film interesting and compelling, so I guess we can forgive if the middle sags a bit.
Especially when you can look at Seyfried’s lips.

CHLOE Directed by Atom Egoyan Written by Erin Cressida Wilson and Anne Fontaine Runtime: 96 minutes Rated R for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, nudity and language 3 stars out of 4

The World's Fastest Indian

Hopkins unlikely speedster in ‘Fastest Indian’

ANTHONY HOPKINS in 'The World's Fastest Indian'

Burt Munro was a quirky but likable kind of guy.
He lived in southern New Zealand. He was a bit, well, strange.
For instance, when the grass in back of his and his neighbor’s house got too long, he poured gasoline and burned it. He was shocked when the fire department arrived to put it out.
But Munro was a fascinating guy and became the topic of a pretty compelling, fun film, “The World’s Fastest Indian.” Munro is played by the always versatile Anthony Hopkins.
It’s a true story about a guy who overcomes countless odds to achieve and go beyond his original goals.
Munro had a motorcycle, a 1920 Indian, that he enjoyed modifying and racing. His dream was to take it to the Bonneville Salt Flats.
But he had limited funds and angina, a particularly painful heart malady.
One day, he mortgaged his home and shipped himself and his motorcycle to America to attempt to fulfill his dreams.
He really doesn’t know the country, doesn’t know the currency and is soon ripped off from his limited funds by a cab driver and prostitute. He decides to stay at a cheap motel best rented by the hour, not the week.
Munro isn’t fazed by much. He doesn’t blink an eye when he discovers the friendly girl who helps him from the hotel is actually a cross-dressing guy.
He befriends a used car dealer who sells him a lemon of a car, but Munro’s mechanical talents quickly turns it into a winner. The car dealer asks him to stay and fix his other vehicles.
Along the way his cycle trailer falls apart, he is pestered by police and has similar troubles.
Burt is also befriended by a widow who misses her deceased husband, so he must fill in the best he can.
When he finally gets to the race, his motorcycle is ripped apart, figuratively.
It doesn’t have a chute, no brakes, no safety features. It isn’t even registered!
But Burt keeps his cool and plods along toward his goal.
Hopkins is such a good actor in everything he does. He is a chameleon in his various roles and becomes his characters. This is no exception.
His smiles, his mannerisms, his sighs. It’s all part of the character.
This film is a solid lesson on how to fulfill your dreams, how to overcome adversity when problems continue to mount.
Because of what the real Burt Munro accomplished in his life, the speeds he attained on his motorcycle are nothing short of extraordinary.
Yet he was a congenial guy who people liked to help.
Hopkins makes this movie, which came out six years ago but never got the publicity it deserves.
This is a great film for younger people to learn from. And even though it is 127 minutes long, you will be sorry to see the film end.
So if you haven’t seen “The World’s Fastest Indian,” it’s time to add it to your Netflix que. In fact, it is available for streaming. Watch “The World’s Fastest Indian” fast!

THE WORLD’S FASTEST INDIAN • Directed and written by Roger Donaldson • Rated PG-13 for brief language, drug use and a sexual reference • Runtime: 127 minutes • 4 stars out of 5

Petrified Forest

‘Petrified Forest’ kicked up careers of Bogart, Davis

BETTE DAVIS, Leslie Howard (center) and Humphrey Bogart in “Petrified Forest.”

“The Petrified Forest” started as a stage play and became a celebrated film in 1936.
Imagine, this film stars Leslie Howard three years before “Gone With the Wind.”
Bette David is a young, upcoming actress.
Humphrey Bogart had bit parts and appeared in unimportant pictures before this. Howard insisted on Bogart appearing in this make-it-or-break-it picture.
Without this film, Bogart may have given up on a motion picture career. So indebted, Bogart named his daughter Leslie after Howard.
Davis plays Gabrielle Maple, who works in her father’s restaurant and gasoline station out in the desert. She sort of flirts with an employee and ex-college football player, played by Eddie Acuff.
She was born in Paris but left after only a few days. Still, she enjoys poetry and dreams of returning to France. She’s not your typical country girl.
Howard is Alan Squier, a depressed hitch-hiker and author who indeed spent time in France. He’s making his way to the Pacific coast.
Squier enjoys a meal with Davis. She charges only 30 cents for the food, but he can’t even pay that. She feels sorry for him and gives $1 “change.” She even arranges a ride with a rich family.
Unfortunately, out on the road the family meets up with cold-blooded Duke Mantee (Bogart) and his gang of killers.
They end up hold up back at the restaurant where the film turns, well, a bit too conversational.
This is where it gives away its stage-play origins. The earlier scene between Davis and Howard seems to go on forever, a sort of precursor to “My Dinner with Andre.”
A highlight is character actor Charley Grapewin, who plays an old man who Billy the Kid allowed to live and who met Mark Twain.
It’s easy to see why this is a breakout film for Bogart, with his pompadour haircut and grizzled, unshaven look. He’s a mean hombre with no scruples, ready to blast away at any moment.
One victim offers to pay for his freedom, to the tune of $200. Duke takes the money, but keeps him in captivity. He’s not such a bad guy though. Duke lets him keep his loose pocket change.
Two African-Americans play minor but interesting parts. One is a liberated gang member who looks down on the black servant of the rich family.
So depressed is the Howard character he signs over his life insurance policy to Davis’ character. He then asks Duke to kill him, since Duke has already killed, another victim won’t make a difference.
Gabrielle’s father is part of a cartoonish militia that meets regularly. The group is a holdover from the Great War but is fumbles its way until captured by Duke’s gang.
There’s a pretty good shootout with the cops at the end.
The whole tone of the film and the ideas exchanged seem far more contemporary than the Great Depression, when the film was made.
It also spotlights a diverse group of great actors early in their careers.
If you get the DVD, it includes an MGM night at the movies, with newsreel, short subject musical and a cartoon.
A little too talky, it is still worth watching 74 years later.

THE PETRIFIED FOREST • Directed by Archie Mayo • Written by Charles Kenyon and Delmer Davies • Runtime: 82 minutes • Not rated by violent shootout may be too intense for youngsters • 3 starts out of 4