Jim Sturgess Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Wayne Kramer's Crossing Over is a bad movie, but it's not bad in the usual ways. The camerawork doesn't shake, boom mikes don't dip into the frame, and the actors tend to remember their lines. The story moves forward in a reasonably cohesive way. On most levels it even resembles a good movie. In fact, it very closely resembles something that once won an Oscar for Best Picture: Crash (2005). Like that movie, It tells the story of a cross-section of characters in Los Angeles, all of whom are connected in some way to a sticky issue, immigration this time, rather than racism. Harrison Ford leads the way as Max Brogan, an ICE agent whose colleagues often tease him for being a softie. During a raid on a sweatshop, his heart goes out to a woman, Mireya Sanchez (Alice Braga), who claims to have a young son at home. He nearly lets her go, and later regrets his decision not to.

Next up, we get Ashley Judd as Denise Frankel, who is an immigration attorney focused on finding a foster home for a young Nigerian girl; Denise wears a little Africa pendant just to show how much she cares. Her husband is a louse of an INS official, Cole (Ray Liotta). One day, he gets into a car accident outside his office building. The driver of the offending vehicle is an illegal Australian immigrant, the beautiful Claire Shepard (Alice Eve), who has already found work as an actress but whose paperwork has been lost in the system. Cole quickly arranges to help her in exchange for a series of sleazy, sweaty hotel room encounters.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive final poster for Crossing Over, starring Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess and Ashley Judd. Directed by Wayne Kramer (Running Scared, The Cooler), Crossing Over weaves together several stories about immigrants trying to achieve legal status -- as well as a better life for themselves and their loved ones -- in Los Angeles. The stacked cast should produce a variety of excellent performances (especially for a film released in February), and the Crash-like vibe I'm feeling over this film will definitely appeal to a lot of folks out there. You can check out the full-sized version of this poster by clicking the box below, and the trailer is available over on Moviefone.

Crossing Over hits theaters on February 27.

The latest theme to hit the Hollywood water supply and spread -- WWII Russia. Just as Defiance (the story of three Jewish brothers who escape Poland and join Russian resistance fighters) gears up to hit screens, the cast for another is just about set. Variety reports that Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan are in final negotiations to star in Peter Weir's The Way Back, which Eugene wrote about back in October.

The film will focus on a group of soldiers who engineered a grueling escape from a Siberian gulag in 1942 -- walking thousands of kilometers through the Gobi desert and over the Himalayas to India and freedom. Like many stories these days, Slavomir Rawicz's tale has been challenged, but it's an interesting story, and true or not, it should make for a compelling film -- especially under Weir. Should the negotiations work out -- Farrell will be a tough and tattooed Russian, Harris will play an American, Sturgess will play a Polish inmate, and Ronan will be a Russian on the run who joins the fugitives.

I'm intrigued, and will definitely check this out, but could we please have more true, or at least confirmed accounts? Many stories coming out of WWII are compelling without added embellishments like food throwing over fences and hikes across the desert. I grew up hearing my grandfather's accounts of working for the resistance and escaping camps, plus reading accounts of fighters like the Kosciuszko Squadron -- there's plenty of cinematic war fare out there. Oh well, at least it's not more Iraq war cinema!

Don't worry hardcore Spidey fans, Evan Rachel Wood is not replacing Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, Peter Parker's girlfriend. However, according to the actress herself, she's signed on to play Mary Jane in Spider-Man: The Musical, which begins rehearsals in June, 2009, and will most likely arrive on Broadway before the next big-screen sequel in early 2010.

We've known for awhile now that the musical's director, Julie Taymor, has been championing her Across the Universe stars for the lead roles in the musical. Now that Wood has nabbed the co-lead, will Jim Sturgess play Spidey? According to Wood, who spoke with IESB at a press junket for The Wrestler, they're "still trying to convince him." It's important to note that both Wood and Sturgess have workshopped the musical with Taymor recently, so chances are good both will open the show in New York. Remember, music and lyrics have been provided by U2's Bono and The Edge -- and with two pretty movie stars in the starring roles, this thing could take off. Whaddya think? Will Spidey ruin his superheroic kickass appeal by deciding to belt out a tune or three on Broadway?

Plenty of musicians have made the transfer from the recording studio to the silver screen, and with varying results. But, it probably isn't so common to see a rock star who's willing to stay behind the scenes. The Hollywood Reporter announced that WB has picked up The Karma Coalition, a spec script written by rocker Shawn Christensen. Christensen is probably best known for his work as lead singer of Stellastar, an indie rock outfit that's toured with Jane's Addiction and The Killers.

According to THR, "The story centers on a professor who engages in a game of cat and mouse with a corrupt detective after he's told his dead wife of five years might still be alive. He uncovers the existence of a secret organization responsible for faking her death but suffers the consequences of that knowledge." The project was written by Christensen and his partner, Jason Dolan. Dan Lin will be producing the flick for Lin Pictures along with the WB. Lin already has some high profile films like Sherlock Holmes and Terminator Salvation in the pipeline, so a low stress thriller probably came as a welcome relief.

Even though Karma sounds like your usual Hollywood thriller (and it was written by two guys with minimal film credits to say the least), WB must have seen something in the idea. The studio will be shelling out $750,000 against $1.5 million for the project *and have attached Joe Russo to direct (which is an odd choice if you ask me, considering Russo's last flick was You, Me and Dupree), and 21's Jim Sturgess to star. So while Karma might not have the best 'film pedigree', at least Christensen already has a day job.

*Correction: Joe Russo and Jim Sturgess are attached to another Dolan/Christensen project, titled, Sidney Hall.

Do you really want to get an IRA mole mad? British spy drama Fifty Dead Men Walking has stirred the ire of Martin McGartland, its real-life inspiration, according to The Hollywood Reporter. McGartland "threatened legal action against the Canadian-British co-production ... on grounds that the feature infringes his moral rights." On the same day that McGartland made his threat, a scheduled press screening was canceled by Canadian distributor TVA Films, which claimed "a print problem."

The film is scheduled to have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 10 -- a splashy, red carpet Gala Presentation. But McGartland says that the film "is an entirely false and distorted account of what took place." He is also "reserving all [his] legal rights and remedies in this matter." But one has to wonder -- didn't he already sign off by selling the film rights? Or was that out of his hands and up to his publisher (Hastings House)?

McGartland infiltrated the IRA for the British police in the 1980s and then had to go on the run when his true identity was uncovered. Kari Skogland (Chicks with Sticks, The Stone Angel) adapted McGartland's 1998 book for the screen and also directed. Ben Kingsley, Rose McGowan, Jim Sturgess (21) star. The prospect of Kingsley (in a bad hair piece) and Sturgess facing off somehow -- is Kingsley his police "control"? a member of the IRA? -- sounds very enticing, as does the prospect of Sturgess tackling a serious subject, so let's hope this gets resolved quickly.

Movies about ex-convicts and their difficulty assimilating back into society generally begin with the prison release, during which the protagonist typically looks downright miserable. At first thought, I recall the opening of Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66, which ironically exaggerates the hopelessness of post-incarceration by adding a lack of a public restroom to the list of things the former jailbird is without. But at the beginning of John Crowley's new film, Boy A, the titular young man being turned back into the world is high-browed and smiling from ear to ear. And this change from the expected norm really drew me into the film immediately.

Perhaps the difference is that for most films about ex-cons, the hero doesn't have a very good chance at starting over. For "Boy A," however, there's a literal reinvention taking place. In the first scene, the young man (Andrew Garfield) sits with his caseworker, Terry (Peter Mullan), and discusses the details of his release, which include his receiving a new home, a new job and, most importantly, a new identity -- he chooses the name "Jack." Also, rather symbolically, Terry hands Jack a gift, a pair of sneakers that unintentionally represents the young man's ability to comfortably run away from his former life.

Cinematical has learned that Jim Sturgess has officially signed to star in the new film Heartless, directed by Philip Ridley, and starring Clémence Poésy (Harry Potter), Noel Clarke, Timothy Spall, Eddie Marsan, Joseph Mawle, Luke Treadaway and Jon Macmillan. Apart from receiving the news, we've also gotten our hands on some sort of teaser poster for the film (click to enlarge) which apparently begins principal photography in London and The Isle of Man on June 8th, 2008. Heartless centers on a young man who is tricked into a deal with a demon and then must fight to save his soul.

Sturgess, who starred in the poker-themed drama 21 this past Spring (read our interview with the actor), has upcoming roles in Crossing Over and Fifty Dead Men Walking. I'm always iffy on stories that involve deals with demons, but I like Sturgess and look forward to seeing him in more films. You?

When I saw the blackjack drama 21 at South By Southwest, I was instantly struck by its major flaws: It's full of clichés, and its supposedly brilliant main characters do a lot of stupid things. I had no idea I was missing another flaw, too -- that most of the real-life people who pulled off the scheme were Asian-American, while almost everyone in the movie is white.

People commenting on my review of the film mentioned this fact, and some subsequent Internet browsing confirms that it's been a hot topic among some observers ever since the film was announced. (I confess not having paid the film any attention until the marketing campaign kicked into high gear around the first of the year.) The character played by Jim Sturgess in the movie was named Jeff Ma in real life, and he and most of his teammates were Asian. In the movie, only two minor characters are still Asian, played by Aaron Yoo and Liza Lapira.

So the question is: Is the ethnicity-swapping the result of racism? Is it something else? Does it matter?

(Note: We're re-posting our 21 review from SXSW to coincide with the film's theatrical release this weekend.)

In 21, an M.I.T. math whiz joins a secret cabal of card-counters who fly to Vegas on the weekends to make a killing at the blackjack tables. That's the hook, the part you may not have seen in a thousand other films. But the rest is as generic as the title (21? Really? That's the best you could come up with?), a story about a nobody who becomes a somebody, forsakes his friends, and learns What's Really Important.

Yawn is right. This is a prime example of a movie that isn't bad, per se, just unnecessary, a competently made but wholly unremarkable trifle. It trades exclusively in clichés and stock characters -- and yet, strangely, director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) seems to believe he has made something compelling and original. And I have to think, if I've seen lots of movies exactly like this one, then shouldn't Luketic have as well?