will patton Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'm not sure exactly what quality it is that real people possess and actors lack, but any time a film pretends to document real behavior, either literally or as a reenactment, something is almost always missing. Sometimes the problem is a deliberate decision to enhance events with artificial emphasis or drama, and sometimes it's simply too great a sense of self-awareness in the actor, who knows he or she is performing. But while there are a precious few movies that nail that authenticity, notably the recent underdog-blockbuster Paranormal Activity, such is certainly the case in The Fourth Kind, a film that purports to build an argument for alien abductions using "actual" footage from case studies.

While much of the movie's so-called source material carries the convincing roughness and deficiencies of homemade, handheld recording, too much of it seems far too calculated, both in its technical proficiency and the performances contributed by its "real" people. Further, its accompanying reenactments by recognizable actors undermine the possibility that audiences can take its case seriously, all of which adds up to thriller that unravels easily even if it nevertheless occasionally qualifies as a scary good time.

When Universal shuffled their slate last month and pushed The Wolf Man back to 2010, they filled its early November void with the alien abduction thriller, The Fourth Kind, and as such have wisely opted to attach their first trailer to District 9 (which I'm guessing must be some sort of Milla Jovovich biopic).

Jovovich plays Dr. Abigail Tyler, a Nome, AK psychiatrist whose multiple patients are all spilling forth similarly cryptic stories of what would appear to be occurrences of bona fide alien abduction. (Anyone else picking up a Fire in the Sky vibe all of a sudden?)

American Violet opens in the kitchen of a Texas housing project, as a mother makes breakfast for her children. She pours water into a tea kettle; serves eggs; hurries the kids along – a lovely, peaceful scene. Then the film cuts abruptly to police preparing for a raid: they load their weapons (I believe the first shot is of a gun), put on armor, and pile en masse into trucks. The moment we move from the kitchen table to the police staging area, the soundtrack changes too, from a languid, piano-tinged theme to a percussive arrangement that screams evil.

This approach is representative of much of the movie, which is a strident, aggressive polemic against racism in the justice system, as well as the story of a courageous woman who risked much to sue an all-powerful District Attorney. It is straightforward, unambiguous, and often frankly partisan, hitting its talking points hard without ever really peering under the surface. The tale it tells is reasonably compelling, and as a legal thriller the film more or less works. But much of it is obvious and ham-fisted – the sort of Serious Drama you might expect to see on basic cable. Adventurous moviegoers won't find much of interest here.

Remember that upcoming thriller about the woman who thinks it's a good idea to starve and isolate herself for a month to rid herself of her mental issues? Well, that's Waking Madison, and The Hollywood Reporter have posted the next round of cast members. Disturbia's Sarah Roemer is already set to star as the woman who "locks herself in her apartment for 30 days with no food, telephone, or outside stimuli," and Elisabeth Shue was cast as her doctor. Now we've got Frances Conroy, Will Patton, and word on Taryn Manning's character.

Conroy, who made a neurotic name for herself as Ruth Fisher on Six Feet Under, has been pretty well-cast as Dolly, "Madison's mother and a religious zealot who has her own mental-health issues," while Patton, who was most recently in A Mighty Heart, will play her dad, who is "loving but emotionally absent." Yet somehow, even though Madison has got a whole life of dysfunction, she thinks starving herself for a month will help heal her. Anyhow, Manning, whose casting has been listed on the film's website for a while, is playing Margaret -- "a fellow patient with sociopathic tendencies who resides at the psychiatric hospital with Madison." I'm not sure how Roemer's character can live in a hospital and an apartment, but we'll see soon enough. (Fie vague, confusing plot descriptions!) Production begins in New Orleans today.