liv tyler – filmcentric

If my eyes were raised at the inclusion in Criterion’s august collection of the respective pairs of John Woo’s Hong Kong gangster films or Paul Morrissey’s 70s Euro-horror exploitation flicks, then this blockbusting Michael Bay action film is surely the most idiosyncratic choice yet. It’s not that a case can’t be made for it: the liner notes set out an adulatory essay on the film’s claim to greatness, while reading the comments on Criterion’s own page for the film suggest that there’s value in its inclusion just as a gesture of épater le bourgeois (cinéaste). I might add that it does, after all, exemplify a certain trend in Hollywood filmmaking, of which Michael Bay is surely the auteurist hero—the tradition of bigger, louder, stupider explosiveness on all counts. This doesn’t make it a good film, though. It’s not even the pummelling sound design and frenetic editing which do it in, but the utterly predictable character arcs—gung-ho and grizzled miner Harry (Bruce Willis) assembles a team to save the world from an asteroid collision, in the process accepting the feckless A.J. (Ben Affleck) as a suitable husband for his equally gung-ho daughter Grace (Liv Tyler)—all of which are punctuated by the most perfunctorily saccharine music cues.

It’s not that I hate the film—though the characterisation of Steve Buscemi as a ladies’ man, while surely intended as comic, just seems gratuitous—it’s that I find it on the whole rather boring and forgettable. In the end, you’d be best advised to save yourself the two and a half hours, and instead just watch the Aerosmith music video, which distils it down to around three minutes without sacrificing any of the drama.

CREDITS
Director Michael Bay; Writers Jonathan Hensleigh and J.J. Abrams; Cinematographer John Schwartzman; Starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi; Length 153 minutes. Seen at a friend’s home (DVD), London, Sunday 21 June 2015.

Tom Hanks has been one of Hollywood’s most likeable and charismatic stars for years, and it turns out this touch transfers well to his first directorial effort (though he’s only directed one other film in the intervening 20 years). It helps that this 1960s period story, about a bunch of young American lads chasing the success of the British Invasion bands (specifically the Beatles), is fairly light-hearted and coasts through on the screen appeal of its young leads, including an early role for Steve Zahn. It follows a familiar arc of early beginnings, growing commercial success, band friction and dissolution, but it does so in a very easy-going way that never outstays its welcome (there’s a longer director’s cut, though I’ve not seen that). Cheerfully coloured era-specific set and fashion design enlivens the whole thing, making for a satisfying weekend matinee movie experience.

CREDITS
Director/Writer Tom Hanks; Cinematographer Tak Fujimoto; Starring Tom Everett Scott, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Liv Tyler, Tom Hanks; Length 108 minutes. Seen at home (DVD), London, Saturday 27 June 2015 (and years earlier as well).