Knights and Changelings

The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan; C+

Normally I enjoy superhero movies, but The Dark Knight was, well... so dark. I know, that was the point, but without anything to cheer, anything to make me laugh, or any hope for redemption I was left empty and feeling I had wasted time. A recurring theme in this film was the presumed need for our heroes to have faces. Batman hides behind a mask and does his work in the darkness, but he feels there must come a time when the notion of good has a face. To illustrate this theory, District Attorney Harvey Dent is shown as a pure and driven man who quickly becomes the populist leader of Gotham even as the Joker intends to thwart his campaign to clean up the streets. Some of these high level pontifications have merit, but they are mixed with a plot that seems stolen from early 1990's action films--of the Jean Claude Van Damme variety. Even these predecessors, sprinkled as they were with droll one-liners, offered hope and resolution, but The Dark Knight offers none. Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker has garnered much attention, and he does a fine job, but there was little to enjoy about his pitiless villain--at least with Jack Nicholson's Joker you got style and humor delivered with broad brushstrokes. At times the film was stylistically brilliant, but I got tired of squinting through the darkness.

Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood; A

Changeling, in spite of the darkness of its subject matter, delivered the goods and left me both shaken and challenged. Changeling retells the true story of Christine Collins, a single, 1920's mother whose son was abducted. The film opens with a few scenes of pedestrian affection between mother and child, then he goes missing, and we follow her as she searches for him, fighting the corrupt Los Angeles police department in the hopes of bringing back her boy. Full of performances that are realistic and jarring, Changeling ripped me up. I found the final third of the movie to be one of the most wrenching things I've watched on film--it made me hurt for anyone who's ever lived through what Christine Collins has, whether in 1920's America, or in the world we know today. 

Comments

[Wendy Melchior]

Of course, I'm the last one in the world who hasn't seen Batman, and now maybe I'm grateful. Can't wait to see Changeling now.

You can't see me, but I am actually doing a happy dance right now over your new job! Rejoicing with you, friend.

[johnvano]

funny thing about "The Dark Knight"... Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the role of Rachel Dawes (replacing Katie Holmes from "Batman Begins"). It wasn't until over halfway through the movie that I figured out she was the same character that Katie had played! I kept thinking... who is this person? Why does it seem like she and Batman had a thing we're supposed to know about it? I don't get it. Seems like they should've done something to connect Katie and Maggie without it feeling like "Katie wouldn't do this picture" for all of us non-superfans.

Wendy... thanks for dancing your jig for me!