Capone finds MILLIONS and hunts down CONSTANTINE!

Let's face it: for those who care at all about films based on comic book/graphic novel source material, all roads lead to SIN CITY in 2005. If movies like FANTASTIC FOUR or Keanu Reeves' latest, CONSTANTINE, are any good as well, that's just gravy. It just so happens that I'm a big fan of gravy. I've never had any exposure to the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer, and from what I hear about the reaction of fans of the series, that's probably just as well. CONSTANTINE, the movie, is a compendium of some really terrific ideas, visuals, and atmosphere that sometimes gel and sometimes don't. Whether or not this gelling factor happens for you or not may depend on your familiarity with the source material.

Keanu Reeves is our anti-hero, John Constantine, a man who acts as the world's protection again the forces of hell. On a quiet day, he might perform an exorcism on a little girl. On a busy day, he's battling an onslaught of demons intent on taking over the earth and paving the way for the son of Satan to take over life as we know it. We happen to catch Constantine on a busy day. One of the biggest problems I had with CONSTANTINE was Reeves. I get the sense that his character is supposed to be an emotionally broken warrior who fights because if he doesn't, his soul goes directly to hell. Apparently as a youth, Constantine committed suicide (a mortal sin) but was plucked from the clutches of eternal hell by God, who chose him to defend the world from demons who cross the line from simply influencing human behavior to actually possessing them. Constantine is hoping that these good deeds will redeem his soul and make it possible for him to enter heaven upon his death, but the angel Gabriel (a remarkable performance by the aptly gender-neutral Tilda Swinton) tells John that his is in vein. And time is running out for Constantine, since he has a nasty case of lung cancer brought on by constant smoking. All of these elements should weigh heavy on a man, but Reeves looks like he just stepped out of a fashion spread in Cool Dude magazine. I'm not saying he doesn't pull it off most of the time; he does. But sometimes I had a tough time seeing the torment on his face.

What DOES convincingly convey is Constantine's assuredness that he could handle most of what was thrown at him. A battle between him and the demon Balthazar (who has taken over the disgustingly handsome singer Gavin Rossdale) is a celebration of all thing gooey. I'll give Rossdale points for looking about as disgusting as he could for the climax of this battle. Perhaps more convincing in show us their life-long torment is Rachel Weisz as Detective Angela Dodson, whose twin sister (also played by Weisz) has committed suicide. Angela is convinced that her sisterwould never have killed herself and enlists Constantine to help prove that. Constantine's epic journey to discover the truth about the sister, about Angela roll in hell's great plan, about Gabriel, and about himself is fascinating. Constantine journeys to hell on a couple of occasions, and although I'm not a huge fan of CG-created monsters in these kind of films (they always look fake), music video veteran and first-time feature director Francis Lawrence's vision of hell is awesome. It looks remarkably similar to our world, but everything is on fire and half-headed demons are everywhere. His views of hell on earth are pretty freakish as well. The exorcism that Constantine performs on a girl is far more aggressive and angry than anything I've seen before, despite the similarities to a familiar version of the ritual.

The hidden strength of CONSTANTINE is its supporting cast. Pruitt Taylor Vince as the spiritually tainted Father Hennessy; Djimon Hounsou as Midnite, the caretaker of a club where good and evil co-exist comfortably; Shia LaBeouf as Constantine's apprentice Chas; and Peter Storemare as...well, let's just say a man in a white suit isn't always the good guy. In a film so deeply seeded in good and evil, these actors provide a nice balance and tend not to overperform, except for Storemare, who is completely insane. He's long been one of those faces that I just love seeing in any film. The other element of the film that I thought worked well was the humor, which is subtle and blessedly free of punchline/one-liner dialogue that has invaded so many horror films lately. Overall, I'd have to say I was genuinely impressed with nearly every aspect of CONSTANTINE. Some parts are jaw-droppingly great; some, not so much. But I can't think of any part of the film I found outright awful, and that's saying something at this time of year. Now give me an advance screening of SIN CITY so I can die a happy comic book fan.

MILLIONS

One thing we can always count on from director Danny Boyle: he'll never make the same movie twice. From the demented comedies SHALLOW GRAVE and TRAINSPOTTING, to the over-the-top crime caper A LIFE LESS ORDINARY to the ultimately disappointing but still watchable THE BEACH to the twisted spark of genius VACUUMING COMPLETELY NUDE IN PARADISE and the horror masterpiece 28 DAYS LATER, Boyle is a filmmaker whose projects always involve and excite me even if they're no damn good on occasion. His latest is the decidedly PG-rated offering MILLIONS, and although it is being pushed strongly by Fox Searchlight as a family film, I'm not sure every member of the family is quite prepared for this movie. Certainly not a "kids" movie, but certainly safe for people of all ages in terms of language, violence, etc., MILLIONS is an absolute blast to watch thanks to strong performances from its child actors and a compelling plot that mixes religious fervor, greed, crime, and loss.

We meet the Cunningham family. Father Ronnie (the always reliable James Nesbitt) has recently suffered the death of his wife and he must now move his two childrento a new home. Alex is something of a religious fanatic the way some kids are baseball enthusiasts. He knows the names of every saint ever to have lived and has very clear thoughts on the issues of charity and faith. He also has a wild imagination, and he seems to deal with the sadness of his mother's death by conversing with various saints (complete with little gold halos) come visit to offer him practical advise on life's daily dramas. Behind their house near the railroad tracks, Damian builds a massive fort out of the large cardboard boxes his family used to pack. As soon as its built, a train blows by shaking the structure to its cardboard core (which Alex loves). Suddenly the fort comes crashing down. Damian crawls out of the wreckage to find a giant duffel bag full bursting with money. Naturally, he thinks that his cash-strapped family is the recipient of a miracle. The truth is much more sinister, as we discover when a scary looking chap (Christopher Fulford) shows up several days later looking for the bag.

Much of MILLIONS focuses on the decidedly different uses Alex and Damian come up with for the money. Alex brags to his friends about his newfound wealth, buys them and himself all sort of goodies, and tips very well. Damian wants to give large portions of the cash to the poor in the form of anonymous gifts. Neither of them wants their father to find out. The added catch to the whole scenario is the the United Kingdom is just days away from switching from pound notes to euros, so unless they find a way to exchange huge quantities of cash in just a couple of days, the money will be useless to anyone. They can't simply open a bank account and deposit the money because they're too young.

MILLIONS is more often than not quite whimsical, but there are moments of sincere melancholy that work just as well. Damian final celestial visitor is a prime example of the latter. The film is also, at times, quite frightening as Damian is confronted by the nasty stranger, who makes arrangement (and threats) to get his cash back. The best part about MILLIONS is that you never quite know where it's going or who's going to end up with the cash. This last point is handled quite deftly. As good as Nesbitt is here (as he is in everything), the film's heart and soul is the two boys. It was actually nice to see a film featured brothers that weren't simply mortal enemies. The older tries to set the younger right and protect him from his own naivete. Sometimes he has to crack down on the kid, but it's always in the name of love. Both first-time actors, McGibbon and Etel are splendid child actors without an hint of self-awareness. These are child characters that don't act like adults; they make the same ill-thought-out mistakes and judgement calls as real kids who don't always understand the implications or consequences of their actions. MILLIONS might be too sophisticated for really young children to appreciate by those close to their teenage years would probably dig it. MILLIONS is a film you can experience and love with your heart and mind. It's scheduled to open March 11.

Capone

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