Rango Review

Director: Gore Verbinski
Writers: John Logan, Gore Verbinski, James Ward Byrkit
Stars: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty
Studio: Nickelodeon/Paramount

Johnny Depp’s disappearing act

The most surprising thing about Rango is how much Johnny Depp disappears into the character of a nameless pet chameleon who creates his identity when his terrarium falls out of the back of a car into the desert frontier. Unlike a certain cartoon panda, who was basically an animated version of every Jack Black character ever, Rango is no Keith Richards with an eye-patch or crazy barber/milliner/chocolatier. He’s a cipher who becomes a fraud who becomes a hero.

For the most part, Pirates of the Caribbeandirector Gore Verbinski cast talented character actors like Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Nighy, Alfred Molina and Ned Beatty over more recognizable voices. Even Scottish/Australian lead Isla Fisher takes on a Texan drawl as the tough and independent damsel in distress Beans, struggling to hold onto her family farm in the wake of severe draught.

Water is currency on the parched land, and Beans (Fisher) is the only one who suspects foul play is causing its shortage. When Rango’s tall tales earn him the role of sheriff, it’s up to him to help quench the town’s thirst for justice and prosperity.

Rango isn’t a particularly good—or honest—sheriff, though, and his quest to find some kind of identity proves more difficult than it first seems. He must battle birds and moles and Rattlesnake Jake (Nighy), as well as his own self-doubts.

While the laugh-a-minute ratio might not keep pace with recent Pixar and Dreamworks fare, the film is a loving tribute to classic Westerns, featuring a Clint Eastwood look-a-like as The Spirit of the West. And with Roger Deakins (True Grit, No Country For Old Men) serving as a cinematography consultant, the desert comes to vivid life.

Most of Verbinski’s choices, though, seem aimed at the moms and dads in the audience; I heard the grown-ups laughing at jokes like “it’s a puzzle, a real mammogram” as much as the young ’uns responding to the physical comedy. Even the poster references the tripped-out Depp of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I was genuinely surprised my kids liked the film as much as I did, and none of the characters seemed cuddly enough for fast-food tie-ins.

It’s truly gritty, and that seemed to be what my kids (ages six to 12) loved about it. Kids don’t always need primary colors and fluffy bunnies and 3-D effects. Sometimes a scrawny, ugly chameleon in the dirty Old West will do.

By Josh Jackson

Be the Parable

You've seen the movie, been to the class...

now...

play the game...?

Identity as a result of prayer

Rango is the story of a lonely house lizard in search of his identity. Suddenly, he is thrust from his cage into a big fatal world where he finds the chance at a fresh start. After a few happy accidents he gets named sheriff. For the first time he belongs to something important, but a great responsibility comes with it, and he finds himself in the middle of an investigation that will determine the future of the entire town.

In their desperation, the townspeople turn to religious ceremony, but nothing comes from it. They cling to this ceremony more for the hope than the outcome. However, they are disappointed week after week. When all else seems lost they finally pray to the "Spirit of the West." They simply talk to him, and ask him for what they need. Soon enough, Rango finds the answer after the Spirit appears to him.

Prayer is an act of worship and usually begins with a confession of sin, which is exactly how the townsman's prayer began. He apologizes for not praying more often, and then he thanks the spirit for sending Rango as their salvation instead of making requests. After which Rango is finally able to do his job and save the town

Prayer has nothing to do with a shopping list. Prayer should center around God, not us, which is why it's centered on confession and praise. With that kind of prayer God is with us.


Cara B. Krumwiede

A Different Sort Entirely

There's a strange sort of disconnect one may experience when watching the movie Rango. That's because Rango isn't your typical animated kids' movie, because we've been conditioned for a certain kind of animated movie. Gore Verbinski assembles an all-star ensemble of talent for a movie that has to be viewed in the right light for it to click. In some ways, it's reminiscent ofLegend of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, where you have a movie that's on its face seems like just another animated kids' film, but actually is a different sort of movie entirely.

"A hero who has yet to enter his own story." --(Mariachi band)

Where Rango risks disconnecting with the traditional audience for such animated fare is that it aims at adults first and kids second. On its surface, the plot follows what you'd expect: The Hawaiian shirt-wearing lizard who will become Rango starts off as a pet lizard, traveling across the desert when an accident leaves him separated from his family. He stumbles across a town named Dirt whose citizens are looking for a hero. They are ruled by a corrupt mayor behind the drought afflicting their town.

"Every story needs a hero." --Rango

Johnny Depp as the voice of Rango delivers a performance that begins somewhere around his last Pirates of the Caribbean movie and wanders into a western, while riffing on his appearances in Dead Man and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Among the characters who inhabit the town of Dirt we find such distinctive characters as Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy), gila-monster henchman Bad Bill (Ray Winstone) and Rango's love interest, Beans (Isla Fisher).

The movie is Tarantino-esque in how many movies it draws plot elements from: Chinatown, Django, El Topo and any of a number of spaghetti westerns. And as if aspiring to something more, something deep, the movie moves at a contemplative pace. Basically Rango is an adult classic western with animated animals that goes on too long. Though it has lots of witty, referential dialogue and visuals, it doesn't quite translate to a kids' movie, but rather a clever tribute to the spaghetti westerns. It almost begs the question about who this movie was made for as children may be too young to get the jokes, the set up, or the pace.

"We all have our journeys to make." --Armadillo

As a reluctant hero, Rango spends most of the movie first trying to figure out who he is and then trying to figure out how to live into being who he's called to be. Joseph Campbell, in his landmark work The Hero With a Thousand Faces, outlined the prototypical path of the hero's mythological adventure. Campbell defines the journey this way: "A hero ventures forth from the world into a region of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."

Put another way, the essential story, the monomyth, echoes the story of Christ.

"The path of knowledge is fraught with consequences." --Armadillo

We see this pattern--separation (the reluctant hero taken from the world that he knows), initiation (the hero tested), and return (the hero returns as conqueror) in many of our great heroic epics: Luke Skywalker (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, RETURN of the Jedi) and The Lord of the Rings (Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers, RETURN of the King). For the hero's task to be worthy, he must overcome various trials and temptations. The more grand the goal, the greater the difficulties, though it helps to have a guide in one's quest for enlightenment. In Rango's case, it's an encounter before an alabaster carriage as he has a run-in with the Spirit of the West, a mystic Man With No Name (Timothy Olyphant).

"I don't even know what I'm looking for." --Rango

A person can exhaust themselves trying to come up with enough superlatives to describe the CGI animation. The photorealistic style animation has such a level of texture to it would feel three-dimensional even without being shown in 3-D.

Sometimes Rango felt like a joke I didn't get. It seemed a half hour too long, was a bloated production—meandering at times—largely clever, though clearly impressed with itself. Though technically brilliant, with plenty of pretty to look at, it didn't have a spark, energy to it that propelled it. Instead it relied on being cool. Then again, the movie had plenty of intelligence to carry it, often more quirky than funny, like Kung Fu Pandaby way of Deadwood. In other words, a movie clearly ahead of its time which an adult would appreciate more than the kids. Then again, those of us who had to sit through Finding Nemo500 times might appreciate a movie ostensibly aimed at "them" that "we" would delight in more.


Maurice Broaddus

True Grit

True Grit is a 2010 American Western film written and directed by the Coen brothers. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968novel of the same name, which was previously filmed in 1969 starring John Wayne. This version stars Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn along with Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper.

In scene 1 we're introduced to our protagonist Mattie Ross, who sets the foundation for our story through the giving of her perspective on past events and some insight into her very character through a statement of faith of sorts.  She drives the film through the strength of her very person and a faith steeled in God.  She emerges as the real possessor of 'true grit' as we follow her on her unyielding pursuit of justice in a very harsh and unjust world.

Proverbs 28:1

¹The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

As scene 6 comes to a close we find Mattie the only one willing to press on after Chaney as Cogburn and LaBoeuf both have lost heart in the pursuit.  The motivation of money has quickly been lost on both men, while Mattie's Presbyterian-Protestant ethic doesn't allow for the notion of quitting.  The grit of faith maintains and sustains her, when no one else seems willing to follow.  

Ecclesiastes 12

 ¹ Remember your Creator
   in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
   and the years approach when you will say,
   “I find no pleasure in them”—
² before the sun and the light
   and the moon and the stars grow dark,
   and the clouds return after the rain;
³ when the keepers of the house tremble,
   and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
   and those looking through the windows grow dim;
⁴ when the doors to the street are closed
   and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
   but all their songs grow faint;

In scene 9 we find that 25 years have passed and Mattie closes the matter of our story by saying that 'time just gets away from us'.  We also find the full measure that her pursuit of justice has cost our cast of characters.  This should point us back to the start where she also states that nothing in this world is free except the grace of God.  Our ability to know the beginning from the end in this instance should help illustrate the need for introspection and the taking of measure in our own pursuits.

Psalm 119:33-40

^33-40 God, teach me lessons for living
      so I can stay the course.
   Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
      my whole life one long, obedient response.
   Guide me down the road of your commandments;
      I love traveling this freeway!
   Give me a bent for your words of wisdom,
      and not for piling up loot.
   Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,
      invigorate me on the pilgrim way.
   Affirm your promises to me—
      promises made to all who fear you.
   Deflect the harsh words of my critics—
      but what you say is always so good.
   See how hungry I am for your counsel;
      preserve my life through your righteous ways!

Next friday...True Grit (9/23)

True Grit is a 2010 American Western film written and directed by the Coen brothers. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968novel of the same name, which was previously filmed in 1969 starring John Wayne. This version stars Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn along with Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper.

Filming began in March 2010, and True Grit was officially released on December 22, 2010, in the US, after advance screenings earlier that month.^[3] The film opened the 61st Berlin International Film Festival on February 10, 2011.^[4] It was nominated for ten Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jeff Bridges), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Hailee Steinfeld), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 7, 2011.

True Grit

Another excellent film from the Coen Brothers.

Before the start of True Grit, a quote from Proverbs 28:1 appears on the screen: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth.” This verse doesn’t just set the tone of Ethan and Joel Coen’s gritty Western; it also provides us with a lens to view it through. As do the words of the story’s heroine, who in an early scene muses: “You must pay for everything in this world. Nothing is free but the grace of God.” These two ideas combined exist purposefully as commentary. In fact, they’re almost necessary for the unfortunate moviegoers, and critics, who continue to misunderstand the Coen brothers, mistaking their work for hipster nihilism and missing its moral value altogether. As the “random” first scene in A Serious Man reminded us, their films are meant to be seen as parables.

Consequently, True Grit, based on the 1968 novel of the same name, doesn’t play like your average revenge flick, even though advertisements promise, “Retribution this Christmas.” Despite its simple storyline, the film offers profound insight into human nature and enlightens us on the harsh, and sometimes fatal, consequences of vengeance. It follows the spunky 14-year-old Mattie Ross, who believes herself to be a bearer of God’s justice and becomes bent on avenging her father’s murder. Joined by the drunken, eyepatch-wearing U.S. Marshal “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and the haughty Texas Ranger La Boeuf (a mustached Matt Damon), Mattie sets off on a personal crusade after the killer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin).

Yet even though everything works out mostly as planned, the story doesn’t merely conclude with justice prevailing. Mattie's fall into a cave in the movie’s riveting climax represents her moral descent, and as we see in the film’s concluding moments, her thirst for revenge has its price. As necessary and gratifying as her justice may be, even Mattie can’t escape the truth of her previous words about justice and grace. In the final scene, she is shown as a grown woman, scarred because of her actions. Like Cogburn and La Boeuf, who carry around the weight of retribution, Mattie is portrayed as a tired soul calloused by her past. Physically, if not emotionally, she can never escape it.

While the humanity of the characters is fully present in the clever, unsentimental script, and is fully realized in Mattie’s dialogue, the performances hold it all together. As two cowboys worn down by killing, Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon are utterly convincing. Bridges’ Cogburn has taken to the bottle for his pain, and Damon’s La Boeuf tries to hide his vulnerability through pride. In many ways, the characters are sad: La Boeuf can’t be taken seriously, and Cogburn’s enemies mock him. They are, nevertheless, so flawed and pathetic that we can’t help but laugh. A stereotypical Texan, La Boeuf never stops talking about how everything is better in Texas, while Coburn’s grumpy attitude plays out in several memorable moments, like a time when Mattie talks to him outside an outhouse or a scene where he kicks two little Indian kids. Together, as they stubbornly try to take down Chaney their own separate ways, Cogburn and La Boeuf form a hilarious and unforgettable relationship that’s based as much on respect as it is exasperation, in the end, making their redemption all the better.

As the quirky humor demonstrates, True Grit is made effective and enlightening by its ability to entertain. Its moral implications are so subtly engrained into the story that they never make it feel didactic. That is genius of the Coen brothers. Their films have it all: smart scripts, remarkable dialogue, memorable characters, believable performances, stunning visuals but, most of all, depth. Not as dark or eccentric as prior works, True Grit may be the Coens’ most accessible film yet. It not only shows maturity and a continuous absorption in the divine, but the film confirms their true feelings about violence and just how misunderstood they are.

David Roark

True Grit Review

Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Writers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, novel by Charles Portis
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper
Studio/Running Time: Paramount Pictures, 110 min.

They’ve done it again. Joel and Ethan Coen have once again taken on a revered film genre. And as with comedy (The Big Lebowski), epic poem: (O Brother, Where Art Thou?); crime drama (Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Miller’s Crossing), they not only do the form justice; they actually improve upon it. In tackling the venerable Western, their choice couldn’t have been more daunting.

With True Grit, the Coens remake one of the better cowboy films of the 1960s, a film that influenced countless other films, including Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. They also take on the genre’s biggest star—John Wayne, who played the irascible marshal Rooster Cogburn in the original ’69 adaptation of Charles Portis’ straightforward and engaging novel. Casting, however, has never been a Coen weakness, and Jeff Bridges wholly embraces and reinvents the role for which Wayne received an Oscar.

Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) arrives to Fort Smith, Arkansas, supposedly just to bring back the body of her father, murdered by the now-fugitive Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). But the young, strong-willed Ross demands justice and enlists the services of Cogburn, paying the one-eyed alcoholic to find Chaney and bring him back to hang. An unlikely alliance is created when she stubbornly insists on coming along and Texas Ranger LaBeouf (Matt Damon) joins in their pursuit. As Ross, the newcomer Steinfeld gives a performance worthy of many a seasoned actress and is already receiving award mentions for her supporting role, as is Bridges who interprets Cogburn at times as a buffoon but also as a true western hero. While drunk he engages the serious LaBeouf in a braggadocious shooting contest that eventually leads to LaBeouf’s exit from the group. Damon’s performance is a vast improvement over singer/non-actor Glen Campbell’s version in the original. LaBeouf strives to maintain an aura of self-assurance and bravery which Damon nails with his stilted delivery. Brolin’s pitiful, comical and dark appearance as Chaney is brief but wonderfully memorable.

There is a simplicity about the performances in True Grit that jives well with the rich landscapes and the authentically recreated, urban settings of nineteenth century Arkansas and the Indian Territory. That, and the genuine attire of the times, allows the Coens to create a world where the actors can play real characters, not caricatures of reality. It’s a talent that keeps begging the question, “What’s next?”

By Tim Basham

About A Girl

The 1967 movie version of Charles Portis' novel, True Grit, is an excellent movie that captures the spirit of John Wayne in his epic portrayal of U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. But for all intents and purposes, the novel was really about the growth of a young woman, Mattie Ross, who narrates the written version and again stars in the Coen Brothers' 2010 remake. Sure, Cogburn is still a polarizing figure of great proportions, but this time around, Ross seems to get her due.

Mattie (Hailee Steinfeld) plays a male role in this late 19th century Western. She's observant, good with "figures," independent, stubborn, and naive enough to believe that men are men, and criminals will be punished. She's so sure of what she believes that she presses on after the murder of her father by "the coward Tom Chaney" (Josh Brolin) until she gets the law's attention in the persona of Cogburn. Mattie knows her stuff: she knows the Bible better than the landlady, bartering better than the businessman who previously took her father to the cleaners, and herself better than anyone else in town knows themselves.

But Mattie can't bring back her father, and she can't capture his killer without help.

If this wasn't a Western, it would go a number of ways, which might involve forgiveness, Mattie's death, or a plethora of ways that wouldn't make sense. Instead, Mattie calmly watches a public hanging (the Coens can't help but augment the joy that the mob takes in the deaths of the criminals) and steadfastly pushes through the Old Testament "eye for an eye" justice that she's been raised with. This is frontier justice, and it's clear that without justice, there can be no peace. Mattie has to make things right because her family can't, her mother and brother are too weak, and she has to see to it that her father's memory is redeemed by the payment of blood.

Those of you who have seen Coen movies before know that this is right up their alley. It's no surprise that the level of violence here is higher than the 1967 version, but it's still dampened by the PG-13 rating. It's as if the Coens did a 1960s Western their way—same spirit and all, and a pleasant matinee afternoon for the whole family. They have in mind that the villains will pay but that the heroes will be marked by their effort, refusing to give in under the weight or pressure to give up but still scarred by the sacrifice to make it right again.

All of this leads me to say that Cogburn is a Christ-figure... in the wilderness. In town, he merely appears as a man, just like all of the other men, bent by the concerns of his job and undeterred by the twenty-three men that he's killed. But in the wilderness, it's his code which sets him apart, whether it's rescuing LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) or taking a bullet intended for someone else, risking his life for a fourteen-year-old girl or doing a job without being paid his wages. Some might argue just as articulately that it's Mattie who changes Rooster or who reminds him why he is a marshal in the first place; the dialogue isn't such that we are proselytized to much, but the outcomes for the characters remains the same.

Rooster changes for the better or exhibits a better self; Mattie becomes a self-sufficient woman in community but recognizes her own limitations; justice is served. It's classic Western material, and enough to make me think that this doesn't replace Wayne's Grit but it does make for a different version of the same story.


Jacob Sahms

Gritty Reality Hints at True Hope

“You must pay for everything in this world, one way or another… there is nothing free except the grace of God.”

Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer and hires Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, known as a man with “True Grit.”

The question is, however: what IS true grit? Who in the film truly evinces this? What do we REALLY need to secure justice, or to show grace, and does the film leave us in a place of hope or despair for achieving either in this life? This incredible, well-received film depicts the harsh realities of life with a few hopeful hints toward the everlasting arms that can sustain us, and we will address all these ideas and much more or next class meeting 9/23.

Hope to see you there!

The Blind Side

The Blind Side is a 2009 American semi-biographical drama film. It is written and directed by John Lee Hancock, and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.[2][3] The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who plays for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL.

In chapter 2, Christian Thing, Coach Cotton pleads his case for Big Mike's admission in to Wingate Christian school under the guise of the right thing to do.  This theme seems recurrent throughout the film as characters act under these pretenses without much examination of possible ulterior motives.  We also are very capable of 'acting' without either self-examination or time in prayer.

Deuteronomy 13:18

¹⁸ Yes. Obediently listen to God, your God. Keep all his commands that I am giving you today. Do the right thing in the eyes of God, your God.


In chapter 11, Comfort Levels, Leigh Anne is bombarded with questions and snide remarks in regards to her families acceptance and sheltering of Big Mike.  Her 'friends' question her motives, judgement and even reference past familial sin.  Any ministry worth doing comes at a price and will cause others to pose like questions.  

1 Timothy 4:6-14

^6-10You've been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you'll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we've thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We're banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.
 ^11-14Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.

In chapter 25, Protect Mode, Leigh Anne finally seems to turn introspective and begins to question her motives in regards to Big Mike.  Sean seems willing to help her find the answers that she's looking for, but instead of driving the point and purpose home, settles for a joke instead.  Unfortunately life mimics art sometimes as God honoring, honest dialogue can be as evasive in our real lives as those portrayed in film as well.

John 15:9-15

^9-10"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
 ^11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.