by Joseph Rossi
Here are two year end entries. Both are noble efforts with one of them destined to become a classic.
I saw Selma after my favorite of 2014 list was complete. If I could go back and redo it, this film would be very high on it. Ava DuVenay’s small film boasts a monumental cast and an equally sized message. David Oyelowo, a native of England, plays Martin Luther King, Jr. and does he rise to the challenge. More then a carbon copy of the man I have only seen in documentaries, Oyelowo gives life; angry, funny, sentimental life to one of the most important figures in American history. He is so good, he somewhat overshadows the rest of the impressive cast, one that includes Tim Roth, Tom Wilkinson and Carmen Ejogo.
The film wisely depicts a portion of his life when he marched from the small town of Selma to the neighboring town of Montgomery in order to fight for the right for the black community to vote. Rather then making a film that spans his whole life, this film pacts the facts into a tight and powerful package.
Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper is they story of “The Legend” Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in military history. Like Selma it is a biography but instead of focusing on a specific point in the man’s life, this film encompasses all of it and I feel that prevents it from achieving greatness. This is two films in one. One about Kyle on the battlefield and one about Chris Kyle back home, struggling with the after effects of war and the strain on his wife ( Siena Miller) and children. But this is my quibble and there is no denying that Kyle’s life deserves to be told properly and respectfully.
Bradley Cooper is a powerhouse here. He bulks up, puts on a Texan twang and produces something that is more then just Hollywood magic. Like Oyelowo in Selma, Cooper embodies this very distinctive and familiar American hero. But here too, the movie side steps Siena Miller’s perfectly played Taya Kyle. Eastwood shows that he can handle large scale moviemaking with some really tense and well choreographed battle scenes. That alone makes me forget Jersey Boys.
