Dann in reel life: Redford's 'Conspirator' plods along

<b>Reel Life review: 'The Conspirator'</b>

Had Oliver Stone directed the Lincoln assassination drama "The Conspirator," historical accuracy might have suffered in the service of creating political paranoia and some loopy visuals.

But "The Conspirator" was directed by Robert Redford as an earnest, plodding, hopelessly chatty chronicle of the unjust and immoral actions of the U.S. leadership in the aftermath of the president's murder.

Civil war hero and now attorney Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy, armed with a suitable American accent) is surprised when his law mentor (Tom Wilkinson) pushes him to take the case of Mary Surratt (a supremely pale Robin Wright), one of eight people arrested in the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln.

It's instantly apparent the Union military is willing to throw justice under the stagecoach to make someone - anyone with Southern leanings - an example, and so poor Aiken seemed doomed opposite the biased judge General Hunter (Colm Meaney), prosecuting General Holt (slithery villainous Danny Huston) and vengeful Secretary of War Stanton (Kevin Kline).

Redford doesn't seem all that excited about telling this story, and it shows in the narrative's measured pace, its bland sepia tone and Mark Isham's score that does little for our emotional investment.

At least if Stone had directed "The Conspirator," he'd probably have taken the film's subtle condemnation of revenge politics and expanded it into an overt criticism of America's policies today.

"The Conspirator" opens wide. Rated PG-13 for violence. 123 minutes. ★ ★ ½

<b>Awfully awesome</b>

So you think maybe Hollywood screenwriters could use a thesaurus? Here's more evidence of just how lazy and lame some ridiculously repetitive movie lines have become:

Ÿ "That was awesome!" Rory Culkin in "Scream 4."

Ÿ "It is awesome!" Ellen Page in "Super."

Ÿ "She was awesome!" Jared Kusnitz in "Prom."

Ÿ "You deserve an awesome prom!" DeVaughn Nixon in "Prom."

Ÿ "That looks awesome!" Carlease Burke in "Prom."

Ÿ "Awesome!" Janelle Ortiz in "Prom."

Ÿ "Awesome!" Anton Yelchin in "The Beaver."

Ÿ "It's awesome!" Jennifer Lawrence in "The Beaver."

Ÿ "That sounds awesome!" Russell Brand in "Hop."

Ÿ "You're doing an awesome job!" Russell Brand in "Hop."

Ÿ "That is awesome!" Kaley Cuoco in "Hop."

Ÿ "That is awesome!" Russell Brand in "Hop."

Ÿ "Awesome!" Dan Fogler in "Mars Needs Moms."

Ÿ "It is awesome!" Seth Green in "Mars Needs Moms."

Ÿ "Awesome!" Paul Giamatti in "Win Win."

Ÿ "Awesome!" Simon Pegg in "Paul."

Ÿ "Awesome!" an animated alien in "Paul."

<b>Screen Test returns!</b>

Prizes totaling $700 will be awarded to winners in the fifth annual Screen Test Student Fest after showings of their films at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg.

Among the filmmakers: Libertyville High School senior Kyle Rawlinson, who has two movies in the festival, "Waiting For Time" and "Never Fell Out of Love." (You can watch the latter at youtube.com/watch? v=cC715m8Qjgo.)

At 8 p.m. Friday, a special treat! The indie comic drama "Drivers Ed Mutiny," directed by former Schaumburg resident Brad Hansen, starring a few local cast members, with producer Bryan Gerber from Wheeling High School, and sound editor Tom Haigh, formerly of Arlington Heights.

The plot? Think of it as the cast of "The Breakfast Club" on a road trip. Free admission with the purchase of a Screen Test ticket for $10. ($5 for students and senior citizens.) Hansen will conduct a SKYPE interview after the showing. Go to ci.schaumburg.il.us/PCA/youth/Pages/ScreenTest2011_Program.aspx.

<b>Reel Life review: 'In a Better World'</b>

Claus, a traveling businessman, advises his young son Christian to avoid fighting with a school bully.

"If you hit him, then he hits you, and it never ends!" Dad says.

"That depends on how hard you hit the first time," Christian replies.

In that simple exchange lies the head and heart of Susanne Bier's complex, brilliantly realized drama "In a Better World," a thoughtful and disturbing examination of the moral dilemmas that bullies force upon some of their humanitarian victims.

Ten-year-old Christian (William Johnk Nielsen) moves to Denmark from London with his widower father (Ulrich Thomsen). Christian quickly makes a friend in classmate Elias (Markus Rygaard) and an enemy in a bully, Sofus (Simon Maagaard Holm). When school officials refuse to intervene, Christian takes matters into his own hands to deal with the bully.

"In a Better World" could easily have fallen into an After School Special mode, except that Anders Thomas Jensen's screenplay draws the scary parallel between the schoolyard and a field hospital in Kenya where Elias' father Anton, a doctor, helps natives with their numerous health issues.

Especially, young women who arrive with their stomachs sliced up.

A local thug called "Big Man" makes a sport of betting on the sex of the babies being carried by pregnant women. Then he cuts them open to see if he wins.

So how does Anton - a moral man who teaches his son that strength lies not in violence - react when Big Man shows up at the hospital demanding treatment?

If "In a Better World" traffics in canned and obvious metaphors - ominous spiders' webs captured in close-ups, men jumping into water to wash away their sins - that's all right.

Bier, known in the U.S. for the airless Halle Berry drama "Things We Lost in the Fire." directs a dramatic lightning rod here, one that subscribes to Sam Peckinpah's inevitability of violence, yet allows for the possibility of kindness.

"In a Better World" won a deserved Oscar for best foreign language film in February. It opens at the Century Centre in Chicago, the Renaissance Place in Highland Park and the Evanston CineArts 6. Rated R for violence and language. 113 minutes. ★ ★ ★ ★

<b>Geneva fest turns four</b>

The fourth annual Geneva Film Festival continues through Saturday, April 16, with screenings at Riverside Receptions, 35 N. River Lane, Geneva. Schaumburg High School graduate and Hollywood cinematographer Paolo Cascio, after wrapping up a day of speaking at his high school, will moderate a workshop/panel discussion at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Go to genevafilmfestival.org.

Ÿ <i>Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!</i>