New doc proves Carter embodies American spirit
Two reviews and some movie news! Here we go.
• If anyone doubts former U.S. President Jimmy Carter embodies the American spirit in its purest, humanly possible form, Jonathan Demme's revealing documentary "Jimmy Carter Man From Plains" should settle the issue once and for all.
He does.
Now in his 80s, the 39th president continues to build houses for the homeless, provide aid to disaster victims and be a spokesman for Christian values. Then comes the American spirit part. He writes controversial books that criticize our allies, especially Israel, then withstands a firestorm of criticism with grace, intelligence and unwavering conviction.
Demme, the talented, Oscar-winning director of "Silence of the Lambs" and a zillion other movies, accompanies Carter on his 2006 tour to promote his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." In it, Carter contends that Israel's policies are unfair to the Palestinians, and Israel needs to back off.
If you want to know more, read the book. Demme doesn't care about the politics here. He constructs a deceptively simple doc about a man in the twilight of his life who refuses to retire, withdraw and tow the politically oppressive PC line of mainstream America. The cost? "Man From Plains" suggests that Carter remains a loner. Two scenes of the former president in a swimming pool capture a portrait of a man alone and isolated, and yet completely at ease with himself, the world and God.
Demme maintains an objective distance from his subject for most of the movie. But he comes dangerously close to deifying Carter near the end, where the swelling strings buttress Carter's address to college students, and the end credits play over "The Ballad of Jimmy Carter," a fawning song one step removed from the hero-worshipping lyrics of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett."
And what's up with Demme's choice of music here? Rap? Rap? For a Jimmy Carter bio? Please.
"Jimmy Carter Man From Plains" opens today at the Century Centre in Chicago and the Evanston CineArts 6. Rated PG. 106 minutes. Three stars out of four
• You'd think a movie about an impending shark Armageddon would be scary, captivating and motivating. It is, but only a little and not nearly enough.
By the time "Sharkwater" arrives at its closing credits, an estimated 15,000 sharks will be dead. Most of them will be illegally captured, their fins cut off, then dumped back into the ocean where they slowly asphyxiate because they can no longer swim through the water to capture oxygen.
If the data in "Sharkwater" are correct, 90 percent of the Earth's shark population has been wiped out by a combination of superstition and greed. Governments that should be protecting their waters cave to marketing demands, going so far as to arrest activists trying to stop shark harvesting already deemed illegal.
With sharks removed from the top of the aquatic food chain, Earth's ecosystems will become a Rube Goldbergian series of natural disasters that will make global warming look like a picnic. Yet, documentary filmmaker and shark enthusiast Rob Stewart doesn't know how to frame his movie as a story so that his audiences jump out of their chairs and protest the nearest seafood restaurant offering shark-fin soup.
"Sharkwater" begins as his personal diary, telling about his lifelong fascination with sharks and how he became the Steve Irwin of the misunderstood shark world. Exciting stuff happens to Stewart. He hooks up with renegade conservationist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, who uses his ship to ram illegal fishing boats near Guatemala. Stewart chases poachers and gets arrested by corrupt officers on attempted murder charges. He contracts a rare flesh-eating virus and realizes he's about to lose his leg.
Michael Moore would have a field day with this stuff: corruption, greed and health-care issues all rolled into one!
Stewart provides gasp-worthy footage of magnificent whale sharks and captures incredible close-ups of other shark family members. Yet, his uninspired linear narrative and inability to maximize the drama in a situation water down "Sharkwater" to the point where it lacks real bite.
"Sharkwater" opens today at area theaters. Rated PG. 89 minutes. Two stars out of four
• "Arlington High School: The Lady in Red," a documentary about Arlington High School, will screen at 2:30 and 5 p.m. Saturday at the Forest View Educational Center, 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights. General admission costs $10. Call (847) 718-7702. DVDs of the film will be available.
• Jeff Garlin's Chicago-shot comedy "I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With" will screen at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Century Centre, 2828 N. Clark St., Chicago, as part of the continuing Midwest Independent Film Festival. Go to www.MidwestFilm.com.
• Phil Ranstrom's doc "Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street" will screen at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave. Proceeds will support educational programming. Call (847) 677-7761 or go to www.skokietheatre.com.
• "Reeling," the second-oldest lesbian and gay film festival in the world, returns for its 26th season starting Thursday at various Chicago venues. General admission costs $10. Tickets available at www.reelingfilmfestival.org and at (773) 293-1447.