Homeland - season 1 (2011) - The War on Terror comes home

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A still image of co-stars Damien Lewis and Claire Danes is digitally blurred out on this poster for the first season of Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon's Homeland

Homeland - season 1 is created by Alex Gansa (24 (2009-10), co-executive producer) and Howard Gordon (24 (2001-10), co-executive producer). It is inspired by Gideon Raff's (The Killing Floor (2007)) Israeli TV-series Hatufim (2010-12). An Indian and a Russian version have also been made.

The following contains SPOILERS:

CIA operative Carrie Mathison is a workaholic, recently sent back to the US from Baghdad, where she has learnt from a doomed local terrorist that an American soldier has been 'turned' by the al-Qaeda. Soon after US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody gets rescued from captivity in Iraq and brought home to a hero's welcome. Carrie is alone in suspecting that Brody is the 'turned' American soldier...

She establishes a covert surveillance of him, while learning about the whereabouts of terrorist Abu Nazir through a prostitute that caters to a Saudi prince. While Brody acts increasingly suspiciously, both alone and in front of his family, Matthison attempts to learn more of him by getting close to him at a meeting for veterans.

Carrie's involvement in the case, at her own initiative, is complicated by the fact that she has bipolar disorder, which she has to keep secret from her employers, obtaining medicine through her sister's assistance. Her covert engagement with Brody leads to them starting an affair, which is both helpful to her investigation and driven by sincere attraction. The situation soon becomes complicated, and Brody realizes that she is spying on him. During interrogation he divulges that he beat his military pal to death during capture, became a Muslim and found affection for the terrorist captor Abu Nazir, - but he maintains that he is not the 'turned' Jihadist.

Attention instead turns towards his co-captive Tom Walker, with collateral damage as a result, as the FBI raids a US mosque. A suicide bomb goes off in Washington DC in the hunt for Walker, injuring Carrie. Meanwhile Brody is talked into running for congress by the American Vice President. SPOILER Carrie is hospitalized in a manic episode and forced to reveal her disorder to her former CIA boss and mentor Saul, as Brody is given a suicide vest by a contact at a trip to Gettysburg with his family.

SPOILER At a grand political event in DC with the Vice President, Secretary of Defense and military brass, Brody is one part of a two-sided attack. But his vest malfunctions, and Carrie suffers a breakdown, checking herself into a hospital for electroshock therapy.

 

Homeland is captivating from the pilot on, fired up by an unusual, engrossing suspense plot and terrific performances: Claire Danes (Stardust (2007)) is outstanding as Carrie; Damian Lewis (Desire (2013, short)) is engrossing as Brody; and Mandy Patinkin (Ali and Nino (2016)) is great as Saul. And the supporting performances are uniformly solid.

Carrie's job is exciting, and the show effectively filters us into the grey zones of 10+ years of War on Terror, carried out by the Western countries following 9/11. It puts us into the calibrations of analysis going through intelligence work concerning fundamentalists, specifically Islamic fundamentalists. It is less action-packed and seems more real and layered than the ways that the similar themes where broached by the same showrunners on the great action-suspense show 24. One disturbing and gripping subplot includes a domestic Saudi-American terrorist couple. The central suspense mystery of the series is the question; Is Brody good or bad?

The narrative is imbued with depth due to Danes' intriguing character and the intricate complications in Brody's family, - his wife's infidelity while he was presumed dead; his own budding affair with Carrie, - and an anxiety-provoking tangent concerning his teenage daughter and her growing suspicions about him.

The photography (by Nelson Cragg (Elementary (2012, TV-series)) is terrific, the writing is crackerjack, and the first season is remarkable in every way. An enormously suspenseful piece of television history.

Best episodes:

1. Pilot - Written by Gansa, Gordon, Raff; directed by Michael Cuesta (L.I.E. (2001))

Carrie is introduced as a strongly independent CIA agent, who suspects that something is very wrong with the liberated American Marine hostage Brody, rescued home after eight years of terrorist captivity. Riveting start with tremendous Danes.

7. The Weekend - Written by Meredith Stiehm (The Bridge (2013-14)); directed by Cuesta

Brody and Carrie engages in their adulterous affair at her family's summerhouse, while Brody's daughter gets hurt under the influence. But truths come out, and Saul returns home from Mexico with an arrestee. Madly thrilling episode.

11. The Vest - Written by Chip Johannessen (Dexter (2010, TV-series)), Stiehm; directed by Clark Johnson (The Purge (2018, TV-series))

Carrie's mental affliction is expanded upon, as Brody's questionable loyalties continue to exert suspense.

12. Marine One - Written by Gansa, Johannessen; directed by Cuesta

The targeted DC event, the season's culmination. Carrie breaks down, unable to meet the demands of her mission.

 

Related posts:

 

Howard Gordon: 24: Redemption (2008, TV movie) or, Bauer in Africa! (writer/executive producer)

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  

2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Reviewed 24 seasons: Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
24 - season 3 (2003) - The virus-centered peak for the great action show
24 season 2 (2002-03) - The Bomb 
24 season 1 (2001-02) - TV action milestone

 

 

Watch a trailer for season 1 here

 

Cost: Reportedly 3 mil. $ per episode, 36 mil. $ in total

Box office: None - TV-series

= Uncertain

[Homeland - season 1 premiered October (USA (Showtime), Thailand, Turkey) and runs 12 55-minute episodes, totaling approximately 660 minutes. Danes was reportedly paid 110k $ per episode, totaling 1.32 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place in North Carolina and Israel. The first season's US ratings varied from 0.94 mil. to 1.71 mil., becoming Showtime's highest-rated drama in 8 years. Its run on British Channel 4 garnered even more viewers, between 3-4 mil. The season won a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy, among other honors. The 2nd season was released in 2012 with returning showrunners and stars. Gansa and Gordon returned first with season 2. Danes first returned in season 2; Lewis in 2011 also acted in Your Highness, Stolen (TV movie) and Will; Patinkin in 2011 also gave voice performances in Jock the Hero Dog and Wonder Pets! (TV-series). Homeland - season 1 is fresh at 100 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Homeland - season 1?

Dreamcatcher (2003) - Kasdan's career-crippling King adaptation

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The enticing, icy-cold poster for Lawrence Kasdan's Dreamcatcher

QUICK REVIEW:

Four childhood friends, who share a mysterious experience with a retarded boy called Duddits, are now on their way up to share a weekend together in a cabin, when a series of scary events occur.

Dreamcatcher, written by William Goldman (Chaplin (1992)) and writer-director Lawrence Kasdan (Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), writer), is an adaptation of Stephen King's (Dolores Claiborne (1992)) same-titled 2001 novel. It begins pretty well, and it brings together a good quartet of actors: Jason Lee (Growing Up Smith (2015)), Thomas Jane (The Mist (2007)), Timothy Olyphant (Justified (2010-15)) and Damian Lewis (An Unfinished Life (2005)).
Dreamcatcher goes on to develop in surprisingly, extremely gross ways, (SPOILER the toilet scene is, admittedly, a bull's eye horror-wise.) But apart from each other, the four characters are annoying, SPOILER and they then die, - but then live on ... And then Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)) shows up, acting well, but depicting an army leader, SPOILER who bombs aliens and whose function for the original story is unclear.
What King possibly (possibly not?) makes work in the novel certainly doesn't in this overly cryptic, overlong film. Dreamcatcher does, however, have outstanding special effects.

Related review:

Lawrence Kasdan: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster (writer) 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 68 mil. $
Box office: 75.7 mil. $
= Big flop
[Dreamcatcher was released March 21 and runs 133 minutes. Filming took place around Prince George, British Columbia. It opened #2, behind Bringing Down the House, to a 15 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it grossed 33.7 mil. $ (44.5 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 5.5 mil. $ (7.3 %) and Spain with 5.1 mil. $ (6.7 %). Kasdan, who has earned a renaissance with Star Wars VII, related in a 2012 interview that the poor performance of Dreamcatcher hurt his career and held him from getting work for years. He finally returned with Darling Companion (2012), a romcom about a woman who loves her dog more than her husband, who then loses the dog, which he wrote, produced and directed. Dreamcatcher is rotten at 30 % with a 4.7 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Dreamcatcher?

Your Highness (2011) - Green's dismissed, golden stoner/raunch adventure comedy

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+ Best Fantasy Movie of the Year

Three game stars walled in by a dragon and a multi-headed monster on the poster for David Gordon Green's Your Highness

Fabious and Thadeous are wildly divergent brothers. But when Fabious' virgin fiancée gets kidnapped by an evil wizard, the two will have to unify their powers to reclaim her.

Co-writer/star Danny McBride (This Is the End (2013)) and his gang have created a wild and wildly amusing adventure movie, replete with Minotaur cock, a sexless Toby Jones (Virginia (2010)) playing 'Julie' and James Franco (Homefront (2013)) in a crazy-funny, self-ironically homo-erotic lead.
Damian Lewis (Dreamcatcher (2003)) is good; Justin Theroux (The Leftovers (2014-15)) is energetic and fun; Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta (2005)) is fantastically nonchalant and strong; and McBride is sort of like a prince-version of Homer Simpson.
Your Highness is written by McBride and Ben Best (Eastbound and Down (2009-13)) and directed by David Gordon Green (Joe (2013)). It is an enormous film, if you consider the limited target audience the film turned out to have. It is remarkable how it often prioritizes adventure over insanity, although some might find that debatable. It is a consistent and fun stoner comedy, with emphasis on stoner. - I'm pretty sure I even rate this a tiny bit higher than Green's preceding, fun stoner comedy Pineapple Express (2008).

Related posts:
 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
 

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 28 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Your Highness has received generally poor reviews and opened catastrophically bad in North America, at #6, with just 9.3 mil. $, ending its run there with 21.5 mil. $ (77 % of the total gross). Franco was eventually Razzie nominated for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Al Pacino for Jack and Jill. Roger Ebert hated Your Highness and called it "a sad film". - I call it hilarious!]

What do you think of Your Highness?

The Escapist (2008) or, Frank's Escape

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Character-poster for Rupert Wyatt's The Escapist

Our friend Frank Perry is in prison, has been for years. But now he gets his first letter in there, informing him that his 14 year-old daughter is dying on drugs. So he wants out. And with the help of a few friends ...
This English movie seems to really have its fans, though I am not among them. It is loosely based on the old, famous Ambrose Bierce short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and on the basic idea to write a lead for Brian Cox (L.I.E. (2001)), who had worked with the co-writer director before in the short Get the Picture (2004).
As a prison escape picture, I think The Escapist has some severe problems:
First of all, I think it ruins its own suspense by showing us flash forwards time and again from the coming escape. So we know who will be around and thereby can be certain that they'll survive any coming trials leading up to the escape. The escape in itself is also never very exciting due to these confusing flash forwards.
It is also a shame that the escape plan is so elusive. We see our escape team do a lot of specific, small things, but how it all comes together, we haven't the slightest idea. That's pretty terrible.
Another disengaging problem is the many tunnel and water scenes, which are often so dark that we can't see what's going on. The low budget lighting is not well accomplished in any scene with few or no visible light sources.
Then there's the fact that none of the characters ever even brush upon why they're in prison in the first place. We don't need them to all be wrongfully convicted to root for them, but I think we do need some kind of dialog at least about their crimes in order to accept them in any way as our heroes.
So, how does The Escapist manage to not be a complete turkey then? Some good scenes and actors that you will want to follow regardless of the film's serious impediments.
Cox has a good movie-face and does well. He's no Clint Eastwood, so the film is a far cry from the pinnacle in the genre, Escape from Alcatraz (1979). Instead it tries to be something else, weaving a more poetic, subjective angle into it, which didn't win me completely, but I don't reject it completely either. It is certainly, - along with the ambiguous title of the film, - the reason why some have hailed The Escapist as a very smart film.
Overall, though, I'd say it's a pretty overrated film.

The details:

Besides Cox, Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers, TV-miniseries (2001)) impresses in The Escapist, playing a really ugly (figuratively speaking of course) bastard.
Dominic Cooper plays eye candy and a prison sex object; Seu Jorge has a part as a khat expert, but SPOILER dies in the most clichéd manor, (killing the only black character right before salvation is such an outdated cliché, too.) Joseph Fiennes really underwhelms, and seems like he is hiding under his hoodie for most of the film.
British film critics called The Escapist all kinds of wonderful things when it came out, which just shows the prejudiced hunger for great local films that is so prevalent in critical circles everywhere. This film unfortunately isn't.
It is the feature debut of Rupert Wyatt, who got himself a swell gig after it, - impressive since The Escapist was a flop, - Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), the decent reiteration of the Apes franchise. He is now busy doing the remake The Gambler (2015) with Mark Wahlberg and Jessica Lange.

Related posts:

2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Another film based on Ambrose Bierce's An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge: The Bridge/The Spy (1929) - Time-playing fine short debut of Charles Vidor

- If this trailer looks incredibly exciting to you; don't believe the hype. But if you feel like seeing this showcase picture, then just go ahead and do it

Budget: Unknown
Box office: 0.3 mil. $
= Huge flop

What do you think of The Escapist?
Other Brian Cox-films that you like?

Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity

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Neal McDonough on this poster for Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's Band of Brothers

QUICK REVIEW:

Most episodes in this HBO-miniseries begin with clips from interviews of real soldiers from the 101st Airborne Easy company that is the subject of the series. They tell their memories to the eternal vacuum of posterity, enveloped in black space, to an unmoving, observing camera and are often quite moving. It gives Brothers the right spirit and sets the appropriate mood for this great WWII-show. A mood of importance, of the vast wingspans of history and of great sacrifice.
Band of Brothers is a series about sacrifice and unity during terrible trials.
In spite of the men's differences and strives, they always have each others backs, and that is what is so fantastically uplifting about Band of Brothers.
We have to praise ourselves very lucky that two of the very few people on earth who could make such an incredibly ambitious and expensive project with the required skill and integrity here actually have: Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips (2013)) and Steven Spielberg (Shindler's List (1993)), who had previously collaborated on Saving Private Ryan (1998), along with a vast team of very talented writers and directors. Brothers was the most expensive mini-series ever made at the time.
Episode 1 is about the training in Currahee, Georgia, where the newly formed regiment are trained under the incompetent lieutenant Sobel (David Schwimmer (Friends (1994-2004)) does well), and after this, the group are thrown off to Normandy and D-day.
The episodes of Brothers distinguish themselves by being different from one another; they tell different stories and therefore do not drown in the same dreary pot of awful war.
Episode 3 concerns itself with private Blithe (perfectly played by Marc Warren (Shine (1996))), who suffers a frightening hysterical blindness.
The soldiers' experiences and traumas are taken seriously, and the horrors of war are portrayed with impressive precision.
We follow regiment-leader Winters and his colleague-friend Nixon throughout the series, played by Damian Lewis (Homeland (2011-13)) and Ron Livingston (The Conjuring (2013)), and they form a good core for Brothers. Midway through, the series loses a bit of pace, but it is soon picked up again in episode 6, Bastogne, where we see the atrocities of the icy-cold forest in the Ardennes. We are taken through the unbearable waiting days of war, experience Winters' brave decisions before episode 9, Why We Fight, an exceptionally moving, lump-in-your-throat look at the brothers' discovery of a concentration camp. The horrors are indescribable; the recreation admirable and one of the finest hours in the series.
In the last episode, Points, Easy company takes the Nazi headquarter known as the Eagle's Nest, and we glimpse into the futures of the men. Their reverence towards each other is both striking, gripping and beautiful.
All of this happens to the stunning music of Michael Kamen (Open Range (2003)) and powerful images and effects, making Band of Brothers a strong experience and a prized accompany to the catalog of shared human history recreated in the cinema annals.
Bravo.
The series was followed in 2010 by The Pacific, which focuses on the Marine Corp's operations in the Pacific in WWII.

Related reviews:

Tom Hanks: Philadelphia (1993) - AIDS and homosexuality acknowledged in great drama
Ron Livingston: The Conjuring (2013) - Best horror film in 7 years
Steven Spielberg: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock

Watch the series' trailer here

Budget: 125 mil. $

How do you find Band of Brothers?
Is there any better war series in existence?