Just the Ticket #87: Oldboy and Old Man

After coming up at a loss for words on Nebraska, I elected instead to demote it to second fiddle, having seen Oldboy and liked it much better than Nebraska. So here goes:

Last year's Oldboy is an English-language remake of a 2003 South Korean cult classic. The remake stars Josh Brolin (Men In Black 3), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy-May Marlene), Samuel L. Jackson (Jungle Fever), Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), and Lance Reddick (The Blacklist, Lost), and was directed by Spike Lee (who also directed Jackson in Jungle Fever).

Alcoholic ad executive Joe Doucett (Brolin) is abducted on the night of his daughter's third birthday, and held against his will for twenty years, during which time, his captors frame him for his wife's rape and murder. Doucett puts his old ways of vice and excess behind him, using the time he is given to train himself for the day when he will escape and exact his revenge against those who stole two decades of his life. Watching Doucett's personal transformation has almost as much impact as watching him be an unwilling spectator to a world that has moved on without him. Three presidents (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) are sworn in as he sits in maddening idleness, the World Trade Center is attacked, Hurricane Katrina devastates the Louisiana coastline, and all he can do is stare in a state of shock that is his only reprieve from reality.

But before he can escape, he is released into a world that has both forgotten him and bestowed an undeserved infamy upon him. Kept on a short leash, Doucett embarks upon his journey for revenge, enlisting the help of his old bartender (Imperioli) and an attractive nurse (Olsen) to locate his tormentors.

Things get more intriguing from this point on, then head-smashingly, throat-slashingly bloody, then just reprehensibly weird. And Samuel L. Jackson gets to say "Motherfucker" about ten times, which makes Mr. Double Rewards Every Single Damned Day (and let's not forget his motherfucking fanbase, either) the happiest motherfucker on the planet, Ticketmotherfuckers.

I enjoyed Oldboy as much as anyone with a personal aversion to hammer-related homicide and an incest-triggered vomit reflex is able to enjoy such a movie, which is quite a lot, accounting for the cultural significance of the hammer- and incest-free portion of the film. At least it was something I hadn't seen before.

B-

In Nebraska, Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant, a disgruntled fogey looking to live his dream before he dies. The dream: to make it to the titular state by any means necessary so he can collect on a million dollar lottery ticket he received from a Publisher's Clearing House-like company. Everyone, including his son (Saturday Night Live's Will Forte) insists the notice is a scam. But Woody finally gets his son and wife (June Squibb, About Schmidt) to drive him to Nebraska. The film is a funny, heartfelt road trip, given a nostalgic feel by the black-and-white cinematography.

But between the few high-scoring laughs, there lies so much pointless yakking and indie-movie dullness that makes one wish the trio would hurry up and get to Nebraska already so we can find out whether we have a scam, an unexpected loser, or a sure-fire winner on our hands (not so much different from Nebraska itself).

Life may be more about the journey than the destination (I have a pretty painted mug on my desk that says so), but life tends to suck when you realize you're not going anywhere. And that's no joke.

C

Stay tuned for a Just the Ticket review of 12 Years A Slave, and remember not to buy lottery tickets your state can't cash. Good night!