As I am in the process of putting together my top arts experiences of 2007, I have been sifting through the numerous top ten lists, year in review, and look back editorializing that normally clog many a print and web publication this time of year. Two very intriguing articles have broken away from the pack, in my opinion, since both provide intriguing, thoughtful, inspired commentary on the year that was in the arts, a welcome respite from the monotonous bulleted lists that we normally see published. Manohla Dhargis, the crankiest of the New York Times film critics, refuses to put together a top 10 list but rather names her top two, most meaningful and impactful films (There Will Be Blood and Zodiac), randomly lists the rest of her best movies, and then proceeds to succinctly summarize and argue on the film trends of the year, and how our movie going experience can be improved. Heady but quite good stuff (the girl may be a pain in the bum but she sure can write). Christopher Piatt, the other main TimeOutChicago theatre critic aside from Kris Vire, writes about the meteoric rise of blogs in 2007 as a key driver of theatrical conversation in Chicago in the year-end issue of PerformInk, the city’s theatre industry publication. Although I don’t agree with some of his points (he criticizes bloggers for writing about their opinions, versus writing about an opinion that will guide the theatregoer- well, I think that’s a key and essential differentiation between blogging and journalistic criticism), he does provide excellent insights into the ability of the blogs to engage various parties, whether it’s artistic directors, critics, audience goers, or pundits, into active and passionate theatrical debate. Great reading.
Last week, I went to see Steppenwolf Theatre’s world premiere production of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s Good Boys and True, about a scandal in an exclusive boys’ high school in the Washington, DC area during the late 1980s that results from the discovery of a sex tape which might have involved one of the star senior students. I love advocating for new work, and I think this particular new play has interesting themes around the power of privilege, and the suppression of one’s true identity to preserve the expectations of that privileged status. Despite two brilliantly written scenes in Act Two, full of honesty and searing insight, (the first one between gay lovers Justin and Brandon beautifully and realistically presented the struggles of coming-out; the second one between Brandon’s mom, Elizabeth, and Cheryl, the girl in the sex tape, was a riveting discussion on the chasm between social classes), I thought Good Boys needed some more work after this world premiere. (The off-Broadway production will not occur until Spring 2008). I thought some of the characters and plot points were extraneous (I really didn’t understand the dramatic purpose of Elizabeth’s sister, for one) and I especially felt that, despite Steppenwolf Artistic Director’s Martha Lavey’s excellent work as Elizabeth, the character, as written, needed some more passion, fire, and confused vulnerability, to make the premise more believable. The acting as to be expected from a Steppenwolf production was exceptional, with another standout performance from the exciting young Chicago actor, Kelly O’Sullivan, who imbued Cheryl with just the right balance of fierceness and poignancy. Chris Jones wasn’t too thrilled with the show, and you can read his review here.
Over the weekend, I caught the Coen brother’s latest critical sensation, No Country for Old Men, adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novella also set in the 1980s, about a man who discovers two million dollars of drug money and runs away with it, with various characters in pursuit, including one of the most brilliantly malevolent characters of modern American cinema. I think the movie was extremely well-made, with tight, focused direction and an exceptional evocation of dread and suspense from the Coen brothers; superb cinematography; and excellent performances all around, especially from the memorable Javier Bardem, who played the murderous villain Anton Chigurr as a cross between Joan Crawford in a pageboy, Frankenstein’s monster, and an inarticulate Tony Soprano. Bardem, who is supposedly top pick to get the Oscar for best supporting actor as of right now, created a character so indelibly chilling and mesmerizing movie geeks are going to be talking and writing about it for years to come. However, I am a little bit perplexed as to why this is being hailed as the best movie of the year, because with a lack of a multi-dimensional narrative, it really felt more like a stylistic exercise (one that blew you away though with its meticulousness and creativity) than anything else. For No Country’s raves, click here, here, and here.
Good Boys and True plays till Feburary 16, 2008 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. No Country for Old Men is showing in Chicagoland movie theaters.
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