A couple limited release movies for you (they'll likely be available in DVD/download in the near future). First up is Rust and Bone, a French language movie starring Marion Cotillard as an orca trainer who loses her legs in a horrible whale accident. She falls in love with the equally faulted Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), a bouncer/security guard/fighter whose heart is in the right place but often employs shitty behavior (like forgetting to pick up his 5 year old son at school while screwing a woman from the gym). The film is a no-nonsense look at disability and at the romance that forms between both actors as they help fill in each other's emotional voids.
I rather enjoyed this picture, I have to say. I wish the ending to the film felt more cohesive to the rest of the movie, but the performances were really strong and it was shot beautifully - pretty much what you'd want out of a drama like this. And Cotillard is great at shedding a tear (if I remember it was four, four separate single-tear shots and each of them were dramatic).
Rating: B
You may recognize Alan Cumming from The Good Wife and a bunch of shitty movies like The Smurfs and Garfield (and not recognize him under heavy makeup as Nightcrawler from X2), but this is probably his first major "breakout" role. Cumming and Garret Dillahunt play a gay couple trying to win the custody of a mentally handicapped boy whose mother was put in prison. In this infuriating courtroom drama set in the late 70's they have to deal with biased, homophobic lawyers and judges and fight the injustice of the court system in order to live as a family and to give this child his only chance at a good life.
I really enjoyed this film as well. Cumming can be hilarious at times (especially when he's working as a drag queen at the local gay bar), but puts a lot of power behind his character, in effect not making it seem like a pure stereotype. They used an actual person with Down syndrome for the kid, and he actually was pretty good in the role. The grittiness of the era was well captured, and the courtroom scenes really got to me with how corrupt everything is. Those with working tear ducts might want to bring tissues.
Rating: B
Also, just wanted to share that at the screening I went to there was a Q&A with Alan Cumming afterwards. Wasn't really the best Q&A I've ever seen, but he has apparently been doing them since May, so I can't blame him for being tired of answering questions. The craziest bit of info he shared was at one time Sylvester Stallone was slated to play the lead.
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