By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
Why remake “Ben Hur” (1959), the epic sword-and-sandals adventure that set an Oscar record, sweeping 11 out of the 12 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler) and Best Actor (Charlton Heston)?
This new “Ben Hur,” produced by Mark Burnett (TV’s “Survivor,” “The Voice”) and Roma Downey (TV’s “Touched By an Angel”), the husband-and-wife team behind the 10-hour TV miniseries “The Bible,” returns Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel “Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ” to its devoutly religious roots.
Set in Jerusalem, it’s the story of two brothers: a wealthy Jewish nobleman, Judah Ben-Hur (John Huston), and his adoptive Roman sibling, Messala Severus (Toby Kebbell). When ambitious Messala betrays their family, Judah vows revenge and, through his encounters with Jesus of Nazareth (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro), witnessing the Crucifixion, learns compassion and forgiveness.
Working from a script by Keith R. Clarke and John Ridley, Russian-Kazajh director Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) achieves period authenticity, depicting communal life and the graphic brutality of Judah’s five years as a galley slave, battling Greeks on the Ionian Sea.
Then there’s a jarring tonality shift toward frenetic NASCAR/Formula One-like racing action when Judah learns how to become a charioteer from Nubian Sheik Ilderim (Morgan Freeman), who reminds him, “The first to finish is the last to die.”
Of course, the centerpiece is the exciting Circus Maximus chariot race. While real Andalusian and Hungarian horses were used in the thunderous close-ups, computer-generated doubles did the dangerous stunts. About 400 extras served as spectators, increased to over 100,000 with special effects. It’s just a shame that British actor Jack Huston (grandson of director John Huston) is far too bland.
FYI: The book was first turned into a Broadway spectacular with a treadmill-enabled chariot race using real horses. Then there were two silent films before the 1959 movie that was more secular than religious.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ben Hur” is an inspirational 6, aimed directly at a Christian faith-based audience.
Set in the Pacific Northwest, “Pete’s Dragon” is a folkloric fantasy that begins with an automobile accident in which four year-old Pete (Levi Alexander) loses both of his parents.
Scared and stranded in the deep woods, orphaned Pete is soon befriended by a gentle, 24 foot-long dragon with moss-green fur, whom he names Elliot, after the dog in his favorite children’s book.
Six years later, near-feral Pete (now played by Oakes Fegley) has become a strong, self-confident 10 year-old, scampering through the forest with winged Elliot, who can become invisible whenever he senses danger.
One day, Pete – who lacks that camouflaging skill – is spied by Grace Meacham (Bryce Dallas Howard), a kindly forest ranger whose grizzled, garrulous father (Robert Redford) tells tall tales about the “magical” creature he once encountered deep in the Millhaven woods.
“Where’d you come from?” she wonders.
Grace lives with her fiancé, Jack (Wes Bentley), who owns the local lumber mill with his hot-tempered, trigger-happy brother, Gavin (Karl Urban). Jack has an 11 year-old daughter, Natalie (Oona Laurence), who becomes Pete’s co-conspirator when gun-toting lumberjacks capture Elliot.
Sentimentally scripted by Toby Halbrooks and director David Lowery, it’s a stylized re-imagining, more than a remake, of a forgettable 1977 Disney musical, featuring the voices of Helen Reddy, Mickey Rooney, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons and Jim Dale.
Like “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” and “The Iron Giant,” this is an old-fashioned, poignantly predictable lonely boy-meets-mythical creature story, related with sensitivity, sincerity and magnificent scenery. New Zealand subs for the Pacific Northwest, and Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital created Elliot.
On the Granger Gauge, “Pete’s Dragon” flies in with an enchantingly earnest 8 – perhaps the best live-action, family film of the summer.
Based on the true story behind two Czechoslovakian operatives’ mission to assassinate SS Gen. Reinhard Heydrich, the World War II thriller “Anthropoid” should be more suspenseful than it is.
In December, 1941, when Czechoslovakian loyalists Josef Gabcik (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan) parachute into their Nazi-occupied homeland, they must implement “Operation Anthropoid.”
That’s the code name for the elimination of Heydrich (Detlef Bothe), Hitler’s third-in-command, behind Himmler. As the logistical architect of Hitler’s Final Solution to eradicate the Jewish population, he was known “the butcher of Prague” for his ruthless brutality.
Burdened with historical background about the Munich Agreement in which the Allies allowed the Third Reich to annex the Sudentenland, the narrative drags as Josef and Jan attempt to reach Prague.
They need to contact what’s left of the Czech Resistance, personified by Ladislav (Marcin Dorocinski) and “Uncle” Hajsky (Toby Jones). But when their decoy ‘girlfriends’ lead to romantic entanglements – Jan with Maria (Charlotte Le Bon) and Josef with Lenka (Anna Geislerova) – betrayal seems inevitable.
After their chaotic attack on Heydrich’s car, the Nazi net tightens, forcing Josef and Jan to take refuge in the basement of Saint Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, along with a couple of other freedom fighters. That’s where the final, six-hour shootout takes place.
Written by Anthony Frewin and British director/cinematographer Sean Ellis, it’s filled with disconcertingly jerky, hand-held camerawork, its deliberately faded color resembling old-newsreel footage, punctuated by a minimalist soundtrack.
It’s also unfortunate that neither Cillian Murphy (“In the Heart of the Sea”) nor Jamie Dornan (“Fifty Shades of Gray”) even approximate a Czech accent.
FYI: A second film about Mission Anthropoid is scheduled later this year, starring Jack O’Connor and Jack Reynold.
On the Granger Gauge, “Anthropoid” is a flat, somewhat frustrating 5 – for its failure to engage emotionally.
( Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
