THE BOOK OF ELI

(Violent, apocalyptic movie with a message)

If you want an apocalyptic movie with an unusual twist, you’ll enjoy The Book of Eli. What we did not enjoy was the extreme violence. What we did enjoy was the terrific performance of Denzel Washington as the loner who seeks to save the dying planet with the secret book he carries and reads daily. Eli is headed west at the urging of voices inside his head. He encounters gangs of desperate people along the way, stopping in a ravaged city run by an evil man (Gary Oldman), who has been seeking the mysterious book. The movie is filled with allegory, spirituality and irony. In the opening bleak scene, Eli kills a cat, only to give a piece of the meat to a rat. Eli kills bad guys with his razor-sharp knife and then prays over them. The story has a major twist that will send you back in an attempt to discover if something is true. It is a stretch and difficult to accept. And then there is the fall of the evil one, when he overtakes Eli and discovers what is in the book. Here is where the irony kicks in. The movie is shot with many black and white scenes, eerie background music, destruction everywhere and little hope for humanity. If violence upsets you, you may wish to avoid this one. Rated a big R, with sex, violence and profanity.

LEGION

(Trite supernatural thriller)

Paul Bettany stars as the Archangel Michael in this trite supernatural thriller. The action takes place in a remote truck stop in the middle of nowhere. The locals are wary of strangers, as they should be, when possessed people show up and do strange things, like walk on the ceiling, change into grotesque figures and start killing off everybody in sight. The religious references (the town is Paradise Falls) are ridiculous, as Michael, complete with wings, arrives to save the handful of people and the pregnant woman who carries a baby who is the only one who can save the world. You see, God has given up on mankind, sending pestilence down upon them. Only one man has faith, as people are infected all around him. Can he and Michael save the world? Not before half of it is destroyed. Why would Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Charles S. Dutton and Lucas Black agree to be in this awful movie? Rated a big R, with profanity and very gruesome scenes.

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES

(Inspirational and educational)

Brendan Fraser stars as John Crowley, a pharmaceutical company executive and father of two children dying of Pompe disease. He devotes his life to keeping his children alive past the usual survival age of nine years old and finding a cure for the disease. Crowley teams up with Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), a crotchety curmudgeon who single-handedly works day and night to develop a cure. Pompe disease is a rare form of muscular dystrophy that confines children to wheelchairs and destroys their muscles and organs. Crowley gives up a lucrative salary and literally puts his life on hold, working with the stubborn research scientist and raising money for him to speed up his research, as his kids face death at an early age. Extraordinary Measures need to be taken to accelerate the process, and that is what makes this movie so different and compelling. If you are expecting a tearjerker, with lots of excitement and emotional moments, you will find a few scenes, but primarily the movie is an inside look at how potential drugs are developed and marketed. The process is an involved and cautious one, at times governed by the profit motive. Decisions are often based on statistics and cold facts, rather than emotion and the desire to save a child. The movie introduces many viewers to the world of bio-medical research and venture capitalism, which isn’t always edge-of-the-seat entertainment, but is often an eye-opener. Ford is great as Dr. Stonehill, who irritates everyone around him, including Crowley. Fraser, who has never been our favorite actor, gives a great performance as the business-like father trying to save his kids. Meredith Droeger is delightful as his precocious daughter who lives life to the fullest, even though she is confined to a wheelchair and faces an ominous future. The ending is “sweet” in a different way and may cause you to either shed a tear or give a smile. Not a lot of excitement, but a good story that will hold your interest. Rated PG, with minor profanity.