Cyrus. “A lonely guy wooing his dream woman has to contend with her jealous grown son” could have gone in any number of directions: gross, tragic, comic, scary. That it found this tone, at once borderline odd and utterly familiar, is fantastic. Co-writers/directors the Duplass brothers are humanists; they’re on their characters’ side, and they win us over. Plus, Jonah Hill’s unstinting performance was, for me, the revelation of the year.
Inside Job. “A documentary about the banking crisis that nearly crashed the global economy, starring some of its key players” sounds like homework. But I love this film’s controlled anger, and how the damning facts pile up and up like the mountains of debt. But mostly I love the surprised looks on the faces of the dastardly perpetrators, who are arrogant enough to participate, and then get offended when they’re confronted with their crimes.
Rabbit Hole and Blue Valentine. The log lines are similar: “An attractive couple struggles not to let their opposing ways of grieving for their dead son tear apart their marriage” and “An attractive couple toggle back and forth in time between the charming beginning and the sad ending of their relationship.” These may not seem like pleasant nights at the movies. And indeed, you do have to steel yourself to face them. But both movies are alive with characters who behave in surprising ways, and moments that enlighten us about the human condition, which is what I go to the movies for.
A Prophet. “A young Arab man becomes a Mafia kingpin in a French prison” sounds like it should have “cautionary tale” or “American remake” written all over it. But the observations are so subtle (the shot of a con delivering fresh baguettes to each cell in the morning was one of my favourite details of the year), and the setting and characters seem so authentic that the power of it sneaks up on you and leaves you breathless with despair.
I Am Love. It could be the plot of an opera: “A Milanese matron falls in love with a friend of her son’s, with tragic results.” But it’s an opera under ice, since the grand-sounding emotions are trapped beneath a fanatically perfect exterior. It’s chilly, arch, deliberately arty, pretty much the opposite of every other film on this list. But I can’t get it out of my head.
High Life. No one saw this terrific anti-caper (“Four hapless drug addicts plot to rob an ATM”), and that’s a shame, because it is witty, well-acted, tons of fun and – get this! – Canadian. It was made for peanuts, and if there were any justice in the world, it would have grossed millions. So go get the DVD right now, bid farewell to 2010, and start your new year right.
