Review: Cloud Atlas

Maybe We've Met Before – Somewhere in Time

By Chris Sabga

Release Date: October 26, 2012 – U.S.

Rating: R

Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Comedy, 

Romance, Thriller, War

Running Time: 172 minutes

Directors: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, 

Lana Wachowski

Writers: David Mitchell (novel), Tom Tykwer, 

Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Cast: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, 

Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, 

Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Zhou Xun, 

Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, 

Hugh Grant

"Cloud Atlas" isn't a movie that's meant to be written or read about – it simply has to be experienced! Spanning six different time periods and featuring an international cast of world class actors in multiple roles, it's utterly breathtaking in its sheer size and scope. It's a historical drama, an action movie, a conspiracy thriller, a love story, a comedy, futuristic sci-fi, a post-apocalyptic war film, and a mystery.

Even though it incorporates a wide variety of genres, it's definitely not for everyone. Great art never is.

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Here is a list of the impressive cast and the many personas they play (courtesy of IMDB):

Tom Hanks: Dr. Henry Goose / Hotel Manager / Isaac Sachs / Dermot Hoggins / Cavendish Look-a-Like Actor / Zachry

Halle Berry: Native Woman / Jocasta Ayrs / Luisa Rey / Indian Party Guest / Ovid / Meronym

Jim Broadbent: Captain Molyneux / Vyvyan Ayrs / Timothy Cavendish / Korean Musician / Prescient 2

Hugo Weaving: Haskell Moore / Tadeusz Kesselring / Bill Smoke / Nurse Noakes / Boardman Mephi / Old Georgie

Jim Sturgess: Adam Ewing / Poor Hotel Guest / Megan's Dad / Highlander / Hae-Joo Chang / Adam (Zachry's Brother-in-Law)

Doona Bae: Tilda / Megan's Mom / Mexican Woman / Sonmi-451 / Sonmi-351 / Sonmi Prostitute

Ben Whishaw: Cabin Boy / Robert Frobisher / Store Clerk / Georgette / Tribesman

Keith David: Kupaka / Joe Napier / An-kor Apis / Prescient

James D'Arcy: Young Rufus Sixsmith / Old Rufus Sixsmith / Nurse James / Archivist

Xun Zhou: Talbot / Yoona-939 / Rose

David Gyasi: Autua / Lester Rey / Duophysite

Susan Sarandon: Madame Horrox / Older Ursula / Yusouf Suleiman / Abbess

Hugh Grant: Rev. Giles Horrox / Hotel Heavy / Lloyd Hooks / Denholme Cavendish / Seer Rhee / Kona Chief

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A brief breakdown of the various time periods featured in the film:

1849: South Pacific High Seas

A lawyer, Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess), vouches for a runaway slave (David Gyasis) to the ship's captain (Jim Broadbent). Eventually, Ewing becomes deathly ill. Can the doctor on board (Tom Hanks) save him?

1936: Cambridge and Scotland

Two gay lovers, Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw) and Rufus Sixsmith (James D'Arcy), correspond via letters after Frobisher leaves Cambridge to seek out the great Scottish composer Vyvyan Ayrs (Broadbent). Together, they will create a musical masterpiece, the Cloud Atlas Sextet.

1973: Los Angeles, California

Roving reporter Luisa Ray (Halle Berry) gets stuck in an elevator with an older Rufus Sixmith (D'Arcy), who tips her off to a shocking conspiracy. Will the help of a scientist (Hanks) and her father's old friend (Keith David) be enough?

2012: The United Kingdom

John Travolta lookalike Dermot Hoggins (Hanks) becomes a bestselling author after he tosses a critic off a building – leading to trouble for his publisher, Timothy Cavendish (Broadbent). Cavendish turns to his brother, Denholme (Hugh Grant), who puts him in a nursing home – where he's imprisoned against his will. From there, a comedy of errors follows.

2144: Neo Seoul

Fabricants – a series of subservient slave drones cloned and engineered to please Consumers – are unchanging in their routine and unwavering in their beliefs. But one of them, Sonmi-451 (Doona Bae), eventually desires more. With the help of Hae-Joo Chang (Sturgess, playing an Asian man), she breaks away and discovers the deeper, darker truth.

106 Winters After The Fall: The Valley

A simple goat herder, Zachry (Hanks), tends to his family in a post-apocalyptic, prehistoric world. When his village, The Valley, is invaded by a violent tribe, he's helped by a mysterious, sophisticated woman, Meronym (Berry), who has access to technology. She wants him to take her up to the mountains, where "the devil" is believed to live. 

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Those small summaries barely scratch the surface of "Cloud Atlas's" ambitious story, powerful themes, and central message.

Connections form across time in both big and small ways. Jim Sturgess's character from 1849 makes decisions that will shape his actions in 2144. Halle Berry and Tom Hanks meeting and falling for each other in 1973 will ripple through ages and beyond the fall of civilization. A comedic observation made in 2012 about something from 1973 will have sinister implications in 2144. And there are countless other examples...

Each segment has one or two (or more) major characters, but almost all of the main cast members are featured in some way. Sometimes they're easy to spot, even under heavy costuming and makeup – such as the Asian actress Doona Bae portraying a Caucasian redhead in 1849 or Halle Berry as a European white woman in 1936. But don't expect to catch all of them: Berry, again, is unrecognizable in the 2144 timeline as a male Korean doctor.  

The aforementioned prosthetics aren't always convincing. Doona Bae doesn't look or sound like a white woman, and Berry's appearance as one is equally as strange. However, Jim Sturgess pulls off the role of an Asian man surprisingly well. Everyone will have their own favorite performance and one particular actor they consider the "star" of the film. For me, it's Sturgess.

As I thought more about the jarring appearances of Berry, Bae, and others in some of their more disparate roles, it dawned on me that I can come up with countless examples of people from my own life who look nothing like their actual nationality. Have we, too, been "Cloud Atlasing" through the ages? 

Sometimes we make connections of such great power that they instantly seem otherworldly. Have you ever just met someone, and yet it feels like you've already known them your whole life? According to "Cloud Atlas," maybe we have – for all of our lives.

Review: The Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher's Beautiful Mind

By Chris Sabga

Release Date: January 13, 2012 – U.S.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Drama, Biography, History

Running Time: 105 minutes

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Writer: Abi Morgan

Cast: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, 

Olivia Colman, Roger Allam, Susan Brown, 

Nick Dunning, Nicholas Farrell, Iain Glen, 

Richard E. Grant, Anthony Head, Harry Lloyd, 

Michael Maloney, Alexandra Roach, Pip Torrens, 

Julian Wadham, Angus Wright

The beginning of "The Iron Lady" casts a pall of depression that the rest of the movie never recovers from. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) first appears as a feeble old woman in an advanced state of dementia.

That unwelcome and unpleasant plot device rears its ugly head for far too many minutes until Thatcher is finally shown as a much younger woman (played at first by Alexandra Roach, who ages into Streep eventually). Unfortunately, every time the main story builds momentum, the film switches back to the sick, elderly version of Thatcher. It's an unwanted distraction and intrusion. A ridiculous amount of time is wasted portraying her hallucinations and delusional conversations with her deceased husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent). These obviously fictionalized scenes are extremely tacky, exploitative, and completely unnecessary.

If you're expecting a detailed look at Thatcher's political career and role in the Falklands War, how she handled the economic crisis in England at that time, or her close relationship with then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, read a book instead. The film races through her reign as Prime Minister. The historic events she presided over are presented as a series of "greatest hits" with one clip after another. Catchy tunes punctuate each moment. "The Iron Lady" would rather be a glorified music video. There's not a shred of depth to be found anywhere.

Some of the scenes involving Margaret Thatcher's years as Prime Minister are shot in a bizarre manner for seemingly no reason. The perspective is tilted, with several quick close-ups and cuts. Is this jarring camerawork supposed to signify that the older, demented version of Thatcher is thinking back to her younger glory days? Or maybe it's meant to imply that she began losing her faculties while she was still Prime Minister? Whatever the case may be, it serves no purpose and doesn't work at all.

As expected, Thatcher is presented as a woman of strength – but only sometimes and not nearly enough. More often than not, she's portrayed as an insecure little girl who's laughed at behind closed doors or from a safe distance. These scenes are probably designed to emphasize the barriers she broke through to reach the lofty heights of becoming Britain's first (and still only) female Prime Minister. Instead, they come across as silly and make her look weak and childish.

There's even a cutesy scene – obviously meant to be humorous – where her male political advisors instruct her to ditch her hat and pearl necklace. She insists on keeping the pearls because they were a gift from her husband. Factual or not, it feels more like Sarah Palin than Margaret Thatcher. Still, it does lighten the mood of the movie at the right time.

Even today, Thatcher remains one of the most controversial and polarizing figures in the history of British politics. People either adore the ground she walked on or spit on that same pavement at the mere mention of her name. But that, too, is glossed over – shown only in small bits and bites.

"The Iron Lady" is a shallow mess with a brain-dead script. Margaret Thatcher's incredible life seems to be an afterthought. This is really a movie about a sick, crazy old lady who sees dead people. The only saving grace is Meryl Streep's remarkable performance, for which she won an Academy Award. I wish she could have played the same part in a much better film.

Margaret Thatcher passed away on April 8, 2013 at the age of 87.