Aloha

Cameron Crowe's Aloha has been the victim of bad buzz for about half a year now.  It all started when the film (which was originally set to be released last Christmas) became a victim of the Sony hacking scandal, with private e-mails leaked stating that studio heads were not happy with the film, and had its release date pushed back.  Later on, groups protested the film's "whitewashed" cast made up of Hollywood celebrities, early word of mouth from test screenings were not kind, and the movie had its reviews held back until almost the last minute.  By the way, those reviews did not turn out very kind.

So, after all that, is the movie really that bad?  Honestly, Aloha is a mess and is probably the most unfocused movie that Crowe has ever made, but it's far from unwatchable.  In reality, the worst thing that happened to this movie is the obvious studio tampering it has gone through.  The film that is playing on screens right now does not feel like the vision of the director.  It comes across as a severely hacked and edited version that's being released out of desperation.  Certain moments and character motivations make absolutely no sense, and yet I don't blame this on Crowe.  It feels like huge chunks of the narrative that were once there are now gone.  I'm sure this movie was more than a little troubled in its original form, but the version that's been released for the public sometimes feels like it's been put through a paper shredder.  There are some nice individual moments, but the movie feels completely disjointed, and never creates a cohesive end product.

The cast that's been assembled includes Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin, and John Krasinski.  With that kind of talent, you would expect some great performances, but the end result is terribly uneven.  Cooper doesn't seem to be trying hard enough, Stone sometimes seems to be trying too hard (while at other times finds a nice balance), and Baldwin doesn't seem to know if his performance should be going for laughs or taken seriously.  As for Bill Murray, he seems to be a victim of the severe editing the film went through.  Despite being top-billed, he has less than 10 minutes worth of screen time, and only gets to stand out in one scene where he shares a dance with Stone to a Hall and Oates song.  I would not be surprised to learn if over 90% of his role wound up on the cutting room floor.  Only Rachel McAdams hits a consistent tone with her performance.  A lot of the cast seem to realize they're stuck in what will eventually become a troubled production.

Cooper plays Brian Gilcrest, a military man who was wounded in Afghanistan, and has now been shipped to his former air base in Hawaii to help with some kind of project that a billionaire named Carson Welch (Murray) has set up involving a satellite.  For a good part of the film, the true nature of Gilcrest's mission is kind of murky.  We don't know why he's been picked, for example, to go around and convince the natives of Hawaii to support the military project.  The main focus of the film is a love triangle that develops.  Brian meets with his former love, Tracy (McAdams), who is now married to a military pilot named Woody (Krasinski) and has two children.  There is obviously something still there between them, which threatens the life that Tracy has made for herself.  Not only that, but Brian has been teamed up with Captain Alison Ng (Stone), who starts the movie off as a serious and strict military woman, but evolves into a cute as a pixie romantic comedy lead without any real explanation as the film goes on.

The romantic aspect of Aloha works best when it is dealing with Brian and Tracy, as Cooper and McAdams have genuine chemistry.  Unfortunately, the relationship that Brian has with Alison makes up a majority of the picture, which is a mistake, as Cooper and Stone never click with the right chemistry that make us want to see them get together.  Oh they get some nice moments, but a lot of their relationship gets tossed aside in montages where Hawaiian music plays over them shopping or buying funny hats.  All the while, there doesn't seem to be much of a point to the film.  Yes, it's been photographed beautifully, but the relationship angle isn't strong enough to carry the entire film.  That's when Crowe throws in a tacked on plot about a military cover up, where the project Brian is working for isn't what it seems, and he has to decide if he will go along with it, or follow his heart and refuse.

The movie often feels like it is trying out different formulas, seeing if one will stick with the audience.  It's largely a romantic comedy, but it also wants to be a drama about life choices, and a movie that is critical of the military, and praises those who are tuned in to their spiritual side, as a couple of the characters in this film love to talk about Hawaiian culture and spiritual beliefs.  The end result feels a bit too unfocused, which is probably what caused the studio to get scared when they screened the early version of the film.  But by editing it to such a severe degree, it becomes not just unfocused, but at times completely confused.  We need more than what the film gives us in order to bridge some of the huge gaps in the narrative.  A movie this busy needs to have more to link it together.

The trailer for Aloha actually comes across as being a lot more focused and sure than the final film that's playing in theater.  There's a belief that the trailer represents the movie that the studio wishes they made.  In this case, I would have to agree.  There are moments where we get to see examples of Crowe's trademark wit and gift of dialogue, but they are drowned out by a movie that is largely unsure of itself.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

0 comments