Second Thoughts: ‘Lars,’ ‘3:10′ Edition

Warning: contains spoilers.

This week I attended two screenings of films I’d already seen. Monday night was Lars and the Real Girl. One of my viewing companions hadn’t seen it yet; he loved it, said it was a beautiful film. It is. My other companion had seen it and liked it as much the second time. I did too. It’s a thoughtful, measured film whose only fault might be that it’s too thoughtful, too measured.

Second time around, Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of Lars comes into sharper focus. It’s kind of stunning how natural he is, acting with a doll. Bianca, the doll, is the grown-up equivalent of an invisible friend. I still find it odd that they go to the expense of—SPOILER ALERT—burying Bianca, but what else do you do with a human-size doll that has become a real entity in her community? The Q&A after the movie was with director Craig Gillespie, who told the crowd that the Biancas (her and her double) were treated with the utmost respect on the set: They were dressed in their trailer and were not on set for scenes Bianca wasn’t in. Gillespie and Gosling each took one home with them after the shoot. The director also discussed how the dance scene was shot, one of the sweetest and most hilarious moments in the film. It was to a Talking Heads song “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” chosen by Gosling, which I need to pick up on iTunes.

Wednesday night was my second look at 3:10 to Yuma. I liked it to begin with, but it made so much more sense this time. I think I understood the character of Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) on a general level before: I had a vague suspicion of why the character behaved the way he did, which I mentioned in my review. But I could not articulate specifically why he made certain choices. I had previously missed the significance of green eyes and Proverbs. I also misinterpreted his relationship with the barmaid.

So 3:10 is at least as entertaining the second time but far more multileveled. It’s rare that a film gets better on second viewing, and this one moved up on my list of the year’s best movies. Crowe’s accomplishment here is one of his greatest so far, and believe me, I loved him in Gladiator. (Of course, I’m forgetting he played Cort in The Quick and the Dead, with Crazy Sharon Stone.) Bale, likewise, provides the needed depth to the character of Dan Evans (I know I kind of sound like a broken record about this guy). But I was taken aback by Logan Lerman again. He impressed me the first time but, wow, is he good. Can’t wait to see the kind of work this kid turns in in the coming years—as an actor and as a filmmaker.

The final shootout scene also became much clearer, less confusing. I had trouble following it the first time, mainly because I was trying to figure out why Wade was somewhat complicit in his own imprisonment. So many gunshots being fired can ruffle anyone, right? Bale and Ben Foster were the Q&A subjects, and my favorite part was Bale’s description of his method: “The director and I would argue from time to time. He’d say, ‘I need you to shoot those two guys,’ and I’d say, ‘I can’t, because I’m out of bullets.’ He’d say, ‘Don’t worry about it; I’m gonna edit it anyway,’ and I’d say, ‘I don’t know that. I can’t do it.’ I get really hung up on things like that.” He also talked about going blue in the face after—SPOILER ALERT—his character dies, because it was cold out and he never knew when the camera was on him, so he didn’t want to spoil the take by breathing. (Also I was shocked to be reminded that that final scene—the race through town to the train—was filmed in one day.) I say “method,” but it’s not Method, per se. He just gets into whatever character he’s playing by literally getting into the character he’s playing: his circumstances, his mindset—anything to make it easier to pretend to be that person. He chose to be locked into Dan’s prosthetic leg while shooting, even when the focus wasn’t on the leg, because it was one less thing to think about: Being strapped into the casing, he didn’t have to concentrate on how Dan would move with his fake limb. Anything would seem easy after the other things Bale has done to bring life to a role (The Machinist, Rescue Dawn), and the philosophy he voiced at the Q&A explained his approach perfectly: When asked what the hardest scene to shoot was, Bale replied that he doesn’t consider anything difficult that was ultimately accomplished. If you failed at it, then it was hard.

Foster, frankly, appeared to be totally enamored of Bale during the interview. Chalk it up to nerves if you will, but it was disconcerting to see him appear to be so in love with his costar. Not that I blame him. He probably holds Bale up on the same pedestal as I do, considering that Foster’s just a year younger than me: He’s probably been a fan since Newsies as well and is in awe of the fact that he got to work with Bale. But Foster needs to give himself more credit. Yes, Bale was amazing and enlightening and well-spoken and witty and frank. However, Foster also had excellent insights, and once he got going on a subject was just as illuminating as Bale.

~ by JT on December 14, 2007.