It's that time of year again. After much agonizing and hand wringing, I'm ready to declare the year's best movies. It was a good year at the movies, with 16 films in serious consideration for the list. While the year did seem to spawn an inconsiderate number of lame sequels and big budget flops, there were a lot of great little films to be found. I could easily expand the list to twenty and have lots of good films on it but I like keeping the list at ten. It forces me to give every movie real thought before including or discarding it. Longer lists just become a list of what didn't suck in a given year. So without further ado, I give you my top ten.
2003 Top Ten List
10. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Here is another movie with what at first sounds like a cringe-inducing premise, adapting a Disney theme ride into a movie. Two other such attempts, The Country Bears and The Haunted Mansion, were as awful as you might imagine but somehow Pirates of the Caribbean managed to turn out just fine. Perhaps it was when producer Jerry Bruckheimer threw out Disney's script that things turned around. Or perhaps it was when he hired the quirky but often brilliant Johnny Depp to play Captain Jack Sparrow and Geoffrey Rush to play his nemesis. Or maybe it was when they decided not to make it a family friendly PG movie. Whatever it was, the end result is wildly entertaining. Depp's iconic performance will likely be copied and parodied for years.
9. Finding Nemo
I don't know if I'm more impressed with the look of this movie or the great writing or the near perfect voice work. Pixar continues to top itself with finely crafted jewels of computer animation. This time they take us into the world of the sea and makes fish great characters. It's a funny movie with countless great gags, but it is also very touching, handling its characters with great warmth and integrity. This is a movie that will play to adults as well as it does to kids.
8. Matchstick Men
This movie covers the whole spectrum of emotion and features a story told on three distinct levels. It has a couple of great characters brought to life by some great performances from Alison (she's how old?) Lohman and Nicolas Cage. But what really makes this movie stand out for me is that it came from director Ridley Scott. Now, I love his work but he generally makes big movies with big stuff in them. Here he makes a small movie and shows a remarkably light touch with the story and characters. I never knew he had it in him. My respect for him just ratcheted up several notches.
7. Bad Santa
This wickedly funny holiday story has nothing to do with the real Santa and was aimed squarely at adults with a well deserved R rating but that didn't stop a lot of talking heads for assailing the movie. So let's be clear. This movie should be seen only by adults who are secure enough in their moral compass to watch some downright rotten folks without fear of being corrupted. If that's you, go see it. If that's not you or your name is Bill O'Reilly, avoid it and while you're at it, shut the hell up. Some of us actually like movies about bad people.
6. Mystic River
This isn't quite as good as Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, but it doesn't miss by much. Centered by great performances by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon, the grim story takes a look at the consequences of violence and abuse, both in the short term and the long term. Eastwood makes each death very painful to watch and makes sure that no character is a perfect saint or sinner.
5. The Cooler
William H. Macy plays a loser of legendary proportions. He plays a man with such colossal bad luck that a casino employs him to suck the good fortune of their customers. By just being himself, Bernie Lootz can suck the good fortune out of a hot streak. It's a great thing for the casino but not so hot for Bernie, who is being slowly ground down by his loser image. Finding love with a woman who should be well out of his league turns him around. Macy and Maria Bello have great chemistry that helps sell this oddball fairytale. Extra credit goes to scene-stealer Alec Baldwin as the casino boss.
4. School of Rock
As great as Jack Black was in High Fidelity, here is the role he was born to play. Black becomes the living embodiment of the spirit of rock 'n roll as fake substitute teacher determined to make rock live in his students. This is a movie with an infectious energy that pulls you along with it. The kids are all wonderful and all get real characters instead of stock precocious kid roles. I would cheerfully send my son to this school.
3. City of God
I saw this one all the way back lst January and have yet to get this movie out of my head. It has been called a Brazilian Goodfellas, and the story analogy is certainly apt. But it also undercuts the ferocity of this film and the place it covers. The film was shot using non-actors given minimal training. The result feels more like a documentary than a fictional film. It can often be hard to watch but that has a lot to do with being unforgettable.
2. American Splendor
A pseudo-documentary about a grouchy file clerk who writes a comic book about himself? The synopsis sounds more like a vision of hell than a great film. Despite that, American Splendor is a delightfully original creation. It is based on the life and comics of Harvey Pekar, a Cleveland file clerk who wrote (but didn't draw) the underground hit comic American Splendor. The movie mixes animation inspired by the various artists who worked on the comic with a live action fictionalization of Pekar's life with Paul Giamatti playing Pekar. Then it adds interview footage and narration by the real Pekar. This mixed media cross breeding spawns a movie that is hysterical and touching while somehow managing to be very true to its inspiration. Giamatti turns in one of the year's best performances by channeling the eccentric Pekar.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
It's incredibly rare that a movie comes along that I unreservedly love. This is such a movie. I loved the epic scale and the battles of stunning size and energy. But despite all the visual pyrotechnics, director Peter Jackson had a light touch for the personal moments as well. There are great moments between Sam and Frodo, Faramir and Denethor, Gandalf and Pippin, and Aragorn and Eowyn. Gollum continues to be a wonder of computer wizardry, heavily influenced by Andy Serkis.
When Jackson began this effort to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy there was a high probability of failure. The books were long considered to be unfilmable. Compounding that was placing the project in the hands of this little known cult-horror director from New Zealand. Jackson proved everyone wrong with a trilogy of films that were both critical darlings and box office champions. My only complaint with this movie is that it marks the end of the series.
Honorable Mentions
Here are the movies that were seriously considered for the list but just narrowly missed. They are presented in no particular order.
X2: X-Men United
It’s very rare that a sequel is better than the original film but this is just such a film. While the original X-Men was a fine film, it didn’t have the budget to properly pull off much of the needed special effects. It’s financial success paved the way for the sequel which had the necessary funds to do everything right. The opening scene of Nightcrawler attacking the White House may be the year’s single coolest opening.
21 Grams
This movie is like watching a jigsaw puzzle being put together. At first it is a mess of disconnected pieces but as time goes on they start to pull together and form a cohesive image. Top rate performances from Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro make this a must see.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Masterful filmmaking. There has probably never been a better shot movie about sailing ships. Russell Crowe disappears into his role as always. The only reason that this doesn’t make the list is that I found it a bit emotionally uninvolving.
The Matrix Reloaded
Yes I know. You all hated it. Said it was long and boring. I disagree. I enjoyed trying to sort out the long speeches of philosophical mumbo jumbo into a message or explanation. That and the highway chase was very cool.
Swimming Pool
Speaking of riddles is this import which will leave you wondering what was real and what wasn’t during the movie.
Cold Mountain
See? I can say nice things about an Anthony Minghella film. I wasn’t much moved by the main characters but I adored the scores of secondary characters.
Lost in Translation
Bill Murray at his absolute best. This movie is funny as hell but also has a way of building its characters and their interactions that rings very true. A few minutes less of Scarlett Johanssen moping alone and this would have made the list.
- John Shea
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