Grae Drake

Grae Drake is one of the two main reviewers for movies.com. She studied film at the University of Texas at Austin and made several short films, one of which was accepted into the Sundance film festival. She recently reviewed David Fincher’s latest film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Drake did not tear into Fincher for his recent adaptation, but her review was also not filled with praise. In the end, she gave the film three out of five stars (or weird diamond things), and called the film “recycled but recreational.”

Much of her review consists of comparing Fincher’s version to the 2009 Swedish version. She claims that the film is fine on it’s own, but those who have seen the previous version, or read the book, there is something lacking.

One area that Drake goes into a good amount of detail about is the music. She compliments Fincher for choosing Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the same duo who scored Fincher’s last film. She also compliments the two musicians for their work and describes it as “the glue that makes the whole techno-goth-post-punk-leather thing really come together.” It’s nice to hear Drake be so decisive about something. The way that she talks about the music almost makes the reader want to see the film, just to see the way in which the music blends with the picture.

The review also goes into a decent amount of detail about female lead Rooney Mara, who plays Lisbeth Salander. Drake applauds both Fincher’s decision in casting and Mara’s actual performance. She claims that Mara’s performance was so strong that it almost dwarfs Daniel Craigs’ (who plays the male lead, opposite Mara).

Drake loosens the mood of the article somewhat by referring to Fincher as “The Finch.” This brings a light-heartedness to the review, and in some ways makes her previous hits to Fincher seem less hard. It also brings a certain casual aspect to the review, making it seem more like the reader is having a conversation with Drake about the film, rather than reading a review written by someone that they have never actually met.

Drake does not necessarily write with an overly original style, but her reviews are straight and to the point. She is not breaking any literary boundaries, she is providing the reader with what they are looking for; a moderately biased review of a film. After reading something of hers, one understands better about a film, and gets a clearer idea of if that particular film is right for them or not. At the same time, she can be somewhat indecisive. Her review of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo didn’t really tell the reader if it is something worth seeing or not, as evident in statements like “It's more of a rehash than a re-imagining, but that doesn't mean that you should refrain.” Even though the piece was somewhat noncommittal, Drake’s roughly seven hundred word review was still plenty full of information, which gave the reader the insight to decide weather to see the film or wait until the next adaptation.

The Illusionist

The Illusionist (2010) in many ways leaves you with a warm feeling. It is sad at times, but lighthearted at others. The relationship between the man and the girl is interesting, but not entirely clear. Granted, we only watched about half of the film, and if I had seen the remainder, I possibly would have understood their relationship better, but from what I saw it was somewhat puzzling to me. I did not understand why they were drawn to each other. I suppose that the man saw the girl in some sort of a paternal way, but I did not get the feeling that the girl felt the same way. It was just not clear to me why she wanted to be with him other than the fact that he seemed to be a nice guy.

As charming as the film could be, it seemed to be repetitive and in some ways lack direction. The man would go someplace, try to perform, and (sooner or later) have to move on because he was too “old-fashioned,” and people were not interested in his performance. I understand that the film was trying to get at the idea that the old is being undermined by the flash of the new, but the film seemed to focus on that idea and not go anywhere with it.

While there are parts of the film that are either confusing or frustrating, the film as a whole was enjoyable. The visuals are based in reality, but there is a certain wonder to the world. The animation style provides the characters with a certain elasticity in their movement, while not taking it so far that they seem detached from the world that we know. This film is definitely one that I will be interested to see the remainder of.