I Love You, Paul Rudd

I remember the first time I saw Paul Rudd on screen. It was 1995 and Rudd, named Josh long before everyone in film and television seemed to don that moniker, played a college boy who had come in to Los Angeles to help his former step father with a heavy legal load but ended up falling for his distant former step sister, Cher, played by then it-girl, Alicia Silverstone, instead. Not only did CLUELESS permanently ruin the language limits of a generation I must unfortunately count myself among but it gave us that face – that smooth, earnest face with the smile that tells you he’s not going nowhere. Rudd may not have taken over Hollywood there and then but his appeal is better appreciated over time. With his latest comedy, I LOVE YOU, MAN, getting the masses laughing up the brotherly love, it is clear that Rudd’s time has finally arrived.


Rudd, having first gained notoriety on the NBC hit, “Sisters”, followed up his CLUELESS breakout with a thankless part in Baz Luhrmann’s ROMEO+JULIET. His first lead role didn’t come until 1998’s THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION, opposite “Friends” star, Jennifer Aniston. Of course, with Aniston in the project, the media focus was on her to see how well she could carry a film outside of her safety “Friends” zone. The experiment was not a success but then again, I don’t think it was ever meant to be. In this Nicolas Hytner film, Rudd plays, George Hanson, a private school first grade teacher with a big heart that he allows to be trampled on again and again. Aniston plays Nina Borowski, a social worker with a walk-up in Brooklyn and a controlling boyfriend. After George’s boyfriend breaks up with him, he moves in with Nina and the two quickly learn the meaning of unconditional love – that is until they realize how unrealistic the whole thing is. THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION is surprisingly sensitive, progressive and ahead of its time. These characters explore new relationship possibilities without any judgment or embellishment. Instead, it is just a bunch of ordinary people looking for love. It remains to this day one of my favorite romantic weepers. In fact, I just teared watching it again on a bus, surrounded by strangers.


Given the gay subject matter, which incidentally, Rudd pulled off without the least bit of cliché, this was not the vehicle to get Rudd noticed. It did get him on Aniston’s mega hit series, “Friends” though, as Phoebe Buffet’s (Lisa Kudrow) fiancé in the last season. That in turn led to a number of sidekick roles that would come to define him for a while. Rudd fell in with some very funny people, from Will Ferrell (ANCHORMAN) to Judd Apatow (KNOCKED UP). Rudd’s perfect buddy role is exemplified in Apatow’s breakout, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN. When Steve Carrell’s Andy freaks out after realizing the damage he has done to his life after admitting he is in fact forty years old and a bonafide virgin, it is Rudd’s David that chases him through a crowded shopping complex to sit him down and tell him that there is nothing wrong with him. When Andy can’t handle the pressure of being hooked up with countless girls with the sole purpose of losing his virginity, it is David that tells him that he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to. Rudd exemplifies reliability and reassurance. You can count on him to not only help you out when you need it but to get you smiling as well.


Rudd stepped up his game last year by starring in and co-writing the moderately successful ROLE MODELS, co-starring Seann William Scott. This mostly conventional film features a fairly relatable premise. Here you have two 30-ish guys who don’t know thing one about kids who find themselves forced to mentor a couple of misfit kids. I am 30-ish guy and I wouldn’t know what to do with an infant. I would probably plop it down in front of the television, force it to watch Pixar films all day and throw food at it every once in a while to make sure it doesn’t start crying. Rudd’s kiddie problems aside, ROLE MODELS stepped up his visibility significantly and leads us to his final stepping stone, the leading man. Just like THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION, Rudd’s leading man in I LOVE YOU, MAN is no ordinary leading role. Sure, it follows to proper structure of a romantic comedy; Rudd meets girl, gets girl, loses girl and we must then wait to see if he gets said girl back. The major difference here is that the girl in question is actually a guy, Jason Segal, and this time Rudd isn’t playing gay. In I LOVE YOU, MAN, directed by John Hamburg, Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a guy so regular that he still has the package default ringtone on his iPhone. (And yes, I only know this because we share the same ring and I felt like my phone was going off the whole way through the film.) Peter has always had an easier time being friends with the ladies and now, as his wedding approaches, he embarks on a series of man dates in search of a best man. To watch the romantic comedy genre hilariously subverted not only allows for the glorification of male bonding but it also allows Rudd to discover new sides of himself that make us love him even more.


Today is April 6th and therefore, Paul Rudd turns 40 today. When interviewed, Rudd is adamant that he loves his life. He loves his wife, Julie Yeager, and their three-year-old son, Jack Rudd. He loves his life in New York City. He especially loves the direction his career has taken. He loves that he gets to do what he does and he gets to have his private life as well. It just seems to me that Paul Rudd is loving his life and the laughter that embodies it. You can see it right there, plainly on his smiling face and that, my friends, is why I love that man.

AUSTRALIA

Written by Stuart Beattie and Baz Luhrmann
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walters and David Wenham


The Drover: Oh, crikey!

Australia, the land down under. A land grand in size and rich in scenery. A land where kangaroos jump spryly alongside cars and aboriginal children go on walkabout without warning. Yes, this is Australia or at the very least, this is the clichéd representation of the country as per Baz Luhrmann’s AUSTRALIA, a film that is part epic romance and part homage to the country he calls home. Luhrmann shot to fame in the early 90’s with his first feature, STRICTLY BALLROOM, a film that took place down under and for a tiny fraction of what AUSTRALIA cost, was a more genuine insight into the people who reside there. Nearly twenty years later, his magic seems to have turned into madness as I can think of no other justification for Luhrmann reducing his home and its history into stereotypical schlock ready to serve to unintentionally naïve American audiences.


AUSTRALIA takes place in 1939, just before the Japanese attacked the country during the Second World War. Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman, whose performance is uneven but still engaging), is a British aristocrat who has traveled far from home to find her husband and bring him back. Her husband’s business in Australia got the best of him though and he has passed away. It is now up to this displaced diva to finish the job. She must put aside her dainty nature to rough it in the outback, herding cattle with a group of misfits, in order to take down corruption and monopolistic authorities running the cattle show. Throw in a steamy romance between Ashley and her main cattle handler (Hugh Jackman, easily earning his recent “Sexiest Man Alive” title), and you got yourself a movie. Well, you would have yourself a regular sized movie but this is Luhrmann’s opus, one which he seems conscious of the entire time. To fill the 2 hour and 45 minute run time, Luhrmann definitely throws in the romance but also adds racial issues, family drama, gender prejudice and a great war. It is boiling over with potential but missing the great deal of passion necessary to sustain itself.


After completing his Red Curtain Trilogy (including his first feature as well as WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO + JULIET and MOULIN ROUGE!), Luhrmann wanted to tackle historical accounts in his next films. The first was to be a biography of Alexander the Great but Oliver Stone beat him to that a few years back. Luhrmann then turned to his origins for inspiration instead and AUSTRALIA was born. The Red Curtain Trilogy was defined by style and theme. While Luhrmann hasn’t abandoned his dedication to love in AUSTRALIA, Luhrmann did set aside the signature schizophrenic style that made distinct lovers and haters of all who watched his works. Baz Luhrmann without everything that made him who he was is almost unrecognizable or unidentifiable even. You can almost feel him fighting with himself to tone down the extremities of the scenarios or slowing the speed of the story. The camera will move quickly all of a sudden but is reeled back in just as quickly. AUSTRALIA becomes a lesson in shame, one that I never expected from a man who so vehemently campaigned for truth and self in the past. By trying to be something he isn’t, Luhrmann only succeeded in losing his voice.


AUSTRALIA is a solid effort, sturdy on its feet but a slow and steady stride instead of the adventure it so clearly wants to be. It can be touching; it can be somewhat moving even; but it feels mostly as vague and meandering as the outback is vast. It is too theatrical and forced to be firmly historical and too unsure of itself to be genuinely effective. It is the most misguided mediocrity I’ve even seen go on for nearly three hours. I felt very little, learned even less; It was like being on an adventure where barely anything seemed to happen but you still appreciate the potential afforded by being there.. I just wish that the Baz I grew to know and love felt like he had come along for the ride because I feel like we didn’t spend any time together at all.

Director Series: BAZ LUHRMANN

Baz Luhrmann may not be a household name. Give it a second though to explain a little who the man is and anyone who has seen his films has an opinion on him and his intense sense of style. He incites more polarized reactions from film fanatics than most of his contemporaries and even his detractors will accord him the title of auteur. After all, what should incite that title other than a unique way of seeing things and a distinct way of getting those things across? In 1992, Luhrmann gave the world his first feature, STRICTLY BALLROOM. It cost barely anything to make and it grabbed the world by the waist and spun it around the dance floor so many times that it left the world in a dizzy haze. Sixteen years later, Luhrmann is one of the big boys, making movies that cost well over $100 million to produce. On the eve of his latest and first film in seven years, AUSTRALIA, Black Sheep Reviews takes a moment to catch its breath and take a look back at Luhrmann’s first three films that, when grouped together, are otherwise known as the Red Curtain Trilogy.


STRICTLY BALLROOM opens the Red Curtain Trilogy by literally opening with a red curtain. The curtain is pulled and we open on a near-full silhouette of two competitive dance couples. The men in black tuxedos stand tall and strong while the women in colorful ruffles bring fluidity to their opposing stiffness. The whole image is framed behind French doors and it is clear within the first few frames that Luhrmann is man with flare, style and both an eye and an appreciation for beauty. One of the men behind the door is Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio), a young dancer who has worked his whole life to take home the Pan-Pacific trophy for Best Ballroom Dancer. Everything in his life and everyone that surrounds him has played a part in making this happen but Scott has come to an untimely realization. In order to wine the Pan-Pacific competition, he must dance the ballroom steps as strictly as they are meant to be but his feet can no longer adhere to such rigid expectations. They have a rhythm all their own and they can no longer stand still. And with this, Luhrmann lets us see the side of him that will guide us through the rest of this trilogy. Love, above all else, be that the love of another person or the love that lives inside of you that inspires the passion you must pursue, is the only thing in life that matters.


STRICTLY BALLROOM earned Luhrmann countless year-end accolades, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Musical/Comedy (which it lost to MRS. DOUBTFIRE). Of course, this opened many a backstage door for Luhrmann and before long, his next project was announced. What does a man who values love above all else tackle as the second part in his homage to one of life’s greatest mysteries? Simple; he decided to tell the greatest love story ever told, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO + JULIET. Only Luhrmann can’t do simple. His take on the bard would be decidedly modern, moving the classic from fair Verona to Verona Beach in Southern California. The tale would be told in present day; swords would be traded for guns and kinsmen would become posses. And just when it seemed that Luhrmann could not disparage this masterpiece any further, he cast the young teen idols, Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles. It could have been a huge disaster but it ends up being one of the most effective Shakespearean adaptations in recent history. Luhrmann’s insightful understanding of the brilliant source material pours out of his beautiful leads and allows for Shakespeare to be not only enjoyed but understood by the adolescent market. By successfully recontextualizing ROMEO + JULIET from the stage to the streets, Luhrmann reminded audiences why Shakespeare is timeless. It’s also innately and achingly romantic but that goes without saying when Luhrmann is involved.


The curtain returns for one last time with 2001’s Best Picture nominee, MOULIN ROUGE! This time, a musical conductor stands in front of it guides an orchestra through an overture that ushers in one of the most original musicals in history. It is Paris at the turn of the 20th century. The Moulin Rouge is more than just a name, it is a place where men and women find company in strangers’ arms and empty their pockets before they turn for home. It is home to extravagance, elegance and decadence. It is all so lavish and dramatic; it all so quintessentially Baz Luhrmann. While the film is certainly boisterous enough on its own, it comes alive all over again the moment Ewan McGregor opens his mouth to sing. Though he is singing the Elton John’s “Your Song” or the title track from “The Sound of Music”, it is as through the words that are coming out of his mouth have never been said before or never had this particular meaning and depth. Reappropriating modern lyrics we’ve all heard before grounds them tonally as though they are connected thoughts and not just catchy tunes. Ever the romantic, McGregor makes the error of falling in love with a courtesan (Nicole Kidman) and she in turn makes the mistake of falling for McGregor’s penniless writer. When love calls though, you cannot fight against its choices no matter how certain you are that it is wrong. MOULIN ROUGE! epitomizes the values that were introduced in the two previous installments of this trilogy – beauty, freedom, truth and love. These are the true bohemian ideals and Luhrmann is the modern day king of the true bohemians.


When we go for a show, we sit, we wait and we stare at the red curtain before it opens to show us all its secrets. Lurhmann grew up behind that curtain, having been raised by parents heavily involved in the arts and now he has also grown up as a director in the same place with these three films. It is as though his unique view were born by realizing that following your passion is the only path to happiness; that this passion went through a young and rebellious stage; and that it eventually settled in to its true nature and accepted all of its own transformative power. Lurhmann is an artist’s artist. He gave us dance, theatre and music and he did it all the way that only he could. And when the curtain closes, the audience is left with only one thing – love.