13 October 2003
by Jasmine Park
Pleasant, if forgettable. Beckham treads very familiar territory (ethnic humor + athletes overcoming adversity + occasionally incomprehensible British accents) and still avoids the utter vapidness of its shudder-inducing recent predecessor, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). Nearly everything so horribly wrong with Wedding is done right by Beckham, including a well-nuanced lead character, Jess (played charmingly by Parminder K. Nagra), and a believable supporting cast. Yet the success of the film lies most in its ability to portray an ethnic group without pandering or apologizing for its eccentricities. Where My Big Fat Greek Wedding shoved its ethnicity in your face ("Eat lamb! Marry Greek!"), Beckham portrays Indian traditions as a simple way of life, no better or worse than yours or mine. Beckham is unquestionably better written, better acted, and better directed - many scenes are surprisingly pretty to behold, and everyone appears to be having real fun. Its only missteps come from the storyline's overreliance on mistaken sexual identities and a few too many shots that linger on the lithe, half-clad forms of our young heroines running down the soccer field. Also stars the up-and-coming young British actress Keira Knightley (who has the looks of a Winona Ryder-Natalie Portman lovechild), and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers actually playing a nice normal guy.
In spite of having one of the worst movie titles in recent memory, Anything Else is less shallow than Allen's other recent films but only slightly more worthwhile. Jason Biggs stars as Jerry Falk, the latest incarnation of the classic Woody Allen persona, a young Jewish comedy writer struggling with a sleazy agent (played pitch-perfect by Danny DeVito), an unfaithful insecure harpy of a girlfriend, Amanda (Christina Ricci doing her usual bitchy-vamp schtick), and her crazy oversexed mother (Stockard Channing in an unforgivably bad role). Allen plays his own Jiminy Cricket, David Dobel, a crotchety writer who mentors Jerry on his job and love life. I must admit that Biggs actually comes close to being likable, and he and Allen have a couple nice scenes together, including the funniest of the film, when Allen takes a crowbar to the car of a thug who steals his parking spot. The most interesting aspect of the film, however, comes at the end, when Allen rewrites a bit of his own history by sending Jerry packing off to California for a better life, a surprising and slightly troubling variation on his most famous leitmotif.
An extended music video dressed up as a sort-of documentary about Radiohead post-OK Computer as they tour the world, receiving accolades from everyone and undergoing success-induced celebrity/identity/artistic crises. Although consistently too heavy on style and too light on substance, Meeting People does occasionally allow conversations and vital information from the band members to seep through. Several amusing vignettes are also featured, including a montage of stupid press questions, the disgusted reaction of British morning show hosts to the "No Surprises" video ("What deee-preh-ssssing stuff!"), and a hilarious little interview Colin Greenwood does in a mix of French and English, along with some electrifying live performances. In spite of its flaws, Meeting People is a must-see for Radiohead fans but would have no appeal to those who, for whatever reason, are not.
Parminder K. Nagra and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
in Bend It Like Beckham
Christina Ricci and Jason Biggs in Anything Else
Radiohead in Meeting People Is Easy
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