4 8 - Tuesday, March 11, 2008 ARTS IN BRIEF The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com a "No, I would not like a fucking apple pie with that." Film Statham shines as leading man in'Job' "The Bank Job" At Showcase and Quality 16 Lionsgate A unique spin on heist flicks, "The Bank Job" is surprisingly dour, yet ultimately clever escapism. Based in part on true events, several real occurrences from 1970s Britain come together in an unbelievably dodgy bank robbery. Terry Leather (Jason Statham, "Transporter 2") is a down-and-out car dealer desperate for dough. With a dopey crew and the aid of for- mer squeeze Martine (the beautiful Saffron Burrows, "Reign Over Me"), Leather and his gang uncover alot of mad secrets in a bank vault. The plot is awfully stretched. Take these parts for example: Princess Margaret may have been ruining affairs. Numerous crooked coppers were busted after proof of pornographer payoffs surfaced. Michael X, the Brit- ish counterpart to Malcolm, was involved in some shady guerilla business. And in1971the Lloyds Bank of Baker Street, London, was robbed. No arrests were ever made in the case. All true events linked somehow to the robbery. Is it coincidence that these all happened at the same time? "Bank Job" seems to think so, and it's far-fetched fun. Heist traits aside, Statham, thank goodness, becomes a real leading man and it's nice to see him in a non-idiotic, monosyllabic action (like in "Crank," "War" or "Snatch"). Sloppy and at times a bit harsh for the action-craving patron, "Job" still more or less delivers. By subverting the trappings of the thief movie, giving it swanky '70s London flair and having curious historical context, "Bank Job" is a smashing good show. BLAKE GOBLE Why it's a bad idea to skimp on plastic surgery. I Amodern fairy tale Finding love is tough when you have a snout for a nose By SARAH SCHWARTZ Daily Arts Writer What exactly is a fairy tale movie? Images of Disney prin- cesses and white knights come to mind, but mov- ies like those childhood sta- ples don't exist Penelope anymore. And in today's world, AtShowcase it's hard to blend and Quality16 together the Summit right mix of indi- Entertainment vidualism, cyni- cism and happily-ever-after into a truly winning "modern fairy tale." "Penelope" comes close, but when the genre is still being defined, it still shows some holes and cracks. Cursed with a pig's snout and locked up to avoid the inevi- table finger-pointing and ridi- cule, Penelope's (Christina Ricci, "Black Snake Moan") only hope to lead a normal life is to find some- one "of her own kind" to love and marry. Penelope's mother, (Bar- bara O'Hara, "For Your Consider- ation") tries to set her up with blue bloods and rich men, all of whom flee tne room after first seeing her. That is until Max (James McAvoy, "Atonement") appears. Max, in order to be the typical, modern-dayPrince Charming, has his own problems, namely a gam- bling habit. His need for money leads him to Lemon (Peter Din- klage, "Elf"), a reporter hoping to make it big with Penelope's pic- ture. Betrayed, Penelope flees her house and comes, of course, into her own. Discoveringnew places and peo- ple is a key element to all fairy tales, and Penelope does it on the streets ofthe big city. She explores circuses, zoos and aquariums - all the excit- ing sights of a new city without the dirt underneath. "Penelope" uses a combination of London streets and New York skyscrapers elements to create an unfamiliar and whimsical world. The fact that the cast is a mix of British and Americans helps the film, as does McAvoy's impressive, though unnecessary, American accent. "Penelope" does well mixing the fantasy and the real, but can- not overcome its own basic flaws. Ricci's Penelope is not monster enough to scare anyone away, nor is she whimsically light enough to really have fun with the part. Even O'Hara, a comedic genius, falls flat when she's forced to take on the role of the "wicked mother," and because she's trying to protect Penelope from the cruelty of the world, she ends up also stifling Penelope's spirit. And then, like "Beauty and the Beast" before it, there is the underlying complica- tion: If a person loves you just the way you are, what happens when what made you extraordinary dis- appears once the curse is lifted? The movie's themes of self- image and self-love are important For more info visit www.peacecorps.gov or call 800.424.8580 Earl of Sandwich 307 S. State St. 734-213-6762 FREE Sandwich Combo: Breakfast Sandwich: $7.59 With the purchaseof a beverage P Includes sandwich, W ith echsea115108 e i i side&fontain beverage lake a bite out of the Big Apple and have a taste of your dream career in the city that never sleeps. We're taking all the excitement of the Michigan Apprentice program on the road to New York City. Four Lucky Michigan students will have the opportunity of a lifetime, spending a day shadowing high- profile alumni. and to the point, as is the need to stay true to oneself In these regards, the movie does well in keeping the cloying until the very last scene. It is here that children sit around and guess the moral of the fairy tale. Yes, all stories have a lesson to be learned, but never has there been a need to spell it out, just in case the audience missed it. It is an unnecessary ending, tak- ing away from the vibrancy of the movie and a really good kiss that ended the previous scene. Like "Enchanted" before it, "Penelope" has the usual fairytale elements, but the need to make the formula more realistic comes into play. Girls cannot be purely res- cued; boys can't be truly perfect; happily-ever-after can't be a given - these changes are all accepted at face value today. So Penelope does some of her own rescuing, Max finds his way back to himself and the "happily-ever-after" becomes a "so far, so good." It's a little sad, completely expected and becom- ing an accepted genre - welcome to the "modern fairytale." BOLEYN From Page 5 behind her usurpation of Mary as Henry's favorite young thing are never completely revealed. Revenge on her sister, wanton ambition or actual love for Henry - it's really anyone's guess. Nevertheless, Portman can't be blamed for holes in the story. At least she tries to do something with what she's given, switch- ing Anne's personality from pure and coy to vicious and calculat- ing with relative ease. While she's unable to truly humanize Anne, Portman still emerges the stronger actress of the two. In comparison, Johanson stands stagnant, with a Kewpie doll expression on her face, while the action moves around her. It wouldn't have hurt to bring a little personality to Mary, the milder sister, but Johansson's difficulties are also a reflection The Boleyn girl: as bad as Britney Spears minus the drugs of poor casting decisions. The girl is known for certain things, and her relatively poor English accent isn't one of them. Johans- son is a sexpot trapped in a demure role. We all know the end of this (somewhat fictionalized) history lesson. It's hardly surprising, or even really that sad, to discover that there's no happy conclusion to this story. Tragic finales are less moving when a character has been a total pill, or reallybor- ing for most of the film. "Boleyn Girl," at best, is somewhat enter- taining, but it does serve some worthwhile purpose. After all, the movie isn't about love, poli- tics or even really about his- tory. It's an exploration of how a seemingly good family could fall into disgrace. Dynamics of a focked-up family are always interesting. Nothing quite says "family issues" like shades of adultery, treason and (almost) incest. The next time you want to complain about your nagging mom or annoying brother, just remember: It could be worse. If you're a junior or senior you could be one of the lucky four selected for an all-expenses-paid one-day internship in New York with one of these Michigan success stories: Marketing: Lisa Weiss, '92, senior marketing manager for Elite Traveler Law: Samantha Mahoney , '91, New York commercial litigation attorney Finance: Todd Rosenbluth, '97, Wall Street equity analyst at Standard and Poor's Journalism: Bill Schmidt, '67, and Richard Berke, '80, assistant managing editors at The New York Times he application deadline is Wednesday, March 26. 3et detaiLs on how to appLy at vww.umaLumn.Com/students. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 1 G 2