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Arts
Monday, February 2, 2015 — 5A
Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
ACROSS
1 Burst into tears
5 Wander off the
point
11 Rainy
14 Hodgepodge
15 In the plane’s
cabin, say
17 New Year’s __
18 Pennsylvania
borough in
today’s news
20 Clinton’s
instrument
21 Ambulance VIP
22 ’50s nuclear
experiments
23 Founded, on signs
25 Foe
27 Approved, briefly
29 Pop singer
Diamond
31 Henry VIII’s sixth
wife Catherine
32 Conk out
35 “Make up your
mind!”
37 Germany’s __
Republic, 1919-
’33
40 Flip-flops
41 What we’ll have
of 3-Down,
according to
folklore, if 18-
Across 62-Down
sees his 50-Down
on 65-Across
43 Puppies
45 Bahamas capital
46 Thick fog
metaphor
48 Dirt road groove
49 Amt. on a new car
window
53 Venus de __
54 Mess of hair
56 Employee
handing out
playbills
57 Stoolie
59 Workshop
grippers
63 Word after Iron or
Stone
64 Corp. leader
65 February 2, every
year
68 Coffee hour
vessel
69 Asian language in
a region famous
for tigers
70 __ vault
71 Letter before tee
72 La Brea discovery
73 Filled with wonder
DOWN
1 Girl who lost her
sheep
2 Barnard
graduate
3 Cold season
4 Bagel go-with
5 Landslide victory
6 Poker pot starter
7 Corp. execs’
degrees
8 Bend before in
reverence
9 Lucky Luciano
cohort Meyer __
10 Before, in poetry
11 Cowboy movies
12 Shirking, as
taxes
13 LBJ’s home state
16 Salon coloring
19 Speak
24 Sweetie pie
26 Dennis the
Menace’s
grumpy neighbor
28 Hate
30 Part of UCLA
32 Chinese
appetizer
33 “I think ...,” in
texts
34 Make, as money
36 Mets’ old stadium
38 Old Montreal
baseballer
39 Back
41 Flippered
aquarium
attractions
42 Sch. with a
Spokane campus
43 Typist’s stat.
44 Some young
cows
47 Pennsylvania
raceway
50 Sundial casting
51 Entertain in style
52 Victimized, with
“on”
55 Outlet inserts
56 GI show gp.
58 USSR secret
service
60 Santa __: West
Coast winds
61 1551, to
Caesar
62 Given name of
the critter in
today’s news
64 Billiards stick
66 NBA official
67 Dean’s list no.
By Warren Stabler
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/02/15
02/02/15
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Monday, February 2, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
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SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
NBC
“Is that Llewyn Davis?”
‘Parenthood’ ends
in perfect form
Series finale of
tearjerking show
ties it all together
By CHLOE GILKE
Managing Arts Editor
There’s a certain art to crafting
the perfect series finale. The ideal
finale has to wrap everything up
in a satisfying
way, but still
leave a few ends
untied. It has
to
boil
down
seasons’ worth
of
storylines
and
episodes
into one final
message, one ending that gives
meaning to the hours that viewers
devoted to watching this show,
instead of, you know, working or
spending time with their families.
“Parenthood”
successfully
accomplishes the basics, but also
does something rare with its series
finale. More than just validating
hours spent in front of the TV, it
reinforces the relationships that
viewers maintained with these
characters and this family who
felt as breathing and real as the
ones sitting on the couch next to
them. “Parenthood” is a notorious
“mom show,” a supreme cry-fest
because of its relatability. As the
Bravermans embrace on a baseball
field in the sunshine, the lines
between real family, real grief and
real love disappear into the script
and the images.
It’s not a TV show anymore.
This is family.
“Parenthood”
begins
this
perfect hour of television by
setting
up
Sarah’s
(Lauren
Graham,
“Gilmore
Girls”)
wedding, bringing the family
together for this joyful celebration.
Sarah hastens her plans so her
ailing father Zeek (Craig T. Nelson,
“Coach”) could be there to see his
“favorite” child wed to a kind and
stable man worthy of her open
heart and unconditional love. Of all
the Braverman siblings, Sarah was
the one to lean on her parents the
most; she lived in the Braverman
compound until her parents sold
the house, and they supported her
financially until she found a good
career as a photographer. Before
her father passes, she wants to
show him that all his support
allowed her to find happiness and
love, one final thank you to all he’s
given her.
Sarah’s situation finds a parallel
in her daughter, Amber (Mae
Whitman, “The Perks of Being a
Wallflower”). Amber appeared
to be making all her mother’s
worst mistakes, getting involved
with a man who drank too much
and couldn’t be bothered to hang
around to raise their child. But she’s
already on the path to a happier
future, after her uncle Crosby
(Dax Shepard, “Hit and Run”)
offers her a job at his revamped
Luncheonette recording studio.
Rather than running away and
trying to do everything on her own
like Sarah did, she accepts help
from her family from the start. At
the wedding reception, Zeek tells
Amber that he’d like her to live
with them for their “third act”
of life. With Zeek’s finale rapidly
approaching, this is a double act of
kindness: Amber has a supportive
place to raise the baby, and Zeek’s
wife Camille (Bonnie Bedelia, “Die
Hard”) will have company once he
passes.
Their wedding is predictably
upbeat and beautiful, but even
more remarkable is how the show
uses the wedding scenes to weave
effortlessly
between
ending
narratives for different characters.
While swaying around the room to
reception music, Joel (Sam Jaeger,
“Inherent Vice”) and Julia (Erika
Christensen, “Swimfan”) decide
to adopt another child. Though
they’ve only just reconciled, they
promise that this is it, that they’re
a couple and a family and will
never break again. As he holds
her while dancing and whispers
that the child “is already ours,” we
truly know their union is stronger
than ever.
Even Max (Max Burkholder,
“The Purge”) finds his happy
ending
at
the
wedding.
All
season, he’d been chasing after a
girl who didn’t understand that
his Asperger’s made navigating
his crush difficult, and didn’t
like him back. Max is the acting
photographer of the wedding,
but instead of hiding behind his
camera all night, he goes off to
dance with a young, friendly
wedding attendee. The parallel
between
Max
and
Hank
is
striking: Hank (Ray Romano,
“Men of a Certain Age”), Max’s
mentor and a fellow Aspie, found
an understanding and wonderful
woman to share his life with,
and when Max looks at his dance
partner and lets her touch his
shoulders, it’s evident that Max’s
future is similarly bright. He’s not
defined by his disease — he can take
impressive photos, connect with
other people and even graduate
high school. It’s a long way from
his portrayal in earlier seasons, a
hopeless burden to his family and
the “difficult child” that his sister
describes in her heartwarming
conversation with him. Leaving
Max Braverman on this note, that
he’s got a promising future beyond
a textbook definition of “high-
functioning,” almost makes up for
the fact that we won’t get to spend
more seasons watching him grow.
Almost.
But
beyond
the
wedding,
the element linking the entire
episode together and bringing
it to transcendent heights was
its tribute to Zeek. Despite his
brashness
and
averseness
to
change, he’s always been the glue
of the family and the leader of
Team Braverman. We know going
into this episode that his heart
condition is dire, but that doesn’t
make it any less painful to hear
Camille calling out his name at
home and see the look on her face
when there’s no response. The
most heartbreaking scene in the
episode (and possibly the entire
series) is Zeek sitting like a peaceful
king in his leather armchair, eyes
closed but still watching over
his territory, the home he loved
so much. After Camille walks
over to him, the scene quickly
cuts to a baseball field, where the
Bravermans spread his ashes and
play a celebratory game of ball.
The final montage is the
ultimate eulogy to Zeek: we see
what accomplishments the rest
of the Bravermans are up to in
the years following his death.
Considering that the rest of the
episode set the characters down
these paths, these flash-forwards
could seem fairly redundant. Joel
and Julia have four kids, two boys
and two girls just like Zeek and
Camille did, and open presents
on Christmas day with their big
family. Crosby and Amber record
in the studio, while Adam (Peter
Krause, “Six Feet Under”) hands
a diploma to a cap-and-gown-
clad Max. Camille finally visits
Chez Marie, the place Zeek told
her about in the weeks before his
death, the place they were going
to visit together. Instinctively, we
knew where all the characters
were going, but actually seeing it
(set to the most gorgeous cover
of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”)
gave the episode a special sense of
finality.
If the best finales leave you with
one final message, “Parenthood”
offers its parting words in the last
shot. The Bravermans, arm-in-
arm and supporting one another,
walk off the baseball field and onto
the green grass together. In the
end, “Parenthood” was all about
the power of loved ones to hold, to
heal, to love unconditionally.
It’s not a TV show. This is family.
A+
Parenthood
Series Finale
NBC
‘A Most Violent Year’
explores corruption
By JAMIE BIRCOLL
Senior Arts Editor
There’s a particular dearth
of violence in “A Most Violent
Year,” which is perhaps contra-
dictory to its
title. But vio-
lence is not the
subject of the
film;
rather,
it’s the back-
drop for a story
of
corrup-
tion.
There’s
an
inherent
anger
and
frustration
in
the characters of this story,
and “A Most Violent Year” is
director J.C. Chandor’s (“All is
Lost”) exploration of how that
anger and frustration manifests
itself.
Honest
businessmen,
housewives, gangsters, hopeful
employees, ultimately everyone
turns to some form of corrup-
tion, and sometimes that cor-
ruption turns into violence.
Oscar
Isaac
(“The
Two
Faces of January”) plays Abel
Morales, the wealthy immi-
grant owner of a heating com-
pany, which he bought from his
wife Anna’s (Jessica Chastain,
“Interstellar”) gangster father.
Abel prides himself on play-
ing fairly, staying honest, never
resorting to the shady dealings
that the corrupt heating busi-
ness tends to use. He’s good at
what he does, better than most
in the business, and he looks
to expand. But assailants con-
stantly rob his oil trucks while
on the job, and the DA (David
Oyelowo, “Selma”) is seeking
to file charges against Abel,
believing that he’s cheating the
system. Abel wants to handle
all of these matters honorably,
working with the DA and the
police, paying his debts on time,
but the compounding weight of
all of these issues threatens to
undo his credo.
Really, what we have in “A
Most Violent Year” is a perverse
reworking of the fable of the
American Dream. It seems hon-
esty can only get one so far. The
New York City presented here is
a crumbling, ruinous center of
urban and moral decay, and if
those ruins can be navigated by
stepping over or on that which
hinders you, you can achieve
success. But Chandor makes
clear that with one’s success
comes another’s failure. The
American Dream is attainable,
sure, but only to some — the rest
will be crushed beneath it.
“A Most Violent Year” is not
dissimilar to “The Godfather”
in that each portrays the undo-
ing of a good man; Oscar Isaac
even resembles a young Al Paci-
no. Isaac’s Abel is an admirable
character,
vying
desperately
to retain those ideals that have
carried him up the social lad-
der. It’s impossible not to hear
the defeat in his voice when he
says, “So this is what it’s come
to? Walking outside like a cou-
ple of gangsters?”
But the film’s most compel-
ling character is Anna. Chastain
proves a force to be reckoned
with as a sort of Lady Macbeth
— seductive, persuasive, indom-
itable, almost femme fatale.
Her charm is only superseded
by her bite, undoubtedly grown
out of her gangster upbringing.
Chastain dominates the screen,
taking control of each conversa-
tion, her eyes piercing into the
souls of the other characters.
She is utterly electrifying, and
her absence from the Acad-
emy Awards’ Best Support-
ing Actress Category is truly
regrettable.
Despite these performances,
the film often drags through
heavy-handed dialogue that,
while important and plot driv-
ing, slows much of the film’s
uneasy energy. Chandor also
has no problem hitting the audi-
ence over the head with meta-
phors, going so far as to include
a scene where Abel must rely on
his wife to kill a deer that’s been
hit by his car. But these early
setbacks are overcome in the
film’s second half when Abel is
pushed further into the muck.
Chandor has an uncanny
ability to pick apart the human
psyche under pressure. How do
we respond to adversity: do we
yield to it? Fight it? Be destroyed
by it? And if adversity is defeat-
ed, how much of ourselves have
we lost? The streets of New York
City are not paved with gold, but
its rivers run black, thick like the
oil of Abel’s tankers. And it’s in
flowing down those rivers that
Abel, for better or worse, finds
his heart of darkness.
FILM REVIEW
B
‘A Most
Violent Year’
Rave 20 and
State Theatre
A24
A24
“Is that the guy from ‘Coach’?”
TV REVIEW