Best Films of 2002
February 9, 2003
I know it’s February already and 2002 seems like a distant memory, but some of the best films of last year are still playing in regional theaters along with the usual January dregs. With Oscar nominations on Tuesday and Hollywood all abuzz about the best of 2002, I offer up my list of last year’s cream of the crop, and it was a healthy crop indeed.
2002 saw the usual big money blockbusters; “Spiderman” had the highest grossing opening weekend in film history and went on to better 400 million dollars stateside. Franchise entries from Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter had the faithful coming back for more while a little film about a Greek Wedding surprised everybody with it’s historic run. We had new films from the greats like Steven Spielberg (“Minority Report”, “Catch Me If You Can”), Martin Scorsese (“Gangs of New York”) and a welcome return from Roman Polanski (“The Pianist”). And we had great films from relative newcomers like Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) and Stephen Daldry (“The Hours”).
Per usual the foreign film market seemed to have an overflow of superb films, from Mexico’s “Y Tu Mama Tambien” to Spain and Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to Her”. And in animation, while 2001 saw the highs of “Shrek” and “Monsters, Inc.”, 2002 had equally funny and magical films like “Ice Age” and the Japanese masterpiece “Spirited Away.”
Yes, with Oscar just around the corner it’s never too late to remember the high points of a great year at the movies. In descending order, the best of 2002:
10) Read My Lips.
Technically this French sub noir by director Jacques Audiard was made in 2001 but wasn’t available to American audiences until the summer of 2002. The plot revolves around Carla (Emmanuelle Devos), a thirty something office secretary who is having a hard time advancing in her all male office. Partially because she’s half dead and overworked to the point that she needs to hire a temp. In comes Paul (Vincent Cassel), a convicted thief that Carla soon finds herself attracted to, him and his other, seedier life. “Read My Lips” is a slick, well crafted, and sexy French drama that is never conventional and always restrained. The best French film to play in American theaters in 2002. Look for it on video and DVD in the coming months.
9) Monsoon Wedding.
Another foreign film made in 2001 to find an audience in 2002. Mira Nair’s overwhelmingly charming film from India is about a traditional Buddhist family trying to put on an arranged marriage, both in a rapidly Westernized society and the middle of monsoon season. Problems abound, from the reluctance of the bride to the incompetence of the wedding planner as he falls in love with the servant girl. American audiences flocked to see a Greek Wedding last year, but for what it’s worth, this is the real gem.
8) Catch Me If You Can.
Steven Spielberg’s second film of 2002 (after “Minority Report”) is a shift away from heavy f/x laden Sci-Fi adventures and a welcome return to pure entertainment. His first thoroughly entertaining picture since 1993’s “Jurassic Park”, this is the improbable tale of Frank Abagnale Jr., a teenager running away from a troubled home to become a multi million dollar imposter. With Oscar worthy turns from Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, and especially Christopher Walken as Abagnale Sr., this is zippy ‘60’s style entertainment of the highest order.
7) About Schmidt.
From director Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor comes this bittersweet tale of Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson), retired insurance man, recently widowed, and traveling west in an RV for his daughter’s marriage. Both funny and effectively sad, less satirical than the duo’s previous films “Citizen Ruth” and “Election”, this highly emotional comedy/drama looks like a strong contender for some big Oscars come March. Jack is outstanding.
6) Spirited Away.
The best animated film since “Toy Story 2” this Japanese anime film by master Hayao Miyazaki is about Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl who wanders into a spa for Japanese spirits and gods. The girl has to make a living as a servant while a dragon spirit named Haku helps her in freeing her parents from a spell that turned them into hogs. This colorful, highly imaginative variation on “Alice in Wonderland” was the highest grossing film in Japanese history, though American distributor Disney botched it by not releasing it into more theaters. Destined to become a classic on DVD.
5) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
I don’t know what is more impressive, that director Peter Jackson made J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved trilogy simultaneously for only 300 million dollars, or that he did it so well. The final installment, “The Return of the King” hits next December and will likely be just as amazing as the first two. In the middle chapter the fellowship has split up. Sam and Frodo are on their way to Mordor, joined by the computer-animated creature Gollum, the ring’s previous tortured owner. Meanwhile the rest of the crew, Aragorn and company battle evil Lord Sauron’s army with the help of King Theodon’s Rohan people. For fans of Tolkien’s books and fans of epic filmmaking, Jackson’s sweeping sequel is a godsend.
4) Insomnia.
The best film of the summer, Christopher Nolan’s psychological cat and mouse game would surely be top Oscar bait had it come out in December. Al Pacino (in a great performance) plays tortured detective Will Dormer, sent to the land of the midnight sun to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. Robin Williams is the equally tormented writer at the center of Dormer’s investigation. Building on the promise of his breakthrough “Memento”, Nolan’s remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name is an intense and masterfully edited adventure that never lets up until it’s shattering conclusion.
3) Y Tu Mama Tambien.
The story of two amorous teenage boys on a road trip with a beautiful older woman was quite the controversy due to its graphic sexual content. But director Alfonso Cauron’s film definitely is not “Mexican American Pie”. On the contrary, it’s a wistful film about growing up, growing apart, and coming of age one summer on the road of a troubled country. The detached narration is reminiscent of the best of the French New Wave, and indeed, coupled with 2000’s “Amores Perros”, this film ushers in a kind of Mexican New Wave. Not since the reemergence of Iranian cinema in the ‘90’s has one particular country had this much promise.
2) Far From Heaven.
Julianne Moore stars as Cathy Whitaker, a ‘50’s housewife married to TV salesman Frank Whitaker (Dennis Quaid). Into her life comes handsome black gardener Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert) and everything in her buttoned down life changes. Even her prominent husband begins to explore his “disease”, that he has feelings for other men. Director Todd Haynes’ homage to the great Douglas Sirk melodramas of the ‘50’s is a film about repressed feelings in an era and society (upper class Connecticut) where races hardly mixed, let alone had love affairs, and words like “homosexual” were not spoken in respectable circles. This film is a shattering work of art.
1) Chicago.
Another throwback, but unlike “Far From Heaven”, Rob Marshall’s song and dance extravaganza isn’t an homage, it’s a flat out rebirth to the movie musical. It took 27 years to finally get the Kander-Ebb-Fosse Broadway smash to the big screen, but it was worth the wait. The film stars Renee Zellweger as Roxie Heart, a wannabe singer in 1920’s Chicago where the nightclubs were the hottest place to be seen. After Roxie kills her no good boyfriend the film takes on a cynical “law as show business” attitude when hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) come on to turn cutie pie Roxie into a media sensation. Also around are previous headline grabber Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Amos Heart (John C. Reilly), Roxie’s sad sack of a husband.
From Zeta-Jones’ fabulous “All that Jazz” to Gere’s flashy “Razzle Dazzle” the numbers come fast and furious, while Marshall does a fine job of coaxing pitch perfect routines from his star studded cast. The songs hardly stop to advance the plot along while every beat, chord, dance move, and flashy set piece is toe tappingly entertaining. It’s like seeing “Cabaret” for the first time in 1972 but without the Nazi’s. A round of applause to everybody involved, “Chicago” is hands down the best film of 2002. Watch for it to take home best picture in March, it’ll be well deserved.
by Adam Suraf