"August" Ist Review.

[Jocasta]

August
Directed by Austin Chick; Written by Howard A. Rodman
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, Naomie Harris, Robin Tunney, Andre Royo, Emmanuelle Chriqui, David Bowie, Rip Torn

As I watched the sophomore effort from Austin Chick (XX/XY), I kept thinking that this was the kind of movie that would go over much better at the Tribeca Film Festival than at Sundance, because it's such a New York City story with people who any New Yorker who has spent any time in a lower Manhattan bar in the years since the internet boom of the '90s will have encountered. Set in the world of Wall Street pre-9/11—there's a brief glimpse of the World Trade Center to set the tone—it's the story of two brothers, Josh Hartnett's Tom Sterling, the aggressive and arrogant CEO of a start-up internet company called Land Shark, and his brother Josh (Adam Scott), the real brains of the project who is trying to balance a new family with his brother's attitude and ambitions.

Cut from the same cloth as Charlie Sheen in "Wall Street" if it were set 15 years later, Tom Sterling is a fascinating character to watch as he deals with the rigors of running a company while displaying a care-free casually dressed attitude that we learn is mostly for show. In fact, the brothers' company is failing, running under a business model that makes little sense to anyone who examines it more closely, causing friction with his family and co-workers alike. At the same time, Tom is trying to reconnect with an ex-girlfriend (Naomie Harris) who he lost as the company started to succeed, and she tries to act as his moral compass not unlike Bill Murray's former girlfriend Claire in "Scrooged."

With a cleverly written screenplay by Howard Rodman, who also adapted "Savage Grace," this talking heads drama is only bogged down by its deliberately slow pace, and over the course of the movie, we never learn exactly what Land Shark does, something made clearer by the film's most memorable scene involving Rip Torn as their father dressing Tom down over dinner, which is only trumped later when David Bowie shows up as a wealthy investor who gives Tom a valuable life lesson that when it comes to business, no one is expendable.

This is a great role for Hartnett as he's able to get away from his chronic nice-guy image, though so much focus is put on Tom's character arc that a lot of the subsidiary characters like his brother don't have time to develop. Considering what a large part the relationship between the brothers is supposed to play in the story, one might wish there was more interaction between Hartnett and Scott, because ultimately, it's the family dinners that speaks volumes about their troubled partnership.

Despite the interminably slow pace, there's aspects of this film that stick with you despite it not being nearly as immediate as "Wall Street", but the worthwhile attempts at creating realistic character dynamics and situations within a very specific era in New York is notable for sure.

Rating: 7/10

From comingsoon.net.

[aloha]

that´s a nice rewview, thanks Kate

now I´m curious about the movie and the first pics

[Ophelia]

Hmmmm...

[annieHARTNETT]

well its not bad

[loopy22]

Thats a good review didnt go much in to telling us how good the acting was.

[Soss]

"This is a great role for Hartnett as he's able to get away from his chronic nice-guy image"
This sounds exciting, he'll be a 'bad boy'! Sounds like an intresting role to see him play

[aloha]

yeah i love Josh the bad boy, like he was already in Slevin

[Soss]

I didn't really think of him as bad in sleven, although he did do some rotten things. I guess because they were revenge killings l didn't see him that way. His 'mean' face was to die for though in that film. When his in the police car at the end "BAD DOG"... loved the way he looked then. x

[Italia6]

Originally Posted by aloha

yeah i love Josh the bad boy, like he was already in Slevin

just like me

[aloha]

true, but he was kinda bad somehow and I loved that, especially at the end

[Italia6]

Soss i loved this moment too When his in the police car at the end "BAD DOG"...
Especialy his tears on his eyes. He played this do fantastic by me.
I can wait when I'll see "August".I hope that will be soon...

[Plastic Flute]

Well Im glad Adam Scotts charc. didnt have time to develop. Snotty Bast**d. He could have given the pictures I had to Josh when I was in his tralier.

[Plastic Flute]

Originally Posted by loopy22

Thats a good review didnt go much in to telling us how good the acting was.

Im holding back from saying something on this lol.. You will all yell at me and I fear a BSD

[Jocasta]

If you're attacking Josh's talent then yes, fear the BSD!

[Plastic Flute]

umm no but..Ahhh Ill try an explain

[aloha]

I forgot what BSD is

[Italia6]

me too Kerstin

[Jocasta]

Joshuary is your friend.

[Italia6]

I know Kate :-) I still can't forget all this terms from Joshuary. I suppose that this skill will be in me with time ;-)

[Jocasta]

August is the story of a dot com billionaire struggling to hold his company together when the bubble burst on the industry back in 2001. But in a broader sense it’s about the death of a dream, the dream that the internet represented for about five minutes, until the same old wealthy corporations snatched everything up and turned it into just another way for the rich to get richer.

Josh Hartnett stars as Tom, the head of a company called LandShark which he started with his brother and turned into an overnight sensation. Tom exists almost entirely in a dimly lit, rockstar world. Austin Chick, the film’s director, shoots most of it as if he’s making a vampire movie instead of a straight up high finance flick. August has a gritty, edgy look and it helps propel the audience along with Tom as he rides the edge of the dot com bust.

At first, Tom is an unforgivable a**hole. An arrogant son of a b*tch, who got rich with his brother (Adam Scott) and now thinks he’s the c*ck of the walk. But as things go south, Tom changes and we see him for what he, and everyone whose career died with his back in 2001, really was. An idealist, being buried under the wheels of big business. Tom represents the dream of freedom and creativity the internet once promises, and August is a dark and hyper-stylized look at the days when that dream first started to die.


Source.