Smaller films make a big impact this weekend in theatres. The Quebec J'AI TUE MA MERE by wunderkid Xavier Dolan finally makes its debut as does the Sundance horror flick FROZEN which is guaranteed to have you cringing in your seats.

DEAR JOHN (USA 2009) **
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom

Based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, DEAR JOHN is a love story or rather a story of love lost amidst a string of letters and miscommunication.

The film opens with soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum), shot and recalling last thoughts – like a coin collection and finally his true love. Flashback! John is surfing and meets Savannah Other subplots involve John’s father (Richard Jenkins) behaving funny – he obviously has a disorder of some sort, and a mutual friend Tim Wheddon (Henry Thomas) with an afflicted son. (Amanda Seyfried) by diving into the water when she drops her purse from a pier.

DEAR JOHN is the kind of film that moves at a snail’s pace with lots of brooding by the actors. Tatum unfortunately is stiffer than an ironing board with his acting and his emotional scenes are most embarrassing especially when contrasted with his romantic interest played by Seyfried who is so good. Seyfried again steals the show from Tatum as she did the entire movie JENNIFER’S BODY from Megan Fox.

Written (Jamie Linden) and directed by males, DEAR JOHN is a chick flick told from a man’s point of view but still holds little interest for both sexes - unless you like this kind of romances like THE NOTEBOOK.

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE (France 2009) **
Directed by Pierre Morel

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE, Pierre Morel, director of the two successful action flicks, the excellent BANLIEU 13 and TAKEN takes on the current terrorist scene with another actioner FROM PARIS WITH LOVE. Unfortunately his latest film does not work, as is evident from the first dull 10 minutes of opening footage. What a disappointment!

In FROM PARIS WITH LOVE, James Reece (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers sporting an all-right American accent) is the ambitious follow-the-rules but extremely efficient assistant to the US ambassador (Richard Durden). He is settled in the French capital and fallen in love with Nichole (Amber Rose Revah) who has actually proposed to him. His idyllic state is shattered with the arrival of foul-mouthed FBI agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta at his nasty hilarious best!). Besides having the task of stopping a terrorist attack, Wax’s other task appears to be destroying Reece’s life. Morel’s film is basically an action flick with a sort of good cop bad cop scenario of battling partners.

Morel spends too much time setting the story of his film. Many minutes are wasted with the romance between Nichole and Reece with even more time devoted to her betrayal. One can understand the filmmakers’ purpose of putting a stronger female slant to the film to attract a wider female market audience, but the story is LE CINQUIEME ELEMENY (THE FIFTH ELEMENT), Besson’s most successful movie, the audience is mostly interested in chases and eye candy. The story is the least important.

To be fair to Morel, his film picks up towards the end with an exciting well shot car chase through Paris’ surrounding highways. The last segment in which Travolta, nonchalantly delivers straight-faced, the reason of the conference delay to an upset American dignitary contains the funniest line of dialogue I have laughed at in a film in 2009.

For those interested, watch the French trailer (NOT the U.S. trailer for the film)! The trailer is extremely well put together, hilarious to the core and shows the best parts of Morel’s movie or what it could have been – a slick, action-packed edgy thriller.

The sequel to BANLIEU 13 called BANLIEU 13- ULTIMATUM is already on release in France directed by someone new and produced by the legendary Besson encore. Morel would have done better with this sequel no-brainer than PARIS WITH LOVE.

FROZEN (USA 2009) ****
Directed by Adam Green

The horror thriller, FROZEN falls into the horror torture category though there are no serial killers or torture scenes in the film. But the ordeals writer/director Adam Green (HATCHET) forces his unlikely heroes to go through are more gruesome than any torture one can devise.

The premise for FROZEN is simple. Anyone who has gone downhill skiing can appreciate the fear faced once the chairlift stops up in the air. IN FROZEN, three teens take the last run up the slope only to be stranded when power is shut off during the last run. Worst still, it is Sunday night and the resort (being a small one) will not open till the following Sunday. What they do to survive makes Green’s simple yet rather astonishing thriller.

Green takes his time to let his film unfold (about a third into the movie) before the three are stranded in the chairlift. What happens before? Actually nothing much! Green reveals two to be a year-old dating couple Dan (Kevon Zegers) and Parker (Emma Bell). The third is Dan’s best friend Lynch (Shawn Ashmore), resentful of Parker for ruining a guy’s ski trip. The banter among the three goes on and on about nothing relevant. Though one may complain about time wasted in inane conversation, Green, to his credit, captures an accurate picture of ski slackers. (No skier would be discussing opera or debating the course of justice on a ski outing.)

Once the horror starts, Green piles the suspense on. The scares are basic – fear of frostbite from the cold; the wolves in the woods and survival by getting out of the chairlift. If one is stranded in a similar situation, one would most likely try the same stunts as Dan, Parker or Lynch, be it jumping from the chair or skiing downhill; climbing up the cable to the nearest pole.

Green knows how to make his audience cringe in their seats – from Parker wiping off her dead skin from her frostbitten face by accident or Dan jumping to the ground from the chair.

Besides the gruesome nature of the film, Green’s film has moments of tenderness. At one point, Parker talks affectionately of her past. The fact that the three main characters are lovable losers helps the film’s likeability. Actress Emma Bell is a real charmer from her winning puppy-dog smile conning the ski-lift operator at the start to her bawling out in desperation of a way out.

Green has thought of a real life situation and made a top notch genuine scary movie. He provides all the reasons the skiers would be stranded and the film is believable. Of course in real life, the ski operator takes the last run before shutting off the power – but not every employee follows all the rules.

J’AI TUE MA MERE (I KILLED MY MOTHER) (Canada 2009) ****
Directed by Xavier Nolan

In the Italian Taviani Brothers classic PADRE PADRONE, there is a scene where the father disrupts the class of his son to take his son home to tend the sheep. It is a powerful scene as it reveals both the father’s power over the boy and the boy’s total embarrassment over the situation. In J’AI TUE MA MERE, a similar powerful scene has the mother disrupting her son’s class to scold him in front of both classmates and teacher for a bad deed.

A minor sensation winning 3 prizes at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, Xavier Nolan’s directorial debut is a must-see if not only for the talent of this 19-year old Montrealer who not only directed but wrote and starred in the film.

J’AI TUE MA MERE (direct English translation: I KILLED MY MOTHER) is a semi-autobiographical tale of a teen gay, Hubert (Dolan) coming to terms with a struggling relationship with his mother. Though no real solid reason - perhaps this is Nolan’s intention not to have one - is offered to his inability to show maternal affection outwardly, the fights are totally credible primarily for the fact that the two keep adding fuel to the fights no matter how insignificant the cause of one might be. The arguments alternate between hilarity and downright scary which shows how well Dolan can play his audience. The film’s most touching scene is a real one – when the mother confesses her complete hurt at her son not coming out to her. This is a fact of life only a parent of a gay child can fully understand!

Anne Dorval, a veteran Quebecios stage actress is marvellous as the mother as Nolan as the cool and troubled teen.

Director Dolan shows a keen eye towards the cinematic as illustrated by the painting segments (fast, slow, overlapping) that leads to a very erotic love-making scene. This is as if Dolan is saying to straight audiences as to how gays make passionate love.

The killing of Hubert’s mother is not a physical one, but by means no less disruptive. Besides all the brutality, Dolan’s film contains pieces of sensitivity and tenderness, especially towards the end. J’AI TUE MA MERE already opened in Quebec in 2009 and caused some talk at the Toronto International Film Festival where it premiered English Canada.

SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS (USA 2009) **
Directed by Hue Rhodes

Writer/director Hue Rhodes debut feature SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS is a film about a hapless somewhat lovable and harmless ex-gambler loser, John Alighieri (Steve Buchemi), who moves in and out of Sin City trying to better himself.

Small budget production with a few neat ideas and comedic setups, like the circus performer (John Cho) trapped in a protective suit that bursts into flames every few seconds, Rhodes’ film fails to bring his ideas together to a cohesive whole. The film lacks pacing with the result of a really tedious centre portion during which most audiences would have left behind their sympathy for Saint John. Rhodes’ humour – the film is a comedy – ranges from dad-pan to dialogue to a little slapstick (the lap dance sequence). The film also diverts into too many directions. Half way though, Rhodes moves his road movie to a buddy movie (John bonding somewhat with Virgil played by Romany Malco) and from a redemption drama to a romantic comedy.

The film at least is made watchable by Steve Buchemi who is born into roles like this one. A loner, loser but one with drive though needing some guidance, this is the character he plays. Buchemi also balances sympathy and comedy. (He has proven himself a great comic actor – remember he delivered the only laugh-out loud funny bit in Adam Sandler’s THE WEDDING SINGER in the best man’s speech.) Rhodes, to his credit, captures the seedy side of Las Vegas, leaving out the glamour and attractiveness of the city. Surprisingly, he elicits excellent performances from all his actors including Peter Dinklage and comedienne Sarah Silverman. Dinklage delivers the film’s funniest lines.

The cop-out happy ending fails to register many smiles at the promo screening safe for the fact that it was time to leave. One person was overheard saying that she hopes she need not fill out any comment card as she did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. The exact point! Rhodes’ film is too well-intentioned but falls flat on its face.