Best films of 2007: as toss-ups go, a fine one

By Steve Persall, Times Film Critic
Published December 21, 2007

Javier Bardem's psycho killer from No Country for Old Men is a modern nightmare.
	[Miramax]

ADVERTISEMENT [Fox Searchlight] Keri Russell was delightful as a reluctantly pregnant pie server torn between an abusive husband and a sympathetic doctor.

I'm composing my list of 2007's Top 10 films and Javier Bardem's psycho killer from No Country for Old Men keeps popping into my mind.

He blankly stares into my eyes, flips and catches a shiny coin, then sinisterly whispers: "Call it."

I know what happened when folks in the movie made the wrong choice.

The stakes aren't nearly as high for me.

But choosing a No.1 movie from the deepest roster in years comes down to a heads-or-tails proposition.

On one side of the coin is Joel and Ethan Coen's deadly quiet immorality tale, No Country for Old Men. On the other is Sean Penn's Into the Wild, which affected me more deeply than any film in years.

I should have known 2007 would end with a predicament like this.

Satisfying flicks such as The Namesake, 300, Away from Her and The Hoax, all of which opened before summertime, should have been a clue, given that Hollywood rarely distributes quality before school's out. Even some movies that appeared to be junk, like Disturbia and The Lookout, turned out to be fun.

The summer behemoths - almost all sequels - were mostly disappointing. But then Hollywood bumped up the pace of quality releases. So much for the traditional strategy of withholding Academy Award contenders until Christmas.

Only one of my 10 picks won't open in the Tampa Bay area before year's end; in other years nearly half were slow arrivals.

Bardem is staring more intently now, urging me to make the call. Okay, okay.

10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and 3:10 to Yuma: Both are Westerns, but striking for different reasons: The psychological heft, gorgeous cinematography and Casey Affleck in Assassination and the rip-roaring Saturday matinee style of 3:10 to Yuma. They make the best double feature of 2007.

9. Waitress: The 2006 murder of writer-director-actor Adrienne Shelly made each frame of this folksy comedy bittersweet. Keri Russell was delightful as a reluctantly pregnant pie server torn between an abusive husband and a sympathetic doctor. Shelly's film made mouths water and eyes misty.

8. I'm Not There:Anyone expecting a traditional Bob Dylan biography doesn't understand the enigmatic musician. Writer-director Todd Haynes defied all biopic ground rules, casting six actors including an impeccable Cate Blanchett to portray Dylan's personas. I'm Not There was inscrutably daring enough to anger some viewers and astonish others.

7. Lars and the Real Girl: What sounds like smut - lonely guy loves inflatable sex doll - turns out to be the year's best romantic comedy. Ryan Gosling is eerily convincing as the introverted Lars, whose goodness makes everyone in town support his fantasy. I'm not kidding: Gosling emotes so well with "Bianca" that I named "her" among my best supporting actress choices in a critics' poll.

6. Gone Baby Gone: Ben Affleck's directing debut was a stunner, brimming with tough talk and lurid deeds from the imagination of novelist and Eckerd College graduate Dennis Lehane. A child's abduction ignites a Boston borough, and a private eye (Casey Affleck) catches heat from both sides of the law. Gone Baby Gone was more jolting than Lehane's previous book-turned-movie, the Oscar winning Mystic River.

5. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Former Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a stroke in 1995 that left him paralyzed, except for an eyelid that he used to blink his memoirs in code. Director Julian Schnabel, screenwriter Ronald Harwood and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski brilliantly lure viewers into Bauby's perspective. It is slated to open at Tampa Theatre on Feb. 1.

4. Juno: This year's Little Miss Sunshine is Juno, a small movie with a big heart that it smears on your sleeve, and you won't want to wipe it off. Diablo Cody's highly original screenplay offered a starmaking role to Ellen Page, who delivers on every eccentric demand. Page plays a pregnant teen seeking adopters for her baby as the father (Michael Cera) pines on the sideline. Juno opens Tuesday locally.

3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Tim Burton's adaptation of the Broadway legend is ravishing to witness, awash in corpse grays and blood reds. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter lead a fine cast through Stephen Sondheim's grisly neo-opera, while Burton's macabre muse finds comfort with its strongest material ever. Sweeney Todd opens today.

2. Into the Wild: I cried for nearly an hour after seeing Sean Penn's movie at the Telluride Film Festival, but not for its tragedy or uplifting finale. As I sobbed to consolers: "It's just so beautiful." The true story of a young idealist (played by Emile Hirsch) on a road trip to self-discovery and death is a new Americana classic. I predicted I wouldn't see a better movie in 2007. I was wrong.

1. No Country for Old Men: Purely as a chase movie, this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel would still be high on this list. But the Coen brothers earn my top spot for how they plumbed the book's allegory of the decline of American morality. Bardem's murderous Chigurh is a modern nightmare, while Tommy Lee Jones' sheriff mourns the passing of principles with laconic richness.

As I've previously declared: If I need reassurance about life, I'll watch Into the Wild again. If I need reassurance about the state of American cinema, I'll see No Country for Old Men.

Put the cattle stun gun down now, Bardem.

Contact Steve Persall at persall@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8365. His blog is at blogs.tampabay.com/movies.

[Last modified December 20, 2007, 10:26:04]