The 10 Best Movies of 2005 ---- A Better Year than Normal
Mar 07 '06 (Updated May 04 '06)
The Bottom Line 2005 was a great year for movies in my opinion, and here are what I thought were the 10 best.
In my humble opinion, 2005 actually had a lot of good films come through the theaters. There is a wide-spread opinion that this was really a down year for films, but I actually found a lot of them that I either found very interesting, or was wowed by what I was seeing. There were of course some duds, as there always are, and some high-grossing films money-wise that were not nearly as good as people made them out to be. Among all of that, people found there favorites, and I too came up with my 10 favorites from 2005.
This past year, I saw more movies in theaters than any year of my life. I saw great films like Million Dollar Baby that got held over in January, just about every picture that was nominated for the Oscars, and took a look at a lot of anime pictures that I found interesting. The cream rose to the top, the over-bloated special-effects pictures fell away, and what was left was a nice list of movies that I found quite a few which I enjoyed a lot.
Be assured that there a couple in the list that are personal favorites, which may not make anyone else's list. Take into consideration that they were good films, and let go of the premise that a "great" movie must fall into a specific category of production. Let me start off the list by naming my favorite horror movie of the year: The Skeleton Key.
Without further explanation, here is my list of the best films for 2005:
Syriana
In my opinion, Syriana was actually the best film of the year, but it wasn't even nominated in the category. I was really glad to see George Clooney end up taking up the Best Supporting Actor statue, but had been hoping for more when I first saw the film. Syriana is a film with many different stories, all revolving around the importance of oil to the United States. We get to see all sides of the equation, as Director Stephen Gaghan takes us through an extremely politically charged film about corruption, greed, and the reality that we have all become dependent on oil in some fashion. The lines are blurred between good and evil as we get to see the point of view of a CIA agent, a teenager from Pakistan, and an oil-broker just to name a few. George Clooney is great as an aging and too idealistic CIA agent, and he is equaled by Matt Damon in a subtly great role. This is a film not to be missed, and though it could confuse some audience members, it will make you think.
Cinderella Man
It what many call "the feel good story of the year", we get to see Russell Crowe as boxer Jim Braddock. Taking place during the Great American Depression we see the ups and downs that a family must go through in order to make ends meet. Where he once was a great fighter, Braddock can't even find an opponent anymore, and nobody is willing to put up the money to see him anymore. He must rely on his friend Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) to get him one last fight, so that he can prove what he is worth. Renée Zellweger plays Jim's wife, and she is as good as always in the role of a strong woman trying to look out for her children. Jim's main goal in life is to keep his family together, and he is going to do anything to make that possible. That includes degrading himself at minimal jobs just to keep the house heated. Director Ron Howard did it again with Cinderella Man, and shows exactly what it takes to put a great film together. Watching it, you are transported back to old America suffering through a depression, and you see first hand how one man brought a nation back to its feet.
Batman Begins
I am a huge fan of the Batman franchise, and grew up reading the comic books, and then watching the television cartoon. The first couple of movies really made it that much better, but recently the Batman name has been dragged down by a terrible turn at the wheel by Joel S. 2005 brought us a revamped telling of the story starring Christian Bale as the new Batman. He is really good in the role, and takes brooding to a whole new level, but all the credit here needs to go to Christopher Nolan. After directing films like Insomnia and Momento, he was tapped to take Batman in a different direction, and he did so with a strong story and a superb supporting cast. Rounding out the cast was Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, and Cillian Murphy. Murphy is The Scarecrow, one of the best villains we have seen in a while, and with the use of some great imagery and camera work, he is transformed into a character to be feared. The movie survives by not trying to be campy, and instead relying on the story to carry itself. Of course there are a lot of new "toys", but this Batman established itself as a film to be recognized, and pumped new blood into the entire franchise.
Coach Carter
A film that didn't get noticed after coming out last January, I really thought that is was an extremely well done story about a new basketball coach taking over a high school team. Samuel L. Jackson plays Coach Ken Carter, who is taking over for a team in Richmond, California. He isn't really looking to take over for the outgoing coach, but shows up for the interview thinking he might just be interested. The only catch, is that he wants to do things his way, and he has his own brand of rules that he wants to impose upon his new players. This includes holding his players to a higher standard in grades, in personal appearance, and as teammates. He is going to work these kids hard, but in return he shows them how to be men, and exactly what they can accomplish if they put in the effort. Jackson is absolutely brilliant in the role of the tough-as-nails coach, and the story is a strong one revolving around basketball and the lives these kids face when the bell rings. I loved the film, and really though Jackson deserved some serious consideration for a best actor nod.
Rent
I am sure to receive some flack for this choice on my list of the 10 best movies, but I don't really mind it. A lot of people don't like the film because they liked the live theater version better and I cannot fault them for that. For the rest of us, we must find our stories in film, and I really loved the story of Rent. The film is a deep one about love, the AIDS virus, and life in the less established parts of New York City. The story follows a group of 8 people who have had a rough go of it in life, and have really only found each other to lean on. Through a lot of songs, this musical shows us how important love is in our everyday events, and proves that we need to take advantage of every moment we have. Covering the span of one year in the lives of the 8 main characters, we see their struggles and their triumphs, and along the way we get a chance to fall in love with each one of them. It is really a great story, and I loved the film version of it.
Munich
During the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, a series of events took place that has shaken our world. When 11 Israeli athletes are murdered, 5 men were chosen to go after the culprits, and make them pay for the atrocities. Steven Spielberg directs this tale of what happened after those Olympics. What we have is a dark film about assassination, and the men tasked to carry it out. Eric Bana leads the cast as Avner, and average soldier who looks average, but has a hidden cunning that is drawn out to take the team into Europe and kill the men responsible for the attacks. One by one they target the offenders, but along the way it stops being about revenge, and becomes more of battle of morality, and the decision of when it will ever end becomes increasingly blurred. Spielberg did a great job of depicting the story in a way that you decide for yourself whether they were right or wrong, and you are left with a very impacting end to the film that makes you see just what the country of Israel was going through at the time. There are a lot of themes in the movie that seem familiar to our society now, and when you compare it to the way events were shown back in 1972, you are left to contemplate exactly what an-eye-for-an-eye mentality can lead to.
The Constant Gardner
There are really two stories in the Constant Gardner, and both are very interesting to the viewer. First, we have Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle, who discovers that his wife has been killed while on a trip, and who wants to figure out what happened to her. He goes through many roadblocks, and has to deal with seedy people from around the world to find out the truth. In between his story, we get a second story surrounding Rachel Weisz as Tessa (his wife) and all of the events that she lives through leading up to her death. The movie builds on itself as it progresses, and slowly all of the pieces start to fit together for us. Based on the best-selling John le Carré novel, this is a deep film about drug companies and their experimental use on human subjects. Haunted by his wife's memory, and feeling that he was never there for her, Justin is going to stop at nothing to discover the truth about Tessa, and make everything right again. Weisz and Fiennes are really good in the leading roles, and this was a very good film because of them.
Elizabethtown
Cameron Crowe is here to bring us another romantic story about two people who have a chance meeting on an airplane. Orlando Bloom plays Drew Baylor, who is flying back from his home to pick up his father. His dad had died recently in Elizabethtown, and he has taken it upon himself to go retrieve him. Having just been fired from a job that he loved, he now has no idea which direction his life is going to take, or any thoughts about what is coming next. On that plane trip, he meets Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst) and they strike up a conversation for the remainder of the flight. She gives him her number, and he ends up calling her when he makes it to town. Between them begins a friendship that evolves slowly, as they start to get to know each other better and better. They appear to be complete opposites on the surface, he being the reserved type, and her being a squirrelly, always on the move type of girl. Through her energy though, he sees a new way to live life, and in it an attraction for her starts to grow in his heart. I really liked Elizabethtown, and really admired how the story wasn’t set up so that we knew what the characters were going to do next. Crowe kept an air of mystery in the film, and as a result, the ending pleased me very much. This was my favorite romantic comedy of the year by far.
Crash
Named the best picture of the year for 2005, it shocked a lot of people that Crash could pull it out. I wasn't really surprised, but at the same time, a lot of people didn't understand the movie, or what it was trying to say. I felt that I did have a clear grasp of the film, and enjoyed watching it very much. Most notably in the film, you have a star-studded cast that took a lot of pay cuts to be a part of the film. The ensemble cast is what carries a series of stories about every facet of society, and covers many different forms of racism, redemption, and sheer fate that our lives revolve around. It is a film about human discovery, and that we are eerily similar to the man standing right next to us, even if we cannot see the connections. Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Esposito, Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard, Brendan Fraser, Thandie Newton, Ludacris, and Ryan Phillippe are just some of the cast members that make up film. They are all great in their smaller parts, and in the end we get to see just how they are all intertwined... and how we all crash into each other.
Brokeback Mountain
Director Ang Lee brought us this story of a love between two cowboys, that is discovered in 1963 Wyoming. Sharing time on a sheep drive Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) find that they have more to offer each other than just friendship. Between them blossoms a love that they feel the need to hide from the public, and it becomes something that tears at the hearts for their entire lives. To cover up their feelings, they move on to new facets, and both get married to beautiful women. All the while they keep a secret that haunts them to their soul, and which tears at every part of them. Fearful of how the world around them would react, they are forced to bury their feelings for each other. The movie is great at showing that love really has no boundaries, and how important it can be just to open up to one another. Lee depicts the relationship in such a way that we are drawn into the story, and in the end, we are better for it. In addition to Gyllenhaal and Ledger, Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway are great in the roles of their wives.
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