John Stockwell's CAT RUN: Was Janet McTeer nominated for the WRONG movie?

Yes, yes: Of course, Albert Nobbs was wonderful, and Janet McTeer was expectedly brilliant in her Oscar-nominated role. However, for unexpected brilliance -- I'll bet most of you didn't even know that our Janet graced the likes of this ultra-violent, nasty, gory but oh-my-god, it's so funny, clever, surprising and special movie -- CAT RUN is the film to see. Out now on DVD and Blu-ray -- and with its gorgeous Montenegro/Bosnia/Herzegovina coastal settings, Blu-ray is the one to choose -- the movie is solid enough to bypass any waft of guilty pleasure (thanks to Ms McTeer, there's oodles more pleasure here than guilt).

Directed by John Stockwell, more or less in the fast, smart style of his under-rated Turistas (rather than the sleep-inducing manner of his later Dark Tide), the movie initially has a little trouble joining together its two elements: goofy comedy, essayed by two best friends played by Scott Mechlowicz (above, left) and Alphonso McAuley (above, right), and dark thriller, in which would-be star Paz Vega (below) and real star McTeer do the heavy lifting. (The writers here are  Nick Ball and John Niven.)

Mechlowitz always has an air of sweetness about him that often saves the day, and so it is here. McAuley, initially off-putting, slowly works his way into our good graces. Vega is gorgeous, as ever, but has little to do in the acting department. Also on hand are Christopher McDonald and Karel Roden as the villains -- both are enjoyably reprehensible -- and D.L. Hughley, shown at bottom, as a triple amputee (two legs and one arm) office manager (don't ask -- but he's terrific).

It is Ms McTeer however (above and below), who provides the film's fuel. As as assassin named Helen Bingham who looks like a modern-day Mary Poppins, appears to know every trick in the book, and will stop at nothing to get her job done, she is one ghastly delight: equal parts frightening and funny. She knows her way around, not just one-liners (though she is quite good at these) but around dialog in general, and as much of it as you'd care to throw her way. Her line readings, every last one of them, are impeccable. They keep goosing the movie into some kind of lame-brained art.

McTeer is scary as hell for about half the movie, and then something even more wonderful happens: We begin to learn a little more about her, and then occurs what may be a "first" for films in this thriller/chase genre known for sporting outsize villains like this one. The last half of the film is simply top-notch, and even those two disparate elements mentioned earlier, the humor and the thrills, start working together beautifully -- once again, thanks to this phenomenal actress, who along with everything else she does so well, gets to do a nifty martial arts fight scene and show us some quite appealing cleavage, too. Janet, dear: Is there nothing you can't do?

McTeer is better than any Bond villain so far -- perhaps any villain the movies have yet given us. Which is why members of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences, should they ever deign to view a movie not earmarked as Oscar-bait, might discover and then honor a role and a performance for the ages. I doubt we shall see its like again, this combination of unique character, amazing actress and all-stops-out performance.

So you, dear reader, better get hold of Cat Run before it becomes a collector's item. It's available now for purchase or instant video rental from Amazon, rental from Netflix or Blockbuster, and probably a lot of other smaller venues, too.

ALBERT NOBBS is back: This feminist fable from Garcia & Close enchants and saddens

The one-week "Oscar" qualifying run proved more than worth it for ALBERT NOBBS, as this delicate new jewel of a movie from the director of some of the most delicate work in film history, Rodrigo Garcia -- nabbed three nominations this week: Best Actress (Glenn Close) Best Supporting Actress (Janet McTeer) and Best Achievement in Make-up. Set in Ireland a century or more ago, the movie has its "look" down pat, and although it is what you'd call a small movie (small major cast and done at a surprisingly low budget, considering the need for historical veracity), it seems "right" in all respects.

Colombian-born filmmaker Garcia, shown at right, has worked with Ms Close several times now, and their rapport is a good one for this tale of a woman (the, yes, title character) who has been posing and working as a man for several decades. The subject is never brought up, and the word is never spoken aloud, but Albert Nobbs is a feminist film down to its toes because it shows (without "telling") the plight of women, probably more so in Ireland than in most western countries, in terms of their choices and what little means of making a living was available to them at the time.

A man had infinitely wider choices, even a "man" who was not quite a man, as Albert discovered at a young age, when s/he dressed up in drag and began working a job that would have been unthinkable had s/he looked like her own sex. Pretending tends to be easier if a person can go relatively unnoticed, and this appears to have been Albert's modus operandi.

Just as our "man" disappears into his job, so does Ms Close disappear into Albert (she had a hand in the screenplay, as well, which was based upon a short story by George Moore). The actress keeps things quiet and simple. This is definitely not a "showy" performance and yet it is certainly one of the most subtle displays of acting I've seen -- all the more so because it occurs in a role that would seem to call for some bravura stuff. (Well, "bravura," I guess, is what you make it, and Close has made of it something new and different.)

However, all this subtlety and quiet has a downside -- threatening to grow boring -- but just when it does, a new character is introduced, one Hubert Page, above, played by Ms McTeer (yes, we have another cross-dresser in the film). However, McTeer is what we used to call a "big girl" -- and in every way. Standing more than six feet tall, full of energy and courage, this actress grabs the Hubert character and runs with him, turning her "man" into everything that Albert is not: proud, strong, unafraid and as "male" as can be.

The two actresses balance each other -- and the movie -- nearly perfectly. Were they both to win their "Oscar," that would be lovely, though I expect the Academy members will be more impressed with McTeer's strength than with Close's subtlety. We shall see. Meanwhile, content yourself with the other ace performances that Garcia draws from his superbly chosen cast.

There's Pauline Collins as the main-chance innkeeper into whose employ both Albert and Hubert have come; Brendan Gleeson, as the helpful and caring doctor on premises; and Mia Wasikowska (above, left) and Aaron Johnson (below, and lately John Lennon) as two employees at the hotel/restaurant. Ms Wasikowska especially impresses here. This young actress has turned in such differing performances -- Jane Eyre, Alice in Tim Burton's verison of Wonderland, Restless, The Kids Are All Right and That Evening Sun -- as to be nearly unrecognizable from role to role.

In Mr. Johnson's character of Joe, we have a young man who might very well be the movie's hero -- if times were not so bad, and Joe had a bit more feeling for others. His and Ms Wasikowska's story is the other engine that keeps the movie rolling, and through it, we see the pain of class distinction among several injustices. We also see how an epidemic of sickness cuts through society, and how the bourgeoisie fawns over "royalty" (in the person of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, below, doing a couple of walk-ons here).

Albert Nobbs, from Liddell Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, opens nationwide for its return theatrical engagement this Friday, January 27, in what is really an enormous release for a small, independent movie like this. More power to ya, Albert! Click here to see all cities and theaters.