The Eli Bum

There hasn't been a lot of time lately to sit down and enjoy something, anything. Work, Father's Day BBQ, and my Birthday have all monopolized my time over the last few days. It's not horrible, but I do miss being on the bum even after a day, let alone several. My wife and I were going to go to the movies last Friday, but the summer movie season of 2010 has continued to be forgettable. I liked The A-Team a lot, but when it is still the best movie I've seen so far this summer, well thats just sad. I finally did get to sit down and watch a movie that I meant to see in the theater.

The Book of Eli is another post-apocolyptic tale about a man traveling across the now desolate world. Denzel Washington plays the title character of Eli. We follow him during his 30th year of traveling west, by foot. I kept on thinking that this guy had to have hit ocean by now. Does it really take over 30 years to walk across the country? Forrest Gump did it in much less time, even though he was jogging. Eli carries a book that he reads every day. He believes the book will be bring back the faith that people don't even remember that they need. The Book of Eli is pretty much a story of a messenger of faith to save the humanity in all the people that are left in the world. Gary Oldman's character Carnegie seems to be the only person that knows the power of the book, and he is determined to get it back, at any cost.

It's cool to see Denzel in a role that shows some fighting skills. Sure, he has been in a few action movies, but he's never beaten and killed guys like does in Eli. Ricochet is still one of my favorites though. It's also great to see Gary Oldman play a bad guy again. He still has that certain panache that he had in movies like The Professional, and Romeo is Bleeding. Mila Kunis co-stars as well, and she continues to garner some good roles. Even though she has been in Hollywood for years she is finally showing she can do more then just be that pretty girl from That 70's Show.

All that said The Book of Eli is an o.k. movie. It wasn't awesome, and actually, a little slow. The Hughes Brothers do a really good job of setting the tone and visuals of the whole movie, but at times it feels like it's just crawling along.

By the time I hit the surprise ending I realized why it took Denzel 30 years to walk west, but it also made me want to watch it again to see all that I missed (after knowing the big reveal) the first time around.

I'm glad I didn't buy a ticket, but it is worth a rental.