The focus of Cameron Crowe's films has evolved, but they have consistently expressed a style that is all his own. The writer/director of "Aloha" (PG-13, 1:45) has brought us over a dozen movies since the early 1980s. Crowe has served as both writer and director on most of them, meaning that each one expresses who he is as a filmmaker and as a man – consistent, open, sensitive and quirky – along with reflecting where he is on life's journey at any given time. Except for an occasional fantasy/mystery ("Vanilla Sky") or musical documentary (one on Tom Petty and one on Pearl Jam), most of Crowe's films have been comedies, each with a generous helping of drama thrown in and usually a good bit of romance as well.
But his focus has evolved. His early films are membered as iconic and eminently quotable: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982), "Say Anything" (1989), "Singles" (1992) and "Jerry Maguire" (1996). With those last two, we start to see Crowe focus more on the concept of family, in a wide variety of forms. "Almost Famous" (2000) and "We Bought a Zoo" (2011) continued that trend. "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous" also signal the beginning of a shift in which Crowe's films increasingly emphasize one central character seeking redemption for past mistakes and/or simply sorting out what really matters to him and trying to find his place in the world. It's a style that's even more pronounced in 2005's "Elizabethtown" and 2015's "Aloha". But through all these shifts, remaining remarkably consistent have been Crowe's strong doses of character development and fun, quirky dialog.
The central character in "Aloha" is Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), a former Air Force officer who is now a defense contractor working for billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray). Welch is one of the many rich businessmen who, in this age of dwindling budgets, the military depends on to help finance its satellites. Welch is a bit of a mystery, but not so Gilcrest. It's not hard to see where he's coming from. Once an idealistic young man fascinated with outer space, he has become cynical and virtually swallowed up by the compromises he has made to enhance his love life, his bank account and his position in the world. Over time, all this has caught up with him and now he finds himself with no moral or romantic compass, his looks and his charm seeming to be all that's getting him through life. While deployed to Afghanistan, he made a couple big mistakes – one that almost ended his life and one that did end his military career. As the film opens, he's headed to Hawaii, his old stomping grounds, to negotiate a deal with the locals that will allow the military to expand one of their bases and to launch new satellites.
What Gilcrest thinks will be a simple mission that will take less than a week and give him a chance to get back in the game is complicated by ghosts from his past and new challenges in his present. When he lands in Honolulu, Gilcrest reunites with an odd former Air Force buddy, Colonel "Fingers" Lacy (Danny McBride) and he's also confronted with old flame Tracy Woodside (Rachel McAdams). She dumped him 13 years prior and married a stable but quiet (practically non-communicative) Air Force pilot named John "Woody" Woodside (John Krasinski). Tracy also has a 12-year-old daughter named Grace (Danielle Rose Russell) who is trying to overcome her tween awkwardness by learning to dance the hula, and a 9-year-old son named Mitchell (Jaeden Lieberher) who is awkwardly obsessed with using his video camera to record everything and also spouting Hawaiian mythology and legends to anyone who will listen. While he's forced to confront his past, Gilcrest's overriding present concern is dealing with the extremely dedicated and overly perky Air Force liaison, Captain Allison Ng (pronounced "Ing"), played by Emma Stone. Being one-quarter Hawaiian (as she keeps telling everyone), meticulous in the performance of her duties, and fascinated with the man in whom she sees greatness while still referring to as "a wreck", she insists on tagging along for a scheduled meeting between Gilcrest and his old acquaintance Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahale. Playing himself, he's President of what he calls "The Hawaiian Nation". Bumpy and his compatriots consider the over century-long American presence in Hawaii as a military occupation. It's going to take all of Gilcrest's negotiating skill and all of Ng's deferential idealism to convince Bumpy to give his blessing to the expansion of the Air Force base. Meanwhile, suspiciously watching all of this from the sidelines is General Dixon (Alec Baldwin), a man who hates Gilcrest and may or may not be involved in some shady dealings with Murray's character. "Aloha" fits the mold of a typical Cameron Crowe film – a great cast with a somewhat disjointed but pleasant story. Through most of the movie, it seems that Crowe couldn't decide if he wanted this movie to be a romantic comedy, a military drama or an ode to Hawaiian history and culture, much like "The Descendants" (2011). As you're watching Crowe's story unfold, you begin to wonder if "Aloha" exists mainly so we can watch the pretty people dance around each other, both literally and figuratively, but the pieces do eventually fit together. The film's last 20 or so minutes become very focused, dramatic, romantic and even joyful. Along the way, the talented cast is a pleasure to watch, the dialog tickles the ear, the scenery provides a beautiful backdrop for the goings-on and there are some very memorable scenes. An ongoing joke about unspoken communication earns a big payoff at the end of the movie and Alec Baldwin's big scene is every bit as funny as in the trailers. In short, this isn't a perfect movie, but it's a nearly perfect Cameron Crowe movie, with as many meanings as that one-word title has in the land of its origin. "B+"
But his focus has evolved. His early films are membered as iconic and eminently quotable: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982), "Say Anything" (1989), "Singles" (1992) and "Jerry Maguire" (1996). With those last two, we start to see Crowe focus more on the concept of family, in a wide variety of forms. "Almost Famous" (2000) and "We Bought a Zoo" (2011) continued that trend. "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous" also signal the beginning of a shift in which Crowe's films increasingly emphasize one central character seeking redemption for past mistakes and/or simply sorting out what really matters to him and trying to find his place in the world. It's a style that's even more pronounced in 2005's "Elizabethtown" and 2015's "Aloha". But through all these shifts, remaining remarkably consistent have been Crowe's strong doses of character development and fun, quirky dialog.
The central character in "Aloha" is Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), a former Air Force officer who is now a defense contractor working for billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray). Welch is one of the many rich businessmen who, in this age of dwindling budgets, the military depends on to help finance its satellites. Welch is a bit of a mystery, but not so Gilcrest. It's not hard to see where he's coming from. Once an idealistic young man fascinated with outer space, he has become cynical and virtually swallowed up by the compromises he has made to enhance his love life, his bank account and his position in the world. Over time, all this has caught up with him and now he finds himself with no moral or romantic compass, his looks and his charm seeming to be all that's getting him through life. While deployed to Afghanistan, he made a couple big mistakes – one that almost ended his life and one that did end his military career. As the film opens, he's headed to Hawaii, his old stomping grounds, to negotiate a deal with the locals that will allow the military to expand one of their bases and to launch new satellites.
What Gilcrest thinks will be a simple mission that will take less than a week and give him a chance to get back in the game is complicated by ghosts from his past and new challenges in his present. When he lands in Honolulu, Gilcrest reunites with an odd former Air Force buddy, Colonel "Fingers" Lacy (Danny McBride) and he's also confronted with old flame Tracy Woodside (Rachel McAdams). She dumped him 13 years prior and married a stable but quiet (practically non-communicative) Air Force pilot named John "Woody" Woodside (John Krasinski). Tracy also has a 12-year-old daughter named Grace (Danielle Rose Russell) who is trying to overcome her tween awkwardness by learning to dance the hula, and a 9-year-old son named Mitchell (Jaeden Lieberher) who is awkwardly obsessed with using his video camera to record everything and also spouting Hawaiian mythology and legends to anyone who will listen. While he's forced to confront his past, Gilcrest's overriding present concern is dealing with the extremely dedicated and overly perky Air Force liaison, Captain Allison Ng (pronounced "Ing"), played by Emma Stone. Being one-quarter Hawaiian (as she keeps telling everyone), meticulous in the performance of her duties, and fascinated with the man in whom she sees greatness while still referring to as "a wreck", she insists on tagging along for a scheduled meeting between Gilcrest and his old acquaintance Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahale. Playing himself, he's President of what he calls "The Hawaiian Nation". Bumpy and his compatriots consider the over century-long American presence in Hawaii as a military occupation. It's going to take all of Gilcrest's negotiating skill and all of Ng's deferential idealism to convince Bumpy to give his blessing to the expansion of the Air Force base. Meanwhile, suspiciously watching all of this from the sidelines is General Dixon (Alec Baldwin), a man who hates Gilcrest and may or may not be involved in some shady dealings with Murray's character. "Aloha" fits the mold of a typical Cameron Crowe film – a great cast with a somewhat disjointed but pleasant story. Through most of the movie, it seems that Crowe couldn't decide if he wanted this movie to be a romantic comedy, a military drama or an ode to Hawaiian history and culture, much like "The Descendants" (2011). As you're watching Crowe's story unfold, you begin to wonder if "Aloha" exists mainly so we can watch the pretty people dance around each other, both literally and figuratively, but the pieces do eventually fit together. The film's last 20 or so minutes become very focused, dramatic, romantic and even joyful. Along the way, the talented cast is a pleasure to watch, the dialog tickles the ear, the scenery provides a beautiful backdrop for the goings-on and there are some very memorable scenes. An ongoing joke about unspoken communication earns a big payoff at the end of the movie and Alec Baldwin's big scene is every bit as funny as in the trailers. In short, this isn't a perfect movie, but it's a nearly perfect Cameron Crowe movie, with as many meanings as that one-word title has in the land of its origin. "B+"