2001 in movies: Ron Howard redeems himself in my eyes, and 10,000 points for Gryffindor

 

Something occurred to me during this, my third or fourth viewing of Harry Potter and Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone, the box-office winner for 2001: Daniel Radcliffe will be, but is not yet at this age, a good actor; Rupert Grint has one acting move here (his mugging), but he's so good at it he's forgiven other youthful deficiencies; and Tom Felton has a couple of sublime moments but is otherwise short of material to work with. 

But Emma Watson? Watson arrived as a complete actor in child form in this movie like a spiritual successor to Kirsten Dunst. 

Speaking of Felton, and more specifically Draco: part of what leaves me cold about the first three movies, and most especially the first two, is how everything works in Potter's favour and falls into his lap. Part of that is that he's got Ron, who is somewhat clever, and Hermione, who is brilliant. Malfoy, on the other hand, is managing to keep stride with Potter, despite everybody favouring Harry over him, and who are his lieutenants? Yeah, Crabbe and Goyle, who offer nothing and he knows it. 

What I'm saying is that Potter is the chosen one, sure, but Draco outworks him and would have made a better wizard under different circumstances.

Now, Ron Howard is no indie, experimental, gonzo filmmaker. You're going to get something sweet, with a happy ending, and a minimal amount of tension. But when he's on, he can expertly toe the line between Hallmark movie-of-the-week and, in the case of A Beautiful Mind, a Best Picture winner.

The fact that this movie was his follow-up to How the Grinch Stole Christmas pretty well sums up his limited range - or maybe, to be fair, it's a limited interest on his part.

Here's the thing, though: I love this movie. I remember seeing it in the theatre by myself and taking my wife to see it the very next night. It's built for re-watches, because you'll be spotting things placed as red herrings or disguised in some way all throughout the film. 

Crowe did an expert job of dismissing his toughness in place for mannerisms that Kirk Lazarus would have surely applauded. I don't know if it's reductive of a life and a divergence, but it's a great performance in a wonderful movie.