Starring: Cindy Cheung, Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu
Written & Directed By: Tze Chun
Grade: B

Tze Chun’s micro-budget film, Children of Invention, debuted at Sundance and is now showing at the Cleveland International Film Festival. You barely notice it is low budget as it feels both very natural and striking. Tze Chun based the film on his personal experiences growing up, which explains the overwhelming truth that is shown through every character.

Children of Invention follows Elaine Cheung (Cheung), a single mom who immigrated from Hong Kong with her husband years ago. After having two kids with this man, Raymond (Chen) and Tina (Chiu), he left them and went back to Hong Kong. He’s very sporadic with his child support so Elaine is on her own. Things have recently gotten much worse since their house had been foreclosed on. Now they are living in a model home since they can’t afford to pay rent anywhere. They can barely afford to eat. Elaine is always working a handful of odd jobs since she is not an American citizen and is limited in what she can do. She hasn’t been able to get any work that pays her nearly enough to take care of her family. Elaine has been involved in plenty of non-risk get rich quick schemes. However, she comes across one that might be more risky. She answers an ad for what she assumes is a legitimate company. She gets a call back and attends a company party where she learns more about the company. They want her to be a principle salesman focusing on the Chinese population. However, it costs $2,500 to be a member, which is required to work in the program. Elaine tries to get a loan or for her husband to send some money, but after awhile the company agrees to waive the membership fee for now if she will pay the fee back when she gets her first check. Elaine is thrilled and gets to work immediately, determined to get enough clients to make some money herself. However, her boss seems to have disappeared. When she goes looking for her she finds herself in trouble by association.

A great deal of Children of Invention is focused on the kids. It shows how they try to get by day by day, with one parent across the world and the other barely present. Tina seems to still have faith in her mother, but Raymond’s hope is growing weaker and weaker. He realizes that he has to become the man of the house. He makes sure Tina has something to eat, putting her before himself. They are largely living off Ramen noodles as they can’t really scrounge up enough money for anything else. Raymond’s role becomes all the more literal when their mother disappears. When she doesn’t come home one night, Raymond realizes that they will have to find a way to survive on their own. Raymond has a vibrant and inventive mind. He makes inventions out of household items for fun. He decides that he needs to take this to the next level though. He was left $500 for his birthday. Raymond decides he will attempt to take the check to Boston to get it cashed and then he will invest it in supplies for his inventions. Raymond and Tina can then sell these and ensure that they will be able to fend for themselves.

All of the performances in Children of Invention were very impressive. Cindy Cheung brings us the overworked, worrisome, and somewhat naïve Elaine. She is trying to work a number of jobs, consuming her time from dawn until dusk. She is doing this because she wants a better life for her children. In being so desperate to start making things better quick, she falls in to a number of scams, one which made them lose their house in the first place. Cheung shows Elaine’s vulnerabilities very well and although in a flawed sense we see her overwhelming desire to be a good mother. It pains her seeing Raymond take on responsibilities that shouldn’t be up to him. Cheung gets us to care about Elaine and to understand what she is attempting to do, although we wish she would wise up to what is going on around her.

Both Michael Chen and Crystal Chiu are cases of gifted child actors that understand their characters and allows us to understand them in the same way. Crystal Chiu is adorable as Tina, the younger of the two. Her dialogue and actions are all very childlike and it was good that her character was so true to life as I believe this person would act just the way that we see through the character and through Chiu. Michael Chen had a more mature role as Raymond. He worried about financial troubles and was ready to take care of his sister, taking on the fatherly role immediately. Chen shows that he has been wounded by both of his parents and has formed a sense of independence because of this. What is great about Raymond is that he is not purely an adult in a child’s shoes. The inventions and fantasies that he has illustrates that he still has a great youthfulness to him.

One thing very interesting about Children of Invention is that for the most part we see this very adult world from the child’s perspective. This is a youthful perspective, but one that is forced to grow up practically over night. The display of their perception of what it takes to make it in the world and the creative plight they have to do this through is captivating just as many dreamlike sequences that reveal the children’s inner most desires. They really dream of having their own house back. They don’t know how much this would cost, but as they know it’s a lot of money, 1 million dollars becomes the magic number to them. They try to navigate through the city, which quickly becomes very intimidating as they aren’t even supposed to leave the house. The images are very striking through this. There are bright lights everywhere among the darkness of the city as it was an off limits place to go alone and had this very scary and intimidating feel to these children. They form a bit of a sense of adventure, which is what carries their actions. Their imagination embodies them and they have the strength to act on these ambitions, even when they get a reality check once in awhile that the world they are living in is not quite the same world that their imaginations create. Children of Invention is a view on the troubles for immigrants. It shows the constant possibility of loss for illegal immigrants, particularly through how they are targeted. It is a rare film that shows adult struggles and in return the perception of the self-determined children through this life where attaining simple things become an adventure.

Man! I was so frackin’ lucky to see this before I flew out of LAX on Friday. I was afraid I would have to wait a whole week to see this one, and it brought back bad memories of when I was forced to wait to see some of the movies I desperately wanted to view. Fortunately, I managed to get off of work early and haul ass to the nearest movie theater to view a movie 19 years in the making before I had to rush off to the airport.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is another in a long line of films listed as “the most eagerly awaited film in movie history!” However, what the “Star Wars” prequels and “The Matrix” sequels taught us (whatever you thought of them) is that the expectation of something tends to be far more exciting than the actual finished product. That always works against movies like these because we are just soooo excited about them, and they never meet our expectations. Ever since I saw “Star Trek V – The Final Frontier,” I have done my best to keep my expectations at bay. It is way too easy to be disappointed by a movie that you restlessly wait for. I came into the latest adventure of Indiana Jones just wanting to have a good time, and you know what? That’s exactly what I got!

The newest Indiana Jones movie is not without its flaws, as is the case with all the sequels in this franchise. The script at times is rather convoluted, and it’s a little hard to figure out what the whole deal with the crystal skull is (a second viewing may end up rectifying that). It's no “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” but to expect it to be is ridiculous. The first adventure of Dr. Jones is such a classic and held so far up in the pantheon of movies that it is impossible to beat it in terms of its entertainment value and freshness. Just seeing Harrison Ford put on that fedora one more time was more than enough for me.

This movie moves Indiana Jones to the 1950’s, and the Nazis are all gone (just as well). In their place are the Russians, the villains of choice back in the 1980’s until US relations with them improved. Indy and his pal 'Mac' George McHale (Ray Winstone, the voice of “Beowulf”) have been captured by the Ruskies and taken over to Area 51 in New Mexico, the warehouse where the US government hides all the things it wants no one else to see (The Ark of the Covenant makes a cameo appearance). This leads to the first big action sequence that gets the movie off to a quick start and has those “whoa” moments that I am always looking for in action movies. Indy’s final escape from the area does seem a bit ridiculous, but these movies deal with death-defying actions, and these are stories that take a place in a reality somewhat removed from our own.

Dr. Henry Jones Jr. (his real name as we learned it from “The Last Crusade”) still teaches archaeology courses at the university he has always taught at, but soon finds himself dismissed as he is under suspicion of being a Communist. Back in the days of the Joseph McCarthy era, you were guilty until proven innocent. Time has certainly for Indy and his university friend Dean Charles Stanforth (Jim Broadbent from “Hot Fuzz”), and they have both lost friends over the years like Indy’s father and Marcus Brody (played by the late Denholm Elliott, who is appropriately acknowledged here years after his death). Just as Indy heads off to go around the world, he is visited by Mutt Williams, a 50’s greaser played by Shia LeBeouf. Mutt informs Indiana that his mother has been kidnapped, and that she needs his help to get to this Crystal Skull. This artifact promises to give one power when it is returned to its rightful place, an immense power that the Russians want every bit as much. It is a little bit hard to describe what the big deal is about the Crystal Skull in words, and it is likely that I will be viewing this movie again soon to be sure.

The Russians are led by Irina Spalko, and she is played with utter relish by Cate Blanchett. She is a cold, steely woman whose interest in psychic powers and education in said subject proves to be more dangerous than anyone can realize. Like all the villains in this franchise, she lusts for ultimate power and will get it at any cost. Of course, her lust and greed will lead to her eventual undoing. You know how these Indiana Jones movies go. Irina may not be the greatest villain in this franchise, but she is still a formidable foe as embodied by Blanchett, one of many actresses out there who can play just about anybody.

The movie features great stunts that, even if they are not entirely believable, still generate a good deal of excitement. Some are ridiculously over the top, like Shia’s character swinging along vines with the monkeys. But then again, not everything in this movie is meant to be completely believable. Spielberg said he would not rely so much on CGI effects in this movie, but you do notice them when you see them, and it does take away from the action a little. In the end, the movie keeps up at a pace which never lets up so that you can catch your breath.

Many have said that Harrison Ford is just too damn old to play this part, or to be in any action movie at all. This was probably brought up more when he did “Firewall” which ended up doing poorly at the box office. Frankly, I am sick of all this talk about him being at the AARP age level. Ford certainly doesn’t look his age, and he still handles the action scenes with a gusto that you never doubt. No one will ever surpass Ford in this iconic role, and I would hate to see anyone else try. God forbid Michael Bay tries to remake any of the other movies here!

But one of the real masterstrokes that Spielberg and Lucas did hear was bring back Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, Indiana’s love from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” It is so great to see her again as she matches wits with Indiana at every step of the way. Marion also turns out to be Mutt’s mother, and this leads to other revelations that I invite you to see for yourself. There is a line in the movie where Marion and Indy are in the back of a truck trying to escape, and she asks Indy why his other relationships didn’t last, and Indy says:

“Because they weren’t you Marion.”

This points the obvious of how the other heroines of these movies didn’t even come close to matching the wonderful presence of this character, and Karen continues to be such an immensely engaging presence in this and other movies she does. Her character is not like the whiny bitch Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) from “Temple of Doom,” nor is she the underwritten cold character played by Allison Doody from “The Last Crusade.” It is clear that everyone involved knew that they could do no worse than to bring Karen back. I am very glad that they did.

The big surprise I got from watching this movie was the performance of Shia LeBeouf. I expected him to be an annoying sidekick a la Short Round from “Temple Of Doom,” and essentially give us the same performance as he did in “Transformers.” That was not the case at all as he perfectly slipped into the mold of a 50’s greaser out to save his mother. He matches wits well with Harrison Ford as they journey together to other countries on a search and rescue mission. Thus, we get another one of those scenes where we see a map and a red line showing where our heroes are going, silhouetted against the planes and other transportation they use to get to their final destination. Shia is very good here, even if he does end up on the verge of some Wesley Crusher-like moments.

Ray Winstone is also very good here, as he is in just about everything he does. At first, I started to think that his character was somewhat unnecessary, and was basically there as a foil for both Indy and the plot of the movie. However, Ray’s performance helps to make some of the more implausible moments in the film actually believable as he sucks us into what his character wants, and he convinces us of this as much as he does Indiana Jones.

I have to give the filmmakers some credit as they took their iconic hero and placed him in another period of time. To have Indy fighting the Nazis would have been overkill, and we already know what happened to them. Having Dr. Jones go up against the Russians showed that at least the filmmakers were trying something a little bit different instead of just giving the audience the same old thing. There are a lot of moments where Spielberg and Lucas pay homage to the earlier Indy movies as well as to other Spielberg movies like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” There is a big sci-fi element to this movie in particular which was not as big as in the other movies, but these movies have always indulged in the world of fantasies be it real or imagined.

There is actually a surprising lack of snakes in this sequel, but one does make a memorable cameo appearance. The main animals to fear here are red ants who, even in their CGI form, are terrifying man and woman eaters. We even worry about them devouring the bad guys. Even if the angry red ants do look a bit fake, they still left me unnerved like all the dangerous animals in an Indiana Jones do.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is by no means a perfect movie, but then again, we had no right to expect it to be. None of the sequels in this series were perfect either, but whatever flaws they had were eventually redeemed by their entertainment factor which was far above most other action films you see. The only movie in this franchise that has any right to be called perfect is “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and nothing is ever going to top that. Ever.

I would probably rate this particular sequel just right above “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” While that one may have been a little more entertaining, it also had a first half and characters that drove me up the wall. It doesn’t have the same amount of heart and character as did the 1st or 3rd movies in this franchise, but those characters still remain true to their origins and they keep us engaged in the action. In the end, it is pointless to get too critical on the Indiana Jones movies, let alone this one. To take it apart limb from limb would take the fun out of it, and these movies are really made for the moviegoers more than anyone else. No one should ever come into any movie expecting it to be a classic, and it certainly goes with this one.

In terms of the summer movies released so far, “Iron Man” is still the movie to beat. “Indiana Jones 4” is not able to beat it out there, but “Iron Man” is a strong movie for more or less the same reasons that “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was when it was first released. They both brought a freshness and energy to their genres that had felt somewhat dormant, and they were created by filmmakers who cared about the stories and the characters that they were bringing to the screen. “Iron Man” will eventually lead to a number of sequels, most of which will probably not hold a candle to the original. While we want some of the same old stuff, we also want something new that brings a new edge to what we saw before. With the latest adventure of Indiana Jones, it was business as usual, and that was more than enough for me.

And stop telling me that Harrison Ford is too old to be doing movies like this because frankly, I don’t give a shit!

*** out of ****