‘Architect’ builds a good story; ‘Bounce’ is lightweight

TRICIA BEHLE

Documentary goes beyond architecture

“My Architect: A Son’s Journey” is essentially the story of a son

trying to understand his long-deceased father.

Since the father happens to be the enigmatic American architect

Louis Kahn, he makes a fascinating subject for a documentary. “My

Architect” was written and directed by Nathaniel Kahn, Louis’ son.

When he was a child, Nathaniel did not get to spend much time with

his father due to Louis’ demanding work schedule and complicated

personal life. Then Louis died in 1974 when Nathaniel was only 11, so

the father is rather a mystery to his own son.

This documentary is Nathaniel’s attempt to get to know his father.

He uses archival film footage and photos of Louis, combined with

interviews with his father’s friends, family and colleagues.

Kahn was a visionary architect who wanted to create modern

buildings that had the feel of timeless ancient monuments. He was

also uncompromising, which lost him many projects. Kahn completed

only a handful of buildings during his career.

Nathaniel visits all of his father’s projects, and includes

beautiful shots of the buildings in the documentary. He saves the

most stunning project, the Capital of Bangladesh, for the very end of

the film. Nathaniel was also able to interview many of the greatest

living architects, like I.M. Pei, Frank Gehry and Philip Johnson,

about Kahn’s architecture.

Just as intriguing as his work, Louis Kahn also had a complicated

private life with three separate families. His official family was

his wife Esther and daughter Sue Ann. But he also had a daughter,

Alex, with architect Anne Tyng. And later he had a son, Nathaniel,

with landscape architect Harriet Pattison. Nathaniel interviews both

his half sisters for their memories of their shared father, and both

Tyng and Pattison give Nathaniel remarkably open and unguarded

interviews about the man they both loved.

In “My Architect,” Nathaniel Kahn creates a compelling portrait of

a deeply talented and creative man, while also acknowledging his

all-too-human flaws and failings.

* TRICIA BEHLE lives in Newport Beach and works as a software

validator.

‘Bounce’ potential fails to cash in on big screen

Elmore Leonard is a writer who specializes in offbeat crime capers

with sharp plot twists and many colorful characters. In the right

hands, his novels can become innovative movies that cross over the

usual Hollywood categories. “Get Shorty” and “Out of Sight” come to

mind as examples of Leonard stories that were transferred

successfully to the big screen by top-notch directors Barry

Sonnenfeld and Steven Soderbergh

“The Big Bounce” has similar worthwhile elements, but director

George Armitage delivers a very mediocre version of the film it might

have been. Owen Wilson plays the bad boy surfer dude who is the

anti-hero at the center of the story. Sara Foster is the steamy femme

fatale who displays the requisite amount of skin and teasing pouts to

keep all the men in the story drooling over her body while ignoring

her devious intentions. There are brief, but totally wasted,

performances by Willie Nelson, Charlie Sheen and Gary Sinise.

The story presents sex, lies and double crosses that should keep

us intrigued, but it all falls flat with lame delivery and contrived

developments. It’s impossible to really care what happens to any of

the characters. Not even the excellent Morgan Freeman can provide

enough gravitas to save this ultra-lightweight enterprise. A

potentially good story is turned into mindless fluff and drawn out

yawns. “The Big Bounce” wants to be a new “Body Heat” but has way too

much “Dumb and Dumber” to make the grade.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.