Anton Corbijn's CONTROL @ Nuart, 10/22/07

Tonight after getting off of work, I quickly hopped on the 405 N. from El Segundo and began my heavily congested commute to the Nuart on Santa Monica Blvd. to see the Ian Curtis biopic Control.

This movie was hands down one of the best films of the year. Beautifully shot in black and white, music video director Anton Corbijn’s masterpiece presented an emotional impact not seen in many of today’s rockstar biopics (think Gus van Sant’s ultra-shitty Last Days).

I appreciated the subtleties in the character’s personalities and minds, such as Ian Curtis' (Sam Riley) tendency to wander off and focus on the trivial in his sad state of mental and emotional isolation; when called upon by his chemistry teacher, he is completely spaced out while he focuses strictly on the letters "OH" on the chemical chart.

I must say that Sam Riley is one of the best new actors I have seen today. He looks and sounds like Ian Curtis (and resembles Jack White, Johnny Knoxville and Leonardo Dicaprio).

I was born in '84 so I obviously missed Joy Division live (Curtis killed himself in 1980) but from what I've seen in videos, Riley's stage performance was dead on. His voice resembles Ian Curtis' and he has the exact same sort of awkward arm shuffling spasms and dancing while on foot were, in my opinion, almost a way of foreshadowing Curtis' real life complete loss of control when suffering a seizure on the floor.

There are lots of likable people in this movie, and you are really left feeling sorry for more than one of them. This is one of those movies where you can't decide who's side you are on because all of the characters really do have a lot of good in them.

I especially felt bad for Ian Curtis’ wife Deborah (Samantha Morton) who spent most of the movie crying and feeling sorry for herself and her deeply troubled husband, who suffered from epileptic seizures.

A favorite scene of mine was when Ian Curtis' psychiatrist prescribes him an overwhelmingly long list of hard to pronounce medication, and then completely belittles the dire side-effects. It's no wonder the guy was depressed!

I really enjoyed the comical performance from Toby Kebbell as Joy Division tour manager Rob Gretton. Whereas most tour managers are portrayed as greedy assholes, this one seems genuinely caring and friendly to the guys in the band, which was a refreshing take on the usually selfish character. I loved his first scene when he calls the potential Joy Division manager a "das cunt" and tells him he's nobody because nobody has heard of him. And he's also got a great scene where he tries to bribe a random dude to step in and sing a song with the band while Ian Curtis is backstage having an anxiety attack. "I'll give you 20 quid, just go out there!" The guy walks out, starts singing, and is booed off-stage by angry bottle-throwing fans of the real thing. He then walks backstage and asks "Where's my 20 quid?" and Rob Gretton yells "in my fuck-off pocket!" FUCKING CLASSIC!

Freelance journalist Annik Honoré (played by the super sexy Alexandria Maria Lara, who was born in Bucharest, Romania, the same exact city that my father was born in!) ends up being Ian's side dish, and a smoking hot one at that. I put myself in his shoes after he meets her, and I felt his pain and confusion. For an actor to be able to get you to look through his eyes like Sam Riley does in this movie, you've got to give them some serious fucking credit. He's in his early 20s, married too soon, in love too soon, with a newborn child too soon. His wife is a homely homebody who has gained weight naturally through pregnancy, and although he does love her, here comes this young and fresh pretty little thing staring at him with those big brown eyes. What a temptation! Click HERE for a super hot picture of her from the movie.

On the weaker side, TV personality Tony Wilson (Craig Parkinson) may not have been as fucking PHENOMENAL as Steve Coogan in 24 Hour Party People, but the focus was less on him this time around, and Steve Coogan has impossibly big shoes to fill anyway. Craig Parkinson's Tony Wilson did, however, have a funny scene in Control where he signed the band contract in blood. I'll leave it at that.

At 23, the same age when Ian Curtis killed himself, I really have a higher appreciation for Joy Division than ever before. I felt myself relating to him with his relationship struggles, feelings of confusion based on obligatory love and extracurricular lust, and his ultimate overwhelming anxiety and indecisiveness that led to his inevitable downfall. After all, love will tear us apart...

GO SEE CONTROL NOW! Showtimes HERE.