Desicritics Category: Media: Films

A Slow Train to Gwalior

Amitabh Mitra — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 08:14:48 EDT

When you have traveled all the way over
A thought on a flutter of an eye
When you have traveled the sway of wheatfields of my village in
A solitude of belief
When you have traveled all the winding lanes of a voice
In a rainstorm that stopped abruptly
In a twilight junction
It is only then you take the slow train to Gwalior
To a nucleus of a sandstorm
Inching forward on its worn tracks of nights and days in
Seasons of spell
To a horizon of longings
Rattling on memories on an armor of lost chivalry
To a laughter abreast on
Each passing dunes of your landscape
To you
Once again and the loft of our kothi
Where we shared our secrets with your pigeons
And the brittle shadows of
Another moment.
When you have crossed the long night fortress
Of a forlorn desire
When you have reached the stolen palace
Of a long forgotten dream
When you have touched the time on a face
That just stood for
You so long
Gwalior looms again into sight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ujbrnXdXHM

A Reviewer's Dilemma

Cine Cynic — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:06:41 EDT

While critics often garner our respect for their insightful analysis and interpretations of works of art, reviewers have their share of distress while reviewing. Unlike critics, reviewers do not have much liberty in choosing the books, movies, or albums. Reviewing something which they feel strongly about (especially negatively) is when reviewers may tend to get into trouble.

Jeevi of IdleBrain.com is the most popular Telugu movie reviewer on the Internet. He used to review almost every single movie, straight or dubbed, immediately after its release. A couple of years ago, he skipped reviewing a big-budget movie called Bangaram. The movie turned out to be the worst movie in hero Pawan Kalyan's career and the grapevine was ripe with speculation that Jeevi might not have written the review only because it would've sounded a death knell to the movie's meagre chances.

Earlier this year, Rediff's Raja Sen revealed the climax of Race in his review, and after some controversy and debate about whether a review can or can not reveal the ending of a movie, half-heartedly apologized to the film-makers while justifying his actions.

Around the same time, Maxim's David Peisner gave a 2.5/5 star review to the Black Crowes album Warpaint without actually listening to it. It blew into a high-voltage drama that ended with Maxim's president releasing an official apology.

These instances, and perhaps most others which have created controversies, originated from a reviewer's strong feelings, which he or she is entitled to have. The reviewer may find a movie god-awful and might feel dutiful to advise the readers against watching it. The trouble comes when the god-awfulness ebbs over the objectivity. And even Roger Ebert wasn't immune to it.

Last week, Ebert gave a 1 star review to an indie Tru Loved after watching only eight minutes of the 102-minute movie! He made a full disclosure in the review itself, though that might not usually be enough to avert a controversy, especially for a reviewer of Ebert's stature.

But there isn't much controversy over it. His actions in the aftermath have been truly exemplary. Being the honest and wise man he is, he poured out his thoughts into his widely-read journal. He listened to the reader's comments, pondered even more, admitted his guilt of affection for his prose, watched the whole movie this time, and reviewed it again. (The 1 star remains.) The man who perhaps has contributed more to film criticism than any other single individual showed the path, that more than a review or a movie or readers, it is the plain truth that deserves priority.

However, this doesn't end the debate nor the dilemma. Can a reviewer skip a review to help his friend-filmmaker? Can a reviewer reveal a climax? Can a reviewer walk out of a movie and still review it? If yes, can he review it watching just the promos? If no, where is the tipping point, the time after which it may be allowed?

It won't be futile for every reviewer to face these questions, and more importantly to answer it in his or her own manner.

Movie Review: Karzzzz

Mayuri Sharrma — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:13:18 EDT

First a list of characters

Monty, Himesh Reshammiya. Size zero, with a poodle on his head, and a face that still looks like his neck threw up. On the positive side, he has graduated from having a single expression on his face. In this, his second film, he looks like he is in varying degrees of abject pain.

Princess Kamini, Urmila Matondkar. Who redefines what bad acting is all about, with strange facial expressions, an impossible to decipher accent and jerky marionette movements. Apart from terrible skin, bad make up and bits of flab seeking escape from the reaches of control hose.

Tina, new find Shweta Kumar. Good, for her debut film. But she looks like Indra Kumar (her father) dressed in drag, the resemblance is so striking!

Kabeera, Danny Denzongpa. Completely wasted in an inane role.

Sir Juda, Gulshan Grover. In a, guffaw and you miss him-and-his-strange-steel-arm, appearance.

Ravi Verma, Dino Morea. Droolicious! Wish he had been given a longer role!

Audience, Me. Lock away her money, transport, glasses and computer so she cannot watch these films AND then have the nerve to write their reviews!

A remake of Subhash Ghai’s ‘Karz’, this film follows the same story, with a twist (which I won’t give away, the kind soul that I am)

So we have ‘Rockstar Monty’ who in spite of the way he looks, sounds and dresses is, but naturally, the heartthrob of the entire female population of Cape Town and has girls of all races, colors and sizes swooning over him, and his Hindi songs. His father cum business manager, Raj Babbar playing an OTT Sardar, exploits Monty's talent to make money but humiliates Monty for free.

While on stage one day, Monty suffers from a hallucination and passes out (yay!) only to (sadly) recover and realize that a particular tune triggers it off. A psychiatrist advises Monty to take a vacation and off he goes to Kenya, to recover and woo a girl his beady eyes spotted at a party.

In the midst of wooing Tina in Kenya, places, people and buildings seem familiar to Monty and his hallucinations increase, confusing him further. Till he meets Princess Kamini, of the love handles and preference for metallic hued clothing fame and the fog in his brain finally clears and he realizes who he is.

When begins a game to trap Princess Kamini into revealing the whereabouts of Ravi Verma’s surviving mother and sister and how she, Kamini, murdered Ravi Verma.

How he gets her to admit is where the ‘twist’ in this movie lies.

If you’ve seen the original ‘Karz’ you are sure to find a thousand flaws in this movie. If you haven’t seen it, you will still find a thousand flaws in it.

The biggest flaw being, the casting of Himesh Reshammiya playing a 25 year old ‘Rockstar’ as he neither looks the part , nor acts it. Newcomer Shweta who is cast opposite him could pass off as his daughter, the pair is that mismatched, there fore no surprises about the zero chemistry between them!

Urmila performs like she is doing the world a favor by acting in this movie. This could go down as her worst performance ever.

Senior artistes like Danny Denzongpa, Asrani, Rohini Hattangady and Gulshan Grover are completely wasted, with caricature like roles and equally funny performances.

The direction (Satish Kaushik) is average and the songs have no impact. The two good things about the film are the fresh locales of South Africa that could have been exploited better by an able cinematographer, and the overall slick packaging of this film.

I wish Himesh would stop acting and concentrate only on his music. But I read that he is going to horrify people even further by appearing shirtless, with a six-pack, in his next movie. Bachaooooo!!

Movie Review: Happy Days - Romanticizing College Life

Cine Cynic — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:52:42 EDT

Happy Days is the only Telugu hit in over a year. The people involved with the movie are still basking in its success, giving interviews and appearing in various TV shows. In an interview before the release of Happy Days, its director Sekhar Kammula said that he was struck by the absence of a genuine Telugu college film in the last decade. Surprise, because for over eight years all the South Indian film industries have been churning out teenage love stories, usually set against a college backdrop. It all started with Teja's Chitram and K Vijaya Bhaskar's Nuvve Kavali becoming trend-setters in 2000.

People hoped that Sekhar meant something more than a love story by a college film. More so because he decided to "romanticize college life" according to that interview. Though mistaken as a classic director, Sekhar is laudable for the sensitivity with which he handles his characters. Only four movies old, he has carved for himself a distinct name especially among film critics.

Sadly, his attempt to romanticize resulted in romance almost exclusively. The only major differences are that most of the scenes of the movie are set in an engineering college and instead of one pair there are four pairs here. Those who've embraced the movie have argued over and again about the inevitability. "Do you want to simply see students attending classes or fighting over college politics?" they asked.

Do they have a point? Are romance and politics the only noteworthy features of college life?

I tried to look back into my own college life. Unless one counted discussing the tumultous love lives of friends of friends and giving word of mouth publicity to acquaintances who contested in elections, there was neither romance nor politics in my college life. What else then?

Freedom. To many if not most students, freedom is the condition that intoxicates them time after time. Depending on the oft-changing priorities, the young minds indulge in various activities. This, in fact, continues long after college days until people somehow "settle down".

Some try out a wide range of hobbies, zero in on one of them, and pursue it with a rejuvenated passion. Some network incredibly and devote a major part of their time to arranging college festivals. Some get addicted, say to the Internet, and play truant stretching the rope till it snaps. Some, to their own surprise, discover a love for their career paths which had been initially chosen under parental and/or peer pressure. Some do a little of everything. Everybody invariably spends time in what are called "fart sessions" to varying degrees. The pleasurable activity not only binds new bonds, but also shapes perceptions about topics which otherwise would have not occupied any space in their minds.

Underlying these umpteen activities is a gestalt of confusion and uncertainity that resurfaces every now and then and sharply towards the end of the phase. Have I wasted all these years? Should I have done it differently? Am I good enough to survive the harsh future? Will I make it? It may take years for them to appreciate that they've come out wiser, having unconsciously learnt lessons that serve a lifetime.

These are all aspects of college life which it is possible to sketch using stereotypical characters. And they are as interesting as romance or politics for a movie to be made about.

Sekhar too in this movie used stereotypes: the confused boy, the studious boy, the nerd, the playboy, the tomboy. It is just that all of them had their first loves as their major complications. Another great opportunity wasted.

DVD Review: Remember the Titans

Cine Cynic — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:39:12 EDT

"Based on a true story" is one note that tunes our minds to suspend disbelief more willingly than we normally would. We have come to accept that truth is stranger than fiction, at least when books are written or movies made about them. As an outsider from a different place and time, I have no idea how true Boaz Yakin's Remember the Titans remains to the original events. The reality may have been harsher, definitely less cheesier.

In 1971, Alexandria, Virginia, blacks and whites still referred each other as "they" in public and worse indoors. It was easy to distrust a fellow human based on his or her appearance. A new court order, to everybody's dislike, forcefully desegregates the T.C. Williams High School. I like the movie already. There are wonderful movies like Paul Haggis' Crash, but they are set in a period where racism has already been acknowledged as incorrect, at least politically, unlike here.

Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), a black, is hired as head coach for the school's football team to replace Bill Yoast (Will Patton). The onus is on him to show what a coach, black or white, is to his team and the town. One "mistake" might get him fired; it had happened before. Yoast doesn't want to play second fiddle, but reluctantly complies to overlook the future of the white football team that was under him. Two football coaches and two teams. One black, one white each. To win as one team is their goal. The team comes together by the end of the camp, but there are more conflicts, some of them appearing only after a previous one had been overcome and with a potential to erase their previous achievements.

What is fascinating to see is not how Boone inspires and bonds the team, nor how Yoast sacrifices his cherished dream for the sake of the greater good. The young, adrenaline-filled players quickly realize that they are on the brink of changing history. They learn what it is to be human, "to trust the soul of a man rather than the looks of him." Here is where Remember the Titans succeeds in giving us hope. Gerry Bertier, the captain of the team, e.g., willingly loses his girlfriend, his old best friend, his mom, and his community to stand up for his newly-learnt principles. He wins them all back again, and it is not very surprising.

People distrust another race only because of a misplaced fear of the unknown, because of how they have been brought up. Another wonderful example is Sheryl Yoast, the assistant coach's nine and a half years old daughter. She is the first to change, from telling Boone that "the coach is busy" to telling the players, "Y'all are acting like a bunch of sissies!" She does what the adults she looks up to do. Hayden Panettiere steals every scene she is in with this character.

At the end of the movie, I am the little man jumping out of his seat clapping. I rate it above Shimit Amin's Chak De! India. With very well-crafted characters in a formulaic genre, this movie deals with a greater issue that cripples mankind to this day.

Remember the Titans was released eight years before today.

Paul Newman, 83, Dies - Film Star and Much More

Aaman Lamba — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:14:53 EDT

Paul Newman, one of the greatest film stars of 20th century cinema, died of lung cancer at the age of 83 at his home in Connecticut. His iconic looks and cheerful demeanor are the epitome of many an aspiring actor, immortalized in popular culture in the song "Paul Newman's Eyes" and in the first sketches of the superhero Green Lantern by artist Gil Kane. Speaking of his brilliant blue eyes, Mr. Newman once said, "Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown."

He had numerous memorable roles for which he will be remembered, from Cool Hand Luke to Butch Cassidy. He also established an enduring legacy of Hole in The Wall Gang Camps, named after the outlaw gang in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The financial basis of this venture were the profits arising out of Mr. Newman's popular brand of salad dressings and other food products, Newman's Own.

He often played a rebel, not quite in the James Dean style, but often as a fundamentally flawed hero, who was a bad guy, yet adored by the audience. In The Hustler, and later in The Color of Money, he reprised the role of Fast Eddie, smooth-talking con man-turned-liquor salesman. Earlier, he was the alcoholic football player Brick Pollitt, where he asked, "What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?", and received the answer, "Staying on it as long as she can."

Paul Newman stayed on the rollercoaster of film for a long time, making over 65 movies in 50+ years. Recently he played the retired race car, Doc Hudson in Cars, a has-been who won three Piston Cups before fading from the scene. This cannot be said about Mr. Newman, who retained the adoration of fans and film-lovers till the last. He took up stock car racing at the age of 75, and entered the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest winner in Dayton in his category.

His second marriage to actress Joanne Woodward lasted over 50 years, and was marked by its longevity and fidelity. As he once told Playboy magazine, "Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home?" His eldest son, Scott Newman, died of an alcohol and drug overdose in 1978. He is survived by his five daughters and his wife, who he produced and directed in various movies.

Movie Reviews: Trade and Human Trafficking

Kim — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:41:20 EDT

By coincidence, I happened to watch two movies dealing with the same subject in two days. One a video rental, the other, a Lifetime miniseries on Hallmark. Both deal with the subject of women and young children being kidnapped and sold in a modern day form of slavery.

Trade is a movie seen from the eyes of a Mexican teenager following the trail of his 13 year old sister and her kidnappers across the border. Human Trafficking mostly follows from the point of view of an NYPD agent working with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In both movies, the women are brought from all over the world into Mexico and then into the US by walking across the Mexican border.

Both show Mexican cops hand in glove with the traders. In both movies there is a scene where the Mexican cops get to "sample the merchandise" when it is being en route.

In Trade, the group is caught by the border police in the US and placed in detention until they can be sent back to Mexico. And the American officials simply turn away when one of the women tries to explain that they have been kidnapped.

Both movies are very realistic without being sensational or titillating. The horrors the girls and children (little boys and girls) face are unimaginable.

In Human Trafficking an entire set of young children is sequestered in a container and sent on a ship bound for Saudi Arabia on a 10 day journey from Mexico when their pimp gets news that the cops are about to raid his den.

Trade introduces two new child actors who are absolutely brilliant in their roles. Kevin Kline is the only well known actor in that movie and is in more of a supporting role.

Human Trafficking has a star cast of Donald Sutherland, Mira Sorvino and Robert Carlyle (the Scottish guy from Full Monty) who turns out an amazingly chilly performance as a Eastern European Sex Trade boss.

The entire situation of Human Trafficking is summed up absolutely eloquently in Mira Sorvino's press statement at the end of that movie.

Worth a watch for the realistic view of a universal problem. As Sorvino says, "It could be your daughter, your sister, your best friend next."

Umrao Jaan - A Story of The Indian Girl Child

Madhu Chandra — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 09:41:41 EDT

Umrao Jaan is a Bollywood film produced by Muzaffar Ali in 1981, which was remade by J. P. Dutta in 2006. It is based on the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada written in 1905 by Mirza Hadi Ruswa, based on the life of the famous Lucknow courtesan.

It is a story of an Indian girl child who laments her agony of life, composed in the form of poetry and music, with soul-gripping lyrics.

“Agale Janam Mohe, Betiya na kijo”
“In my next birth, Oh God, don’t bring me as a girl child!”

It is the song of a woman, whose childhood was looted when she was kidnapped by her neighbor Dilwar Khan for revenge against her father for testifying in a criminal case which led him to be imprisoned for several years. She was sold to a brothel at Lucknow at the age of eight, and was later adopted by a couple to bring her up with the same parental care, education, dance, poetry and music, only to charm the wealthy as a famous courtesan of Lucknow.

Ameeran, her parental name was changed to Umrao Jaan (love). The love she earned from wealthy men, who came to the courtesan, also brought her the label “Bazaar Aurat, a prostitute”

In the remake, former Miss Universe and Bollywood Super Star, Aishwariya Rai acted as Umrao Jaan along with Abhishek Bachchan as Nawab Sultan and Sunil Shetty as Faiz Ali.

At the age of 20, when she was fully grown and matured, Umrao got the title “Jaan” after performing a charming courtesan dance and singing at Lucknow, where Umrao caught the eye of wealthy princes, kings, and Nawabs.

Nawab Sultan was one among many such wealthy men, whose love was stolen by the charms of Umrao at first meeting itself. Soon, Umrao got into the net of Sultan, with true passionate romance, not knowing her love for Sultan would be rejected soon. Sultan’s father did not want to see his family defamed by his son marrying a “Bazaar Aurat” and disowned him.

When Sultan didn’t have a penny after his father disowned him he went to live with his uncle at Grahi.

In the absence of Sultan, Umrao was noticed by wealthy Faiz Ali, who wanted her at any cost. Faiz Ali turned to be a dacoit and got arrested during a journey to Grahi with Umrao. Sultan heard the news about Faiz Ali and Umrao’s coming to Grahi, and questioned Umrao about the suspicious relationship with Faiz Ali.

Brokenhearted, Umrao, finally decided to return back to her cage of courtesan at Lucknow, where on her arrival, she was raped by her childhood friend in the brothel, and yet, later, she forgave him unconditionally.

Soon, the British attacked the city and forced her to leave Lucknow. She decided to go to her forgotten childhood home at Faizabad. She found her father dead and her mother and brother refused to accept her because of her profession.

Umrao, shunned by her family, her lover and society, leaves to return to Lucknow, but fate plays another joke and on her way out of the city, she encounters the man who kidnapped and sold her to the brothel in the first place. Poor, wretched, homeless and injured, the man begs for pity, not recognizing that she is Ameeran, and she essentially forgives him.

Shunned by all and having forgiven those who destroyed her life, she lives the rest of her days in Lucknow with her poetry and ill fate.

Umrao Jaan’s story reflects what a girl child often experiences in Indian society where the issues of crimes, abuse and gender discrimination to the girl child are debated continually.

It is a story that reflects the life of a girl child, whose choice is nothing but slavery throughout life, beginning under the dominion of father at childhood, husband at married life and son at old age.

The story reflects the gender discrimination, female foeticide, and female infanticide in our society. The story reflects the trafficking of children, pushing many into the life like of Umrao Jaan.

After being shunned by her mother and brother, Umrao laments,

Tell me. Have you seen such a farewell?
Nor mother, nor father, nor brother.
No one is there.”
Tears are the ornaments and the palanquin of sorrow.
The locked doors are bidding farewell to me.
Never return here even in your dreams.

Look at my lover, he has broken my heart
After abandoning me midway,
He is setting a new life
As like a child gets new toy,
Plays with it for some days and then forgets
Don’t make me a doll like this, who cannot even cry

In the next birth of mine,
Oh God, don’t birth me as a girl child!
Whatever you have done now,
Oh God, don’t do it again.

Where Umrao Jaan was shunned and forsaken, no one could hear the song that narrates her misery, but it was Mirza Hadi Ruswa, who heard as she cried,

You call me, “the voice of broken heart.”
I am the instrument, which contains all melodies
Who am I, what and am I, for whom am I alive?
I myself do not understand.
Tell me the secret.
Tell me the secret.

Rakhi Sawant - My Big Break Is Breaking Me Up

Sakshi Juneja — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 09:25:09 EDT

Sakshi is a big Rakhi Sawant fan – The only line people seem to come up with whenever handed with the responsibility of introducing me to a new set of people. I can’t really blame them though. Ever since I started dedicating wholesome posts in honour of Bollywood’s most famous Item Girl, my blog’s popularity jumped higher with every controversy she entertained.

Traffic, links, feed counts…you name it, “Rakhi Sawant’s unofficial PR agent of the virtual world” became my by-line. And I lapped it up every single time, never feeling that it’s gotten too much.

Until now that is. For quite sometime, I have been dabbling with the idea of a career change. Not that my current profession provides me any less opportunities; working in a family-owned business has major perks and believe me, I have exploited each to the very maximum. But I guess I have stretched myself a bit too far – I've spent five years in a field that is interesting but not stimulating enough, for me that is. Since I don’t plan on spending the rest of my (workable) life caught up in the same rut, I have decided its time I take blogging rather more seriously than just a much-loved hobby.

Cutting a long story short, since I have put myself out in the market, freelance offers have been pouring in. Unfortunately though, quantity is all I have been getting (and no, I am not referring to the paycheck). But as they say, “sabar ka phal meetha hota hai” - Couple of weeks ago an editor texted me for an assignment which, he claimed, only I could truly justify.

He asked me to write a feature (running to several thousand words, to be accompanied by a high couture photo shoot – you know the works) for his high-profile fashion and lifestyle magazine on a Bollywood celebrity. No brownie points for guessing who he wanted me to write on – Rakhi Sawant it was. Now, Rakhi isn't part of the magazine's usual 'profile', but hats off to this editor who wanted to get something new and daring in.

To say that I was excited is to the say the least – not only was I getting to write about someone I truly admired for her gutsy and in-your-face attitude (to her profession and life in general), I was also still very much within familiar territory.

Or so I thought.

Dream ends, nightmare begins

The past two weeks have been unbelievably frustrating. Getting through to her has seemed like an endless series of phone calls that were just never answered, SMSes that just weren’t replied to (or understood?) and emails that were treated with little more concern than you treat your spam folder. For several days, I felt like I was part of a bad Bollywood love song, chasing my elusive heroine around the banyan tree!

Then, when I finally managed to get in touch with the lady herself, she promptly threw me back into the pool of sharks – that’s right, she asked me to speak to her manager. To be fair however, that phone call did set the ball rolling. In a manner of speaking. Although I do have an interview date with her now, I’m still hoping they see the light regarding arranging a photoshoot soon.

It’s really disheartening if you think about it – my first big assignment, on someone I feel so strongly about and all the discouragements that can possibly arise, have come my way. Welcome to the real world, or rather more aptly, the glamorous world of the Hindi film industry. Maybe I should ask Rakhi for tips on surviving.

Indian Movies - Very Much Without Verisimilitude

Cine Cynic — Sun, 3 Aug 2008 11:52:03 EDT

Last week, I pondered about the director's need to research about a subject that is an important aspect of his or her movie. Extending that thought process, I feel that verisimilitude is a quality that lacks in most of our movies.

Everyone is doing a good job with railway stations. But take a police station, for example. I have only had the opportunity to see them from outside so far, but the friends who have been inside assure me that they are nothing like what they show in our movies. Walls are not painted in red on the lower half, and white/off-white above. Cells are not always visible from the first room where most of the cops sit.

This was perhaps true about stations in the olden days (pre-Independence?). The sets in our studios erected decades back may have been renovated and repainted but not rethought about. Today's stations are usually dilapidated independent houses which have been furnished to suit a work environment for cops. I must say that Bollywood is doing a good job here, considering the sets in the multitude of cop tales being produced. Telugu film industry remains far behind and blissfully ignorant.

And what about the jobs? Novelists and short-story writers take pains to glean tidbits and jargon about various jobs, especially the jobs of their protagonists. Arthur Hailey was hailed for taking years for each novel, and oft-quoted as an epitome for researching.

Film makers, however, are exploiting the 20% rule to satisfy themselves and the audience. The 20% rule, say in animation, suggests developers to ignore 80% of a fast-paced action and to concentrate on the take off and landing of the animation. Like in a sequence where Tom chases Jerry. The chase itself is shown as a blur but the initial and final microseconds are crystal clear.

I recently watched a nondescript movie where the hero repairs a car that broke down. We have all seen it a number of times. The camera shows a closeup of the hands, then a closeup of the heroine waiting, then a longer shot of the sweaty hero collapsing the bonnet, and finally a closeup of getting some water to wash his greasy hands. The entire activity is not glossed over because it is a trivial issue; it is glossed over because our film makers aren't patient enough to clearly define that car problem and find out (theoretically) its solution.

When I learned driving, my driving school skipped the theory class where I was to have learned changing tires, pouring water in the carburetor, and making minor repairs. I always wish one of our movies imparted a little such knowledge.

Showing details about the above activity would make a greater impact when the character has a job of a car mechanic or, umph, engineer. People among the audience who really have that job feel proud and thankful for showing a snippet of their everyday lives, and the remaining who are in obscurity have an 'aha' moment.

Today we take for granted the omniscience of our protagonists whether in driving and fixing vehicles, or wielding and defusing weapons. The conflict, if any, faced by the protagonist no longer carries that high tension among us had we known that the protagonist is like one of us, without all the knowledge about the universe.

Verisimilitude is not an end in itself, rather a means to increase our belief and tension in the story.