By Dave McCoy
MSN Movies Lead Editor

Believe it or not, the premiere of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" wasn't the only thing happening in Cannes over the weekend. However, I must admit, things do feel a lot more subdued than the past two years I've covered the festival. With rising costs here (4 euros for a cup of coffee, or $6.25), there are definitely less press and casual film fans in attendance. Those who are here are less vocal. I've seen 15 movies so far, many In Competition, but few are receiving mad applause or merciless boos even though it's been a very strong year. The energy just feels off.

Anyway, there is a lot to cover, so let's get to it ...

Raging Bull****

The only event that rivaled Indy last weekend was Mike Tyson's appearance on the Croisette. He was here promoting the documentary "Tyson," which is playing in the Un Certain Regard program. The man is a three-ring circus unto himself, so all the attention he received wasn't surprising. However, what was surprising was his reception. I've seen some bizarre things at Cannes during the past few years, but nothing compares to watching the former heavyweight champion-turned-freak-show get a standing, cheering ovation upon his introduction at the Debussy Theater on Friday night. And this was before the movie screen. So to recap: The thug who went to prison for rape, who has physically abused numerous people outside of the ring, who bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight and who famously said things (among thousands of inanities) such as "I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children" got a hero's welcome. I needed a vomit bag.

That reaction was nothing compared to the fawning the film got from the audience and subsequently the press. Director James Toback ("Fingers," "Two Girls and a Guy") said before the screening he wanted to show the iconic figure as a "noble human being." Reread my earlier description of Tyson ... and yet, Toback seems to have fooled them all. A French paper the next day led with the headline: "Mike Tyson, Tragic Hero." What a friggin' sham.

"Tyson" is as straightforward a documentary as can be: Mike Tyson looks straight ahead and tells his crazy and gripping life story, while Toback fills up the words with images from Tyson's fights, media coverage and more. If you want to listen to the verbose Tyson for 90 minutes, this is your dream come true. If you want objectivity, forget it. This is a subjective con job by Toback and Tyson. Tyson disputes the rape charges, but we've heard that before. Regarding the other crimes, he claims he blacked them out and can't remember the circumstances. Instead, we get to hear about Tyson's awful childhood and his lack of family and guidance. He tells us how he really loves women, that he never assaulted first wife Robin Givens and that they were "just kids" trying to make a marriage work. He shows us his sensitive side, often crying on camera when discussing trainer-turned-father-figure Cus D'Amato. Plus we get little secret tidbits such as how he had gonorrhea when he KO'd Trevor Berbick in 1986 to win the heavyweight championship (take note, future contenders!).

Tyson's story is fascinating, full of drama and controversy, which naturally make for great cinematic fodder. One critic here told me he thought it was a "great psychological examination." I don't disagree. However, what's insulting about "Tyson" is its false sense of history and complete lack of personal responsibility. Toback has crafted a film of such incredible manipulation and artificiality that it doesn't just leave a bad taste in your mouth, it also gags you.

What's worse is that it's being lapped up by viewers who simply take Tyson at his word. He arrived at Cannes as a monster; he left as a victim. The truth is somewhere in-between, but Toback's doc isn't interested in depicting that.

Allen's Town

The two questions I had before viewing "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" are the same ones I've had before every Woody Allen film since 1997: (1) How long can I last without sighing, putting my head in my hands and suffering through like a good soldier; and (2) how long will it be before I can bolt out of the theater to continue my life? "Deconstructing Harry" was the last Allen film I loved. It was a bleak but hilarious self-portrait of an artist looking in the mirror and hating what he's become. In the 11 years since that film, Allen proved it by creating a body of work so bad that it was impossible to defend him but also tough to recall his importance in film history. Some defend his recent English work, such as "Match Point" and "Cassandra's Dream." I found them airless retreads of better Allen films such as "Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Which brings us to "Vicky Christina Barcelona." When I heard it'd play Cannes, it wasn't surprising. The French love Allen as much as they love Jerry Lewis. Plus, the lure of attracting Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz to the Croisette didn't hurt either (though Bardem and Johansson skipped the premiere).

What I didn't expect was to say this, which is also really strange to write: Woody Allen has legitimately made a good, entertaining film. I watched, expecting it to fall off the tracks at any moment. However, I laughed, loved the performances and felt Allen actually had something to say this time around. Maybe the change of scenery jarred something loose. Thanks, Spain. Is it great? No. Is it flawed? Yes, and a bit sexist, truth be told. But compared to his last 10 years of work, Woody fans should celebrate.

The film follows American friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) as they set out for a summer in Barcelona. Vicky is settled, practical and about to be married to a preppy bore; Cristina is compulsive, adventurous and doesn't know what she wants in love but knows what she doesn't want. Once there, they meet a French painter (Bardem), both fall for him and must also compete with his nutso ex-wife (Penélope Cruz, a dervish of wild hair, passionate expression and enough punching to scare Mike Tyson). Along the way, there are the usual Allen meditations on art and relationships, but instead of putting himself in it or adding in a whiny "Woody" character (think Kenneth Branagh in "Celebrity"), he fleshes out his subjects and allows his actors to be themselves. Bardem is by far the most successful. As Juan Antonio (even the name is funny), he embodies everything Spanish and bohemian for these girls; he is more an embodiment than a character. His opening, when he approaches the pair with a blunt offer of a threesome, is the funniest thing Allen has written in years, but it's Bardem's approach that scores. Imagine Anton Chigurh (the character Bardem won an Oscar for portraying in "No Country for Old Men") insisting on a ménage a trios. That's how he plays it, and it's very funny. Unfortunately, Allen doesn't trust his own stuff enough, because he adds an unnecessary voice-over that over explains and often rips us out of the movie's casual, breezy flow. It's a shame that all these years Allen still isn't confident enough to show us or let us experience his films because he still feels the need to tell us what's happening.

Oh, lastly: Much has been written in advance of the "lesbian kiss" between Johansson and Cruz. First off, they aren't lesbians. Second, yeah, it's hot.

International Quick Hits

Here are some brief opinions on a weekend's worth of watching films from around the globe. All but "Tokyo Sonata" are screening In Competion.

"A Christmas Tale": This film is insane, and I mean that in a great way. As he showed with "Kings and Queen," no French director does family dysfunction like Arnaud Desplechin. And, man, he's come up with a wacko group here. Dead children, banished children, mom with bone cancer, grandkids with mental issues, love triangles and brutally honest, often hysterical dialogue right from a shrink's couch mixed with a Christmas holiday? Whoo-hoo! It's two and a half hours of exhaustive lunacy. And you can't take your eyes off it. The cast is a who's who of French talent: Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric (his crazy Henri is my favorite Cannes performance so far), Anne Consigny, Emmanuelle Devos and more. But the star is Desplechin's eye, ear and vision. France may finally break their two decade-long Palme d'Or drought with this one (more on that award later).

"24 City": This experimental film from critics' darling Jia Zhang Ke blends documentary and fiction, as a cross-section of Chinese talking heads (both real and fictional) narrate the economic and social climate change in their country. I'm still chewing on it, because it wasn't easy to swallow. Many critics here are over-the-moon for it -- that I don't get, perhaps as much as I don't get the film. Nevertheless, it does make we want to catch up with Jia's other work.

"Serbis (Service)": Close-ups of sex, nasty bathrooms, runaway goats (don't ask), all within the confines of a run-down porno house? Finally, this is starting to look like a film festival! Too bad the raunchy film, set in what sounds like the middle of a Filipino freeway (the sound gave me a headache), is merely shock for shock value. Shots of overflowing toilets are appropriate for this piece of crap.

"Gomorra": One of the more severe, miserable mafia movies I've seen. Based on an acclaimed, epic novel, it weaves together five stories, all depicting different duties of the Camorra -- the criminal sect located in and around Naples -- ranging from money men and corrupt waste management CEOs, to tragic gun-wielding teens and boys. Frank, grim stuff, acutely structured and depicted by Italian director Matteo Garrone, but only modestly satisfactory. It moves along well, but afterward, you aren't left with much to think about.

"Tokyo Sonata": Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa is best known as a J-horror master ("Cure," "Pulse," "Charisma"), but here he switches gears and focuses on the daily travails of a once middle-class family. Dad is laid off but doesn't tell his family (see "Time Out"), the eldest son joins the American military while the youngest may be a music prodigy -- if his father wasn't so busy tossing him down the stairs. Meanwhile, mom is supposed to hold it all together but increasingly starts to lose it. Kurosawa's domestic drama and social expose of Japan's recession may be the scariest thing he's ever made ... and yet closes with a sequence so simple, beautiful and hopeful that it's the only shot in a week that's brought me to tears.

Palme d'Or Pick 'Em

The Cannes film festival is at its halfway point and no one here can agree what the front-running film for the coveted Palme d'Or is, or any other award from that matter. Each day, Screen magazine publishes a score card on the last page in which 11 critics from 11 countries rate the films In Competition on a scale of zero to four stars. Their average score is then printed. In the past, the table has often reflected popular opinion and gives a slight clue as to what the buzz film is (last year, "No Country for Old Men" and "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" were the highest-scored films, with the latter grabbing the Palme d'Or, but the former getting no awards). This year, seven of the nine films are within a half point of each other. "Three Monkeys," my personal choice, scores highest at 2.8, but "Waltz With Bashir," "A Christmas Tale" and "24 City" are all right behind. The Dardenne brothers, Cannes favorites, screen their film today, while Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" and Steven Soderbergh's four-and-a-half-hour double film "Che" show in the next few days. So the Palme d'Or is still a toss-up at this point.

I spoke to a prominent Los Angeles critic yesterday and asked what his favorite film of the festival is thus far. He answered that "A Christmas Tale" was the best thing he'd seen here, but that Eastwood's "Changeling" was the best he'd seen In Competition (he caught it in Los Angeles). Speaking of which, this year's jury president, Sean Penn, lashed out at claims that Eastwood would have the upper hand because they were friends.

"It is an emotional impossibility for people on this jury to favor films by friends of ours. But we will not be biased against, either. If Clint Eastwood has done a film worth awarding, we're going to f****** well award it. It is not going to serve anyone to be a friend, or not to be a friend, of any member of the jury."

Rationally, it may be an impossibility, but emotions have a strong way of destroying rationale, especially when taste is concerned.

Five days to go. The race is on ...

A demain ...

Wednesday: Angelina Jolie stars in Clint Eastwood's drama, "Changeling." Plus, Paltrow and Phoenix are "Two Lovers" and the Dardenne brothers try for a record third Palme d'Or with "The Silence of Lorna" ...

Dave McCoy is lead editor for MSN Movies. He's filing daily dispatches from Cannes through May 25.

What are your thoughts on Mike Tyson? Do you want to hear his side of the story? Any interest left in Woody Allen? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.com

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