John Q (2002) * *

 

Directed by:  Nick Cassavetes

Starring:  Denzel Washington, Anne Heche, James Woods, Shawn Hatosy, Kimberly Elise, Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta, Ethan Suplee, Daniel E. Smith, Kevin Connolly

John Q. Archibald (Washington) is a working man whose healthy pre-teen son collapses at a Little League game.  The doctors grimly tell John and his wife (Elise) that the boy's heart is three times too large and will need a transplant or die.  John's insurance at work changed and he has no way to pay out-of-pocket for the exorbitant costs.   John is soon fed up with the cold bureaucracy of insurance and the hospital and takes matters into his own hands by taking hostages at the hospital emergency room with one demand:  Put his son at the top of the list to receive a new heart.   

Robert Duvall plays the hostage negotiator caught between city politics and his desire to have John release the hostages unharmed.  Ray Liotta is the publicity-conscious police chief.  James Woods is the heart surgeon caught between insurance regulations and his Hippocratic oath.  Anne Heche is the cold hospital bureaucrat who keeps her eye on the bottom line.  This is quite a cast while the movie itself brings back memories of Dog Day Afternoon and The Negotiator, both of which were better than John Q. 

We know John's son won't die because that ending would simply be too sad.  John couldn't be allowed to walk free after taking hostages (if he avoids being shot).  There isn't a lot of suspense and the story can only end one day.  The ending is as happy as can be under the circumstances, and Washington does his best to infuse sympathy into John.  Many would surely understand the frustration with the health insurance and healthcare systems.  But John Q. never truly gains stream because its conclusion is inevitable and we witness A-list actors trudging through average material. 

Stone (2010) * *

 

Directed by:  John Curran

Starring:  Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Frances Conroy

Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton were electric together in The Score (2001), but while it's initially fun to see them together again in Stone, the movie itself starts strongly and ends as confused and directionless as DeNiro's Jack Mabry.  Mabry is a parole officer on the verge of retirement when he meets Gerald "Stone" Creeson, who is itching to be paroled and tries any means (especially those which skirt protocol) to cajole Jack into writing a positive report for the parole board.  

Stone sets up as a tense psychological thriller, but dissolves into nothingness.  The opening scenes are promising, but don't develop into anything.  We meet a young Jack, whose religious, overly subservient wife Madylyn serves him whiskey as he stares blankly at the television.  When she threatens to leave him, Jack rushes upstairs and threatens to throw their newborn daughter out the window if she leaves.  Madylyn relents and years later we see Jack driving to work and scenes of their loveless marriage.  On the soundtrack is spiritual radio talk show chatter which sets the stage for some of the religious overtones the movie underlines.

Gerald is up for parole, and after an unsuccessful attempt to appeal to Jack's sympathetic nature (in which there really isn't one), then he sends his wife Lucetta (Jovovich) to seduce Jack.  Jack finds himself willing to be seduced and then manipulated into writing a recommendation that Gerald receive parole.  Gerald receives what he wants and Jack feels guilty about not doing right by his job.  This is hardly a gripping cinematic experience although the movie and Gerald hint at something more sinister at play.  Is Gerald enjoying bending Jack to his will?  What is the payoff to all of this?  The movie can't satisfactorily resolve the conflicts it starts, and in the end we're struggling to make sense of it all.  Stone plays like a movie that felt a DeNiro and Norton reunion was enough to make itself palatable.  These superb actors can only cover up so much.  

Mutiny (2026) * *

 

Directed by:  Jean Francois Richet

Starring:  Jason Statham, Annabelle Wallis, Jason Wong, Roland Moller, Adrian Lester

Jason Statham's latest action movie Mutiny will surely please Jason Statham and action fans alike with its bone-crunching, shoot 'em up sequences.  Statham plays once again the steely man of few words who seeks revenge for a loved one who is murdered.  He is surely convincing as the guy with a particular set of skills who kicks ass, but this is becoming repetitive.  Mutiny, like Shelter from earlier this year, is made by rote.  There isn't much reason for us to care, even though Statham's Cole Reed stumbles across a human trafficking ring when he boards a freight ship in search of those who murdered his boss earlier in the evening.  

Statham doesn't shed tears, but he sure does get pissed and springs into action.  Mutiny becomes Die Hard on an ocean-trekking vessel, with an innocent last-minute replacement supervisor (Wallis) brought in to aid Cole and have him protect her as well.  The captain (Moller) is waist-deep into the trafficking and has a seemingly endless group of thugs working for him which exist for Statham to punch, kick, and annihilate.  This is video-game level stuff.  

One thing about Statham movies is that they are taut and barely run over ninety minutes.  Wrath of Man, which remains the best "Jason Statham" movie, ran nearly 2 1/2 hours but had depth and plenty of plot twists.  Statham was out for revenge, but Guy Ritchie gave us three-dimensional villains and a lot of noir atmosphere, while Statham himself was a career criminal who we wouldn't necessarily root for under normal circumstances.  I also enjoyed The Bank Job, in which Statham masterminded a bank heist and was occasionally stumped in the planning.  It was refreshing to see Statham not have all the answers.  

I suppose wanting to review Statham's better movies rather than Mutiny is a tribute to how by-the-numbers Mutiny is.  It is competently made and delivers what you'd expect, but it's a ho-hum affair.  It would be fun to see Statham stretch himself, but that's not what puts butts in the seats. 

The End of Oak Street (2026) * *

 

Directed by:  David Robert Mitchell

Starring:  Ewan McGregor, Anne Hathaway, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery, Jordan Alexa Davis, P.J. Byrne

If Jurassic Park and its endless sequels hadn't come about, The End of Oak Street would seem fresh and new.  However, we've seen humans evading dinosaurs on screen for thirty-plus years now and it has worn thin, no matter what type of packaging it comes in.  

The End of Oak Street successfully captures a time and place (1982 Michigan suburbs) without poking fun at it.  The Platts, with father Greg (McGregor) and Denise (Hathaway), and siblings Audrey (Stella) and Brian (Convery) are going through issues as the movie opens.  Audrey and Brian suspect something is wrong with their folks and even speculate on whether a divorce is imminent.  It isn't quite at that level yet, but Greg is forced to deliver pizzas to stave out bill collectors and Denise is a teacher writing a book which she claims isn't about her family, but once Greg discovers its existence, he sure isn't convinced.  I'm reminded of the scene in Funny Farm (1988), in which Andy's wife tells Andy the children's novel she's writing isn't about him, but the name of the clueless main character is in fact Andy.

As the family tries desperately to hold it together, there is mention on the radio about NASA exploring fissures in space and every night, a loud noise is heard in the neighborhood following by a very bright light.  Are aliens in the offing?  Thankfully no, but instead a few days later, the neighborhood is transported back in time to when the dinosaurs roamed, or did the dinosaurs propel forward in time to 1982 Michigan?  Either way, the dinosaurs are hungry (they are all apparently carnivorous) and the Platts and their neighbors don't have time to marvel at the prehistoric creatures because they're busy trying not to be eaten.  Just like Jurassic Park's sequels saw the dinosaurs as something to be hunted or run from, The End of Oak Street strictly sees them as perpetually deadly and only interested in seeing the humans as a new food source.

McGregor and Hathaway are far superior to the material.  They do their best, as does the rest of the cast, to inject some life into characters whose sole purpose is to avoid being eaten.  Once you've seen one person running frantically from giant dinosaurs, you've seen them all.  The End of Oak Street manages to pull a happy ending out of its hat with some clever plot twists and taking advantage of time travel paradoxes.  But in the end, what we have here is a journey into the typical.  

One Night Only (2026) * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Will Gluck

Starring:  Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Quintessa Swindell, Molly Ringwald, Levar Burton

One Night Only is a series of meet-cutes and misadventures of two fairly pleasant people who are destined to be together, but are kept apart over a twelve-hour period.  This is no normal twelve-hour-period, however, but a twelve-hour-period once a year in which single people are permitted to have sex.  Yes, you read that right.  The hook of One Night Only is that a law was passed in which it is illegal for single people to have sex except for one night a year.  My first question was:  How do they enforce this?  This is done through biometrics which are measured by small markings on the left wrists of single people.  I suppose the goal is to have everyone be married and not have to put themselves through the annual ritual.  How does Big Brother govern extramarital affairs?  This is one of many questions which goes unanswered.

The main issue with One Night Only is that the one nagging question we have is:  How did such a law get passed?  There is a brief argument between two characters about the origins of the law, but to me that's the more intriguing prospect to explore.  Everything else about New York City seems to be normal, but then the subways and streets are littered with postings about the twelve-hour exemption period and there is a red digital readout clock counting down from 7pm to 7am the following morning.  People don't even find rooms.  They just perform their PDAs right out on the street.  There are some graffiti posts stating "Fuck the Mandate" and other meek protests, but it seems this law is here to stay.  Oh, and you do have sex, you have to wear a condom.  No ands, ifs, or buts. 

Because One Night Only is billed as a romantic comedy, we have Allie (Barbaro), a singer of jingles about medications which cure psoriasis and other ailments which flood the media (not any different than the present day), and Owen (Turner), who owns a pizzeria.  Owen has a girlfriend (Hawke), who confesses she wants to sleep with someone else on this night, so Owen is now single and heartbroken, but not immune to random hookups.  Allie isn't exactly thrilled at the idea of sex with a stranger, but the movie wouldn't exist without prospects for her which include a musician she idolizes who turns out to be a creep, and another guy who turns out to be a parole violator.  

Allie and Owen continue to run into each other and It Must Be Destiny, but other than these two are attractive and seemingly kind, there isn't much reason to care about either of them.  They are two of many people looking for love in spite of this preposterous law.  One Night Only is a typical romcom shrouded in High Concept, but maybe how the law came into being could be reserved for a prequel called One Night Only: The Beginning.  Don't laugh or mock.  It's not out of the realm of possibility. I'm reminded of the absurd Civil War (2024) from a few years back, in which Texas and California united and declared war on the rest of the country.  The mandate in One Night Only is every bit as unlikely and laughable, even though the filmmakers are Trying to Make a Point that Conservatives Are Out to Get Us.  

Looper (2012) * * *

 

Directed by:  Rian Johnson

Starring:  Joseph Gordon Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, Pierce Gagnon, Summer Qing, Paul Dano

Looper is a futuristic time-travel picture (which already piques my interest) and shakes it up with one paradox and conundrum after another.  Looper takes place in 2044 and 2074, where we see the evolution of Joe (Levitt), a hitman who overcomes a drug addiction and by 2074 is living in Shanghai with a wife whom he credits for saving him from certain death.  However, soon she is killed by an unseen crime kingpin known as The Rainmaker, who has taken over control of all criminal activity and uses the now-banned time travel to conduct his assassinations.  

The Rainmaker is no ordinary crime lord.  He has vast psychic powers which allow him to wreak havoc on wherever he chooses.  Here's how the assassination stuff works:  Joe from 2044 waits in a cornfield at a specified place where time travelers from the future are deposited through a time loop.  They are hooded, and Joe quickly blows them away with a shotgun.  One day, though, an unhooded man comes through.  Joe quickly determines the man is the older version of himself.  Old Joe (Willis) commandeered the time loop to travel back in time to kill a kid he believes will grow up to become The Rainmaker.  Joe doesn't kill Old Joe, but instead they sit in a nearby diner and essentially lay out their intentions.  Old Joe is here to kill The Rainmaker before he has a chance to become The Rainmaker.  Joe will stay out of his way as much as he can, until he comes to realize the young woman who owns the cornfield where Joe commits his murders has a son who must be...

Joe falls for Sara (Blunt), who lives with her son Cid (Gagnon).  Cid creates psychic chaos when he's angry and only his mother can calm him down enough to stop him.  He's the future Rainmaker alright, and Joe now has to stop his older self from killing Cid, damn the consequences.  The romance between Sara and Joe feels forced, as if it just had to be thrown in there by writer-director Rian Johnson, but Looper doesn't necessarily revel in the paradoxes of your average time travel movie.  Old Joe wants to preserve his life and bring his wife back and while he takes no pleasure in having to kill a child to do so, he does what he must.  Joe is struggling with drug addiction who finds Sara may be his own way out of the life he has created.  Johnson gives both Joes love interests who are seen by the men as saviors.  

The conclusion is both unexpected and practical.  Joe views how the situation will play out as he sees Old Joe with his gun pointed at Sara and realizes there is one way to solve this dilemma.  Johnson deserves credit for taking the story where it goes and having the courage not to shoehorn in a happy ending where none is required.  

The Bear (Season Five-2026) * * *

 

Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Jon Bernthal, Oliver Platt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lionel Boyce, Will Poulter, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss Bachrach, Abby Elliott, Edwin Lee Gibson, Matty Matheson, Liza Colon Zayas

The Bear's final season mostly delivers by keeping what made the first season so extraordinary.  It defined its characters by how they handle pressure as their restaurant runs the gamut of business highs and lows.  In season five, most of the action occurs over the course of one night with the financial future of The Bear hanging precariously in the balance.

The season opens with the worst rainstorm in Chicago history, with several inches falling during the day which could result in total cancellation of all reservations on a night the restaurant can least afford it.  Uncle Jimmy (Platt) and his partners brave the elements to find out whether a woman who was sold The Bear's air rights years ago would be willing to sell them back.  I looked it up.  Air rights is indeed a real thing.  How do you even determine a price for them?  Beats me, but it's always fun to see Platt and friends cursing each other out and trying to schmooze anyone for one more dollar to keep the business afloat. 

Inside The Bear, Carmy (White) and Sydney (Edebiri), although Carmy signed over his stake in The Bear to Sydney, are handling pipe breaks and nearly running out of food to serve to customers who may or may not cancel.  The solution?  Serve even smaller portions and have Richie (Bachrach) set a time limit of ninety minutes per table and, if are hesitant to leave, have them go outside to a party where alcohol flows while other guests are waiting to be seated.  It's ingenious and that's where The Bear soars.  Of course the time crunch doesn't prevent characters from stepping outside for a smoke break, gab it up while Rome burns, and even have sex.  The long, drawn-out conversations are still a distraction, but not fatally so this time.  

Watching The Bear revert to its best pressure cooker elements is far more engrossing than watching characters engage in overly bloated conversations.  The actors are at the top of their game, and the final scene reflects the characters' sense of family.  Season Five isn't as riveting as season one, but it works as a return to form and a fitting goodbye.