Cruel Intentions (1999) * * *

 

Directed by:  Roger Kumble

Starring:  Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Resse Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Christine Baranski, Louise Fletcher, Eric Mabius, Sean Patrick Thomas, Joshua Jackson

You could dismiss Cruel Intentions as a young adult version of Dangerous Liaisons, or you can admire the film's style and performances like I did, especially Phillippe's since his character, the contemptible  Sebastian Valmont, undergoes the most changes.   Cruel Intentions moves the action from 19th century Paris to late 20th century New York with the wealthy and privileged playing people like chess pieces. 

Two such creeps are Kathryn Merteuil (Gellar) and her stepbrother Sebastian who lusts for her.  Kathryn plays Sebastian's feelings to her advantage, forever dangling her body like a carrot while tasking Sebastian to ruin the people's lives who recently ran afoul of her.   Sebastian's job is to seduce the new girlfriend (Blair) of the guy who jilted her and then deflower the virgin Annette (Witherspoon), the new school headmaster's daughter who exalted her chaste lifestyle in a recent magazine article.  Annette's wholesomeness is offensive to Kathryn apparently and it would do hear heart good to see her taken down a peg. 

Kathryn and Sebastian are loathsome, but while Kathryn spends her time manipulating others for her own enjoyment, Sebastian gradually grows to love Annette, who has heard things about Sebastian's past but chooses to believe in the good in him.   Phillippe convincingly handles his personality transformation in subtle ways which makes it all the more effective.  He isn't big on declarations of love, but we see the change in his eyes and expressions.  It's a nuanced piece of acting.   We can also see why he would fall for Annette, whose purity and gentleness win over Sebastian, which naturally pisses off Kathryn.   She doesn't love Sebastian, mind you, but Sebastian falling for Annette is a loss for Kathryn in her quest to ruin lives.

Cruel Intentions is faithful to the story with a few twists of its own.  It's a well-done remake with Gellar in the Glenn Close role, Phillippe in the John Malkovich role, and Witherspoon in the Michelle Pfeiffer role from the 1988 film.   They live up to their predecessors and we find history repeating itself in this manner:  Malkovich and Pfeiffer wound up falling in love during filming of Dangerous Liaisons.  One year later, Colin Firth and Meg Tilly occupied the same roles in Valmont and fell in love and had a child together.   Phillippe and Witherspoon married soon after this film was released.   There must be something about these roles which cause the actors to fall for each other.  

She Said (2022) * * *

 

Directed by: Maria Schrader

Starring:  Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Samantha Morton, Jennifer Ehle, Angela Yeoh, Peter Friedman

Months after Donald Trump was elected president despite accusations against him of sexual assault, harassment, and possibly rape, The New York Times began investigating claims from as far back as the 1990's against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.   Weinstein's behavior towards women was not exactly a secret in Hollywood circles, but since he could destroy careers with the snap of his fingers, who would have the courage to rein him in?  

She Said presents to us not only how New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Kazan) painstakingly put the story together, but how Hollywood (and especially the board of Weinstein's company Miramax) enabled Weinstein's predatory behavior with settlements and non-disclosure agreements.  And lastly how this isn't simply a male thing but a money thing.   Weinstein's movies made money for Miramax and won numerous accolades.  They had no desire to kill the golden goose, even though he was committing crimes against women.  The jarring opening scene of She Said sets the tone:  A young woman in Ireland in 1992 stumbles across a movie set and is soon made part of the crew.  She enjoys her job and it lights her up inside, but soon the movie cuts to a scene in which the woman frantically runs down the street disheveled and frightened.   We don't have to ask what happened.  The monster has struck again.

Weinstein's behavior was only curtailed once the Times published its articles about the decades of his abuse.   The victims were not only terrified to speak out, but were silenced by payouts and NDA's.  Famous actresses like Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Rose McGowan (whose accusations started the ball rolling) discussed their ordeals with the reporters, but still feared going on the record because they were afraid Weinstein's power and reach.   Megan's and Jodi's editors wanted an iron-clad story before they published.   It wasn't enough to name names.   They needed corroboration.   Like Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men and Marty Baron in Spotlight, editors Rebecca Corbett (Clarkson) and Dean Baquet (Braughter) are supportive of their reporters and do not cower in fear of the Weinstein machine.   Some of the movie's best scenes involve Dean having the gall to tell Weinstein and his lawyers what's what without fear of retribution. 

We are treated to the obligatory scenes in which Megan and Jodi are lightly chastised by their husbands and families for not being home enough.   Whether such conversations actually took place is up for debate.  What isn't up for debate is that we've seen these scenes before.   Even with minor quibbles, She Said takes us on a powerful journey which shows us the painful nature of investigative reporting in which dead ends, hostile or intimidated witnesses, rejection, and a paper reluctant to publish without all of its ducks in a row are the norm.   I think Spotlight and All the President's Men are better films, but She Said contains its own moments of power in breaking a story which sprung the #metoo movement. 

The Menu (2022) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Mark Mylod

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Judith Light, Janet McTeer, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr, Hong Chau

The Menu begins intriguingly enough.  A group of wealthy people are taken by boat to an exclusive island to indulge in a $1200 per plate meal prepared by Chef Julian Slovik (Fiennes) and his loyal staff which unfailingly responds to his commands like privates would to a drill sergeant.   Chef Slovik's reputation is such that people would pay obscene amounts of money to attend his dinners, but his speeches before each course begin to sound more ominous as the night progresses.   The Fiennes performance is the most fascinating in The Menu.  We are never sure what's inside him or even what he's planning, but he remains a dense mystery.  

Very little is known about the dinner guests, except to say they all have either met or hoped to meet Chef Slovik previously.   One is Tyler (Hoult), an enthusiastic foodie who gobbles up Chef Slovik's words as quickly as he does the food.   In his mind, Chef Slovik can say or do no wrong.   His date Margot (Taylor-Joy), is not nearly as impressed with the chef or the meal.   She is looking for a quiet place to light up a cigarette, a move discouraged by Tyler because it would ruin her palate, as if that's the worst thing smoking could do to a person. 

The first hour or so of The Menu keeps our attention.  We think we know what Chef Slovik is up to, but we don't know why.  When we find out the why, we are not exactly overwhelmed with joy in its discovery.   The characters, with the possible exception of Margot, who Chef Slovik observes, "doesn't belong here,"  We figure out what he means later on, and Margot's identity reveal is not the stuff of cinematic legend. 

What we have with The Menu is neither fish nor fowl.  It is part black comedy skewering the food world where someone stares in awe of the supposed brilliance of a "breadless bread plate" (which is really just sauces) and waxes poetic after tasting some of the food as if a thesaurus has exploded from his lips.   The other part moves uneasily into horror and gore, which makes The Menu an odd combination which ultimately doesn't fit together.  Kind of like some of the items at Chef Slovik's dinner. 

Changeling (2008) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Clint Eastwood

Starring:  Angelina Jolie, Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner, Michael Kelly, John Malkovich, Geoff Pierson

Nine-year-old Walter Collins disappeared from his Los Angeles neighborhood in March 1928.   Months later, the beleaguered LAPD proclaims great news.   The boy was found in rural Illinois and will be returned home to his relieved mother Christine (Jolie), who waited patiently and with bated breath for months for any news of his whereabouts.   One hitch:  The boy who returns is not Walter, despite the department's assertion that he is.   "A mother knows," says Christine, who is nonetheless forced to take the boy home to "try him out for a few weeks," as if he's a new toy.   This boy is four inches shorter than Walter and has dental and medical records which don't match Walter's.   When Christine relays this information to Captain J. J. Jones (Donovan), he has her committed to a psychiatric ward.  

Why would the LAPD try and pass off this boy as Walter Collins?   One reason is because they needed any kind of public relations win they could muster after a series of scandals and the daily radio broadcasts of crusading Rev. Gustav Briegleb (Malkovich), who makes it his daily mission to criticize the corrupt department.  With men like Jones on the force, who could blame him?   The department's attempt to strongarm Christine into accepting that his boy is indeed her son is only one reason Changeling promotes anger and outrage in the viewer.   The movie is based on a true story, and from what I've read about the case, the movie is mostly faithful to the original story.

A subplot, which almost feels like another movie, is soon introduced in the form of Gordon Stewart Northcott (Harner), a Canadian man who kidnaps and kills young boys.   LAPD detective Lester Ybarra (Kelly) arrests a teenager who is in the country illegally and stumbles across Northcott's crimes.   Was Walter among the kidnapped and possibly killed by Northcott?   It's possible, and with the time the department wasted trying to convince Christine that the boy they found was her son, they could've been searching for the real Walter.   

What director Clint Eastwood projects in his inimitable way is the sense of hopelessness ordinary people like Christine face when going up against the machine that is the LAPD.   Christine has a good job as a supervisor at the telephone company and a nice bungalow in a quiet neighborhood, but her world is naturally flipped upside-down forever with the loss of her child.   A crayon drawing by Walter hangs in his room, even as the phony Walter sleeps in his bed.   When Northcott (played by oozing creepiness and smarminess by Jason Butler Harner) enters the picture, Changeling adds another nightmarish dimension because we don't know exactly how many others are suffering the same fate as Walter and his mother.  Jolie's performance is all the more powerful because it doesn't contain flourishes or reach for effect.   At times, Jolie presents uncommon restraint with her character even if the face of obvious police misconduct.   She only wants her son found and still has misplaced faith that the LAPD will do the right thing.

Eastwood hammers home a consistent point with a precise attention to detail:  The LAPD had earned its reputation from which it took years to recover, so much so that a seemingly open and shut case against O.J. Simpson could be tainted by it.  

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) * * *

Directed by:  Martin McDonagh

Starring:  Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan

The world must not want Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson to be friends, or at least Martin McDonagh's world.   In 2008's In Bruges and now 2022's The Banshees of Inisherin, Farrell and Gleeson start out as friends but end up as enemies.   Farrell and Gleeson have remarkable comic chemistry and can elicit laughs by staring at each other.   Both of these films contain brilliant performances and one hell of a setup which is let down by an unsure third act.   In Banshees, maybe the setup is so strong that there isn't a proper way to wrap things up.   

Banshees opens in 1923 on the island of Inisherin, off the West Coast of Ireland.   The mainland is close enough for the residents of Inisherin to hear the bombs and gunfire exploding on it courtesy of the Irish civil war.   A cold war followed by an uncivil one will soon take place between friends Padraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) who would normally meet every day at 2pm at the local pub to drink and chat.  One day, Colm does what passes in 1923 for ghosting his old friend and advises him that he no longer wants his company.   What did Padraic do to deserve this treatment?   Colm explains that Padraic's conversation is dull and he wants to concentrate on writing songs for his fiddle.   No matter the reason, Colm wants nothing to do with Padraic, which naturally Padraic doesn't accept.   Colm makes matters crystal clear by warning Padraic if that he attempts to speak to him, he will cut off one of his own fingers and deliver it to Padraic's cottage which he shares with his sister Siobhan (Condon).   

That should make Padraic think twice about engaging Colm in conversation, but he's as hard-headed as he is simple and amiable.   Colm has simply outgrown him, in his own mind anyway.   Or maybe Colm is suffering through trauma unbeknownst to his friend, and to us.   The Banshees of Inisherin, however, isn't simply the Farrell/Gleeson show.  Kerry Condon, as Padraic's sister, and Barry Keoghan, as Inisherin's version of the village idiot, stand on their own with hilarious supporting work.   They can't make much sense of things, but each has his/her own goals to strive for without getting in the middle of Padraic and Colm.  Siobhan wants to take a job on the mainland while Dominic (Keoghan) sets his eyes on Siobhan.   The fact that Siobhan would move to a place where a bloody, violent war is breaking out tells you all you need to know about how she feels about Inisherin.  

Armageddon Time (2022) * * *

Directed by:  James Gray

Starring:  Banks Repeta, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Jaylin Webb, Jessica Chastain

Set in 1980 Queens in the weeks leading to Ronald Reagan's presidential election victory (met with a "there goes the neighborhood" type of response by Anne Hathaway's Esther), Armageddon Time moves with unease and untidiness for Paul Graff (Repeta), a sixth grader moving towards art as his passion and his future.   Aramageddon Time has autobiographical meaning for its writer/director James Gray (We Own The Night, Ad Astra) and it doesn't always present its subject cleanly or move in one direction.   The characters are drawn in broad strokes, allowing them to be imperfect and human.  The only person who approaches sainthood is Paul's grandfather Aaron (Hopkins), who is his biggest supporter and wants only one thing for him:  Be a mensch.  In life, if you're a mensch (Yiddish for a good person), everything else falls into place.  

Paul is far from a mensch as Armageddon Time begins.  He gets on the wrong side of this sixth grade teacher by aligning himself with the held back black student Johnny Davis (Webb).   They strike up a friendship which isn't exactly supported by most people Paul knows.   There isn't heavy symbolism here, just two unlikely friends in a world prepared to crush that friendship.   Johnny is troubled.   Paul does his best to connect with him, but once Paul is transferred to a private school, he treats Johnny as persona non grata due to peer pressure.   This leads the sick Aaron to lecture Paul about what it means to stand up for friends and yourself.   

Armageddon Time has a strong sense of time and place with Fred Trump and daughter Maryanne (Chastain) playing a small role in shaping Paul's path.  Yes, Donald's father and sister.  If you think the final scene in which Paul walks out on a Fred Trump speech espousing students to become future business leaders and politicians is not meant to be symbolic, then you're watching a different movie than I am.   It may not be Donald Trump whom Paul is walking out on, but the guy speaking is also named Trump and that's close enough for Gray.   

Black Adam (2022) * *

 

Directed by:  Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring:  Dwayne Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Viola Davis, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Mo Amer, Bodhi Sabongui

Black Adam doesn't do much to distinguish itself from other superhero movies, either of the DC or Marvel Brand.   Buildings are blown up, bodies fly around, and a backstory dating back thousands of years.   The story is of Teth Adam (Johnson), who supposedly led a revolt circa 2600 BCE against a despot in a fictional Middle Eastern nation and was then buried for 5,000 years in a desert tomb.   The word "SHAZAM" is used to grant him superpowers (a tie-in to the Shazam! series seems inevitable) and 
Teth Adam can just as easily give up his powers by shouting the same word.  

When Teth Adam is awoken by those who wish to utilize him to rid the nation of a drug gang which has enslaved it, while others such as the Justice Society headed by Amanda Waller (Davis-in a cameo featuring her Suicide Squad character) are dispatched to imprison him for reasons never made fully clear. The Society is headed by Carter Hall/Hawkman (Hodge), whose team consists of Atom Smasher (Centineo) who can grow to the size of Godzilla, Cyclone (Swindell) who can harness the wind, and Dr. Fate (Brosnan), who can occupy multiple spaces and is clairvoyant.   Only Brosnan generates any interest, and as I've stated in a previous review of a forgettable Brosnan movie, he could read the phonebook and still sound cool. 

Even after being buried for 5,000 years and originating in a land in which English wasn't spoken, Teth Adam can helpfully speak English perfectly and goes on to annihilate bad guys while not worrying about property damage or innocent civilians meeting untimely deaths.   The Justice Society acts as Adam's frenemies, while Adam's real friends emerge (the woman who dug him up and her son) and his enemy is determined to sit on the throne and rule the world.   And yes I mean an actual throne.

Johnson has charisma to spare in normal circumstances.  In Black Adam, that charisma is used sparingly.  He, of course, looks the part of a superhero (or antihero), but there isn't much character there.   We witness him morph from anithero to hero and we're not much moved.   Confusing CGI-inflated action scenes rule the day and the plot is too thin to support a nearly two-hour, overly bloated film.   As is custom with DC or MCU movies, there is a post-credit sequence in which Black Adam's next potential opponent is revealed.  That is more compelling than anything in the movie.   Maybe we should just skip to the post-credits scene and save ourselves two hours.