Poor Things (2023) * 1/2

Directed by:  Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring:  Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Mark Ruffalo, Jerrod Carmichael

The last teaming of Emma Stone and writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos was the lackluster The Favourite (2018), which earned Olivia Colman a Best Actress Oscar.  In 2023, we have Poor Things, which aspires to be lackluster.  This is an odd duck with rich performances at the service of a movie in love with its oddness.  The style overshadows everything else and the story may be one you've seen before.  And then the movie really takes a wrong turn.  

Stone plays Bella Baxter, a woman who committed suicide reanimated by Dr. Godwin Baxter (Dafoe), a disfigured, but kindly Dr. Frankenstein-type who put a child's brain into Bella's adult body.  It takes time for Bella to develop motor skills, language, and social graces, but once she does she is taken to Lisbon by caddish suitor Duncan Wedderbern (Ruffalo) in the name of adventure.   Once Bella's sexuality awakens, she is insatiable to the point that even Duncan tells her he needs a rest.   Their journey takes them to Alexandria, then Paris, then back to London where Bella's true identity is discovered.   Bella not only discovers sex, but prostitutes herself in a sordid, extended sequence which grows depressing, and then finds herself wanting to become a doctor like her father figure "God" Baxter.  

Poor Things is not hard to follow, but we find ourselves wondering why we would want to follow it.  It's a Frankenstein knockoff with a female creature instead of a male one.  I've frequently stated I'd watch Emma Stone in anything.   Poor Things puts that belief to the extreme test, even though I occasionally found Bella likable mostly because Stone is able to find the humanity in her.   Ruffalo is having a ball as the proper Duncan who finds Bella is more than he bargained for.   But, I found my attention drifting as the cast speaks strange dialogue in front of obvious movie sets.  

I'm not sure what the title Poor Things is referring to:  The characters or the audience being subjected to it. 

The Boys in the Boat (2023) * * *

Directed by: George Clooney

Starring:  Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Hadley Robinson, Courtney Henggeler, Peter Guinness, Chris Diamantopolous

Based on a true story, there isn't much about The Boys in the Boat you can't predict and that's just the way we like it.   It's an underdog sports story about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that won the gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  Wait, you didn't think a movie would be made about an American team which won the bronze, do you?  Maybe there will be one, but not this one. 

What made the Washington rowers special is that they were a JV team and not varsity, a risky move which could have cost coach Al Ulbrickson (Edgerton) his job.   But Coach believed in this team of scrappy kids who came from working class families hardest hit by the Depression.  One of the rowers, Joe Rantz (Turner) lived in his car and attended school but joined the rowing team in order to secure a room, meals, and a job.  This is the edge Ulbrickson was counting on to defeat his rival California-Berkeley but also the Ivy Leaguers, who come from generations of wealth, in the national Olympic qualifiers. 

Director Clooney has a fondness for stories set in decades gone by.  Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) was set amidst the 1950's McCarthyism era, Leatherheads (2008) in the early days of 1920's pro football, The Monuments Men (2014) during World War II, and now The Boys in the Boat, which like the previous films vividly captures time and place while providing us stirring moments we can see a mile down the road.  The races are shot with style and skill, so we don't lose track of what's happening.   Other obstacles are thrown the Washington rowers' way, including the possibility of not going to Berlin at all unless they can raise $5,000 because the Olympic Committee suddenly and mysteriously ran out of money. 

With the exception of Rantz, the rest of the team is presented as interchangeable pieces of a puzzle with little depth given to the characters.   No matter.   Clooney is still able to give us a solid story that is skillfully woven and told.  

Maestro (2023) * * 1/2

Directed by:  Bradley Cooper

Starring:  Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Sarah Silverman, Matt Bomer

Maestro's whole is not greater than the sum of its parts.  It is technically marvelous while it suffers as a biopic of Leonard Bernstein, played by Cooper in an energetic performance in which his passion for Bernstein doesn't translate to a successful movie.   Bernstein was gay and married to actress Felicia Montealegre (Mulligan), who understood he was homosexual but loved him anyway.  Leonard loved Felicia as a companion and as the mother to his two children, but he was unable to suppress his desires for men even when Felicia chided him for not being discreet because homosexuality may ruin his career.  

Felicia seemed tolerant of Leonard's indiscretions until she wasn't.  By then, Bernstein had co-written West Side Story and became a world-famous conductor and composer.   Maestro is filmed in black and white in the early days of Leonard and Felicia's courtship, then becoming color as the decades wore on.  Cooper uses creative editing sweeps to suggest the passing of time as Leonard's relationship evolved.   However, many scenes drag on far too long with too much dialogue that grows tiresome.  And then there's the smoking.  Leonard and Felicia, if they aren't actively smoking a cigarette, are about to light one up.   This is so noticeable that it becomes distracting.   It is a relief to witness a rare scene in which the characters aren't smoking or even holding a cigarette.   Bernstein died in 1990 at age 72 due to complications from lung cancer.  It's a wonder he lived that long. 

If you came into Maestro not knowing who Leonard Bernstein was or why he was famous, the movie wouldn't be illuminating.  Maestro is more interested in Bernstein's personal life than his professional one, although Cooper throws his all into a six-minute conducting performance in which he gyrates and perspires to the point of nearly passing out.  Cooper has stated in interviews he learned about conducting and did his own in the movie.  I will accept on faith that Maestro knows what it's talking about when it comes to the conducting aspect.  It sure looks convincing.  

Maestro's strengths are the Cooper performance enveloped in superior cinematography, editing, and production values.  The movie is so well-made that I wish the story were as absorbing as how it's presented.  There was plenty of unwarranted controversy surrounding Cooper's use of a fake nose which more accurately resembled Bernstein's, but the movie's makeup, which shows us Bernstein's aging convincingly, is likely to win awards.   Cooper's use of an enhanced proboscis is hardly what's wrong about Maestro.  Felicia in real life was Chilean, but Mulligan is not.  Wait until the casting police get a hold of that tidbit of information.  

The Iron Claw (2023) * * *

Directed by: Sean Durkin

Starring: Zac Efron, Lily James, Harris Dickinson, Holt McCallany, Maura Tierney, Jeremy Allen White, Stanley Simons

The Iron Claw tells the sad story of the legendary Von Erich wrestling family in which four of the five sons of Fritz and Doris Von Erich died within a ten-year period (three of which by suicide).   The youngest son, Chris, is not even mentioned in The Iron Claw, but he was dead in his early 20's nonetheless.   Why did this happen?  The movie suggests Fritz's demands that his sons follow him into the wrestling business became too much for David (Dickinson), Kerry (White), and Mike (Simons), all of whom battled health and/or drug and alcohol issues before their untimely passing.   And then there's Jack Jr. who died when he was five. 

Those going in to The Iron Claw cold will not be able to pick out the chronological discrepancies on display or the fact that Jeremy Allen White is a half-foot shorter than Kerry was.   The oldest living brother Kevin (Efron) looks like The Hulk sans green makeup.   If you're coming to The Iron Claw for factual accuracy, you won't get it.   But The Iron Claw still vibrates with effective performances and moments of raw power which work and make it worthwhile. 

Fritz (McCallany) is an upper mid-carder in the 1960's National Wrestling Alliance who never quite breaks into the top tier of wrestling megastars.   He founded World Class Championship Wrestling in his home state of Texas and by the early 1980's Kevin and David are budding stars in the territory.  Kevin has the look and the skill, but his microphone work needs help, while David has the gift of gab which makes him next of line for an NWA world title shot.  Kevin loves hanging with his brothers, including younger Mike who would rather be a musician than a wrestler, but after David's passing in Japan in 1984, Mike is pushed into the business with tragic results. 

Fritz is the Little-League dad gone berserk.  He wants the NWA world title in his territory so badly he is willing to wreck his sons' lives to do it.   Part of his relentless pushing of his children is due to his own career shortcomings.   Kevin believes since he was the most loyal to his father that he should be the Von Erich to finally bring home the gold.  Instead, Kerry is given the shot and ultimately defeats Ric Flair for the belt at the first David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions.   According to the movie, Kerry takes the ill-fated motorcycle ride which resulted in an accident that cost him his right foot on the very day he won the NWA World Championship.  In reality, this occurred two years after he quickly lost the title back to Flair weeks after winning it, mostly because Kerry was already deemed an unreliable champion due to his drug addiction which had already taken hold long before losing his foot.

Kevin finds a possibility of a life outside of wrestling when he meets Pam (James), a fan with whom he falls in love and marries.   Pam provides the support Kevin needs especially in dealing with his brothers' deaths.  Fritz tells his sons not to cry, which causes further distress within the surviving family members.   I don't know for sure if Fritz was the monster in which The Iron Claw portrays him, but McCallany's performance is so effectively scary not because Fritz is necessarily physically abusive, but because he has the potential to be.   He sure was emotionally abusive and manipulative, with Doris not having the heart to get involved. 

The Iron Claw may not be factually accurate, but the moments of power pull it through because it's difficult not to feel pity for Kevin, the only brother who is still living and in some ways has thrived despite losing most of his family.   "I used to be a brother and now I'm not a brother anymore," he tells his children, and one can't help but sympathize.   These are the scenes in which The Iron Claw makes its mark.

The Queen (2006) * * * *

 

Directed by:  Stephen Frears

Starring:  Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Alex Jennings, Helen McCrory, Sylvia Sims, Roger Allam

The sudden death of Princess Diana in August 1997 posed a grave challenge to the British royal family unlike anything prior.   Diana was beloved throughout the world, dubbed "The People's Princess" by newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair (Sheen), and Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) wanted to conduct her life as it were business as usual.   The longer Elizabeth did not make a statement or fly the flag at Buckingham Palace at half-staff (even though she was vacationing at Balmoral), the more public opinion turned against her.   The Queen is about a week in the life of Queen Elizabeth in which traditions were forced to bend to public will.  

Diana, divorced from Prince Charles at the time of her death, was no longer an HRH (Her Royal Highness) and thus didn't qualify for a royal funeral.  Blair senses the national mood more clearly, and urges Elizabeth (with support from Prince Charles), to hold a public funeral and to make a statement.  Prince Charles stresses that the monarchy must evolve into more modern thinking in order to avoid ceasing in relevance, but Queen Elizabeth stands firmly in her resolve.  Not because she's queen, but because this is how such matters have always been handled, and who is anyone to break with past practices?

Helen Mirren won an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance, and it is a masterclass in internal conflict while maintaining an opposite public face for her subjects.  She is part of the "stiff upper lip" generation, however, the movie written by Peter Morgan provides nice human touches.  Queen Elizabeth not only drives along the Scottish highlands, but she's a decent mechanic when one breaks down.  We learn she worked as a mechanic in her teens during World War II.  But, she is struggling with how to handle this unprecedented situation with Diana's funeral while trying to control the public's perception. 

Michael Sheen has played Tony Blair numerous times in various productions, and here plays a fresh, wide-eyed, newly elected prime minister who underestimates Queen Elizabeth's resolve.   He is not anti-monarchy, per se, but he agrees with Prince Charles that a modernization is in order.   This is until he watches Queen Elizabeth's public statement on tv delivered with poise, grace, and intelligence.  At that moment, he is converted to a Queen Elizabeth supporter.  "She's a survivor," he marvels as his wife Cherie, a staunch anti-monarchist, (McCrory) rolls her eyes.  

The Queen remains gripping throughout, not only as a historical document of a landmark week in history, but how the people involved change and evolve before our eyes.   I feel after watching The Queen that I've gained a more intimate understanding of the royal family, which is saying a lot about The Queen's effectiveness. 

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) * *

 

Directed by:  Jeremiah S. Chechik

Starring:  Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Johnny Galecki, Juliette Lewis, Brian Doyle-Murray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, John Randolph, Diane Ladd, Randy Quaid, Miriam Floyd, William Hickey, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation has become a holiday favorite.  Some may say classic.  The movie's overuse of slapstick, pratfalls, and chain reaction sight gags does not work for me.   There are wonderful comic actors in the cast and they are forced to take a back seat to the physical comedy.   Of the original Chevy Chase-led Vacation films, the first one (1983) is still the best with European Vacation (1985) being a decent sequel.  However, Christmas Vacation is the one with enduring popularity.  It does have irrepressible Christmas cheer and it tries hard, maybe too hard, for a laugh, but you can't fault the effort. 

Chevy Chase returns as Clark Griswold, whose only mission in life is to spend quality time with his family and show them a good time.  This is the only Vacation film to date in which Clark and his family stay home, but that doesn't mean Clark is at peace.  Just setting up the lights presents a challenge, and the result of all those lights provides a famous moment in the film.  Then, both his and wife Ellen's (D'Angelo) parents show up and soon the movie feels like a traffic jam with various characters fighting for screen time.  We also see Clark at work, as he endures a cantankerous Scrooge of a boss (Doyle-Murray) who is dangling a Christmas bonus in front of his employees.  Clark thinks he will be able to finance a new backyard pool with it.   Hint:  He won't.

Poor Clark trips, falls, and goes boom more than the would-be thieves in the Home Alone movies.  Chase and the cast are game for the pratfalls, but soon enough the movie grows tiresome with the conclusion of Clark snapping and kidnapping his boss feeling like retread of the original Vacation ending.   The question isn't whether Clark can handle another setback, it's whether we can.  

The Curse (2023) * * 1/2 (airing on Showtime)

 

Starring:  Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, Benny Safdie, Corbin Bernsen, Barkhad Abdi

The Curse is uneven and at times a slog, but then there are also enough good aspects to warrant continued viewing.  It's a frustrating show with stops and starts in its rhythm, with protagonists who appear to be hanging on by a thread hosting a reality show in which they flip houses in the obscure town of Espanola, New Mexico.  The local Native American tribe wants to exert influence over the proceedings by forcing prospective buyers to support the local tribe unequivocally and sign a document stating so.  What does this mean?  Who knows, but it isn't promising.   It's painful listening to co-host Whitney Siegel (Stone) try to sell this document to buyers ready to close who will eventually back out because they've never heard anything so ludicrous.  

The Siegels encounter myriad issues in the first five episodes, including husband Asher's (Fielder) small penis which causes the couple to find creative ways to satisfy Whitney, the troubled past of the show's producer Doug (Safdie), who has a history of DUI, Whitney's unscrupulous real estate mogul parents from whom she tries to distance herself, and the question of whether their house-flipping show will even be picked up for a season.   Asher, who could play Ray Romano if a biopic was ever made about him, is awkward in almost every facet of his being.  Words tumble out of his mouth, while Whitney is far more direct and eloquent.  

Oh, and there is the business of The Curse, which is placed on Asher by a young homeless child after he gives her a $100 bill on camera and then tries to take it back when the camera shuts off.   It is just another of Asher's endless attempts to help the show which goes horribly wrong.  Is there a curse?  The child, her sister, and their father (Abdi-from Captain Phillips) are soon squatting in one of the properties the Siegels wish to flip, and Asher sees this as a way to have the curse lifted, if there is one.   

There is plenty going on, but the pacing is off.  Most of the characters, if not all, are amoral and shady.  Whitney soon becomes full of unearned, insufferable virtue as she looks for "the right people" to buy their houses.  Asher tries to make things better to no avail.  Doug sinks further into depression while trying to keep the show, his only reason for living, afloat.  Stone is able to inject even soggy material with life, and she is forced to do so a lot in The Curse.  Fielder is effectively off-putting and put-upon while he struggles to articulate his anger.  The performances work, the show only partly so, but like Michael Corleone states, "Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in,"  

Eileen (2023) * * 1/2

Directed by:  William Oldroyd

Starring:  Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway, Shea Whigham, Shioban Fallon Hogan, Marin Ireland, Sam Nivola

The title character of Eileen is dead inside as the movie opens.  She is spying on a couple making out in a car and stuffs yellow snow down her skirt as her version of a cold shower.  Yuck,  Then, she travels to her dead-end job as a secretary in a youth prison where she fantasizes one of the guards would just hump her already.  Even these brief escapes are fleeting.   Her father Jim (Whigham) is an alcoholic former police chief who despises her and wishes his other daughter would come and visit him.  Eileen doesn't bother with makeup or even necessarily bathing.  She just moves through her harsh existence in a cold, snowy Massachusetts town circa 1964.

One morning in the prison parking lot, Eileen sees a vision emerge from her car in the form of the new prison psychiatrist Rebecca St. John (Hathaway).  Rebecca stirs Eileen's passions immediately, forcing her to straighten up so Rebecca would notice her.   The glamorous doctor, with her blonde hair and quasi-Mid-Atlantic accent, seems as if she arrived from the set of a movie.  She seems out of place dealing with teenage patients in a remote prison, but she notices Eileen and takes a liking to her.   Rebecca asks Eileen out for a drink and Eileen goes home to shave her legs for perhaps the first time in a while and even wear makeup.  

Rebecca and Eileen drink, then dance, then Rebecca leaves the bar with Eileen clearly wishing they could kiss goodnight.   Color Eileen seduced, but then on Christmas night, Rebecca invites Eileen over to her home and this is where we think their romance will commence.   It is not so.  I won't reveal what happens, but the movie takes an unexpected turn from which it never recovers.  Until the plot twist, Eileen was atmospheric and intriguing as we see two women feel each other out and approach a relationship.  

But the love which dare not speak its name doesn't materialize, and instead the movie ends with unseemly haste as the first hour or so minutes dissolve into memory.  We are left with no true payoff and I think we are supposed to be happy for Eileen in the end, or is the room being left open for a sequel?  The three leads take complex characters and perform them superbly.  They come from places in particular and we are interested in them, but then poof, whatever tightly held magic weaved from the buildup evaporates into...what the hell was that?   

World Trade Center (2006) * * *

 

Directed by:  Oliver Stone

Starring:  Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Jon Bernthal, Maria Bello, Jay Hernandez

World Trade Center was released the same year as Paul Greengrass' United 93.  There was debate over whether it was too soon for a movie about 9/11.  Five years was sufficient.  These are stories that were needed to be told to a wide audience.  We saw heroic actions from those who didn't ask to be heroes.  Both United 93 and World Trade Center exist in the moment without larger context, although United 93 is told with more ruthless precision than World Trade Center, which introduces a former Marine (Shannon) who answers a higher calling to leave his job and travel to Ground Zero to assist and his story distracts from the realism temporarily.  

The journey of the Marine is almost hagiography, and he comes across as more of a symbol than a human being.  However, this subplot does not derail World Trade Center's power.   The bulk of the movie centers on two Port Authority police officers trapped in the rubble of one of the collapsed towers.   John McLoughlin (Cage) and Will Jimeno (Pena) are two men who went into the tower trying to rescue people.  The building collapses and miraculously they survive the initial collapse although they are pinned down by rubble with explosions occurring all around them.   Will help arrive?  Their radios do not work and although they are several feet apart, they try to keep each other's spirits up in an unprecedented situation. Neither wants to lose hope, because that is all they have, since there is no water, food, medicine, and the pain of crushed limbs is agonizing. 

John and Will's families are at home anxiously awaiting any news of their fates.  These scenes also generate sympathy and inspire empathy.  These are just two of thousands of families who only want answers when none are forthcoming.  World Trade Center starts out with Tuesday September 11, 2001 as a quiet, normal day.  How could anyone, except the terrorists who hijacked the planes, possibly foresee the horror that would arrive in a few short hours?  What occurred next was surreal even to those thousands of miles away.  A plane deliberately hits the first tower, then another one the second?  

Director Oliver Stone captures the mood and atmosphere of this dark day plus the terrifying, claustrophobic danger of John and Will's dilemma.   So many things had to happen (plus a few like starvation, dehydration, illness, blood loss, shock, etc. which didn't happen) to allow for their rescue.  The scroll before the end credits shows us how these two were in the minority as far as surviving through this ordeal.  They went through countless medical procedures in order to be able to leave the hospital, and in 2006, the long-term effects of breathing in the glass, dust, dirt, and foreign particles were still not known.  But I'm sure they were happy to take that over the fate which befell nearly 3,000 people that day in New York. 

Dream Scenario (2023) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Kristoffer Borgli

Starring:  Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Dylan Baker, Tim Meadows, Michael Cera, Dylan Gelula, Lily Byrd, Jessica Clement, James Alexander Warren

I missed satire and with Dream Scenario, it has returned with a vengeance.  It is also great to see Nicolas Cage in a project worthy of his talent and give his best performance in many a moon.   Cage's gift is always to seem enthusiastic even when the material is subpar.  In Dream Scenario, he is enjoying himself with reason and purpose.   I hope people don't stay away from it because they think it's "yet another Nicolas Cage movie".  It isn't.  It is smart, perceptive, and most of all, a funny satire covering cancel culture to "feeling unsafe". 

Paul Matthews (Cage) is an unassuming, nerdy college professor who epitomizes ordinariness.  His students aren't engaged in his class in which topics such as zebra mating are covered, and he has yet to be published while his colleagues are publishing articles based on his ideas.  His family life is more or less happy and he has a nice house in the suburbs.   Then, Paul is informed by numerous people including his daughter that he appeared in her dream as an inert bystander.   Paul soon becomes a social media sensation faster than you can say "viral", although he is puzzled to understand how and why he shows up randomly in dreams of people he hasn't even met, and also why is suddenly famous for it.

Paul's fame strains his marriage to his wife Janet (Nicholson), who finds her professional life improving, but also weirdos breaking into their house threatening to kill the family.   His fame also comes with publishers trying to talk him into making ads featuring Barack Obama and Sprite.  But just at the zenith of his fame comes the inevitable backlash in the form of people suddenly dreaming Paul is attacking or trying to kill them.  

Paul is inexplicably ostracized by family, faculty, students, friends, and even the agents who were so keen on having him do Sprite commercials.  He didn't actually do anything wrong, nor did he do anything period.  That doesn't stop him from becoming persona non grata and effectively cancelled.  It is here when Dream Scenario moves into a satirical, unexpected direction which had me smiling.  Sure, Paul's situation is exaggerated and ridiculous, but people have been inexplicably shunned or "cancelled" for a lot less.  The movie doesn't take political sides, although both liberals and conservatives want a piece of Paul when it suits their needs.  

If anything else, Dream Scenario is a funny look at a world in which "feeling unsafe" trumps everything else, including reason, logic, and sanity.  Cage gives us a sympathetic protagonist who has this crazy dilemma thrust at him and handles it with aplomb.  Dream Scenario could have been a movie in which the hero figures out what's happening and tries to fix it.  No explanation is given as to why Paul is appearing in strangers' dreams and we don't need to know because it isn't the point.  Writer-director Kristoffer Borgli instead gives us something we didn't realize could still be made today:  A pointed look at today's climate and an unexpected treat. 

Napoleon (2023) * *

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahir Rahim, Ludivine Sagnier

Ridley Scott's bloated Napoleon boasts lengthy battle scenes shot in either the dark or under gray skies which makes the action indiscernible and an unconvincing love story in between the fighting.  Joaquin Phoenix tries his damndest to humanize Napoleon Bonaparte, but the movie never convinces us why yet another epic about the French emperor needed to be made.  

Napoleon begins in 1789 at the start of the French Revolution.  Marie Antoinette and other royalty are guillotined and young Napoleon graduates to rank of brigadier general after recapturing a port from the British in a night battle where he can't see what's happening, except for Napoleon's horse being hit with a cannonball.   Soon after Napoleon gains fame as a military genius, he notices Josephine (Kirby), a widowed mother of two, and is enraptured.  Despite her past in which she took on many lovers, Napoleon wishes to marry her.   The two children, however, soon conspicuously disappear from the scene shortly after Napoleon marries Josephine.   

When Napoleon travels with his army to Egypt to liberate the nation from the British, Josephine takes on a lover.  The news travels to Egypt, and the humiliated Napoleon abandons his army to go home and deal with his unfaithful wife.  Napoleon is furious, but also loves Josephine and can't bring himself to leave her.  They soon enter into a quasi-BDSM relationship in which Josephine is at times dominant over the French general who soon declares himself emperor after a series of political moves which weren't exactly explained.  Napoleon soon grows more and more disturbed at his inability to produce an heir with Josephine.  He is soon able to use a surrogate to carry his child, another child who vanishes from the scene until much later in the film. 

Napoleon plods along as the emperor attempts to invade Russia and Austria while setting his sights on England.   There isn't much intrigue here and the relationship with Josephine doesn't establish itself as anything we should care about.   We aren't even a witness to tragedy even when Napoleon is exiled to Elba and later to St. Helena following his defeat at Waterloo.   He receives a nice island to live on and a stipend, so he shouldn't complain much.   Sure Josephine is not with him, but her passing occurs off-screen, not that we miss her.   The entire movie is a clumsy epic of nearly three hours which doesn't invite us into Napoleon's story in any insightful way.  

Silent Night (2023) * *

Directed by:  John Woo

Starring:  Joel Kinnaman, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Harold Torres, Scott Mescudi

John Woo's Silent Night is John Wick without dialogue, which is both repetitive and distracting.  The John Wick series has exhausted all of the fresh ways you can witness someone being shot to death.  Like Wick, I ask myself how much spare ammo the hero has to carry and doesn't it get heavy to lug it around?  Even with a backpack? 

Silent Night has a heart at its core, and there is poignancy in the scenes in which grieving father Brian (Kinnaman) remembers his late son who was killed by a stray bullet during an L.A. gang gunfight.  He attempts to chase down the killers, but is soon shot in the throat and left for dead by gang leader Playa (Torres).   This explains why Brian cannot speak, but the rest of the movie follows suit.  The only character with any substantial dialogue is a radio DJ who helpfully announces what holiday is coming up to mark the passage of time.   The approach grows distracting and gimmicky.  Watching the movie contrive ways to avoid having its characters speak reminded me of the all the methods Sex and the City used to keep Mr. Big's real name a secret. 

Brian is inconsolable as he drinks his days away.  His wife Saya (Moreno) tries to move on and encourage her husband to do the same, but soon leaves him as his depression worsens.   The only way Brian can snap out of his funk is to plot his revenge, which plays like a Rocky montage in which he lifts weights, drives fast, and sharpens his aim at the gun range.   He plans December 24, the one-year anniversary of his son's death, to exact vengeance.   He writes on his calendar, "Kill them all,"  Brian attempts to seek the help of a detective (Mescudi), but finds he'd rather wipe out the gangs himself.  

There is no indication that Brian had military training or any previous firearms experience, but I suppose he idolized Call of Duty and John Wick because he kills nameless gang members with the best of them.   These are the only types of movies in which two or three bullets in the chest from point-blank range only serves to stun the baddies and force the hero to kick or punch the man he just shot with his hand cannon.  We've seen this movie before.   John Wick wanted to avenge his dog.  Brian wants to avenge his son.  This movie carries more emotional heft, but the results are the same.  No matter how creatively Woo tries to dress Silent Night up, it feels like same old, same old. 

All the Light We Cannot See (2023) * * (streaming on Netflix)

 

Directed by: Shawn Levy

Starring:  Aria Mia Loberti, Louis Hofmann, Felix Kammerer, Hugh Laurie, Mark Ruffalo, Lars Eidinger, Marion Bailey

Marie Leblanc (Loberti) is a blind teenager transmitting illegal radio broadcasts in the waning days of the Nazi occupation of France in 1944.  She calls out for her missing father Daniel (Ruffalo) and Uncle Etienne (Laurie), both members of the French resistance, while speaking in secret codes to the Allies while reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  Her broadcasts are picked up by German teenager Werner Pfennig (Hofmann), who has been listening on this frequency since his days in an orphanage, but the person speaking back then was a mysterious professor whose words gave him hope.  Werner, due to his genius working with radios, is soon scooped up into the Nazi war machine.  

There is nothing Werner displays which shows us that it takes an expert to do what he does.  Germany apparently had a whole curriculum dedicated to taking apart and putting together radios.  An average electrician could fix wires and find frequencies.  Werner is enthralled with Marie's voice, while Reinhold (Eidinger), a poor man's Hans Landa who tracks people for the Gestapo, searches for Marie because he believes a precious stone which would cure his fatal illness and grant him eternal life is in her possession.  

Daniel is missing, while Etienne works out of the back of a bakery in the port town of Saint Malo, France, which is where the bulk of All the Light We Cannot See takes place.  Most of the battle scenes in the series are clearly phony CGI, while the dramatic scenes are jumbles of words faking some sort of profundity.  The professor speaks of "the light we cannot see", which sounds deep, but what does it actually mean?   The series lasts four episodes, which is three more than it needs.  The human stakes are awfully low for a World War II drama with Nazi villains and moral, decent heroes.  All the Light We Cannot See, based on a Pulitzer-prize winning novel, might have come more alive on the page than it does in this mini-series.  After the final scene, I asked myself, is there all there is? 

School Ties (1992) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Robert Mandel

Starring:  Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Randall Batinkoff, Amy Locane, Zeljko Ivanek, Chris O'Donnell, Anthony Rapp

School Ties tells a simplistic tale of a Catholic New England prep school (circa 1950's) which recruits Jewish quarterback David Greene (Fraser) to lead its football team to new heights while asking David to keep his religion a secret.  Being Jewish wouldn't go over well in these parts, you see, so David plays games on Rosh Hashanah while sneaking away at night to read from the Talmud.  His teammates and classmates make openly anti-Semitic jokes and remarks which David has to shrug off in order to play along.  

If there wasn't antisemitism amongst the staff and students, School Ties wouldn't have a conflict to resolve.  It's well-acted with a sturdy, yet conflicted Fraser as its center, and the movie takes its time to reach the pivotal scene in which David's background is inadvertently revealed to villain Charlie Dillon (Damon) and then David's world becomes a torrent of insults, threats, and violence against him.  Charlie is relegated to backup quarterback once David arrives, and he loses his girl Sally (Locane) to David also.  Then, David's Jewish heritage is made known, and Sally kicks him to the curb.

Aside from David's reasonable roommate Chris (O'Donnell), nearly everyone turns on David with gleeful ferocity.  Chris is hurt because David didn't trust him enough to confide in him, but the others see David like the Nazis did a decade or two earlier.   The prep school itself doesn't exactly distinguish itself from the schools depicted in movies like Dead Poets Society or Scent of a Woman.   The faculty is snooty, the kids are insufferable (except for a few nice ones), and the headmasters speak of tradition, honor, and duty while eschewing all of those when it suits them.  The only reason such places exist is because they are a springboard to Ivy League schools which is where David and everyone else wants to go.

I'm ambivalent about School Ties mostly because it is a one-dimensional story without much nuance.  Its central conflict is not only David vs. his WASP classmates, but within himself.  The school headmaster asks him if it's worth sacrificing traditions for a game.   David asks "yours or mine?"  Almost any college or school would sacrifice just about anything for wins and championships, until they are caught cheating or breaking the law and then we hear of honor, duty, and tradition.  The final thirty minutes of School Ties focuses on Charlie cheating on an exam and David witnessing it but not reporting it.  Because David is the hero, the movie contorts its way to an unconvincing ending in which he is exonerated although he technically didn't uphold the school's honor code.  School Ties has its moments, but overall not enough to transcend into greatness. 

Reacher (First Season-2022) * *

 

Starring:  Alan Ritchson, Willa Fitzgerald, Malcolm Goodwin, Marc Bendavid, Kristin Kreuk, Bruce McGill, Christopher Webster, Willie C. Carpenter

The 2012 movie Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise did little to make we want to see any reiterations of the character, a military investigator who could make Hercule Poirot look incompetent by comparison.  We now have the first season of Reacher, based more closely on the novels by Lee Child and starring a hulk named Alan Ritchson as the title character.   Ritchson, from all indications, has the physical stature Child envisioned when writing the novels, but despite his superior intelligence and crime-solving acumen, he doesn't have much of a personality.  If you had Tom Cruise's charisma matched with Ritchson's physical presence, you'd really have something.

The opening two episodes of this series filled me with interest.  The mysterious Jack Reacher comes strolling into a small Georgia town, but is soon picked up on suspicion of a brutal murder.  Reacher is in the local jail when a meek accountant named Paul (Bendavid) confesses to the murder when questioned by the chief detective Oscar Finlay (Goodwin).  Reacher and Paul are soon transferred to country prison to await arraignment, but are thrown into general population where they are accosted by toughs whom Reacher thrashes within minutes.   

Reacher is soon released, but after finding out the victim is his brother Joe, he unofficially joins up with Finlay and deputy Roscoe Conklin (Fitzgerald) to solve the murder, which covers a vast conspiracy involving weapons, counterfeit money, crooked police, and Venezuelan drug cartels.  Roscoe is a woman, by the way, and a pretty and tough one at that.  She can handle herself during the series' more violent scenes.  

Following the first two episodes, Reacher becomes a slog through a labyrinthine plot and too many characters to account for.  When the crime is solved, we find it underwhelming.   Reacher himself is reduced to a walking, talking cliche.  He walks away from explosions as if there is no such thing as shrapnel, flying objects, or as if flames are aware of boundaries they aren't permitted to cross.  Reacher stays off the grid and doesn't believe in suitcases, backpacks, or even a change of clothes.   All of his shirts show off his chiseled physique and if I've seen one scene of him disrobing, I've seen five or six.  In the end, we see him confidently walking to whatever place will have the next injustice for him to rectify.  And he hitchhikes, which is a sure way to get into danger.  I would recommend an Uber, but it is difficult to determine how he gets money to pay for it. 

The General's Daughter (1999) * * *

 

Directed by:  Simon West

Starring:  John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Leslie Stefanson, Timothy Hutton, James Woods, Clarence Williams III

Experienced army warrant officers Paul Brunner (Travolta) and Sara Sundhill (Stowe) have never witnessed a murder scene like the one of Capt. Elisabeth Campbell (Stefanson)whose body was found staked to the ground, spread eagle, and strangled (possibly raped as well).  She is the daughter of General Joseph Campbell (Cromwell), who is on the shortlist for a vice-presidential run.  It is a harrowing scene and sets the tone for The General's Daughter in which the military sets its own rules for justice that promote the needs of the army over the needs of a brutalized soldier.  

Elisabeth had a grudge against her father, stemming from her days at West Point, and in recent years has taken on psychological warfare in which the enemy was "daddy".  You'll see why.  Her direct superior Col. Robert Moore (Woods) knows her story, but only hints at it when being interrogated and later jailed as a murder suspect by Brunner.   Woods is Elisabeth's mentor in psychological warfare tactics, and harbors secrets of his own.

There are numerous suspects since Elisabeth engaged in kinky sexual activities and used men as mere sex toys.  This was likely part of the war against her father, who surely disapproved of her social life.  The General's Daughter is a darker whodunit with a sense of outrage over the events of the past which changed both Elisabeth's and her father's life.  Watch Elisabeth's face when she is visited by her father in the hospital.  Her expression turns from gratitude and love to absolute heartbreak and even terror.  It is a powerful scene which delivers us an understanding of what will come after.   Paul and Sara are former lovers who hint at their past while trying to solve this heinous crime which could rock the foundations of the army, especially since the general has political aspirations.   I'm not certain why they needed to have a past, except to provide some levity from the movie's darker atmosphere.  

The General's Daughter is well-paced with performances which work within the genre.  When all is revealed and the consequences doled out, there is not exactly a catharsis because The General's Daughter almost functions on the level of tragedy.   How could it not?  

Next Goal Wins (2023) * *

 

Directed by:  Taika Waititi

Starring:  Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett, Frankie Adams, Oscar Kightley, Chris Alosio, Kaimana, Taika Waititi

Next Goal Wins is an underdog sports movie which doesn't distinguish itself from its betters and or even average ones.  It follows the cliches and the traditions, but lacks energy and passion, two things which Thomas Rongen (Fassbender), the new coach for the hapless American Samoa team, preaches when he bothers to show up or when he's sober.   The beginning of the movie shows American Samoa losing 31-0 to Australia in the 2001 World Cup.  Ten years later, Rongen was fired from his coaching position with the American squad and takes the American Samoa job at the behest of his ex-wife (Moss).  He has a well-deserved reputation as a hothead who could be considered soccer's Bobby Knight. 

Thomas finds the American Samoa players to be passionate, but lacking discipline and organization.  Many of the players hold down second jobs, including the federation president (Kightley) who runs a local restaurant with many players staffed there.  Thomas finds an ally in transgender player Jiayah (Kaimana), who assists him in trying to raise the team's skill level and spirits.  He only has four weeks until World Cup qualifying play against Tonga, a cocky bunch whose job is to play villain and be the superior squad American Samoa must overcome.   Thomas also recruits the 2001 goalkeeper who let in 31 goals and is looking for redemption.

Does Thomas at first dismiss the team as losers?  Does he find solace at the bottom of the bottle?  Does he Have A Past?  Does he whip them into shape?  Is there a training montage?  Does the team find themselves losing at halftime of the Big Game?  Do they come back?  If your answer to any of these questions is anything other than yes, then Next Goal Wins will seem like a fresh movie to you or you have never seen a sports movie before.  

There is nothing wrong with sports movies.  The best ones, even with conventions, can still be stirring or delightfully entertaining.  Next Goal Wins is content to be mediocre and likely will be forgotten not long after I've finished this review.  

 

Thanksgiving (2023) * *

 

Directed by:  Eli Roth

Starring:  Patrick Dempsey, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, Gina Gershon, Milo Manheim, Addison Rae, Tim Dillon, Jenna Warren, Jalen Thomas Brooks

I was unaware Eli Roth created a fake trailer for Thanksgiving as part of Quentin Tarantino's/Robert Rodriguez's 2007 Grindhouse.  Now, we have the actual movie, and since nearly every other holiday has a horror saga attached to it, why not Thanksgiving?   For a while, I was enjoying Thanksgiving in a way I was entertained by the better Scream movies, but then gore and blood overtake the popcorn fun.  I allude to John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) as the tentpole for horror films, where suspense overrides everything and the killings themselves take on a certain restraint.  Now, the movies have become obsessed with the rising body counts and how gruesomely the killings can be depicted.   

Thanksgiving starts off almost satirically as an angry Black Friday mob waits impatiently for RiteMart, a Wal Mart knockoff superstore open Thanksgiving night, to open its doors.  Soon, the frothing consumers invade the store, causing mayhem and killing shoppers and innocent bystanders in manners which would be considered tame when compared to the rest of the movie's murders.  Cut to one year later, and the owner of RiteMart, Thomas Wright (Hoffman) fully intends to open again on Thanksgiving night despite last year's massacre.  Videos of the event leaked online and the town's sheriff (Dempsey) tries in vain to capture a serial killer who wears a John Carver (the first Massachusetts governor) mask and kills those associated with the previous year's violence one by one.  

One of the intended victims is Jessica (Verlaque), Wright's daughter whose former boyfriend Bobby (Brooks) left town after last year's events and is now a prime suspect because the killings started when he returned to Plymouth.  We naturally know he isn't the killer, and the movie teases plenty of potential suspects, including the store's former manager Mitch (Dillon), whose wife was among those killed last year by the mob of angry customers.  Why did they storm the store like the French stormed the Bastille?  The first 100 were to receive free waffle irons, if memory serves.  

However, as Thanksgiving moves toward its conclusion, the movie simply becomes a bloodbath and when a victim is baked inside of an oven and the killer stages a Thanksgiving feast in which the victim is the main course, I tapped out.  Was that the intent?  If it was, it worked, but why do we need movies that are simply trying to outdo the Saw series as torture porn and cringeworthy executions?  The only reason I'm awarding Thanksgiving two stars is because, for a while, it was working as a whodunit, but then it devolved into a bloody mess. 

  

 

Fear (1996) * * *

 

Directed by:  James Foley

Starring:  Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Petersen, Amy Brenneman, Alyssa Milano, Todd Caldecott

It is understandable how teenager Nicole (Witherspoon) would fall for a guy like David (Wahlberg).  He's good-looking, ripped, and has a quiet, unassuming way about him.   He says he loves Nicole, but her father Steven (Petersen) is wary of him from the start.  He seems off.  Nicole thinks he's just being an overprotective dad, but soon everyone sees the real David, a violent sociopath who was kicked out of a bunch of foster homes and engages in a life of crime with his friends.  

As per movies like this, it takes a while for Nicole to understand David's true nature, but she is no true believer and no pushover.  She may forgive him once, but don't cross her twice.  David is soon terrorizing Nicole and her family in the name of love, or is it his bruised ego doing the talking?  Wahlberg plays the role with smoldering intensity barely concealing his maladroit personality.  It doesn't take much to push him to violence, leading to a conclusion in which he and his buddies break into to Nicole's house which is barricaded by state-of-the-art security measures designed by Steven.

Fear takes a story of a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks romancing a proper girl and tells it with skill.   You can understand why Nicole would like David and then why she would be terrified of him.  Perhaps this movie is a cautionary tale of why fathers like Steven are nervous when the guy from the other side of the tracks comes calling on your daughter.  It's not necessarily original, but it's well-told.  

Cadillac Man (1990) * *

 

Directed by:  Roger Donaldson

Starring:  Robin Williams, Tim Robbins, Fran Drescher, Lori Petty, Pamela Reed, Paul Herman, Annabella Sciorra, Zack Norman, Paul Guilfoyle, Lauren Tom, Judith Hoag, Eddie Jones, Anthony Powers

Cadillac Man is a tale of two movies.  The first one has bigger comic possibilities than the second one.  The first is a profile of hotshot car salesman Joey O'Brien (Williams), who has taken on more debt and more women than he can handle.  He owes $20,000 to a local gangster who begs him to pay it back so he won't have to have him whacked.   He has an ex-wife Tina (Reed) who still loves him but divorced him due to his womanizing ways.  His daughter stays out all night with a loser boyfriend.   He has two girlfriends:  Joy (Drescher) who is married to one of Joey's customers but wants to marry Joey, and Lila (Petty), a fledgling fashion designer who also loves Joey.   

Joey has been slumping at his job enough to earn an ultimatum from his boss Little Jackie (Guilfoyle):  Sell twelve cars tomorrow or be out of a job.  Joey lets Jackie use his apartment to conduct an affair with dealership secretary Donna (Sciorra), but hey business is business.   Little Jackie's trysts with Donna leads to the second half of the movie, which is Donna's husband Larry (Robbins) crashing through the dealership's window on his motorcycle and holding everyone hostage with an automatic weapon and a bomb strapped to his cycle. 

Larry knows someone is sleeping with Donna, but doesn't know whom.  Joey, in a bid to protect Little Jackie and save his job, tells Larry he is Donna's lover.  Larry isn't bright and his plan to take hostages wasn't well thought out.  But Robbins makes him sympathetic because, dammit, he loves his wife.  Joey becomes Larry's advisor and confidante while acting as a liaison between Larry and the police.  Larry is surprised when the police don't heed his warning to "go away"

This may be the best sales job Joey has ever performed, and this is a guy who in the beginning of the film is trying to sell a widow a car on the day of her husband's funeral when the hearse breaks down.  Williams is at home here as a man enduring too many self-inflicted pressures.  The hostage crisis may have been the best thing for Joey, because once each of his lovers finds out about the others, they all leave him.  "Thanks for simplifying my love life," he tells Larry.  

But Cadillac Man feels like two different stories fighting for the same screen.  I would've preferred to see if Joey could sell twelve vehicles in a day to save his job and whatever means he could use to make that happen.  Instead, we get a plot which wastes all of the buildup from the first half in order to give us a safer back half which doesn't work nearly as well.  

Cop and a Half (1993) * *

 

Directed by:  Henry Winkler

Starring:  Burt Reynolds, Norman D. Golden II, Ray Sharkey, Holland Taylor, Ruby Dee

Cop and a Half is not one meant to be shown at Burt Reynolds' career retrospectives.  It is a slight, cute comedy full of slapstick and no material that is expected to last more than a fleeting moment in your memory.   You will not hear anyone quote Cop and a Half.   The most noteworthy thing about it is that the late, great Roger Ebert was among the few notable film critics to give the movie a positive review.  I am not giving it praise, but I'm not going to crap all over it either.  Cop and a Half is a movie wanting to be liked, even if Reynolds plays a character who just wants to be left alone. 

That ship sails early in the movie.   Reynolds plays Nick McKenna, a Grizzled cop on the trail of a criminal gang led by Vinnie Fountain (Sharkey-in his final film role), who likes to sing like a 1960's crooner which gives him some color.  This is The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, and one night, ten-year-old Devon (Golden), who loves cop shows and want to be a police officer when he grows up, witnesses a murder.   He wants to ride along with Nick in exchange for his testimony and to "be a cop" for one day.  The police captain (Taylor) agrees with this, despite Nick's objections to babysitting while on duty.  

Nick is salty indeed.  He doesn't like kids much, although of course Devon begins to grow on him, and he's still haunted by the death of his partner which is why he wants to work alone.   Cop and a Half is chock full of chase scenes, juvenile humor, and Burt Reynolds in a very bad mood.  It turns out it wasn't just the character.  Reynolds, from the trivia I read on Imdb.com,  wasn't happy with the movie while filming and it showed.  He also wanted to fire his agent during the filming of Boogie Nights, which netted him his only Oscar nomination, so there you go.  

The Holdovers (2023) * * *

 

Directed by: Alexander Payne

Starring:  Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Brady Hepner, Carrie Preston

Winter break 1970.  Most of the students of a New England prep school are headed home for the holidays.  However, a few remain due to a variety of reasons, and the task of babysitting them falls on Paul Hunham (Giamatti), who is naturally less than enthusiastic about the job.  His headmaster assigned Paul this ignominious duty because Paul did not pass a senator's son in one of his classes.   Paul doesn't understand or care to understand that the senator is a wealthy donor to the school.  In his mind, senator's son or not, the kid didn't earn the grade.  He wears his inflexibility as a badge of honor, allowing him to think he is somehow morally superior to students and faculty members alike.

Paul gets along well with Mary Lamb (Randolph), the school cook who feeds Paul and the holdovers three square meals a day while navigating her grief at losing her son in Vietnam.  Soon, only Angus (Sessa) is left on campus to spend Christmas with Paul and Mary.   The Holdovers is about how the frosty relationship with Angus and Paul thaws into friendship.  What The Holdovers lacks in originality it makes up for in subtle, but powerful moments which define Angus and Paul.  Both men undergo changes and learn to understand one another.  We see the epitome of wasted potential in Paul and the possibility of such in Angus, and both find ways to reverse that.  

Giamatti last teamed with director Payne in Sideways (2004), a great romantic comedy about wine lovers and their relationships with the women in their lives.   Paul has no women in his life, but he has his eye on a fellow staffer (Preston) who seems to like him too.  The Holdovers is the sum of its pitch-perfect performances and tender scenes in which we see two men at different ages and stages of their lives learning to connect and even change.  Mary is someone they both admire and respect.  Her son went to the school and was a standout student, only to die in Vietnam before his 20th birthday.  

The best Alexander Payne films contain social satire (Election) and flawed, but fully-developed characters (Sideways) who can't help but mess up when in reach of the brass ring or the ideal woman.  In The Holdovers, the brass ring either showed up a long time ago or has yet to show itself.  The question is whether Paul or Angus can snatch it before it goes away.  

What Happens Later (2023) * * 1/2

 

Directed by: Meg Ryan

Starring:  Meg Ryan, David Duchovny, Hal Liggett

Meg Ryan's second feature film (her first was 2015's Ithaca, unseen by me) returns her to familiar ground in this romantic comedy.  She plays Willa, who runs into her former college boyfriend Bill (Duchovny) at a snowbound unnamed airport.   Her flight to Boston and his flight to Austin are grounded, giving them plenty of time to catch up, argue, reconcile, and plot a course for the future.  Their last names are Davis, which leads to potential miscommunications when the airport announcer (Liggett-a pseudonym) asks for a "W Davis" to report to the gate.  

The announcer takes on an omnipotent presence.  He doesn't just make announcements, he acts as the characters' conscience or guide.  This is a cutesy device which grows old quickly.  Willa is a fiftyish free spirit who claims to be making a fortune in the healing arts, while Bill is a corporate type with an estranged wife and a fifteen-year-old daughter who is angry with him for not being able to attend her dance recital.  He is also having problems relating to his much-younger boss who speaks in a language he doesn't understand.  

We learn not everything is as they seem with these people.  Secrets are revealed later which alter their destinies as they are stranded overnight in the airport in which they seem to be the only two people there.  There are a few extras walking around who later disappear so Willa and Bill can have the place to themselves.   Even the airport bar and restaurant, which should be mobbed, doesn't even have a bartender staffed so Willa and Bill can easily help themselves to booze.  I know, I know, What Happens Later is not meant to be realistic, but a flight of fancy.  

Ryan and Duchovny have undeniable chemistry and play kind, thoughtful people who had plenty of curveballs thrown their way.  The movie is primarily Ryan and Duchovny talking, which is enjoyable for a while, but the movie rolls past its sell-by date.  After a while, we just want these two nice folks to get on their planes, go where they need to go, and we can all move on with our lives.  

Billions (Final Season-2023) * * *

 

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Corey Stoll, Maggie Siff, David Costabile, Asia Kate Dillon, Damian Lewis, Kelly AuCoin, Condola Rashad, Toby Leonard Moore, Jeffrey DeMunn, Dan Soder, Daniel K. Isaac, Louis Cancelmi, Ben Shenkman, Daniel Breaker, John Malkovich

Mike Prince must be some kind of threat to humankind to make allies out of prosecutor Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti) and hedge-fund billionaire Bobby Axelrod (Lewis) in their attempt to thwart Prince's presidential bid.  He's ruthless and amoral, but so is just about everyone in Billions.  Why Prince deserves such special mistreatment is the subject of debate, but it adds a juicy element to a show that has been waning in recent years and is now in its final season.  The show ends on a happy note for most of its cast, which is not par for the course for such a cynical show, but we'll take it.  

Prince (Stoll), as you may recall, bought out Axe Capital and sent its owner Bobby Axelrod into exile in a castle in London.  (We should all have his problems).  At now Mike Prince Capital, the underlings Prince inherited from Axe Capital: Wendy Rhoades (Siff), Mike "Wags" Wagner (Costabile), and Taylor Mason (Dillon) hatch a plot to undermine and destroy Prince's ego-driven presidential run.  I guess his brand of greed is simply too much for even these people to handle.  Chuck, who regains his position as the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, is looking for revenge against Prince for screwing him out of his chance to put Axe behind bars.  Chuck will soon find his mutual goal of Prince's destruction makes for strange bedfellows, including his ex-wife Wendy.  

Axe returns in a limited capacity after spending all of season six on the sidelines.  He is hesitant to take on Prince because Prince can buy him eight times over, but he eventually joins the fight after Chuck assists him in aiding a Russian oligarch frenemy (Malkovich).  Prince is a formidable opponent, able to sniff out deception and exact his revenge ruthlessly but also with political savvy.   The plot hatched by his enemies is handled with such precision that they could have a future in espionage.   There are more double-crosses and triple-crosses than you can keep track of, so you wind up going with the flow.  

Billions is still at its core soap-opera fun taking place in the financial milieu.  Terms and phrases are thrown around known by a select few, but we get something of an idea of what's happening.   The dialogue still contains too many cutesy pop culture references which serve to show off the writers' knowledge, but we don't allow it to ruin our good time, or the characters'.  It's not like there will be an eighth season to correct this, so we'll be satisfied with what's here. 

Five Nights at Freddy's (2023) * 1/2

Directed by:  Emma Tammi

Starring:  Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard, Piper Rubio, Mary Stuart Masterson

I'm a stranger in a strange land when it comes to Five Nights at Freddy's, a horror film based on a popular video game.  The younger audience at the screening I attended cheered various characters including a seemingly inconsequential cab driver who makes a brief appearance.  You had to be in the know, I suppose, which I confess I wasn't. 

I came into Five Nights at Freddy's cold and with no knowledge of its plot except that it involves a nighttime security guard at a closed and abandoned Chuck E. Cheese knockoff called Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria who experiences freaky goings-on.   The guard, named Mike Schmidt (perhaps after the Hall of Fame Phillies' third baseman or perhaps not), is a man still traumatized by the kidnapping and death of his brother when he was younger.  He is seeking to retain full custody of his younger sister (Rubio) and keep her out of the hands of their money-grubbing aunt (Masterson), who only wants to receive checks from the state for having her niece in her care. 

Why a night security guard is needed for the long-closed Freddy's is lost on me.  I think it was explained, but even that didn't make sense.  The animatronic puppets which perform Talking in Your Sleep by the Romantics come alive at night and haunt the place.   When Mike (Hutcherson) takes his sister to work with him at night, the puppets take to her and seemingly protect her.   A pretty police officer (Lail) drops by nightly to give Mike tips on how to watch the place.   You may remember Lail as the comely Beck from the first season of You.  Or you may not.  I sure did.  

Once the plot is explained and the truth behind the robots is revealed, it boggles the mind.  Apparently some children went missing and Freddy's was searched but no evidence of wrongdoing was found.   The pizzeria closed shortly afterward (not suspicious in the least), but I gather there is no such thing as bodies decaying even if they were hidden in an ingenious place at Freddy's.   None of this would matter if Five Nights at Freddy's were at all watchable, but it's a clumsy horror film with killings (although thankfully not a lot of blood) and characters we couldn't care less about fumbling around in the dark trying to avoid singing, maniacal robots.  If this sounds ridiculous, that's because it is and not in a positive way.  

Priscilla (2023) * *

Directed by: Sofia Coppola

Starring:  Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Tim Post, Dagmara Dominczyk, Emily Mitchell, Ari Cohen

Writer-director Sofia Coppola makes film about lonely people who feel lonelier because they are trapped or isolated from the world.   Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003) is a disquieting film about two people who are totally alone in Tokyo, a city of millions.  This is what drew her to Priscilla, based on Priscilla Presley's 1985 autobiography Elvis and Me.  She was fourteen when she met Elvis Presley (Elordi) while he was stationed with the army in West Germany.  They connect despite their ten-year age difference.  Elvis is vulnerable and grieving the recent loss of his beloved mother.   Priscilla (Spaeny) is a shoulder to cry on and to her, the idea of Elvis Presley courting her is surreal and something out of a dream. 

Priscilla eventually, after many dates and meetings with Elvis even after he is discharged from the army, moves into Graceland under the watchful eye of Elvis' father Vernon (Post), Elvis' grandmother, and other family members.   Or is it more like imprisoned?  Priscilla isn't allowed to be seen on the grounds because such a sight would disappoint the female fans camped outside Graceland's gates.   Elvis goes away on movie shoots in which his dalliances with his female co-stars make gossip column news.  Elvis denies to Priscilla that anything is going on, but where there's smoke, there's fire.  Priscilla wants to visit Elvis on set.  He denies the request, stating that he wants her at home and at his beck and call.  The Memphis Mafia hangs around waiting to act on the boss' demands.  

Even after Lisa Marie's birth, Elvis remains controlling, insecure, and soon subtly abusive.   Spaeny reflects Priscilla's awkwardness and insecurity because, let's face it, she's barely a high school graduate when she marries the King of Rock and Roll.   Trying to process this emotional roller coaster must have been difficult.  Elordi is an extremely tall 6' 5" and towers over Priscilla, which has its distractions, but the Elordi performance is not flashy, but effective nonetheless.  However, he is no one's idea of how Elvis looked, but it is a role of subtlety instead of pizzazz.   The performances aren't the problem with Priscilla as much as an overly quiet tone.   It is a muted film, with scenes meant to be more dramatic coming off as dull as dishwater.   When Priscilla eventually drives away from Graceland with Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You playing on the soundtrack, we are left unmoved even though I suppose we should be happy for her. 

I haven't read the book, so I'm sure there may have been parts left out which didn't fit Coppola's vision, but while other biopics and true stories sometimes are guilty of taking too much dramatic license, I fear Priscilla didn't take nearly enough to make it compelling.  

Elor

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023) * * *

 

Directed by:  William Friedkin

Starring:  Jason Clarke, Jake Lacy, Kiefer Sutherland, Lance Reddick, Monica Raymund, Lewis Pullman, Tom Riley

Unlike the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny starring Humphrey Bogart, the bulk of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial mostly takes place within a hearing room.  When you think movie court-martials, you think A Few Good Men (1992).  The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial does not have the thrills of A Few Good Men's last-minute confessions or colorful characters like Col. Jessep, but it has a lean effectiveness which keeps our interest.  This was the last film of director Friedkin and actor Lance Reddick, who presides over the proceedings efficiently and intelligently.  

The court-martial charge of mutiny levied against Lt. Stephen Maryk (Lacy) is handled by attorney Barney Greenwald (Clarke), who hasn't tried a case in many a moon.  Barney was only assigned the client days before the trial.  He isn't sure he can win an acquittal and he isn't sure about Maryk, who snatched command of the Caine from Captain Phillip Francis Queeg (Sutherland) during a violent sea storm.  Queeg insisted his strategy to survive the storm was sound.  Maryk felt the opposite course was necessary and with help from Lt. Thomas Keefer (Pullman), seized control of Queeg's boat.  

Barney's inner conflict stems from the idea that he must show Queeg to be incompetent, while also admiring his many unblemished years of military service.  He must destroy Queeg's career to save his client's, which gives him understandable pause.  Those expecting Kiefer Sutherland to channel Lt. Kendrick from A Few Good Men will be sorely disappointed, but this is a great Sutherland performance.  Yes, Queeg may be somewhat off his rocker, but he's also a Navy lifer known for running a tight ship and serving his country honorably.  When Queeg starts to ramble, we feel for him, because despite his shortcomings, his positive qualities outshine them.   But Barney, in a sense, has to put Queeg on trial and we have to remind ourselves that Queeg isn't the defendant.  

In the 1954 The Caine Mutiny, we see the events leading up to the mutiny for ourselves.  In this version, which runs like the stage play on which Herman Wouk based his book, we have to decide for ourselves who is right.   This has its dramatic limitations, but the courtroom drama trappings work well enough here.  We don't see the outcome, although we learn of it later, and Barney's speech at the end gathering (one of the few scenes which don't take place in the courtroom) takes on resonance to current events and the generation gap which has created two very different types of soldiers. 

The Pledge (2001) * * * 1/2

Directed by: Sean Penn

Starring:  Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright, Aaron Eckhart, Benicio del Toro, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton, Helen Mirren, Tom Noonan, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shepard, Vanessa Redgrave

Sean Penn's The Pledge begins as a murder mystery, but then turns into an examination of obsession.  Retiring detective Jerry Black (Nicholson) is attending his own retirement party when a call comes in.  A young girl was found brutally murdered on the side of the road.  Jerry decides to go along to investigate since he is not officially retired yet.  He and his counterparts find a bloodied mess in the snow.  No one has informed the parents, so Jerry does it.  The murdered girl's mother (Clarkson) has Jerry swear on the Bible that he will find out who killed the girl.   

Shortly after, a mentally challenged trucker (del Toro) is brought in for questioning.  Detective Stan Krolak (Eckhart) coerces and gently coaxes a confession, but soon the trucker kills himself and the case is closed.  Jerry knows the killer is still out there, and after retiring, he begins his own investigation which leads to a remote town in the Nevada mountains where Jerry buys the local gas station and begins a relationship with younger single mother Lori (Wright).  Jerry hopes the killer, whom he believes lives in the area, will stumble across him.  Lori has a young daughter who we know Jerry will use as bait when the time is right.  His obsessive quest will defer to no one.  

The Pledge contains one of Jack Nicholson's best performances.  Gone is the devilish smile and charm which lets us know he is getting away with something.   This Nicholson doesn't smile at all as nearly as I can remember.  He is driven by the promise he made the mother to the point that he cannot enjoy anything else.   He was supposed to retire and enjoy fishing in Mexico, but his mind is only on the case.  When he is finding romance with Lori, the pall of the unsolved murder hangs in the balance.  

Director Penn also made The Crossing Guard with Nicholson, which contained another of Nicholson's best performances as a father looking to kill the drunk driver who killed his daughter.  Both of these Nicholson characters have lost the capacity to feel joy because of their obsessions.  Both The Crossing Guard and The Pledge generate sympathy for these people and not judgment.  This is how they are tragically wired.   The conclusion of The Pledge does not provide a payoff to Jerry, although it does for us to a point.  It is a sad, merciless twist in which fate is coldly playing with a man who only wanted to do the right thing and will never have the chance to do that.  

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) * * 1/2

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Lily Gladstone, Scott Shepherd, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Jesse Plemons, Louis Cancelmi, Tatanka Means

Killers of the Flower Moon is a study in the stupidity of greed.  In early 1920's Oklahoma, the Osage tribe is made very rich because of oil on their land.  However, the money is held by the government and the members must go to the bank and give reasons why they need their own money.  Local wealthy rancher William King Hale (DeNiro), who passes himself off as a friend of the Osage, conspires with criminals to murder the Osage so his white friends and relatives can inherit the money.  

Hale's nephew Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) is a Great War veteran returning home to find the entire landscape of his hometown has changed.  Hale gives him a crash course in the Osage's most recent history and urges Ernest to find an Osage woman and marry her so he can soon be in line to cash in.  Ernest soon woos Mollie Kyle (Gladstone), who likes Ernest but also suspects his motives are not pure.  But she marries him anyway, mostly because Ernest talks a good game and says he loves her enough times to somewhat convince her.   That, or she is lonely. 

The countenances on Ernest and Mollie can't be more opposite.  Ernest has a perpetual frown, while Mollie at first has a slight grin like the cat that ate the canary.  Mollie, through Hale's connections, is among the first people to obtain insulin, which Ernest soon mixes with poison to slowly sap the life from her.  Ernest claims he loves Mollie, but he clearly loves money more.  Soon, as more Osage die, a Bureau of Investigation agent (Clemons) comes to Oklahoma to solve the murders.  Ernest is a prime target, because his sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and his aunt all passed away within a year.  An actuary's head would spin.  Pulling the strings, but keeping himself distant, is Hale, whose influence over Ernest is palpable.   

Killers of the Flower Moon is a decent, but not great Scorsese picture.   Why?  Number one, like The Irishman (2019), Killers of the Flower Moon runs nearly 3 1/2 hours.  The story could've been told in far less time.  The performances are terrific, and with this cast, how could they not be?  The payoff is delivered through an epilogue told by radio performers who tell us what happened to each of the main characters.  This is curiously flat climactic device which is possibly supposed to spark outrage, but doesn't.   Parts of Killers of the Flower Moon are gripping and intense, while others don't gain much traction.   By the end, Scorsese's movie is an exercise in exhilaration mixed with frustration as we can't quite learn to love it.  We don't sense Scorsese has an intimate love for these people like he did in Goodfellas, Casino, or many of his greatest films.   We are kept outside, which is the last thing you would expect from a Martin Scorsese picture.