Tag Archives: Bleecker Street

Movie Review ~ Jules

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The Facts:

Synopsis: Milton lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extraterrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard.
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Zoë Winters, Jade Quon, Jane Curtin
Director: Marc Turtletaub
Rated: PG-13
Running Length: 87 minutes
TMMM Score: (5.5/10)
Review: In my old age, I’m finding that I need more and more time to consider my opinions regarding mass media. The snap judgments and immediate instinct that I’ve followed for years still give me good guidance, but my feelings can increasingly change if I take the time to gather my thoughts. Had I not had the benefit of some breathing room after watching Jules, I may have written it up (off?) as another odd-duck effort from Sir Ben Kingsley. Admittedly, the Oscar-winner is a bit all over the map when it comes to film roles, and fresh from an appearance as Salvador Dalí in the paint-by-numbers biopic Dalíland, Kingsley is trying on another wiggy role and questionable accent in this light-as-air drama with a dash of comedy for spice and a tinge of sci-fi to give it color. 

I did have that breathing room, though, and I found that in the days after watching Jules, my mind kept returning to it and the quiet way it respected its characters and, in turn, its audience. At a time when Hollywood and culture are doing all they can to snag a moment of your attention by any means necessary, it was pleasant to be in the presence of filmmakers that didn’t have to resort to big swooping statements or bombastic effects to tell a compelling story about humans and how we interact. Even a strange little nugget of a movie like this made for a pittance can exist longer in your consciousness than films with quadruple the budget and reach.

The weekly council meeting in Boonton, Pennsylvania, brings out the small town’s most eccentric residents and their standard requests. For Milton Robinson (Kingsley, Operation Finale), his persistent proposal involves changing the town motto, “A good place to call home,” into something ‘less confusing’ (i.e., it’s not an ideal place to “call” out from, and if you lived there already, why would you call home?). Most of the time, no one pays much attention, aside from Sandy (Harries Sansom Harris, Licorice Pizza) and Joyce (Jane Curtin, Can You Ever Forgive Me?), two single biddies that frequent the meetings, maybe to see what Milton is up to.

Then, one night, a spaceship inexplicably lands in the backyard of Milton’s somewhat secluded farmhouse, and eventually, a tiny alabaster-white-skinned alien (Jade Quon, Iron Man 3) emerges. Instead of having Milton react like the world is about to end, screenwriter Gavin Steckler has the elderly gentleman more troubled over his flora being crushed by the spacecraft. When the alien shows signs of being ill, Milton finds a way to coax it back to health, befriending it, feeding it, and introducing it to television. Though Milton is honest with anyone asking what’s new in his life, everyone from the town council to his frustrated daughter (Zoë Winters) thinks that the older man has finally left the deep end. 

It isn’t long before a concerned Sandy gets involved and meets the alien she names Jules, followed by nosy Joyce, who isn’t about to let Sandy and Milton replace her grumpy company with a less abrasive extraterrestrial. Through their experience with Jules and spending less time alone, each aging individual learns something about their current place in life and the benefit of a shared community. As they work together to help their tiny friend fix their shuttle so it may return home, they’ll realize how much use they can still be to themselves and those around them.

Kingsley is arguably the star of Jules and does his best to appear appropriately shlumpy. However, he is never quite convincing as a man on the brink of losing everything (his house, mind, family) that finds stability with his new core group. Kingsley has always done best when he has a dynamic cast surrounding him, and that’s why the performances of Harris and Curtin function more often than not as an elevation tool when Kingsley can’t quite get there. Both gifted comedians, Harris and Curtin dial the comedy back and explore a more somber side of their acting. The results are quite moving, with Harris nailing a critical scene that exposes some familial hurt and Curtin fully committing to a wild performance of Free Bird.

I don’t want to make it sound like Kingsley isn’t good in the film or that he detracts from the overall warm feeling Jules will leave you with. His scenes with Quon (who, even without dialogue, is smashing) are strong, and I think he fits in with the film’s solemnity. There’s just a particular rhythm that Kingsley operates on that is hard to groove with. The more I sat with the film, the more I appreciated how subtle director Marc Turtletaub was in portraying small-town life during a bizarre time. This will likely slip by the radar of most audiences during its initial run, but if you have the chance, get in on Jules early. If you’re like me, appreciating its charms will take some extra time…but it will come.

Movie Review ~ The Lesson

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The Facts:

Synopsis: An aspiring writer becomes a tutor for the family of literary giant J.M. Sinclair. But soon, it’s clear that his idol harbors secrets, lies, and a dark past not even the most imaginative writer could begin to fathom.
Stars: Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy, Daryl McCormack, Stephen McMillan, Crispin Letts
Director: Alice Troughton
Rated: R
Running Length: 103 minutes
TMMM Score: (7/10)
Review: Often, the setting where you can see a movie plays a part in how much you can enjoy it. I was fortunate to see the new thriller The Lesson on an afternoon when the sky suddenly turned dark and hazy, hinting that a summer shower was coming. It stayed that way for most of the film, with the torrential rain only arriving as it rounded the corner into its final act. That went a long way in setting the mood for what is, on the surface, a workmanlike (if expertly skilled) British manor house thriller which doesn’t so much quicken the pulse of its viewers to radical heights as it does keep it on a steady pace of engagement as it dives deeper into dark waters.

A framing device (which might remind you of a certain recent Cate Blanchett Oscar-nominated film) introduces us to author Liam Sommers (Daryl McCormack, Pixie), who is being asked about his new novel and its inspiration. Taking a breath, he moves to talk, and we are brought back to an earlier time when he was a struggling writer who would take the occasional side gig as a tutor to pay his bills while finishing his long-gestating first novel. Though set up with another assignment, his work thinks he’ll want to take this new client on. 

The son of famed author J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant, Persuasion) needs help preparing for his final exams that will secure his future at an esteemed University. Bertie (Stephen McMillan, Boiling Point) isn’t thrilled about the prospect of being attended to by another tutor, but his mother, Hélène (Julie Delpy, Avengers: Age of Ultron), insists, letting Liam know in no uncertain terms that Bertie’s acceptance into this University must be achieved at any cost. Though the dismissive J.M. is barely involved in Bertie’s day-to-day education, consumed with work on his much-anticipated new book, is it a coincidence that Hélène chose Liam for this live-in role? Especially considering Liam wrote a paper on J.M. in college and viewed him highly for his modern prose and bestselling novels?

Putting his desire for J.M. to read his work and his respect for the fussy novelist aside, Liam attempts to do what he can with Bertie, but he’s unknowingly walked into a family still in crisis after the loss of Bertie’s older brother. Drowned in the pond behind their elegant home, the Sinclairs rarely speak of the boy, but his presence looms large over their lives. The longer Liam stays in the guest quarters and sees the cracks in each persona firsthand, the more he begins to suspect he’s been hired (and asked to stay) for far more reasons beyond formal studies. Reasons that become more sinister the closer he gets to fiction vs. reality.

Spearheaded by a director and writer both making their feature film debuts, The Lesson benefits from a natural ease absent of great pretension. Stories about stuffy authors and a stately manse with secrets can tend toward the overheated, but screenwriter Alex MacKeith and director Alice Troughton mostly steer clear of those pitfalls. Sure, the framing device feels a bit ham-handed and doesn’t need to be there because it gives the film an unnecessary point we know we’ll circle back to. Yet the meat of the story and the performances found there are often riveting.

Coming off good notices for 2022’s Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, McCormick turns in another appealing performance, never showing his cards too far in advance. That makes his scenes with Grant have an authentic crackle, with both actors facing off nicely in increasingly passive-aggressive exchanges. While I wouldn’t say she’s been continually underrated, Delpy has been decidedly just outside Hollywood’s radar throughout her career. While she’s been in a bevy of celebrated films (receiving two Oscar nominations for writing 2005’s Before Sunset and 2014’s Before Midnight) and ventured into directing, her acting is still the core of her talent, and work like The Lesson reinforces why she’s one of the best.

Though MacKeith and Troughton throw a few sly twists into the final stretch, the lesson of The Lesson will not be anything that knocks the socks off mystery fans. It reveals itself to be well-plotted and even more well-intentioned but lacks a particular extra kick that would truly ensnare fans of a complex mystery. Even so, it’s so sharply made and performed that you shouldn’t pass it up, especially if a rainy day presents itself.

Movie Review ~ The Starling Girl

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The Facts:

Synopsis: 17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community. But everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church.
Stars: Eliza Scanlen, Lewis Pullman, Kyle Secor, Claire Elizabeth Green, K.J. Baker, Jessamine Burgum, Jimmi Simpson, Wrenn Schmidt, Ellie May, Austin Abrams, Chris Dinner, Paige Leigh Landers
Director: Laurel Parmet
Rated: R
Running Length: 116 minutes
TMMM Score: (6/10)
Review: Over the last several years, there have been several documentaries and limited series across streaming services that have taken eager viewers behind the scenes into religious communities, unveiling practices that may seem foreign, strange, or wrong to an outsider. Removing the judgment that comes with a lack of understanding and putting aside some of the shock and awe meant to accompany these programs, I’ve appreciated getting these glimpses into a different way of finding a path forward in spirituality or family. 

One of those paths is through belonging to a church where the literal interpretation of the Bible is observed, like the one fictionalized in The Starling Girl. Correctly understanding and following God’s Word is the only way to your final reward, and those who stray are doomed to lead a cruel life after death.   It’s in this community of devoted faith that we meet Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen, Little Women), a 17-year-old of good intentions who has reached a point in her adolescence where the world seems incredibly small when staring straight ahead at the mirror but also temptingly large if she glances over her shoulder at what might be waiting just out of reach. 

As she approaches her 18th birthday, her parents (Jimmi Simpson, Fool’s Paradise, and Wren Schmidt, Nope) are preparing for the courting tradition to begin, likely with preacher’s son Ben (Austin Abrams, Do Revenge), a strange boy Jem has no inclination toward. Ben’s older brother Owen (Lewis Pullman, Top Gun: Maverick) has recently returned to town with his wife to continue his youth ministry and learn the ways of the church from his father. Drawn together through some indescribable pull, Owen and Jem are surprised at how the other has changed while Owen was away. They begin a flirtation (already considered taboo and not just because of their age-difference) before giving in to an illicit interaction that threatens to derail their lives and families. 

While ostensibly a work of fiction, it wouldn’t be hard to squint your eyes and see writer/director Laurel Parmet’s The Starling Girl being a dramatized version of a story that came out of one of these fundamentalist sects that operate along the Southwestern Bible belt. That’s partly where Parmet’s inspiration originated, with the filmmaker using her lived experiences and research within similar Christian communities. That authenticity in tone helps Parmet’s film through a few of the slower and more repetitive passages, bridging the gap between its fiery high points when you can’t look away even though you feel you should.

Aiding that pull is Scanlen’s immensely controlled work as Jem. As a coming-of-age story, The Starling Girl is already firing on all cylinders showing a young woman learning the hard way that first love isn’t without pain, but Scanlen’s deep well of feeling gives it an extra kick of grief. It’s tough in the final act when Jem faces an imbalance of consequences that will likely frustrate most viewers as much as it did me. Parmet manages to handle both sides of the agreement without ever coming down harshly on either, it’s clear something terrible has happened, but Parmet is not here to tell audiences about the inequalities that exist in the world.

While the film is often quietly riveting, it’s often just too quiet to gather much momentum for longer than a few scenes at a time. Scanlen is in nearly every scene of the movie, but she can’t be in multiple places at once, so it’s up to others to carry some of the burden. Pullman is a good partner for Scanlen, and the two have an electric chemistry that feels dangerous from the start. Richards also has a few solid passages as Jem’s devout mother, forced to make decisions based on faith instead of maternal instinct. Several supporting characters and side plots are trite, causing the film to go flat at critical junctures.

Likely to find more of an audience when it flies onto streaming/on demand, The Starling Girl is a respectable debut for Parmet as a writer/director. Teaming with cinematographer Brian Lannin (Somebody I Used to Know) for some gorgeous views of Kentucky at several gauzy moments, you can tell Parmet has a voice and a viewpoint we’ll get more of.  

THE STARLING GIRL will be exclusively in theaters

Movie Review ~ Mafia Mamma

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The Facts:

Synopsis: An American mom inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm’s consigliere, she hilariously defies everyone’s expectations as the new head of the family business.
Stars: Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci, Sophia Nomvete, Giulio Corso, Francesco Mastroianni, Alfonso Perugini, Eduardo Scarpetta, Tim Daish, Tommy Rodger
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Rated: R
Running Length: 101 minutes
TMMM Score: (1/10)
Review: Some movies sit on the shelf for years, victims of studios that go bankrupt or directors that butt heads with executives over the final cut of their project. The excellent work of actors and technicians can see countless delays on the journey to a release date. Even then, all that bad publicity likely has already sunk any hope of the film finding fair judgment when audiences (and critics) get their eyes on it. Rarely do success stories emerge from this cruel cycle that is part of the Hollywood machine.

Conversely, terrible films like Mafia Mamma sail through production and misleading marketing into the laps of unsuspecting moviegoers. Only after they’ve shelled out their cash will audiences learn what a fantastically stunning miscalculation this alleged “comedy” is. If those that received a paycheck from the production had paused and taken a step back to look at the big picture, they’d surely have seen this script should have been W.O.A. (Whacked on Arrival) and then encased in cement at the bottom of the Hudson. The entire set-up is so old-fashioned and with a throwback vibe (seriously, throw this one back) that I half-expected to read in a trivia tidbit that it was initially written for Shelley Long in 1985. 

A call from Italy announcing the death of a grandfather she never knew comes at the rightest wrong time for empty nester Kristin (Toni Collette, Nightmare Alley), who has just walked in on her deadbeat husband and her son’s guidance counselor having an X-rated parent-teacher conference. Though she barely registers the adultery in the long list of reasons why her spouse is a loser, her best friend (Sophia Nomvete) encourages her to live it up in the tiny town outside of Rome where her grandfather’s funeral is being held. Jetting off to the country where she was born but moved from after her father’s death, she meets her grandad’s right-hand-woman Bianca (Monica Bellucci, Spectre) and his entourage that worked at his winery. 

Kristin hasn’t even had a proper gelato before she’s thrust into the center of a gunfight, eventually learning that her family is known for being more than master vintners. Now the responsibility of running the business (a crime syndicate using the winery as a front) has been passed to her. While Bianca and two goofy gangsters (Francesco Mastroianni & Alfonso Perugini) are there to protect her, she is mainly left to learn the ropes on her own. Finding a new romance with a handsome pasta maker (Giulio Corso) while evading the efforts of a rival family to take her out, she puts her spin on the business in hopes she can do less harm and more good with the power she’s inherited.

Based on an original story by Amanda Sthers, the screenplay from television sitcom writers J. Michael Feldman and Debbie Jhoon is bereft of any jokes whatsoever. Zero. It’s possible the material was meant to be hilarious, and director Catherine Hardwicke (Miss You Already) wrapped her film thinking she’d made a stylized Euro-comedy, but that’s not what’s happened. It’s almost as if every instinct toward finding a laugh has been deliberately resisted, giving each actor nothing to do but find themselves in one awkward exchange after another. The tone is all over the map, with the Europeans trying for arch physical comedy made of broad gestures and the Americans coming at it from a more mannered approach. Neither work in the least, so you know very early (within the first 10 minutes) that Mafia Mamma is a fat turkey of a flick.

Especially disappointing is Collette, in a rare bad performance, wildly churning around in a role she’s ill-fitted for. The actress isn’t known to miss often, even in the smallest of roles, but she’s miscast here and seems to know it based on the amount of desperate compensating she’s doing. Based strictly on the half-hearted choices being made, I don’t get the feeling she was invested in this one outside of a trip to Italy, and I wonder what her Connie & Carla co-star Nia Vardalos could have done with some of the hijinks the plot works with. Hardwicke doesn’t serve Collette or a stilted Belucci well at all, reaching a low point when the women cozy up in an uncomfortable out-of-left-field scene that culminates with a discussion over a prosthetic limb.

That brings me to the final point of Mafia Mamma, which helped it earn its disaster of a low rating. There’s a question of taste that has to be discussed. I don’t have trouble with violence being included in a movie, especially in edgy comedies like Mafia Mamma believes itself to be. However, that being said, Hardwicke (whom you’d honestly never guess had directed a movie, let alone several good ones, before this) is totally confused about where to draw the line between comic violence and gruesome gristle. Severed appendages, vomit, ground-up bodies, shootings, stabbings, and two ghastly eye-gougings appear. They look poorly executed and are out of place in the otherwise tame world Hardwicke has created.

Mamma Mia Mafia Mamma is bad. You’ve been warned, so don’t put a horsehead in my bed if you walk into this one knowing what I’ve told you.

Movie Review ~ Breaking

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The Facts:

Synopsis: When Marine Veteran Brian Brown-Easley is denied support from Veterans Affairs, financially desperate and running out of options, he takes a bank and several of its employees hostage, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with the police.
Stars: John Boyega, Michael Kenneth Williams, Nicole Beharie, Connie Britton, Olivia Washington, Selenis Leyva
Director: Abi Damaris Corbin
Rated: PG-13
Running Length: 103 minutes
TMMM Score: (7/10)
Review:  When an actor becomes so well associated with an established franchise, it can be challenging to break away and create an independent track of their own. Audiences are so used to finding one thing they like and sticking with it that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for actors to shed those preconceived ideas of their range even before they try to expand it. Daniel Radcliffe, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart are great examples of actors who have starred in movies with loyal fan bases yet have found ample work outside their franchise safety nets because they’ve chosen projects wisely. One could argue that Tom Holland represents the opposite end, a star that excels in his one lane but struggles to free himself of these confines when he tries something new.

First gaining attention in 2015 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, John Boyega has had several opportunities to travel outside the galaxy of this established entity but hasn’t quite landed the proper role to date. Supporting roles in 2017’s Detroit and 2018’s Pacific Rim: Uprising were fine distractions between the final two Star Wars films but never afforded Boyega the leading man role he was ultimately after. After seven years, Boyega now has a significant part to tag on his resume, and the wait was worth it. Tackling a real-life story ripped from recent headlines, Breaking is a mighty movie boasting all-in performances from its talented cast. 

Former Marine Brian Brown-Easley (Boyega) has recently disputed with the VA over his disability check, which he depends on to pay his rent. He also made promises to his young daughter, who lives with his ex-wife (Olivia Washington, The Little Things), and has other daily life costs to consider. The $850 he is owed might not seem like a lot to the VA, but it makes all the difference to Brian. That’s how he winds up walking into the Atlanta Wells Fargo Bank and slips a note to Rosa (Selenis Leyva, The Place Beyond the Pines) telling her he has a bomb. He doesn’t want any of the bank’s money, he only wants the VA to return the money they took, and the matter will be solved.

Holding Rosa and bank manager Estel (Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth) hostage as swarms of police gather outside, Brian calls the local news station to ensure his story is told. Talking to a reporter (Connie Britton, Promising Young Woman) and a hostage negotiator (Michael Kenneth Williams, Assassin’s Creed), Brian’s story comes out in pieces, and everyone learns more about the man behind the threats. Rosa and Estel understand Brian’s plight but also see the tensions rising around them. They work to diffuse a rapidly escalating standoff while tactical teams unfamiliar with the human behind the crime take their stations. 

Director Abi Damaris Corbin has much responsibility with Breaking in telling the story of Brian Brown-Easley.  What happened on that day in the Wells Fargo Bank and what led up to that event. Some eyewitness accounts are used, but the information is culled from those who knew Brian and could speak to the man he was before that fateful day. Corbin has a good partner in her leading man, providing Boyega a grand stage to do powerful work that calls to mind a young Denzel Washington. There’s a depth to the work and burrowing into the mind of Brian that is hard to achieve, but Boyega goes for it and succeeds with compassion and confidence.

A trio of terrific supporting performances aids Boyega throughout. I was so used to Levya playing a scheming prison inmate in Orange is the New Black; watching her be so vulnerable as a shell-shocked bank teller was a fantastic eye-opener. You’ve been living under a rock if you haven’t seen (and liked) Beharie in some movie or television show over the last decade, and she doesn’t fail to cultivate more emotional sincerity here, either. For his final film role, the late Williams (who passed away in September 2021) is as on target as ever, sliding right into his hostage negotiator role and attempting to buddy up with Brian without coming on too strong. Williams was always a highlight of any project he worked on, and that’s the case here.

While reminiscent of Dog Day Afternoon, Breaking perhaps can’t sustain its energy as well as that earlier film. Even at 100 minutes, the movie does get a little saggy in the middle and starts to drag as it tries to pick up steam into its devastating final act. That’s too bad because it starts with such fire and purpose, but when it begins to circle back on itself and become repetitive, you know something is off in the narrative editing. It’s ultimately worth it for the performances and story being told and to witness Boyega getting the level up he’s been looking for – he’s earned it.

Movie Review ~ Summering

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The Facts:

Synopsis: As their last summer before middle school comes to a close, four best friends face the uncertainties of growing up and embark on their biggest adventure.
Stars: Lia Barnett, Madalen Mills, Eden Grace Redfield, Sanai Victoria, Lake Bell, Sarah Cooper, Ashley Madekwe, Megan Mullally
Director: James Ponsoldt
Rated: PG-13
Running Length: 85 minutes
TMMM Score: (3/10)
Review:  On one of my social media accounts last week, I saw a friend posting pictures of their kids in full school attire with the caption, “First day of school!”. I checked the early August date and blinked a little in shock. August? What happened to kids having June, July, and August to…be kids? No more pencils, no more books, and all that jazz?   It just seemed too early for me, and I can only imagine what those kids must be feeling (or their parents!), and it made me remember my childhood. I thought about what it was like in those final weeks of summer and getting ready to say goodbye to the friends you made and/or got closer to as you had many adventures around your neighborhood.

Your enjoyment of Summering may rise or fall on how precious you hold your memories about that time in your life. Likely, your tolerance over its shortcomings will also play a factor. That’s the struggle with a movie as earnest and ready to do good as Summering. Some aspects of the film written by Benjamin Percy and James Ponsoldt (who also directs) are substantial, but too often, there’s a shapeless maudlin gauziness that overtakes it and can make it an unbearable film to get through. The film runs 85 minutes, but it might as well have been 185 minutes for how slow it creeps by when it should be soaring.

There’s early promise in the opening act when Ponsoldt and Percy introduce us to the four young girls enjoying a typical end-of-summer day. They’ve done almost everything there is to do around town (twice) and have made many ceremonial trips to their “Terabithia,” a tree where they place favored objects found on their escapades. On their latest Terabithia trek, Daisy (Lia Barnett) finds something else nearby…the body of a man that has likely fallen from the bridge several stories up. The corpse doesn’t scare the girls as much as it makes them curious to find out who the man was. With no wallet and few clues found on his person, they set out to find his identity but wind-up learning more about their individual differences that continue to develop.

What ultimately scuttles the movie is that these four intelligent girls (one with police officer Lake Bell as their mother) wouldn’t report this right away to the authorities. Examining the body, moving it, taking pictures of it, showing these pictures to people and asking if they know the man in the picture seems so out of touch with the sensitive and sensible kids we meet at the outset. True, Mari (Eden Grace Redfield, Home Again) was hesitant and even had the most trouble keeping it from her mom (Megan Mullally, Where’d You Go, Bernadette), but Dina (Madalen Mills, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey) and Lola (Sanai Victoria) aren’t putting up a fight when Daisy sets them out on this quest.

Obvious comparisons to Stand by Me are unavoidable, and you have to wonder why the screenwriters would even position their film in the vicinity of that beloved classic. Four friends finding a body during the summer and exploring how it affects their lives is the thinnest of plot descriptions for both Summering and that 1986 Rob Reiner film. I spent far too much time trying to figure out if this was a reimagining of the original Stephen King novella or truly an original story. Aside from an extra layer of having the mothers featured as prominent characters, there’s little to suggest a viewing of Summering should replace Stand by Me.

Ponsoldt gained great acclaim directing 2013’s The Spectacular Now, which contained lovely performances and sincerity, but Summering is rarely spectacular ever. It’s hard to knock a movie aimed at pre-teen girls because so few movies (or studios, or directors) show interest in them, to begin with. Admirable though it is for Percy and Ponsoldt to spotlight four young actresses and surround them with a cast of conservatively familiar faces (Mullally does best, amiably pitching her role without feeling phony), I wish they had found a more powerful story to support them. 

Movie Review ~ Montana Story

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The Facts:

Synopsis: Two estranged siblings return home to the sprawling ranch they once knew and loved, confronting a deep and bitter family legacy against a mythic American backdrop.
Stars: Haley Lu Richardson, Owen Teague, Gilbert Owuor, Kimberly Guerrero, Asivak Koostachin, Eugene Brave Rock, Rob Story, John Ludin, Kate Britton
Director: Scott McGehee and David Siegel
Rated: R
Running Length: 113 minutes
TMMM Score: (5/10)
Review:  Pre-pandemic, theaters would have been able to dedicate room for a small movie like Montana Story.  It might not have played in the theater with the most seats or drawn as many viewers on opening weekend as the big studio film that occupied the other screens down the hall, but the target audience would eventually have found their way.  In today’s climate, the movie-goer that is right for this quiet picture will have trouble locating a showing in their area…if it’s even playing at all.  That’s a shame, too, because as promising as the box office returns have been for old-fashioned fare like Top Gun: Maverick and Downton Abbey: A New Era, the age of the tiny indie has all but vanished.

In that same breath, I’ll also admit that perhaps Montana Story is a bit too quiet for its own good.  The story of siblings reuniting at their family ranch as their divisive father lay dying in the next room is not easy to warm to.  It’s a chilly film for early summer that’s beautifully captured by cinematographer Giles Nuttgens (Enola Holmes) but only sporadically possesses the kind of forward momentum to keep the bitter winds from blistering your skin. 

On the outskirts of Montana, Cal (Owen Teague, Mary) arrives at his father’s sparse ranch after the patriarch suffers a debilitating stroke that has left him all but brain dead.  As his father is tended to by a nurse (Gilbert Owuor, No Man of God) and a long-time family friend/worker (Kimberly Guerrero, The Glorias), Cal has several significant decisions to make about the future of the farm and finances.  Erin (Haley Lu Richardson, Split) comes into the mix, Cal’s older half-sister, who hasn’t been heard from in nearly a decade, ever since she argued with her father and then disappeared overnight.

Wounded by her past, Erin finds a means of repressed salvation she can control after learning of Cal’s plans to put down a horse he can no longer care for.  Deciding she’ll take ownership and bring the horse back with her out East, Erin uses this new distraction to distance herself from the conflict she’ll never fully resolve with her father.  As the siblings reconnect and discover where life has taken them both, they’ll find new understanding in the power of letting go of the past so they can be free to carve out a future of their own design.

Writer/directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel have gathered a solid cast together for their tale that gets off to a good start but spins its wheels after about an hour.  I enjoyed the early scenes between Teague and Owuor, easy-going conversations that revealed small details of each that didn’t feel like the clear exposition they were.  Richardson comes in red hot, wound up with angst and trepidation at the situation she will find, which creates an exciting amount of energy.  Sadly, Richardson can’t easily maintain that level of performance, and pretty soon, every performance has flattened out like the prairie that stretches out before them.  It’s never quite a secret where the film is headed, but I thought it would get there in a less mundane way.

Marketing for Montana Story encourages audiences to “See it on the largest screen you can find,” and with the movie arriving right at the start of the summer movie season, you can still catch this one in theaters if you’re quick about it.  It’s worth a look on that scale if you can make it happen, but it’s not one I’d move mountains to get to either.  There’s a splendid simplicity to the vistas captured on camera, but the actual film slips into a gray dullness that could send you snoozing if you aren’t careful.

Movie Review ~ Infinite Storm

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The Facts:

Synopsis: When a climber gets caught in a blizzard on Mount Washington, she encounters a stranded stranger and must get them both down the mountain before nightfall.
Stars: Naomi Watts, Billy Howle, Denis O’Hare, Parker Sawyers
Director: Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert
Rated: R
Running Length: 104 minutes
TMMM Score: (4/10)
Review: Over time, I’ve found certain actresses that I gravitate toward because they have a quality, a spirit, that you can’t help wanting to get behind. Australian actress Naomi Watts is on that shortlist for me. Perhaps it’s because she’s a dedicated veteran that’s given it her all in films that haven’t allowed her to be painted into a corner. Most of the time, it’s yielded successful results, but it hasn’t brought her a golden trophy named Oscar she can rest on her mantle. It’s a goal I feel Watts tries to aim for, often blatantly, and the newest effort is the survival drama Infinite Storm. Whereas her traumatic performance in the pulverizing tsunami film 2012’s The Impossible last brought her to The Academy Awards, Infinite Storm will leave her (and audiences) out in the cold.

Not that Watts doesn’t, as usual, go for broke playing an experienced climber who works as a volunteer search and rescue operator that finds herself caught in an unexpected storm. Polish directors Malgorzata Szumowska & Michal Englert take their time getting Watts to her mountain, taking audiences through her morning routine, and chit-chat with a shop owner (Denis O’Hare, Dallas Buyers Club) before she zips up and heads out. It’s an otherwise ordinary journey up Mount Washington until the weather suddenly turns, and her instincts send her down to safety. She’s not faster than the storm, though, and she gets caught up in it, along with another mystery man (Billy Howle, Dunkirk) she runs into on her way down. Without the proper equipment, she has to do the work for both of them if either is to survive.

Without giving too much away, I’ll say that there’s more to the film than what you see in the trailers, but I wish I could hint that it’s worth checking out. Even the first half, which should see pulses race as Watts kicks into survival mode, fail to quicken much, and it’s primarily due to a curious lack of connection between the actors with each other or the viewer. There’s not much to grab onto, so you’re left to flail around aimlessly. That makes for a tiring experience, made more exhausting by the screenplay from Josh Rollins that consists primarily of Watts saying her companion’s name ad infinitum. She says his name (John) so much that you almost start to hope one doesn’t make it down alive…almost.

Based on a true story drawn from Ty Gagne’s article, “High Places: Footprints in the Snow Lead to an Emotional Rescue”, I wanted Infinite Storm to operate on a scale as impressive as some of Englert’s gorgeous cinematography. Too much is lost to a blizzard of histrionics that again keep Watts from finding a prime role of which she’s been deserving. Scale this mountain at your own risk.

INFINITE STORM will be available on demand starting April 12th

Rent or buy on all major platforms including Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play & Vudu.

Movie Review ~ Sundown (2022)

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The Facts:

Synopsis: Neil and Alice Bennett are the core of a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico until a distant emergency cuts their trip short. When one relative disrupts the family’s tight-knit order, simmering tensions rise to the fore.

Stars: Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Iazua Larios, Henry Goodman, Albertine Kotting McMillan, Samuel Bottomley

Director: Michel Franco

Rated: R

Running Length: 83 minutes

TMMM Score: (5/10)

Review:  Perhaps it was the subzero temperatures plaguing the Midwest these past weeks, but the opening moments of the curiously hard to classify new film Sundown truly worked some magic spell on me. A family is on vacation in some unnamed tropical locale (later learned to be Acapulco) and not doing much of anything save for moving from one high-end deck chair near their private pool to another on the beach close to the ocean. Their luxury resort staff brings them drinks to sip, but they don’t seem to be savoring anything. It looks to the viewer that this is less a vacation and more of an obligation; what some of us would consider a significant expense is simply another posh stay in paradise.

It’s the quiet prelude to director Michel Franco’s introduction of the Bennett’s. They’re the ultra-rich barons of an empire built on an industry that deals in converting flesh to food, which explains why world-weary Neil (Tim Roth, The Hateful Eight) gradually starts seeing more hogs haunting him as the film progresses. It’s one of the very few insights I can offer you at the outset because Franco has constructed his story to be a puzzle with pieces that can fit together in many ways and I’m not about to tell you where to begin. As you may imagine, that approach can really start to provoke a frustrating response while you’re there in the moment and involved with these brittle characters for 75-ish minutes.

The Acapulco tranquility doesn’t last long, and soon Alice Bennett (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Samba) has boarded a plane with children Colin (Samuel Bottomley, Get Duked!) and Alexa (Albertine Kotting McMillan), and Neil stays behind to find his passport. Of course, Neil knows precisely where his passport is, but he’s taken this opportunity to break free of his family and take his type of vacation. Ditching the five-star service of his accommodations for an oceanside tourist trap, he takes up with a local woman (Iazua Larios, Apocalypto) and finds himself in the company of a group who show him a different side of his destination, one with unexpected dangers and lasting repercussions in his family.

I spent a good half of the film thinking it was a story heading in one direction, only to realize that it’s the opposite with one slight adjustment in information from Franco. Reframing a movie as aloof as Sundown when you’re nearly 2/3 of the way through requires some moxie. Still, Franco, Roth, and especially Gainsbourg (always interesting, always game to play) use that surge of energy via a quite breathtaking and breathless bit of filmmaking to propel the film into its final act. Sadly, I think the movie winds up losing its forward momentum again by the time it concludes. However, that it gets so close to the finish line without evaporating under its oppressive heft of Purpose (yes, that’s with a capital “P”) speaks volumes to its performances more than anything. 

Movie Review ~ Together

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The Facts:

Synopsis: A husband and wife are forced to re-evaluate themselves and their relationship through the reality of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Stars: James McAvoy, Sharon Horgan, Samuel Logan

Director: Stephen Daldry & Justin Martin

Rated: R

Running Length: 91 minutes

TMMM Score: (9/10)

Review:  With the delta variant nipping at our heels just as much of the world was starting to get back to, maybe not a sense of true normalcy, but at least some semblance of what that mask-less reality could be, it might be difficult to encourage audiences to invest 90 minutes in Together.  We all have our own version of what this past year was like; how it felt to go months without seeing friends and family, to watch as the number of people that died as the result of poor government planning and communal adherence to mandates rose exponentially, and how we started to fear the things we used to cherish like social gatherings, hugs, and face-to-face interactions.  Knowing that, did we need to watch the couple at the center of this heavy dramedy over the course of a year rehash that same journey?

Beginning in March of 2020 during the first days of the COVD-19 lockdown in the U.K., we meet “he” (James McAvoy, Glass) and “she” (Sharon Horgan, Game Night) a couple with a kid (always roaming around the background somewhere) who aren’t on the best of terms when the film starts. They’re not exactly thrilled to be sheltering in place together, but with limited time to plan and few options in which to continue to co-parent, they talk directly to the camera and explain the current state of affairs.  They also bicker…a lot.  If you’re averse to rapid-fire dialogue between arguing couples that has bite to it, best to steer clear of this acidic pair. 

As the months go by and the death toll rises, the two experience the lows of the darkest days when information was slim and slow to come as well as the highs of being forced to get to know one another again in a pressure-cooker situation.  It’s often two steps forward, one step back, though, because inevitably any goodwill built is dashed when either the man or the woman says something that makes the other bristle.  Real life tragedy enters the picture and the movie becomes a gripping glimpse at grief and the stages that follow the process and the processor of that emotion.  It’s all handled with a surprisingly light touch and what could have been a painful exposure of re-opening old wounds instead becomes a visit to the recent past through a wiser lens of knowing better.

I suppose you could skip Together if you really are at the end of your rope with pandemic talk, but I’d encourage you to bookmark this for a viewing later because there’s some wonderful work on display both in front of and behind the camera.  Directed by Stephen Daldry (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) who shares a co-directing credit with Justin Martin and written by Dennis Kelly (Black Sea), Together premiered in the UK as a television movie back in June, just a scant month after it’s 10-day shooting scheduled concluded.  Relying hard on monologues and fourth wall breaking to heighten the theatricality of the piece, it might also be tempting to write this off as a stage-y work better suited for a live audience, yet I never felt as if this was presented via the wrong medium.

What McAvoy and Horgan lack in physical chemistry they more than make up for in a sort of old-school “sparks flying”, anything you can do I can do better, one-upmanship and that comes across nicely throughout.  Just when you think McAvoy is getting the rosier side of a thorny subject, along comes Horgan with her own staggering monologue that puts her light years away from the razor-sharp comedy she’s known for.  Apart or together, the actors are riveting to watch and Daldry works with cinematographer Iain Struthers (Florence Foster Jenkins) to keep the movement of the camera smooth and minimal, unobtrusive in not breaking the flow of the words.

It’s a hard watch, I’m not going to lie, for a number of reasons, but none should preclude you from gathering to catch the film.  Though planned and broadcast as a television movie in the U.K., Together doesn’t have that waxy feel of British TV as it makes its way over to U.S. shores/audiences.  The performances alone make it worth a recommendation and that the actors have tackled a hot button topic and kept the flames stoked only makes it a more solid thumbs up in my book.