C'mon C'mon

Movie Name: C'mon C'mon
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Mike Mills
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Woody Norman, Gaby Hoffmann, Scoot McNairy, Molly Webster, Jakoubie Young-White, Deborah Strang
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review:

Writer/director Mike Mills follow up to the fantastic "20th Century Women" is again a story about families and the ties that unite them, but this time around with a slightly different perspective than his previous endeavors. The film follows the story of Johnny, a radio Journalist who is currently doing an ethnographic style type of project, going around the country interviewing children about their lives and their expectations for the future. He receives an unexpected call from his sister, whom he hasn't spoken with since the death of their mother, asking him for some help. Her husband is dealing with some mental health issues, and she needs to go to Oakland and try to find a way to help him. While doing so, she needs Johnny to take care of Jesse, her nine year old son. Johnny agrees and stays in LA with Jesse, however when Viv asks for more time, he asks her if he can take Jesse to NY. Soon Johnny has to resume his work, and he takes Jesse along, this time around to New Orleans. As uncle and nephew travel around the US and experience daily life together, the more they realize about their own ties, their family relationships, fears, and ultimately reflect on what life has unveiled for them.

What has always been surprising about Mike Mills' films is the way he finds to make his personal experiences and point of view, into something that is humane, and that translates across to so many of his audience's own experiences. Shared experiences is not a prerequisite to enjoy a film of course, but his finest work has a deft mechanism of touching you in unexpected ways, particularly because he creates characters and situations that feel authentic and rooted in something genuine (even if for instance his narratives take place in very specific times and locations). "C'mon C'mon" is the first of his features where the essence of the narrative feels contrived and somewhat artificially constructed around a very precocious nine year old, who strangely enough, feels more like an interpretation of what a nine year old says and does than an actual child. The film fails to materialize a character's point of view, since neither Jesse nor Johnny's really comes across that clearly. There's much to admire in this film, particularly the narrative of Johnny, how he deals with grief, and how his process of listening to others allows him to figure out his own issues, but the film doesn't probe any deeper, choosing instead to deal with the choppy relationship with Jesse. For the first time in all his films, it feels like this particular narrative doesn't really know what it wants to say, at times aiming to be a Spike Jonze exploration on love (without the humor), and at other times, trying to be slightly ethereal in a style that only Sofia Coppola manages to capture so well. While Joaquin Phoenix is always fantastic, he can't save this film, which at times just drags on, because once more it just doesn't know what it wants to say. Gaby Hoffmann provides great support as usual, and the production team is fantastic, particularly the stunning cinematography from Robbie Ryan. Ultimately, this simply isn't one of Mike Mills' best features. 

Portrait de La Jeune Fille en Feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Movie Name: Portrait de La Jeune Fille en Feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Year of Release: 2019
Director: Céline Sciamma
Starring: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review:

Céline Sciamma made a name for herself with the films "Tomboy" and "Girlhood", but "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" has thus far been her most critically acclaimed feature to date. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for best screenplay, but went on to win numerous accolades and generally be acclaimed across various film festivals. The film which takes place in the 18th century, follows the story of Marianne, a painter who is commissioned to do a portrait of a young woman named Héloïse, to seal her proposed marriage to a man she has yet to meet (a Milanese nobleman). This commission is being done secretly by her mother, since the previous painter failed to complete his task, due to the fact that Héloïse isn't happy about the arrangement. Héloïse was previously living in a convent, and the arrangement was set in motion after her older sister died by suicide. Since Héloïse's mother doesn't want the same outcome for this painting, Marianne has to act as a hired companion of Héloïse, and draw her from memory. They soon forge a friendship, and Marianne eventually confesses her role and what she has done. Héloïse questions the finished portrait, and Marianne destroys it. After a confrontation with Héloïse's mother, she actually decides to pose for Marianne, and a timeline is decided for the completion of this new version of the painting. However as they go through the process of creating the painting, and their every day life, a complicity between these women emerges, which soon goes beyond friendship.

"Portrait of a Lady on Fire" is a film that manages to capture the blossoming of a relationship between two women in a way that feels tender, intimate and sincere. Both women progressively realize the intensity of their feelings, but also how their relationship has its own limitations and expiration date, due to the society in which they live. While the fantastic "Blue is the Warmest Color" illustrated the maturing of a young woman's identity, one that also included her own understanding of her sexuality, "Portrait..." never really poses the question if the relationship between these two women is sensical or not. These are two individuals, meeting at a specific time in their lives, where a shared intimacy organically evolves and blossoms, until it consumes them both. It is however a film where this blissful intimacy is married with the notion that their lives have to go in their own directions, that a sacrifice will have to be done, which of course only further crystalizes what they felt and experienced together. It's a beautifully rendered and acted film, one that has some dashes of influences from Bruno Nuytten's "Camille Claudel", without the brilliant intensity of Isabelle Adjani, but nonetheless equally impactful even if the characters could have benefited from some extra dimension to themselves. The cast is equally impeccable, with highlights going to Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel and Valeria Golino. The cinematography from Claire Mathon is naturalistic, but all the more intimate in the evenings in which the film takes place. A very good film worth watching. 

Hustlers

Movie Name: Hustlers
Year of Release: 2019
Director: Lorene Scafaria
Starring: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, Cardi B, Mette Narrative, Wai Ching Ho, Trace Lysette, Mercedes Ruehl, Devin Ratray, Dov Davidoff, Frank Whalley, Jon Glaser, Madeline Brewer, Steven Boyer
Genre: Drama, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review:

After the little seen "The Meddler" and the TV Movie "This is Heaven", writer/director Lorene Scafaria had the biggest hit of her career thus far with "Hustlers", co-starring Jennifer Lopez, who also produced the feature film. The film, which is based on an article published by the New York Magazine, follows the life of Dorothy, a woman who has had a difficult life since she was a child and her parents left her with her grandmother and went their own way. Dorothy is being interviewed for an article by a journalist who wants to know more about a hustle she and some of her friends did a few years back and how they almost got away with it. The narrative takes us back to 2007 when Dorothy was working in a strip club and going by the name of Destiny. While there, she becomes a protégée of the beautiful and iconic Ramona Vega. Her act gets better, and things continue to go well, till the recession hits them big time, and the clientele dries up. The dancers go their separate ways and in Dorothy/Destiny's case, she has a child, with a partner whom she soon separates from. As Dorothy/Destiny is forced to go back to dancing, she reconnects with Ramona, who now has a new hustle. This new hustle involves targeting rich men in bars. The women in their group pretend to drink with those individuals, while they secretly drug them, and while they're pretty much out, they max out their credit cards. The hustle proves to be quite successful, even if some accidents and fumbling occurs, that is until other strippers start doing the same. Ramona decides to take her group and do things her way, with a different group of women, until things turn sour, when they target a client who is not the typical Wall Street professional, and who reports the incident to the police.

"Hustlers" unlike other stripper related features such as Andrew Bergman's "Striptease" or even Paul Verhoeven's "Showgirls", goes for a more decidedly realistic approach when it comes to the depiction of the life of this group of women, who strip for a living. Lorene Scafaria illustrates this world very much like a family of women, who bond over the challenges they have in their lives, and how stripping is what they have to do in order to survive and make sure they can support their families (or just themselves). The film doesn't portray these characters as victims, but instead as women who resort to what they can in order to advance in life. While this camaraderie is well illustrated, the characters themselves are sadly not very developed beyond some superficial details, all of which fails to register much as character development. The focus ends up being the stripping and the situations these women find themselves at as a result of that particular job, and subsequently the hustle in which they get involved, which at times may be remindful of Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven", however without the suaveness and playfulness of that film. It's a film where the narrative keeps deftly moving, even if it doesn't necessarily bring anything different in terms of point of view, though it does give Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez opportunities to shine. The production team on the film is solid, with highlights going to cinematographer Todd Banhazl and production designer Jane Musky (who has also worked in such films as Jerry Zucker's "Ghost" and James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross"). Worth watching.

Death on the Nile

Movie Name: Death on the Nile
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Tom Bateman, Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo, Emma Mackey, Rose Leslie, Ali Fazal, Susannah Fielding, Adam Garcia, Michael Rouse, Rick Warden
Genre: Drama, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on HBO Max

Synopsis and Review:

Kenneth Branagh has been extra prolific these past few years, releasing 4 films since he first tackled the character of Hercule Poirot in 2017's "Murder on the Orient Express". Though the pandemic shuffled some of the release of his films, he has had very well received ones, including "Belfast" which recently won him an Academy Award for best Original Screenplay, and very poorly received ones, such as "Artemis Fowl" which is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus. "Death on the Nile" whose premiere got pushed a few times, is another adaptation from Agatha Christie's novel, and also a remake of the film which premiered in 1978, directed by John Guillermin, which at the time featured an equally impressive cast, fronted by Peter Ustinov with support from Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jon Finch, Olivia Hussey, Jane Birkin, Angela Lansbury, David Niven and George Kennedy. The film follows another case of Poirot, who this time around, finds himself in Egypt, where he encounters a friend and his mother, also traveling, but as guests of a surprise wedding that took place recently between Linnet, a rich heiress, and Simon Doyle, who was previously engaged to someone else, and who in the space of 6 weeks broke it off and is now married to Linnet. As a group of colorful guests celebrates the wedding, Simon's ex-fiancee makes her appearance, much to everyone's surprise. The group decides to board a cruise ship, in order to escape the attention of Simon's ex, though Linnet trusts Poirot that she does not trust any of her guests on the ship. When Linnet is murdered, everyone on the ship comes under suspicion, since all of them held a grudge towards her, or had a motivation to kill her. Poirot puts his detective skills to good use as he tries to understand what exactly happened during that drama filled evening.

These glossy, over produced films while trying to make a case for "adult minded storytelling", have come to represent somewhat hollow attempts at recapturing the prestige formula without much success. And that mostly happens because while Kenneth Branagh has a flair for the staging of the baroque and opulent, one only has to remember both his version of "Hamlet" and his comic book adaptation of "Thor", most of the characters who appear in both "Murder on the Orient Express" and now "Death on the Nile", are thinly categorized and described. And not even B-movie thinly categorized, or for that matter, TV movie categorized: they barely register at all, without much in terms of motivation, interactions or depth. They appear to be as inert and artificial as the visual effects that capture some version of what Egypt in the 1930s was like. And that's what ultimately becomes the downfall of these adaptations: while lush and impeccably crafted, these films fail to register actual characters with motivations, besides most of them just being by-standers. The acting is also a bit all over the place, with some performers always impressing, such as Annette Bening for instance, while others are painful to watch, such as Gal Gadot. Kenneth Branagh is clearly a talented film maker and actor, but this feature raises the question that he probably shouldn't be tackling material that he may not have much empathy with. This film once again demonstrates there's material for which he can't put that much of a spin on, besides illustrating matters with this dazzling array of great production design and cinematography, backed by various names of an eclectic cast, which sadly don't amount to creating an interesting film. Forgettable. 

Mass

Movie Name: Mass
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Fran Kranz
Starring: Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd, Reed Birney, Breeda Wool, Kagen Albright, Michelle N. Carter
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review:

"Mass" is writer/director Fran Kranz's directorial debut. He has had a prolific acting career, but ventured into directorial waters with this film, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival of 2021, before embarking on a series of Fall Film Festivals, until it was officially released in October of 2021. The film follows the story of two couples who meet in a Church antechamber to discuss what has happened to their children. Jay and Gail's son was one of many who was shot and killed by Richard and Linda's son, who went on a shooting spree in a high school, six years ago. Jay and Gail are trying to understand if there were any behavioral indications, that might have suggested/indicated what eventually took place. Linda and Richard recount the story of what they consider to be the most impactful changes in their son's life, but they themselves can't understand what motivated that brutal occurrence. These two couples whose lives are permanently damaged by that occurrence, are both trying to find a semblance of peace and potential healing.

"Mass" is a film that manages to be equal parts gripping and emotionally devastating, as it tackles the aftermath of a school shooting, and what happens with families who have to essentially rebuild themselves. This group of characters meet each other in somewhat different circumstances, since while one couple is trying to find a justification for the violence that occurred, and for the void that was left in their lives, the other couple is carrying the immense burden of also losing a child, while knowing how much pain their offspring has inflicted on others. It's a powerful narrative, that has some theatrical aspects to it, and some initial artificiality to the dialogue, but one that eventually finds its momentum and basks in the great dynamics between the central characters. Unlike Lynne Ramsay's superb "We Need to Talk About Kevin", where the characters are given extra dimension, by revealing more about the parents of Kevin, their existence, challenges as well as the consequences of his actions, "Mass" omits those aspects altogether. It chooses to focus on this particular cathartic session, where one couple aims to find closure and justification for what happened, and the other somehow looks for absolution while also attempting to shine some humanity and frailties on the monstrous portrait of their own child. This underdevelopment of the characters, is possibly where the film could have benefited of a more nuanced screenplay. It's nonetheless a film that lives from its talented group of actors, where all of them get a chance to shine and bring these characters to life, even if little aside from the horrifying event is ever disclosed. Ann Dowd in particular is fantastic, as she tries to empathize with the people she is talking to, when she clearly doesn't know herself how something as horrifying as that could have happened. Her pain and her bewilderment are gut wrenching. The cinematography from Ryan Jackson-Healy is solid, as is the score from Darren Morze. A solid directorial debut and a film worth watching. 

Diane

Movie Name: Diane
Year of Release: 2018
Director: Kent Jones
Starring: Mary Kay Place, Andrea Martin, Estelle Parsons, Jake Lacy, Deirdre O'Connell, Glynnis O'Connor, Joyce Van Patten, Kerry Flanagan, Phyllis Somerville, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Ray Iannicelli
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review:

Director Kent Jones has made a name for himself as a movie critic, in parallel with having a varied career as a director of programming for Film Centers and Festivals, before embarking on a career as a documentary film maker. "Diane" is his feature directorial career, and focuses its narrative on Diane, a woman who lives in the Massachusetts area. We witness Diane continuously helping her circle of friends and family, never stopping, always making sure she's available and present for anyone who needs her. Her cousin who is in the hospital with terminal cancer, is one of the persons she visits and cares for frequently, the same going for her son, who is battling drug addiction. As Diane goes through her visits and her interactions, it also becomes clearer that the motivations for what she does are instilled from a need for redemption for actions she took when she was younger, which had a profound impact on the lives of those who were close to her. Her current close group of friends, manages to be her support system, even if some of them are also passing away. 

One of the most interesting aspects of "Diane" is the fact that the film doesn't impart judgement on its characters. It just matter of factly represents this slice of life of a woman, who when she was younger, made some decisions which altered the life of her family, something she regrets doing, and is always attempting to compensate for. This race of hers to help, care for and support, is in a way, a salvation path for her own soul, even if she ultimately always remains her own worst critic. Her relationship with her son, as difficult as it is, eventually comes to a point of stability, even if it's not necessarily as she envisioned. This is a film that allows for these characters to have interactions, to showcase their frailties, dreams and how they overcome life's challenges. There's no illustration of an instant recipe for life's meaning or a dazzling special epiphany which summarizes the narrative. This film focuses instead on the observation of how the choices people do in life, will at times haunt them forever, and how aging is in itself a distancing process for people, particularly at a time when they become all the more vulnerable. It's a wonderful tale, with terrific performances from the whole cast, in particular of Mary Kay Place, who makes Diane both someone you can empathize with, with a generous kind heart, all the while also having another aspect to her personality that slightly saltier and realistic. The cinematography from Wyatt Garfield is solid, as is the score from Jeremiah Bornfield. Worth watching. 

Spencer

Movie Name: Spencer
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Pablo Larrain
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Jack Farthing, Sean Harris, Stella Gonet, Richard Sammel, Elizabeth Berrington, Laura Benson
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review:

Director Pablo Larrain continues his singular career of tackling narratives focused on tumultuous times in his central character's lives. After the well received "Jackie", which gave Natalie Portman one of her finest performances, he followed that endeavor with "Ema", which while critically well received, still flew under the radar. Since then he tackled the mini-series "Lisey's Story" with Julianne Moore, and then premiered "Spencer" at the Venice Film Festival of 2021, where the film was well received, before embarking on its festival circuit. The film which takes place on Christmas Eve of 1991, focuses its attention on the progressive disenchantment and meltdown that Diana, Princess of Wales is experiencing in her life. Her relationship with her husband has become strained, due to his affair with another woman, whereas everyone at the service of the Queen treats her as if she is a woman on a verge of a nervous breakdown, and unable to care for herself. She drives to the Queen's estate in Norfolk, and her behaviors, clothing, what she eats, where she sits and even what she says, are thoroughly scrutinized. While her children are also in attendance, Diana realizes that the property where she grew is nearby, which reawakens memories and feelings she had long brushed aside. Her only friend at the estate is her dresser Maggie, who encourages her to stay firm to who she is. While Diana struggles with the burden of people's expectations, the deceitfulness of her husband, and living in the public eye, she finds support and love in her children, whom she wants to protect above all.

Films and TV Shows about the British Royal Family are starting to become a staple of prestige productions, but also a topic that is borderline burned out (much like the constant adaptations of "Peter Pan" and "Robin Hood", please give it a rest). What has always been interesting about Pablo Larrain's take on iconic women, firstly with Ms. Jackie O and now with Ms. Diana Spencer, is the period which he chooses to focus on and also, the challenges these women are facing at that time. For "Jackie" the period coincided with the death of the President, and how her facade and persona had to somehow reveal the humanity of someone going through a traumatic and debilitating event such as that one in the public eye. With "Spencer", Larrain focuses his attention on the period where Diana Spencer realized the eminent dissolution of her marriage, and how her current life had been staged and artificially crafted for her to inhabit, in a way suppressing who she really was, once more, for the sake of the public eye. These are fascinating moments in time for these characters, ripe for good drama, which in this case is cleverly staged, even if it is almost too glacial to allow the characters to emote much. And though that is indeed the intention, to denounce Ms. Spencer's unshackling of this cold universe in which she was a prisoner, the film itself also feels prisoner of the environment that it creates (the film needs more of a jolt of the energy which keeps flowing through Kristen Stewart). And sadly, it's a story that has been told countless times, including Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Diana", featuring the superb Naomi Watts, and more recently the Netflix show, "The Crown", created by Peter Morgan. The film succeeds in crafting this environment, and also in providing a great canvas for Kristen Stewart to excel and bring her interpretation of Diana Spencer to life. It's a solid interpretation, one that brings the persona of the Princess of Wales to life, without excessively trying to be a copycat. She has great support from the always fantastic Sally Hawkins and Timothy Spall. While not as memorable and impactful as "Jackie", it is worth watching nonetheless.