Category Archives: Crime

Argentina, 1985

Argentina, 1985                 4 ½ stars

I went back a few years to watch Argentina, 1985 which is being shown on Amazon Prime Video. The film was released in 2022 and was directed by Santiago Mitre who also directed The Summit. This is a dramatic representation of the civil trial that took place in Argentina in 1985 when the leaders of the former dictatorial government were put on trial by the new government for their crimes against humanity. During this dark period of history thousands of Argentinians were “disappeared” for their opposition to the regime. Some had committed crimes, while others were innocent, but all were systematically executed without due process. The federal prosecutor, Julio Strassera (Ricardo Darin) is reluctant to take the case hoping that the new government won’t charge the former regime. He knows that it will be very challenging as there are many people who are still loyal to the old military government, and it will be tough to find witnesses willing to testify. He would have to not only prove the crimes but also show that the leaders knew they were happening. He is aided by the young deputy, Luis Ocampo (Peter Lanzani) whose own mother still believes in the innocence of the military leaders. Together, they must recruit a team of young lawyers and students to do the research since none of the older lawyers will take on the job. Together this team finds the evidence and witnesses needed to hold the trial. They do this despite the threats of violence leveled against them through telephone, the mail and mysterious men in cars. Most of the film focuses on the trial itself showing the dramatic testimony given by the survivors. We already know the outcome going in since this is a historical event, but it is a testament to the courage of these men and their team in standing up to powerful men. It is more inspiring than even the Nuremburg trials. I only hope that others facing evil authoritarian governments can learn from the examples of these events. My only complaint is that the movie was only available with English dubbing and not in the original Spanish, which I think would have made it more powerful.

Woman of the Hour

Woman of the Hour        4 stars

Last year’s Woman of the Hour is a true crime thriller that is based on the time that an actual serial killer appeared on a TV game show, The Dating Game as a contestant. In 1978 Rodney Alcala had been murdering women for years by luring them to remote locations while posing as a photographer. He appeared on the game show as Bachelor Number 3 where he answered questions from female contestant Cheryl Bradshaw and was chosen by her to go on a date. The movie, directed by and starring Anna Kendrick introduces us to Cheryl (Academy Award nominee Kendrick) and Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) separately before the fateful episode of the iconic TV show. We see how Alcala uses his charm to convince the victims to accompany him before he kills each one. As the killer, Zovatto is alternately likeable and menacing in the role. Cheryl is a struggling actress having a difficult time finding roles when her agent lands her an appearance on a TV show, which happens to be The Dating Game. She is not very thrilled about the idea but goes along with the idea as it will give her some exposure. So, she does the show where she is expected to look pretty and ask each of the three bachelors prearranged questions that will appeal to the audience. There is more to the movie though, as it is set in the 1970’s, a time defined by sexism. Cheryl must calmly endure sexist remarks from men about her appearance. She has to be overly polite with her male neighbor in conversations to make sure she doesn’t hurt his feelings. But when the big moment comes for her TV appearance, she decides she has had enough of pleasing men and asks her own challenging questions of the three bachelors that includes one dimwit and one sleazebag, causing them to squirm and upsetting the TV host (Tony Hale). Finally, when the two meet face to face, Cheryl has a conversation with Alcala and gets the sense that there is something not right about the guy which leads to the intense final confrontation between them. The way women are poorly treated is further exemplified by a scene when one woman recognizes Alcala as a suspect in a murder and is routinely dismissed by the police and other men. The movie is more than a true crime story as it paints a picture of the seventies showing how women are objectified in this man’s world. This was a challenging subject for Kendrick to choose for her first effort at directing. Let’s hope to see more projects from her.

Kajillionaire

Kajillionaire         4 ½ stars

Miranda July’s third feature as director, Kajillionaire, is a real treasure featuring a very odd performance by Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood. Her previous features The Future and Me and You and Everyone We Know were well received, but I never managed to see either one. Her movies are described as quirky with some very oddball characters and Kajillionaire fits right in. Wood exchanges her robot acting to play a young woman named Old Dolio, who has been raised by her parents Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) to participate in their con games to rob people of their money and valuables. They aren’t really that good at what they do and are barely getting by. This leads to some very funny scenes. Old Dolio (don’t ask about her name) obviously has never known affection and doesn’t know how to behave around people. Wood has been made to look about as unattractive as possible in the role and masters the part. The trio spend their time stealing from post office boxes and visiting elderly people in order to rob them. They live in an old office building that is very cheap on the condition that they remove the soap suds that leak into the space on a daily basis. (Don’t ask.) Things change for Old Dolio when the trio are joined by Melanie (Gina Rodriguez), a young woman who likes the idea of being a grifter, but has a different take on it. Kajillionaire displays a wide range of emotions for its characters and gets to the point of what life is about, though in a very amusing way. Now I feel that I need to check out Miranda July’s other movies.

Motherless Brooklyn

Motherless Brooklyn      3 ½ stars

One movie that has long been on my list to see is Motherless Brooklyn which came out about a year ago. It is a real pet project of Edward Norton who wrote the screenplay, directed and stars in the picture going back to 2001. The movie is about a gumshoe detective, Lionel Essrog (Norton) in 1950’s New York City whose boss and mentor is murdered, so Lionel spends the rest of the film trying to solve the crime. The movie is based on a 1990’s crime novel, but Norton set the story in the fifties after he acquired the rights to it. The movie is in the style of a fifties Film Noir and has a plot that is quite complicated. I will give some background without giving too much of the plot away. Lionel’s investigation takes him to a story of corruption within the city government involving a city official named Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin) who has made it his mission to remake the city into his vision of a world class city at the expense of the poor and working-class people that inhabit it. The Randolph character is based on the actual city planner in the fifties, Robert Moses, who tore down black neighborhoods to build his parks and bridges and interfered with mass transportation like buses and trains because they were used by poor people and blacks. Alec Baldwin is brilliant as the character who craves power and despises those who care about the welfare of disadvantaged people. (Remind you of anyone?) Lionel has a condition, Tourette syndrome, that causes him to blurt out annoying and offensive remarks, but is otherwise and intelligent person. Sometimes this gets to be distracting from an interesting plot, but otherwise Norton gives an excellent performance. The rest of the cast is pretty amazing, including Bruce Willis, Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bobby Cannavale, Cherry Jones, Josh Pais and Michael Kenneth Williams. It’s clear that Norton was out to get the best actors he could. At 2 hours, 24 minutes, the film tends to drag at times and you may have to pause the movie and back up to catch some of the key plot points, but it will be worth it. The jazz score written by Thom Yorke and performed by Wynton Marsalis is also amazing to hear helping to give the movies a very fifties feel.

The Phoenician Scheme

The Phoenician Scheme                 4 stars

If you’ve seen a Wes Anderson movie before you already have an idea of what to expect. His best includes The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Asteroid City. (Also, remember The Fantastic Mr. Fox). Anderson has a unique style identified by faded colors, stationary cameras, and characters with stilted and rapid fire speaking that is instantly recognizable. His new film, The Phoenician Scheme, is no different and shares themes as well as actors from previous films. Common devices he uses are espionage and parental challenges, both of which are present in this one. There are two main characters that cover the entire film. There is the shady industrialist, Zsa Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro of Sicario and The French Dispatch) who has an uncanny ability to survive multiple plane crashes and his estranged daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton who is a newcomer) who he wants to leave his empire to and who happens to be a nun. Korda is in the process of setting up a vast infrastructure project to secure his legacy, but he needs the cooperation of a series of odd characters to “cover the gap”; that is, to help fund his project. Thus, his travels to various parts of the globe to try to secure their cooperation by doing odd things like having a basketball shooting contest in a railroad tunnel. It’s also clear that these various businessmen have not been treated all that well by Korda. There is also an assembly of rival industrialists who are trying to thwart Korda’s plans, thus the assassination attempts. The all-star supporting cast includes Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed and Scarlett Johansson. Bill Murray, a Wes Anderson regular even makes an appearance as God in what appears to be scenes of the afterlife. Throughout the movie it’s the great pairing of Del Toro and Threapleton with a little help from Michael Cera as Bjorn, a Norwegian tutor that really makes the movie. They have a good sense of comic timing while applying Anderson’s trademark style of deadpan delivery. Amid all the zany happenings lies a message of the care of a parent for their child even if it’s not delivered well. Considering all the movies that have been made by Wes Anderson over the past thirty years, The Phoenician Scheme is one of the better ones even if the style is very familiar.

The Accountant 2

The Accountant 2             2 stars

After eight years, accountant and deadly killer Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is back in director Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant 2, the sequel to the 2016 generically named The Accountant, also by O’Connor. This time around the autistic genius and weapons expert has been recruited by a US Treasury agent (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to help her investigate a human trafficking ring in Mexico that has extended its reach into the United States. She soon finds out that some of his methods aren’t exactly legal. (But first we get an amusing taste of what it’s like for the socially awkward Christian to try a dating service where his literal way of speaking puts off every woman he talks to.) When it becomes clear just how violent and far reaching this criminal gang is that he is facing, Christian must reach out to his estranged brother, Braxton (Jon Berthal) who is a professional killer in Europe, and persuade him to come back to the US to help him in the case. Only now things are complicated by the appearance of a trained female assassin (Daniella Pineda) whose motives are unclear. But, on Christian’s side is a special group of computer savvy teenagers from a special school for autistic children whose hacking skills go beyond that of the specialists working for the US government. There are many moments of comedic banter between the two brothers that the writer must have thought was important to include, but given the serious nature of the crimes involved, it sometimes seems out of place. Like the first movie, the action and violence go to extreme levels with an absurdly high body count. The risks they take and the kill ratio they achieve go well beyond anything approaching credibility. Some people who are familiar with those who are autistic may find it offensive to portray an autistic character in a movie this way. It certainly doesn’t do much for the cause of those with this disorder. Many movie goers may like this type of comedic action movie, but I am not among them. I found last year’s The Fall Guy, also a popular violent action movie, preferable given its lighter premise. There may be another sequel to The Accountant coming. It won’t bother me if it takes another eight years for it to come out.

The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker                  4 stars

I got a chance to finally see the legal drama The Rainmaker based on the John Grisham novel which I somehow missed back when it came out in 1997. It is a well-paced story that keeps the viewers interest throughout its 2 hour and 15 minute running time. The basic story is rather conventional, a young lawyer just out of law school (Matt Damon) finds himself taking on an expensive law firm representing a corrupt insurance company. The company preys on poor working people by selling health insurance policies that don’t payoff when presented with valid claims. The film helped propel Damon to star status after Harvey Weinstein noticed him and wanted him in the movie. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola who wanted to make it a movie after just happening to read the Grisham novel. The film is graced with an amazing cast of talented actors that includes Mickey Rourke (as a sleazy lawyer), Danny DeVito (as the oddly named Deck Shifflet), Jon Voight (an even more sleazy lawyer), Claire Danes (who was just seventeen), Teresa Wright (in her last performance), Mary Kay Place, Dean Stockwell, Virginia Madsen, Roy Scheider and an uncredited Danny Glover. The plot is straightforward enough to easily follow and is driven by many dramatic moments in the courtroom. The young Claire Danes finds herself in a subplot with Damon that doesn’t infringe on the main story. Anyone who is a Matt Damon fan or a lover of legal dramas should include The Rainmaker on their to see list.

Les Misérables

Les Misérables                  4 stars

There is no Jean Valjean or Cosette or extravagant musical numbers in this movie. Les Misérables is the directorial debut of French-Malian director Ladj Ly. It is a crime thriller drama depicting the extreme racial tensions of the Paris suburbs in which it is set. The town, Montfermiel, is the same place as the events of Victor Hugo’s novel. The strife of the characters also mirrors that of the 19th century book. The movie follows an elite police squad of the SCU who call themselves the Smack Combat Unit. Their job is to keep some sense of order in the mostly black, Muslim neighborhood of high density housing and street shops. Stephane is the new guy who is being introduced to the job, while Chris and Gwada are the experienced hands. An incident occurs involving some of the local teens and the unit must investigate to keep the matter from escalating. When the unit is confronted by a gang of teens, a decision by one of the police causes the situation to spiral out of control, setting the powder keg on fire. The movie is a realistic portrayal of the problems France has been facing with the young, poor, mainly African population and police who sometimes use repressive tactics. It is somewhat based on the riots that occurred around Paris in 2005 where thousands of vehicles were burned. Most of the acting is done by locals who previously had no acting experience. The movie shows several acts of violence by the characters and does not pretend to have any solutions to the problems. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language film as France’s submission.

Queen & Slim

Queen & Slim                     4 stars

Queen & Slim, released in 2019 may have been prophetic concerning the racial justice protest movement of the summer of 2020. The film, by director Melina Matsoukas follows the young black couple on a journey across the south being hunted by police. Slim, a Costco worker is portrayed by Daniel Kaluuya who is currently starring as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah and who received an Oscar nomination for the horror movie Get Out. Queen, a strong woman who stands up for herself is played by newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith. The pair start the movie on a first date when they are stopped by a white police officer for failing to use a turn signal. When Queen, a defense attorney questions the officer’s reasons for the stop, the situation escalates with Queen getting shot and the officer dead in a clear case of self-defense. The couple are then on the run for the remainder of the film seeking help from sympathizing individuals along the way. However, due to the release of a video they become famous and become folk heroes to many throughout the country. In many ways the movie could be described as a black version of Bonnie and Clyde or even Thelma and Louise. As the pair struggle with the difficulties of coming up with a plan and get to know each other, the audience comes to sympathize with their situation and roots for them to survive. There are also notable performances by Bokeem Woodbine and Chloe Sevigny. The film is hard to classify as it starts as a rom-com, but transforms into a horror story, then into a road trip romance. It is supported by a superb hip-hop score featuring new artists. Kaluuya and Turner-Smith are the real stars here and we can be sure to see more good work and awards for Daniel Kaluuya.

Joker

Joker                                     4 ½ stars

I finally got around to seeing Joker from 2019, the movie where the iconic villain gets his star treatment instead of sharing the screen with Batman. Undoubtedly most movie viewers have seen this film by now so I don’t need to go into the story much. Director Todd Phillips has fashioned not so much an action movie but a character study that explores how Arthur Fleck went from mentally ill loner to violent master criminal prior to becoming the arch nemesis of Batman. The dark mood of the film is created by the score and an expertly depiction of the early eighties in gritty city scenes. And of course the movie wouldn’t be possible without the acting skills of Joaquin Phoenix as the tormented Arthur. Phillips commented on how flexible Phoenix was in changing his approach in each take of filming. He certainly deserves his Best Actor Academy Award for the role. I was not far into the movie before I saw the similarities to Taxi Driver, the Robert DeNiro crime drama of the seventies. Much of the inspiration of Joker had to come from the Scorsese film. DeNiro himself makes an appearance as a famous late night talk show host on a TV set that is a dead ringer for Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show of the eighties. Though it is a dark movie, Joker belongs on the list of best pictures of the year.