Category Archives: Drama

The Iron Claw

The Iron Claw     4 ½ stars

“Mom tried to protect us with God. Pop tried to protect us with wrestling.” These are the words of Kevin Von Erich speaking of how his father, Fritz Von Erich drove his sons to be successful in the professional wrestling arena, but ultimately as we discover to tragic results. The movie The Iron Claw, by Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest) is about the real life Von Erich family, the kings of professional wrestling in Texas in the eighties. The movie is inspired by the lives of Fritz, the father of the clan (Holt McCallany), oldest son Kevin (a muscular Zac Efron like you’ve never seen him before) who is filled with drive to be the best but is haunted by what he sees as a curse on the family, second son David (Harris Dickinson), the tall lanky blond who tag teams with Kevin, third son Kerry (Jeremy Allen White who you will recognize from The Bear (also Law & Order)) who left a career in track and field for the chance to join his brothers in the ring and finally Mike (Stanley Simons) who saw himself as a country musician; that is, until he too joined his brothers in the ring. The movie is about a family of wrestlers, but it is also about the firm grip of control that Fritz had over his sons, wanting them to be the best and earn the championship belt that eluded him in his wrestling career. “The Iron Claw” is the name of Fritz’s signature move, the use of his hand to squeeze an opponent’s head until they surrender, but it also symbolizes the way he controls his family including his wife (Maura Tierney) who must watch the destruction of the family as they pursue pop’s dream. (Fritz is not going to win any parenting awards with his approach.) The actors, especially Efron obviously had to work up their physique and train hard to wrestle to make this movie. The action in the ring looks as comical as the real thing to me. There is some reference to the staging that is done in pro-wrestling, it being the best performers that end up being champion, so I have no doubt that it looks as real as possible. Unfortunately for the Von Erich family the tragedy that befalls each is only too real as well. The effect on Kevin is devastating as we watch his descent into depression. This is probably Zac Efron’s best performance to date. (We should forget about 2015’s We Are Your Friends.) “The Iron Claw” is far from an upbeat movie and you should be prepared to shed some tears. But it does deliver its message about being loyal to one’s family no matter what.

Maestro

Maestro               5 stars

It has been five years since Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut of A Star Is Born, a remake of a true Hollywood classic that he also starred in alongside Lady Gaga. Now he has co-written, directed, and starred in Maestro, a biopic on the life of Leonard Bernstein, the legendary American composer and conductor. Cooper elected to focus on his twenty-five-year relationship and marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre (played masterfully by Carey Mulligan (An Education, Drive, She Said, Promising Young Woman), showing us how they met at a New York gala, how she stayed with the man she loved through many difficult years until her death from cancer. We see Bernstein’s rise to fame after he directed the New York Philharmonic and the attention to his career by the media. The film does not show us much of his creative process in his compositions, choosing to show us his conducting skills (which I understand are very accurate thanks to Cooper’s attention to detail), and his tendency toward having affairs with men causing great strife for Felicia. I think that he made the right choice in not making the movie too broad as often happens with biopics. I really liked some of the creative elements used in the picture, such as the moving camera work in an opening scene where Bernstein learns he is to conduct the New York Philharmonic and we follow him from a bedroom as he moves through hallways and appears in the concert hall all in one continuous motion. The early scenes in the forties and fifties are all done in black and white making it look like old Hollywood, but when we get to the sixties and seventies the screen turns to bright colors displaying the difference in the eras. I loved the fantasy sequence showing dancing sailors giving us a hint of On the Town, but with Bernstein showing up in the act as a foretelling of the troubles to come. The film wouldn’t be nearly the success that it is without Carey Mulligan as Felicia who loves Bernstein but must suffer through his infidelities and his selfishness over his own greatness. The scene of the two confronting one another in their apartment during a Thanksgiving parade, (complete with Snoopy balloon) with her exploding in rage is equal to what I’ve seen in Anatomy of a Fall and Marriage Story. I have admired her acting skills since 2010’s An Education. She has been nominated for acting Oscars twice before and will surely be nominated for Maestro come Oscar time. She could very well win it this time. Bradley Cooper has Bernstein’s mannerisms down cold and keeps the energy of the film high with the quick dialogue he delivers along with the rest of the cast. The makeup on Cooper is convincing as we see Bernstein age through the decades. Undoubtedly, the movie will be rewarded for this. The only problem I had was with the movie not telling us what pieces are being performed when Bernstein is conducting. It is assumed the audience knows them and while they are familiar to me, I would like to know what they are during the movie. I am just glad I got the chance to see it in the theater to get the full effect. All music lovers should see this one and even if you’re not you shouldn’t miss it. Maestro is one of the best movies of the year.

The Boys in the Boat

The Boys in the Boat                       2 ½ stars

Director George Clooney who brought us such movies as Good Night and Good Luck,
Leatherheads and The Monuments Men returns to the director’s chair for a feel-good
underdog sports movie in The Boys in the Boat. This true story about an
eight-man rowing team from the University of Washington that competed in the
1936 Berlin Olympics and won a gold medal for the US is based on the
bestselling book by the same name. It follows the team through their struggles
during the depression, focusing mainly on rower Joe Rantz (Callum Turner of
Emma and Fantastic Beasts) who was abandoned by his father at age 14 but is
trying to stay in school to earn an engineering degree. Joe and the others are
drawn to the sport primarily based on the promise that is a guaranteed paying
job for those who make the team. The team coach (Joel Edgerton: Loving, It
Comes at Night, Boy Erased) has a vision of success with the young men of the
junior varsity team at U of W and tells them they are competing in the most
difficult sport in the world. While I agree that this is a story worth learning
about, the movie becomes one sports movie cliché after another. You can insert almost
any sport into the plot, whether it is boxing, basketball, track and field,
tennis or horse racing and you will have basically the same movie. (But not
golf. There is no sport in movies more boring than golf.) You have the grueling
workouts, the early spark of talent, the belief in greatness, the setbacks (in
this case the challenges from the administration against the junior team, the
need for raising more funds to go to Berlin) and the final heart pounding
competition. In this case we even get the appearance of Der Feurer at the final
event who is there to see the triumph of the Germans over the other teams. The coxswain,
Bobby (Luke Slattery) shows some real personality as he shouts encouragement to
the team when they are racing. But otherwise, these athletes seem like bland
copies of one another in their scenes together. There is an amusing romance
when a former classmate (Hadley Robinson) tries to get Joe’s attention and you
would almost expect a musical number out of a thirty’s movie to break out.
There were some nice touches like the aerial shots of the boats in steady
rhythm and the moving grandstands on a train that follows the course of the
race. The movie is good as a comfortable sports movie, but empty of any
surprises.

Girls Will Be Girls

Girls Will Be Girls 4 1/2 stars

In Girls Will Be Girls we find a coming of age story set in India in the Himalaya mountains. In a strict boarding school, Mira has just earned the title and responsibilities of Head Prefect. She has the pressures of keeping her grades up and dealing with a strict mother, but then a new boy arrives at the school that takes an interest in her. It’s a story of discovering desire and romance for the first time from first time writer-director Shuchi Talati. Mira has to be very careful about what she reveals to her mother about the relationship, but the mother takes an interest in the boy’s wellbeing too, setting up a conflict between mother and daughter. It is a well told story done with slow building tension. Both of the young actors were present for the Q & A. It was one of the best movies of the fest I have seen so far.

Ferrari

Ferrari                   4 stars

There is a lot of heat and noise coming from the fast cars on the roads of Italy in Michael Mann’s new movie Ferrari about the man behind the sports car company that bears his name. There is also a lot of heat being generated off the track too coming from Ferrari’s wife, Laura (Penelope Cruz in one of her finest performances) who is unhappy with her place in her marriage to Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver). This auto racing movie set in 1957 does concern competition between drivers of the world’s fastest machines on land, Formula One race cars, but it is also about the challenge Ferrari is facing, trying to save his company from bankruptcy while also keeping his life with his mistress, Lina (Shailene Woodley) secret from his wife. Early on we see what Laura is capable of as her fiery temper leads her to fire a gun, nearly hitting Ferrari. There is no hiding her feelings as only Cruz can show. She is still hurting from the death of her only son who died one year before that she blames on Enzo. But Ferrari needs to accommodate Laura as she controls most of the automobile company. The company is not selling enough sports cars to keep it afloat, but if one of its race cars can defeat Maserati in the famous Mille Miglia, the thousand-mile race across the hills of Italy, then it will be possible to sell many more of the expensive cars and save the company. Ferrari must also convince the right investor to help finance his venture so he must manipulate them into seeing things his way. You can see that Enzo has a lot on his mind. The movie viewer has a lot on his mind too as there is a lot of drama going on when not on the racecourse. Of course, there are plenty of exciting scenes of the race cars hurtling around the track and competing against each other on the road around hairpin turns through the countryside. I can’t imagine how it was possible to film scenes like this, but they are thrilling. There is no hiding the hazards of the sport in this era as is shown by some very graphic scenes that will silence the audience. Adam Driver displays his usual intensity, though not exploding with rage like he has in other roles. He keeps a subdued presence, but you can imagine him boiling beneath the surface as Ferrari maintains control over how the drivers are to handle the cars in the race and deal with a hostile wife at home. We don’t really get to know the drivers well, other than one who is especially eager to win at all costs. Patrick Dempsey portrays Piero Taruffi, the most experienced driver who has somehow survived to an advanced age for racecar drivers. There are some interesting things to see from this time, such as cars that carried two passengers and how the occupants sometimes have to work on a disabled car during a race to get it running again. There is so much packed in the two-hour plus running time that by the end of the race it is almost immaterial who the winner is. The movie is not for everyone, but anyone with a passing interest in auto racing should see it. As well as any fans of the talented Penelope Cruz.

Nimona

Nimona                 4 stars

From the studios of Annapurna and Netflix comes the animated movie, Nimona, originally a graphic novel by ND Stephenson. This energetic story takes place in a futuristic medieval kingdom where knights wear suits of armor, carry swords that fire energy beams and ride around in flying cars through the streets of a busy metropolis. Everyone there is aware of the legend of Gloreth, who defeated a fearsome monster a thousand years ago and is still revered. In the present we meet Ballister (Riz Ahmed), a knight who has few friends, but is close to fellow knight, Ambrosius Goldenloin, a descendant of Gloreth. It is clear that the two men have a romantic relationship, with this being the most gay-friendly animated movie I can remember. Early is the story, poor Ballister is framed for a murder and the knights of the kingdom are tasked with hunting him down. But Ballister is befriended by a young girl named Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz) who isn’t all she appears to be at first. Nimona is a shapeshifter, a being that is not human and can assume the appearance of any creature in an instant and is practically invulnerable to things that would be fatal to a human. She is also a thousand years old and the only one of her kind. Ballister and Nimona see something in each other with Nimona wanting to protect Ballister and clear his name of the crime. She protects him by changing into a rhinoceros, an ostrich, a small bird and even a whale among other animals and runs circles around the hapless knights. Besides fighting knights she loves to wreck things destroying structures and statues that get in the way and doing it all in a bright shade of pink. It is apparent that the character is a stand in for a transperson. She is reviled by all and at one point says she doesn’t know what is worse, knowing that everyone wants to drive a sword through her heart or wanting them to do it. Nimona is seen as a monster to the population, but we learn that this image is really a creation by a society unwilling to accept someone that is different from everyone else. She is alone in this world and desperately needs to connect to someone. Besides the message, the movie has plenty of comic bits for the kids and plenty of action that will keep their attention. The movie was originally a project of Blue Sky Studios, which was acquired by Disney. Disney apparently thought the film was too gay for them and shut it down at which point Annapurna took over to complete it. The LGBTQ nature of the characters will not be lost on anyone. Good for the filmmakers for having the vision to see the project through.

àma Gloria

áma Gloria                          4 stars

From France comes the movie áma Gloria directed by Marie Amachoukeli in her first time directing solo. We meet six-year-old Cléo who is cared for full time by nanny Gloria, a native of Cape Verde. Cléo loves Gloria as she is the only mother she has known since her real mother died when Cléo was a baby. Gloria has her own family in Cape Verde, but sees them only occasionally. Being a nanny in France is the only way she can earn money to support them. But then a family tragedy back home means that Gloria must return to Cape Verde permanently, meaning she must say goodbye to little Cléo. In order to lessen the pain for the six-year-old, her father agrees to letting Cléo stay with Gloria in Cape Verde for one last summer together. It is a touching relationship between the two main characters told both with the lens and animation sequences to illustrate Cléo as a baby with Gloria and life in Cape Verde. Both actors did an amazing job in bringing out how close they are. In the Q and A the director told how the young girl, Louise Mauroy-Panzani was the first girl that auditioned which is amazing since it normally takes a year to find the right child actor. When the part of the nanny was cast the director rewrote to screenplay to set it in Cape Verde, the actress’ home country. The movie did not premiere at Sundance, but appeared previously at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie was in French and Creole. This was one of my favorites.

May December

May December                 4 stars

As director Todd Haynes’ movie May December opens, we see a family gathering at a southern mansion with teenagers and neighbors having a backyard barbecue. It seems like a normal family scene except for the menacing score intimating something dark going on. Gracie (Julianne Moore of Still Alice, Boogie Nights and The Kids Are All Right) is preparing food and conversing with the neighbor when her husband, Joe (Charles Melton of Riverdale) comes in for a beer and Gracie questions if he has had too many. Right away we get the feeling that this is not an equal relationship as Gracie is the one who controls every aspect of this marriage. Things look more peculiar when we realize that Gracie is an older woman in her sixties, while Joe, who is half Korean is in his mid- thirties. Then we learn that the couple is expecting a visitor, a Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman of Black Swan and Closer) who has asked to shadow the couple as she is preparing to portray Gracie in an upcoming movie role. As the movie progresses, we learn more about their story. When Gracie was previously married with a family, she started an affair at the pet store where she worked with a new employee, Joe, who was 13 years old at the time. She served time in prison for the “indiscretion”, got divorced then married Joe whom she started a second family with. Now they have three teenage children, two of whom are about to graduate from high school, making the unusual couple soon to be empty nesters. (There is an intentional similarity to Mary Kay Letourneau’s story.) Things get more interesting and troubling as Elizabeth interacts with the couple individually and interviews others affected including Gracie’s ex-husband (D. W. Moffett of Switched at Birth and Chicago Med), her son from the earlier marriage, her defense attorney and the pet store owner. The intruder, Elizabeth, has a disruptive effect on this marriage the more she is present and even mimicking the actions of Gracie. Previously suppressed emotions come to the surface, especially for Joe as he starts to experience a mid-life crisis, realizing that he is treated more like a teenager than as a husband. The tension is thick thanks to the acting talents of Julianne Moore who is the expert at turning on the tears and to Portman in her best role since Jackie. Director Haynes has created a real showcase for the actors, making a dramatic character study for all three main parts. Haynes and Moore have previously worked together in Safe, Far from Heaven, I’m Not There and Wonderstruck. It’s clear that these two create movie magic when paired together. Moore, a previous Best Actress winner and five-time Academy Award nominee has again been nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for her role.

Perfect Days

Perfect Days                       5 stars

What would you think if I said one of the best movies I have seen this year is about a man who cleans toilets for a living? You might not believe it but that was what I found when I saw Perfect Days, the new movie by German filmmaker, Wim Wenders, starring Japanese movie star Koji Yakusho. This 68-year-old actor has been a steady performer in Japanese cinema for decades and is known to western audiences from Shall We Dance? And Tampopo. He is able to display his emotions and the contentment of his character by his facial expressions while hardly saying a word. His plays Hirayama, an older man who lives in a small apartment, gets up at dawn every day and sets out to travel the city of Tokyo and clean the many public toilets as an employee of The Tokyo Toilet. We follow him as he goes about his routine, preparing for the day and meticulously cleaning each toilet in the bustling city. Along the way we find out his varied interests of raising Bansai trees, photographing trees in the park using an old film camera, listening to 60’s and 70’s popular music on cassette and reading essays and novels, like William Faulkner. Through his work routine he is respectful of those he meets at the restrooms and seems completely content. As the film goes on, he has some encounters with regulars at a bar and the restaurants and public bath that he frequents. There is a rather flaky young co-worker he shares a shift with who is more interested in impressing a girl than with the job. Koji handles him with ease and only has to say a few words to deal with the co-worker’s begging for money. Eventually, we do learn a bit more about his past when a long absent niece and his sister come to pay him an unexpected visit. We know that something must have happened in his family years ago, but he found his own way of dealing with the issues of life. Through his meetings with those he knows well and his encounters with strangers, he puts them at ease and gives them the feeling that he can be trusted. And he does it all while remaining satisfied with his situation in life and listening to the likes of The Rolling Stones, Otis Reading, Lou Reed and Nina Simone. The writer-director, Wenders came up with the idea of this story while visiting Tokyo and doing a documentary on the modern public toilets that Japan offers. They really are quite a technological marvel compared to what we are used to. Wenders has successfully given us a positive picture of those public service workers who quietly go about their business of making life easier for the rest of us and doing it with a smile. Perfect Days is nominated for the Best International Film Academy Award.

The Zone of Interest

The Zone of Interest                       4 ½ stars

Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest is such an unconventional movie it’s hard to compare it to anything we have seen coming out of Hollywood. The subject is of course the Holocaust set in Auschwitz, the concentration camp in Poland during World War II. Holocaust movies have been a staple of Hollywood going back at least to Schindler’s List in 1993, but Glazer has done something with these horrors that we haven’t seen before. The focus is entirely on the day to day lives of the Commandant of the camp, Rudolph Höss (Christian Friedel), and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller of Anatomy of a Fall) and their family who live in their house and garden right outside the walls of the infamous camp. We watch as the family goes on outings to a lake or host get-togethers with their neighbors and Rudolph’s colleagues or attends to their children. Throughout the movie we never see any of the victims of the atrocities, but there are constant reminders as we see the walls of the camp in the background, see the smoke belching from the tall smokestacks and hear the sounds of gunshots and dogs barking in the distance. The cameras are set up in fixed positions inside the house making it seem like we are watching a reality show, spying on the inhabitants instead of watching a dramatic movie. There are few dramatic moments and that is the point that Glazer is making. He is showing us just how normal and mundane are the lives of those perpetrating one of history’s greatest crimes. There are scenes designed to make it clear that the family is completely aware of what is going on such as the wives distributing baby clothes and women’s dresses taken from the camp inmates, or when Hedwig threatens her young prisoner servant with execution if she doesn’t perform her tasks better. One son collects teeth with gold fillings. Later on, we see a scene with Nazi officials in a meeting in Berlin calmly discussing plans to send more Jews to the death camps with corporate like efficiency. This all serves to remind us of what is termed the banality of evil, how those involved can become blind to the evil of what is being perpetrated, though it is obvious to the rest of us. As I alluded to before, there is no normally constructed story here, but rather a portrayal of the rationalization of the characters’ actions. Jonathan Glazer has demonstrated how unconventional he can be before. One just has to go back to his previous movie, 2013’s Under the Skin, the “alien invasion” movie in which the alien predator portrayed by Scarlett Johansson lured Scottish boys to its feeding tar-pits. That’s one I will never forget. The same can be said about The Zone of Interest. The movie is nominated for Academy Awards in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best International Film.