Category Archives: Drama

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood      4 ½ stars

What better movie to follow Won’t You Be My Neighbor? than the drama A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood? Tom Hanks takes the role of TV icon Fred Rogers in this dramatization based on the real life friendship between Rogers and a magazine writer played by Matthew Rhys. The writer, Lloyd, is a cynical man who has many personal problems in his life and is suffering from a broken relationship with his father played by Chris Cooper. The magazine, Esquire, is doing an issue on heroes and Mister Rogers is the only one who would agree to an interview with Lloyd. The movie actually focuses more on Lloyd and his anger issues more than it does Rogers, but it makes an effective story. The miniature sets, puppets and fantasy sequences are used to get him to focus on his family and his relationship with his father (who left his family when Lloyd was young). Fans of This is Us will recognize Susan Kelechi Watson who plays Lloyd’s wife. Hanks captures the personality of Fred Rogers well with his personal style of interacting with children and adults. Dealing with Rogers’ direct and personal approach could be very challenging for many adults as well as his teenage sons which is mentioned. He really shows that Mister Rogers was very much the same man as the character he portrayed on TV for over thirty years. The movie takes place in 1998, only two years before the show ended. I find it preferable for a movie to focus on a short period or event in the life of an entertainer or famous personality instead of the traditional life story we see so often. This film delivers the message of dealing with our feelings and life’s challenges that Fred Rogers was all about.

Ford v. Ferrari

Ford v Ferrari     5 stars

Ford v Ferrari tells the story of two individuals who joined forces with Ford Motor Company to build a race car that could challenge the dominating Ferrari in the 24 hours of Lemans in 1966. The superb cast is led by Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby, American car designer and Christian Bale as Ken Miles, British born fearless race car driver. Both display a passion for the craft of racing in convincing fashion. The two have to battle the corporate meddling of the executives at Ford Motor Company who are more concerned with appearances and marketing than understanding what it takes to win a race. Of course the real show are the racing scenes with cars reaching speeds of 240 miles per hour and performing daring maneuvers that could end in disaster or blow a piston at a critical moment. This is all done with the amazing stunts and effective film editing and some great sound effects. It is apparent that CGI has come a long way as the entire movie looks like the real thing. I am not a gear head so I am sure some things got past me, but it looks like the best auto racing movie I have seen. The disadvantage is that since it is a true story, you have a pretty good idea how it is going to turn out in the end. The story does get a little ironic when you stop to consider that Ford is the Goliath here as they take on the much smaller auto company, Ferrari using virtually unlimited financial resources. The film is worthy of its Best Picture Academy Award nomination and its wins in both Film Editing and Sound Editing.

Bad Education

Bad Education                   4 ½ stars

I heard some good things about the HBO TV movie Bad Education so decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed by the Hugh Jackman starring vehicle about a huge school embezzlement case in Long Island, New York based on actual events. The movie follows Frank Tassone (Jackman), superintendent of one of the nation’s wealthiest school systems and Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney), his second in command as they raise the Roslyn school system’s profile getting a record number of student acceptances to top colleges and ever increasing local property values. Unfortunately, things start to come apart when one enterprising student on the high school student newspaper starts looking at the spending of the school system at local businesses and non-existent companies at the same time that Gluckin’s idiot son gets caught charging home improvement supplies on a school credit card. What follows are coverups and the shifting of blame until the source of the lavish lifestyles of the two school administrators eventually becomes apparent. (Imagine an administrator with a collection of suits, a BMW who takes first class airline seats on trips to Europe!) The story is told as a comedy/drama with some funny moments that is aided by outstanding performances from Jackman and Janney as well as the young actors portraying the students. This TV movie has received widespread praise and a couple of Emmy nominations that is well deserved. I am glad that I took the time to see it and you should look for it too.

Tell It Like a Woman

Tell It Like a Woman       2 stars

Tell It Like Woman is an anthology series, one of those movies that is a collection of short films that have a common theme or characteristic. In this case, all seven of the films are by different women directors and have women as their primary subject. It is notable for its Academy Award nominated song that plays over the closing credits: Applause by Diane Warren. I do have to say that it is a memorable song. The movie that it’s attached to, not so much. A couple of the stories are interesting like A Week in My Life by Japanese director Mipo O about a single mother who is struggling to go through her daily routine of raising two young children by herself. We see over the course of one week just how challenging this job can be. In Pepcy & Kim directed by Taraji P. Henson, Jennifer Hudson plays a drug addicted prisoner who is trying to keep her act together so that she can be released and see her young son again. Hudson also plays the part of the prisoner’s inner voice that tries to steer her in the wrong direction. The other films were less interesting and incomplete. Unless you are really into seeing some of the directors’ work or the actresses, I recommend that you skip it.

The Rental

The Rental                          4 stars

With The Rental, actor Dave Franco shows that he can direct an effective thriller/horror film that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s hard to describe this movie without giving away spoilers so I can’t go into great detail. In the movie, a group of four friends decide to celebrate Dan’s successful business venture by renting an oceanside house for the weekend. Dan, his wife Michelle, his brother Josh and his business partner Mina travel to the house they found online planning a drug fueled fun weekend. Josh and Mina also happen to be starting their own relationship with each other. Tensions start to mount when they meet the caretaker who has racist tendencies toward Mina who has a foreign name. As in a good thriller, things get progressively more tense as we see that some of the characters are less than honest with each other. Suspicions arise when Josh’s dog, Reggie suddenly disappears. When one pair of our friends discovers evidence that someone has been watching them, the fear of revealing secrets set in and accusations are made. It is here that what starts as a character driven thriller suddenly transforms into something more sinister and the violence finds its way into the story. The movie is aided by effective cinematography, some well placed foggy night scenes and four good performances by the actors portraying some rather narcissistic and not so nice people. As in most horror movies, the characters make some very questionable choices that only make their situation worse. The Rental is good entertainment that takes its time to develop and does not rely on sudden scare scenes, but it will only work for true horror fans.
 

Tigertail

Tigertail                4 stars

The Netflix movie Tigertail is a drama about one man’s journey through life as an immigrant from Taiwan to America and the questioning of one’s choices through life. It’s a well-constructed story done in non-linear fashion going from Pin-Jui’s childhood on a Taiwanese farm until his old age in America. We see him as a carefree young man in the sixties who loves to dance with his girlfriend, but lives in poverty with his mother and works in a factory. Pin-Jui decides to give up this life for the promise of something better in America but does so by accepting and arranged marriage to the daughter of a wealthy businessman. In scenes flashing forward we see him as an older man in his seventies who lives alone and is questioning the choices he has made. Through his unwillingness to open-up and show any emotion with his family, he has pushed them all out of his life. The question becomes can he make amends before it is too late. The movie is both about how we treat loved ones and about what an immigrant can give up in their quest for a seemingly better life in America. It’s a worthwhile film, but the sequence of scenes the director uses will require the viewer to pay close attention to the screen. Tigertail is mostly in Chinese with subtitles and it appears to be Alan Yang’s first directorial effort.

Loaded

Loaded                 1 star

The 1994 British made indie thriller Loaded can be described as an exercise in navel gazing involving a bad LSD trip. The movie has a group of London teenagers traveling to a remote old mansion where they aim to make a bad horror movie. Along the way there is lots of philosophizing about life and what they hope to get out of it. One character, Neil, theorizes that thoughts toward a person can make one responsible for what befalls them and this may be a premonition. Two of the characters have real ambitions of becoming filmmakers with one of them having an obsession with real psychopaths. Eventually, when the group takes LSD the consequences are severe as one of their members ends up dead. Then the group must decide together what actions to take. The movie is only notable for early roles for two of the actors, Catherine McCormack and Thandie Newton. This film is a collection of clichés, self-pity and nineties hair styles. It should be avoided.

Richard Jewell

Richard Jewell                   4 stars

The based on a true story film, Richard Jewell is a very professional telling of the wrongful treatment of the security guard that discovered the bomb that exploded in Centennial Park at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Jewell, played by Paul Walter Hauser was hailed as a hero for saving many lives for a few days, but then was identified as a suspect by the FBI and was vilified by the news media, all with no real evidence linking him to the crime. Hauser, very convincing as the slowwitted wanna be cop, previously played the bodyguard of Tanya Harding in I, Tanya, a similar role. Excellent performances are also given by Sam Rockwell as the private attorney representing Jewell who never gives up on his client, Kathy Bates as Jewell’s suffering mother (for which she received an Academy Award nomination) and Jon Hamm, the sleazy lead FBI investigator who would never admit he was wrong. The story is a well told cautionary tale about how a rush to judgment can ruin a person’s life and reputation all in the quest of scoring big headlines. Even now many people remember the sensational nature of the story instead of the final result that Jewell really was the hero at Centennial Park. The events happened well before the arrival of social media, but the warnings of misleading stories are even more relevant today with Twitter and Facebook. Even with all that, it’s impossible not to notice the political nature of a story that attacks the reputation of the FBI and the news media. The movie arrives 23 years after the event and 12 years after Richard Jewell’s death. So, why release it now when the current administration constantly tries to discredit the FBI and the news media? The agenda is unmistakable. Even so, the movie is well done and serves to clear the reputation of a good man.

The Batman

The Batman        4 stars

In 2022 we got yet another incarnation of the most depicted, depressed superhero in movies, TV or comic books. This time it is Matt Reeves (two iterations of The Planet of the Apes movies) giving us his version of the caped crusader, otherwise known as Batman. What can he do that Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan or Joel Schumacher haven’t already done? Apparently, it is creating the darkest and moodiest Batman yet to hit the big screen. This Batman (Robert Pattinson) has seemingly been suffering from PTSD ever since his parents were murdered some twenty years before. He regularly goes skulking around Gotham City looking for criminal gangs to beat up on and shows them no mercy. Bruce Wayne, the millionaire, does appear in a few scenes, as well as his butler, Alfred (Andy Serkis), but he is not the playboy type that has been seen in other Batman movies. He typically shares in Batman’s moodiness. The entire movie takes place at night, with much of it in the rain to add to the gloomy feel of it. There isn’t even a hint of comedy throughout the movie. In Reeves’ movie Batman isn’t just a crime fighter. He must also take on the role of detective when a series of high-profile murders are taking the lives of the most prominent men in the city including the mayor and the DA. At each crime scene a letter is left addressed to Batman with a puzzling riddle that he, together with Commissioner Gordon (Jeffrey Wright (probably the finest actor in the movie)) must find the answer to. Slowly it is revealed that a web of corruption has infected every level of the local government, and this hidden psychopath has made it his mission to clean things up while also believing he can get Batman to help in the endeavor. Each victim seems to have ties to a crime boss named Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), a real slimeball who operates an exclusive club and hangout for criminals in Gotham City. One other character figures prominently in the story. Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz in her most athletic role yet) is a showgirl at Falcone’s club and wants answers as to what happened to her missing friend there. She can help Batman in finding the truth but tends to go off on her own with a vengeance. (She also provides a home for several cats.) There are hints of a love interest as well. When the murdering psychopath (Paul Dano) is finally unmasked, it seems that he and Batman are like two sides of the same coin, each having a deep need to root out the corruption in the city, only the murderer doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process. The Batman combines elements of what we’ve seen in the comics and the more recent movies as well as traditional detective noir stories. It has plenty of action and story packed into its almost three-hour running time. And there is word of another The Batman movie in the works!

A Hidden Life

A Hidden Life     4 stars

We set aside the deadly other worldly creatures this time for a feature about the human kind of deadly creature. Last year’s A Hidden Life is based on the true story of Franz Jagerstatter, a poor Austrian farmer in the 1940’s who faced the threat of death and destruction brought on by a totalitarian ruler, Adolf Hitler. I didn’t know anything beyond that when I started the movie, but soon noticed that this looked a lot like a Terrence Malick movie, which of course it is. Among the Malick directed movies I have seen are To the Wonder, The Tree of Life, The New World and The Thin Red Line. Malick has a style all his own that includes hand held cameras following characters, wide angle lenses and quick editing cuts. The dialogue is kept short and there is plenty of narration from characters showing what they are feeling. His movies are usually long and convey a spiritual message you don’t often see in this business. In this movie there is also historical footage present to show the rise of Hitler. Franz refuses to serve in the Nazi German army as it goes against his religious beliefs. Why can’t he just serve as a medic like we saw in the movie Hacksaw Ridge about an American GI in the Pacific? That would require Franz to sign an oath of loyalty to the Fuhrer, something that his faith will not allow him to do. And it is something I pray never becomes a reality in the United States. His decision comes at great cost as he is placed in prison facing the threat of execution, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves operating their farm in the Alps of Austria. His fellow villagers shun them for his “traitorous” acts. I, for one am amazed that considering all the horrible things that happened during World War II, this story has not been forgotten. The dialogue alternates between English and German without any subtitles, but there is enough there for the viewer to get the idea of what is going on. The movie moves rather slowly with about half of it taking place in prisons with Franz suffering the abuse of guards and isolation from his family and at nearly three hours running length it may be a bit much for many moviegoers. For the story and fans of Terrence Malick, A Hidden Life should be seen.