Reviews
Review: Living
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Directed by: | Oliver Hermanus |
Written by: | Kazuo Ishiguro |
Starring: | Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke, Adrian Rawlins, Oliver Chris |
Released: | March 16, 2023 |
Grade: | A- |
He’s played a rock and roll legend (Love Actually), an immortal pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), a World War II German General (Valkyrie), a time travelling father (About Time), and a Minister of Magic (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I). In a film career which has spanned four decades, it’s not until now that Bill Nighy has finally earned a first Oscar nomination. He’s up for best actor in a leading role for his superb lead turn in Living.
Given the Academy tends to honour flashy performances where actors undergo physical transformations and/or imitate real-life people (subtlety is rarely rewarded), it’s nice that Nighy has been recognised for this particular role. Set in London 1953, he plays one of the most boring people you could ever imagine. Mr Williams is a humourless, conservative Council bureaucrat who goes about each day with monotonous routine. A young staff member (Wood) has nicknamed him “Mr Zombie” because he’s trudging through life without any sense of joy or spirit.
Movies about rediscovering one’s self are not new. As Andy Dufresne said in The Shawshank Redemption, “get busy living, or get busy dying.” With this particular film, the transformational change arises from a trip to the doctor where Mr Williams is told he has terminal cancer and just a few months left to live. He’s not the kind of person to scream out or shed tears but, even from his muted response (“quite”), you can tell he’s rattled by the diagnosis.
We follow Mr Williams as he takes time away from work and embraces new activities. These includes lunch at posh restaurants, evening drinking sessions with newfound friends, and even a dose of pub karaoke. The film is about a lot more though. We see Mr Williams contemplate his legacy and what small mark he can leave on the world for when he’s gone. There’s also the question about whether he should tell friends and family about his illness. In the same circumstances, who would you choose to confide in?
Directed by South African Oliver Hermanus and faithfully adapted from Ikiru, the 1952 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Living is an affecting motion picture. It would be easy to overplay the role but Bill Nighy is near-perfect as he extracts just the right dose of sympathy from audiences. There are distinctive scenes (a new staff member being introduced to Mr Williams’ morning transit routine), unusual details (everyone referred to by their surname, the framing of cinematographer Jamie D. Ramsay), and a time-shifting finale which packs a strong emotional punch.
Backed by a beautiful music score from French composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Living is another strong entry in the current award season. A film to savour and remember.
Review: Champions
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Directed by: | Bobby Farrelly |
Written by: | Mark Rizzo |
Starring: | Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder |
Released: | March 9, 2023 |
Grade: | B |
The Farrelly brothers, Peter and Bobby, rose to fame in the 1990s with a string of memorable movies which pushed limits in terms of toilet humour and gross-out scenes – Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and There’s Something About Mary. They’ll always be known for their work in the comedic genre but their style, tone, and project selection has evolved over time. Peter won two Academy Awards for his work on biographical drama Green Book (best picture, best original screenplay) while Bobby recently directed 14 episodes of the well-received television drama Loudermilk.
Champions is Bobby’s latest creation (Peter wasn’t involved this time around) and while there are splashes of the gross-out humour we’ve grown to enjoy (political incorrectness, vomit), this is a more mellow, sentimental film. It’s based on a 2018 Spanish comedy-drama which itself was based on a true story. Working with first-time screenwriter Mark Rizzo, the goal is to make us laugh while also feeling better about the world around us.
Woody Harrelson, collaborating with Farrelly for the second-time after Kingpin, stars as Marcus Markovich, an assistant coach for the Iowa Stallions basketball team. He knows the game as well as anyone but he struggles to build a connection with players because of his “I’m always right” mentality and inability to listen to other opinions. Things go fully off the rails when he’s sacked for slapping the head coach during a game, and then later arrested for being three times over the blood alcohol limit while driving.
Narrowly avoiding an 18-month prison sentence, Marcus is assigned 90 days of community service coaching a team of 10 youngsters with intellectual disabilities. There’s an added layer of authenticity given the actors we see on screen have the same disabilities off screen. Hundreds auditioned from across the United States and Canada and, for the lucky few selected, most are making their acting debuts. They have distinctive, infectious personalities which will help keep audiences invested in their fate.
The other reason to see this film is for the terrific performance of Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). She plays Marcus’s on-again, off-again love interest and earns laughs because of her brutal, no-nonsense persona. She instantly sees through Marcus’s bullshit but, despite her intelligence and quick-wit, she does have a vulnerable side which is hard to fully supress. The scenes Olson and Harrelson share, with an emphasis on their initial introduction, are a major selling point.
Performances aside, it’s a fairly standard, predictable screenplay which doesn’t take many chances. You can expect to see the team improving as they try to qualify for the championship final in Winnipeg, and you will also observe Marcus as he loses his ignorant, self-centred nature and shows more interest in those around him. It’s a feel-good movie above all else. Champions might be low on surprises… but it’s still an easy film to like.
Review: Empire of Light
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Directed by: | Sam Mendes |
Written by: | Sam Mendes |
Starring: | Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Monica Dolan, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke |
Released: | March 2, 2023 |
Grade: | B |
Above all else, Empire of Light is worth recommending for its homage to a pre-digital world of cinema. It’s the kind of movie which will help enlighten future generations about what went on behind the scenes. Set in the year 1981, it revolves around a passionate, hard-working team at a slightly run-down, two-screen movie theatre that overlooks the seaside in southern England.
Writer-director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) acknowledges and celebrates the smallest of details. We see Janine (Onslow) get up on a ladder to painstakingly change the large black letters on the front lightbox to announce when a new movie is screening. We see the experienced Norman (Jones) descend the back stairs and take custody of precious film reels when the delivery driver arrives. We see staff greet customers as they enter the theatre and tear the small ticket stub into two pieces – one for the patron to keep, and one to be reconciled later against box-office receipts. We even see customers buying popcorn and Maltesers for reasonable prices!
Yeah, I know I’m biased given my love for cinema but it’s hard not to feel sentimental watching these scenes and realising just how much has changed, for better or worse, over the past four decades. Mendes and his crew found the rustic Dreamland cinema in Margate, which opened back in 1935, and transformed it into the fictional Empire Theatre we see in this movie. It feels like every nook and cranny, from the gorgeous front windows to the dingy staff room, has been perfectly captured by acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins (1917). The soothing, piano-laden music score of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network) adds to film’s reflective mood.
Unfortunately, the fantastic production values aren’t matched by an equally fantastic script. Drawing from the mental health issues of his own mother, Mendes has centred the story on Hilary (Colman), a middle-aged woman who serves as the Empire’s long-time duty manager. It’s a job she enjoys… perhaps too much so. As a single woman who lives alone and has next-to-no friends, she pours all her energy into work – smiling to regular customers, working late nights, and doing whatever the dictatorial boss (Firth) requires.
Hilary is a complex character and Colman’s continually changing persona is reminiscent of her Oscar-nominated turn in last year’s The Lost Daughter. That was a better film though. Knowing only limited information about her backstory, I struggled to reconcile her actions and understand her emotional weaknesses. The other featured player is Micheal Ward (Blue Story) as Stephen, a black staff member who is subjected to abuse and discrimination on a daily basis. Like the rest of the supporting cast, with an emphasis on Toby Jones, it feels like we’re only scratching the surface with Stephen.
Not quite living up to its potential, Empire of Light captures the era better than the characters.
Review: To Leslie
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Directed by: | Michael Morris |
Written by: | Ryan Bianco |
Starring: | Andrea Riseborough, Andre Royo, Owen Teague, Stephen Root, Marc Maron, Allison Janney |
Released: | March 9, 2023 |
Grade: | B+ |
A talking point in this year’s awards season has been the unexpected emergence of 41-year-old English actress Andrea Riseborough. After being overlooked for a nod at the Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, BAFTA, and SAG Awards, she pulled off a surprise Oscar nomination for her lead performance in the low-budget independent film, To Leslie.
So shocking was Riseborough’s nomination that the Academy of Arts and Sciences launched an internal investigation to see if something was amiss. How could a film with no box-office and no publicity earn a nomination? Yes, big studios pump millions of dollars into award campaigns each year but the Academy has “guidelines” in place to prevent forceful, over-the-top campaigning. Whether these rules achieve anything is debatable but it’s clear the governing body wants winners and nominees selected on merit as opposed to influence, power and money.
The results of the investigation were announced five weeks ago with the Academy allowing Riseborough to keep her nomination but noting they “did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern.” It’s probably the right result. Given how many people were spruiking the performance (even Cate Blanchett did it during her Critics’ Choice Award acceptance speech), rescinding the first-time nod would have caused a shit storm with the potential to overshadow the eventual Oscar winner (likely to be Blanchett or Michelle Yeoh).
Putting all that to the side and looking at the film itself, it does deserve attention because of Riseborough’s terrific leading turn. She plays the title character of Leslie, a middle-aged mother who won $190,000 in the lottery six years ago but is now homeless and penniless. She is a walking train wreck who pissed the money away on cigarettes and alcohol and, in the process, destroyed relationships she had with friends and her teenage son. As the film begins, she’s hit rock bottom… and those rocks are pretty sharp.
The film revolves around her efforts to make a fresh start and get things back on track. That won’t be easy. There’s no shortage of semi-reluctant people willing to help but Leslie is her own worst enemy. Her now 19-year-old son lets her stay briefly at his apartment but, after Leslie steals money from his flatmate to spend on booze, he says “I’m not going to do this again” and immediately kicks her out. It makes you wonder if some folk are beyond forgiveness and redemption.
The self-destruction gets repetitive in the middle act but I still admired this film as an interesting character study. Leslie will lie and say anything to cover for her own mistakes and problems. She’s a tortured, deluded soul and audiences will have varying levels of sympathy when judging her. With a supporting cast including Allison Janney, Stephen Root, and a very good Marc Maron, To Leslie deserves its current 15 minutes of fame.
Review: Cocaine Bear
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Directed by: | Elizabeth Banks |
Written by: | Jimmy Warden |
Starring: | Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince |
Released: | February 23, 2023 |
Grade: | B- |
The words “inspired by true events” is doing a lot of heavy lifting on the promotional material for Cocaine Bear. It’s the equivalent of saying Toy Story was inspired by kids playing with toys, or Star Wars was inspired by the existence of other galaxies. The “true events” occurred back in 1985 when a 175-pound black bear was found dead in a Georgia forest. An autopsy found “three or four grams” of cocaine in the bear’s blood stream – the source being several plastic containers containing the drug which had been dropped by a parachuter in a botched smuggling operation. Alas, there was no one else died and there was no murderous rampage from a cocaine-fuelled bear.
This film will find an audience. It’s reminiscent of the Samuel L. Jackson led action flick Snakes on a Plane. It’ll be remembered more for the title than its cast and narrative. Here, we’ve got a giant bear who stumbles across several bags of cocaine and, now that he’s got a taste for it, will kill almost anyone who gets in his way. Framed as a horror-comedy, it’s an interesting pivot for actor-turned-director Elizabeth Banks after Pitch Perfect 2 and Charlie’s Angels.
In terms of characters, we’ve got two kids skipping school, a mum out looking for them, a pair of horny park rangers, a dog-loving police officer, some ambulance workers, a dim-witted group of thugs, and a bunch of drug dealers. The actors bringing these folk to life include Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Alden Ehrenreich and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. They know… and we know… no one is winning any awards for their performances. There’s a tinge of sadness given it marks one of the final appearances of Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) who passed away in May 2022, a few months after shooting wrapped.
The screenplay is very, very average. None of these characters are interesting or intelligent, and the illogical disregard they have for risk is tiringly repetitive. Attempts at creating a family dynamic (in the case of the mum and kids) also feel misplaced. Aside from a few okay jokes, the film only really works when the psychotic bear is centre stage and gorily ripping people’s limbs off (that’s an indication of the violence if you’re a bit squeamish). We needed more of that… and less “filler” like a scene where a drug runner beats up three youths in a bathroom.
Worth a look just once, Cocaine Bear is 95-minutes of trashy, forgettable entertainment.
Review: Creed III
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Directed by: | Michael B. Jordan |
Written by: | Ryan Coogler, Keenan Coogler, Zach Baylin |
Starring: | Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Jose Benavidez, Phyllicia Rashad |
Released: | March 2, 2023 |
Grade: | B+ |
Whether real or manufactured, rivalries are a big part of sport. They create interest and generate money. The highest attended home-and-away AFL game each year takes place on ANZAC Day with traditional adversaries, Essendon and Collingwood, facing off in front of roughly 90,000 people. I could list oodles of other examples such as Australia v. England in test cricket or Barcelona v. Real Madrid in Spanish football.
For the past 45 years, the Rocky and Creed film franchises have tapped into that crowd-pleasing concept with solid results. Creed III, which marks the directorial debut of 36-year-old star Michael B. Jordan, is more of the same. The opening act introduces a new character, the middle act establishes the rivalry, and the final act brings them together in the boxing ring for a bruising finale. Yes, it’s formulaic but if you’ve got the right actors and a credible storyline, you’ll get audiences to buy in.
Creed III familiarises us with Damian “Dame” Anderson (Majors), a boxer who was full of potential as a teenager but saw his career halted after being sentenced to 18 years in prison for an armed assault. Having just been released, Dame is keen to make up for lost time and enter the professional ranks in the biggest way possible – with a shot against reigning heavyweight champion Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez). To borrow a line from the film – “everybody loves an underdog.”
So where does the now retired, mansion-living, suit-wearing Adonis Creed (Jordan) fit into the picture? It turns out he and Dame were close childhood friends and, despite having some reservations, he helps organise the unlikely bout as a “favour” to settle a long-standing moral debt. It’s not the most convincing of set ups. Adonis goes to extraordinary lengths to help his friend (a title fight on debut) but is then disappointed when he finds early success. Why? Other attempts to create tension between the pair in the second act (a punch out of nowhere) also feels rushed.
All of that said, the film comes together nicely with a well-paced, energising climax. Parts of it borrow from the well-worn textbook – lengthy musical montages where boxers jog in front of landmarks and flip large tyres on the beach. Other parts try to break away from the mould – an interesting, crowd-free sequence which depicts rounds 3 to 11 of the final bout. A few of the supporting players (e.g. Adonis’ mum) don’t get much to work with but both Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors are terrific in the lead roles and help elevate the not-always-perfect script.
Sylvester Stallone did not reprise his role for this instalment. As stated in an interview for The Hollywood Reporter, he wasn’t a fan of the screenplay and its darker tones. He’s entitled to his views but Michael B. Jordan is now the lifeblood of this franchise and his work, both in front of and behind the camera, will keep fans engaged.