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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 25 November 2024

The trailer for Heretic is both a help and a hindrance.  On one hand, it protects the film’s plot twists by not revealing any details from the second half.  On the other hand, it clearly spells out the opening act and so my patience grew thin while waiting for something interesting to happen.  If you’ve avoided the promotional material, it’s about two young women from the Church of Latter-Day Saints who, in trying to convert folk to their religion, arrive on the doorstep of a man in the middle of a pelting rain storm.

Romantic comedies made him a Hollywood star (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill) but Hugh Grant has pivoted in recent years and now relishes the chance to play kookie, oddball villains.  The list includes Paddington 2, The Gentlemen, Operation Fortune: Ruse, De Guerre, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.  The trend continues with Heretic.  In welcoming Sisters Barnes (Thatcher) and Paxton (East) into his home, Grant mixes charm and creepiness in portraying a character whose motives are murky.

It soon becomes evident to the two women that this is no ordinary guy.  He starts out with naïve questions about their religion and then he quickly reveals himself to be super-educated about all the world’s religions.  The Sisters are on the backfoot as he’s doing most of the talking – pointing out the similarities between key religions and the contradictions that lie within their sacred texts.  None of it is particularly profound and, as if dragging out the film’s run time, he rambles and rambles.  Why use 100 words when you can use 1,000, right?

It’s not a bad idea for a movie but the execution is subpar.  The biggest frustration is the topsy-turvy nature to the characters and how they don’t stay true to themselves.  There are moments when they’re utterly clueless and others when they’re brilliantly calculating.  I didn’t buy it.  Nor did I believe the narrative surprises in the later stages (the more you think about them, the less sense they make).  The writer-director duo of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who authored A Quiet Place, know what they want the completed puzzle to look like… but not all the pieces fit.

Reviews have been mostly positive since the film’s world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and I’ll concede to being in the minority.  I assume most are seeing it as a simple, keep-you-guessing thriller but looking through my own lens, Heretic doesn’t live up to its hype and ambitions.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 November 2024

I’m old enough to remember watching Gladiator in a packed cinema in May 2000.  It was the first summer blockbuster of the season and while much was expected at the box-office, few could have predicted its critical success.  Almost a year after its release, it won 5 Academy Awards including best picture (I’d tipped Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and a career-defining best actor statuette for Russell Crowe.  It stands up on a rewatch and the iconic film score of Hans Zimmer has been played countless times across the globe.

Was a sequel required?  Probably not… and yet here we are.  Gladiator II takes place 16 years after its predecessor and, with Maximus Decimus Meridius (Crowe) having met his demise, the responsibility for liberating Rome from its corrupt emperors has fallen on the shoulders of his son, Lucius (Mescal).  The film opens with Lucius’s wife killed (an arrow to the heart) while defending their hometown of Numidia from conquering Roman soldiers led by Marcus Acacius (Pascal).  He is subsequently captured and sold to a wealthy “Master of Gladiators” (Washington) to be exploited in epic fights.

Lucius knows the best gladiators can earn their freedom by winning the public’s affections and so he channels his “rage”, puts in the hard work, and survives a series of life-threatening battles (although I wasn’t convinced by the CGI monkeys).  A newfound friend asks why he’s so greedy for pain in this life, given how much is waiting in the next one, but Lucius is undeterred and seeks bloody vengeance against those who have wronged him.

The film leans too heavily into nostalgia, and I lost track of all the references to earlier quotes and plot points from the original Gladiator.  It’s as if writers David Scarpa (All the Money in the World) and Peter Craig (Top Gun: Maverick) have taken a risk-free approach when it comes to themes and tone.  I’d have preferred a more adventurous (said metaphorically) outing but that’s just a personal preference.

Almost everything else deserves praise.  It’s hard to believe an 86-year-old, Sir Ridley Scott, has the energy to churn out a film this good.  Paul Mescal (Aftersun) is terrific as the reluctant hero, and I loved the contrast of his intense passion inside the area versus the softly spoken tiredness outside of it.  It’s also Denzel Washington’s (Training Day) best performance in years as he steps into the shoes of a cunning manipulator playing one side against the other in pursuit of his own agenda.

The production values are credible, the music of Harry Gregson-Williams is stirring (it uses a few riffs from Zimmer’s score), the sound effects are thunderous, and the action sequences will get the heart pumping.  It was never going to live up to the achievement of the first movie, but I’m impressed by what Gladiator II has to offer.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 November 2024

It remains one of the greatest upsets in Tony Award history.  Wicked was at near unbackable odds in 2004 but the lesser-known Avenue Q pipped it at the post to win best book, best score, and best musical.  One could argue that Wicked got the last laugh though.  It can still be seen two decades later on Broadway in New York City (the 4^th longest running show of all time) and now earns a chance at two movies with big budgets and bigger awards season hopes.

The two-part approach is an interesting one.  Yes, it’s a cash grab but it allows the creatives to expand on the source material.  Winnie Holzman wrote the original musical and she’s been brought back, working alongside Dana Fox (Cruella), to add more backstory and context.  The overall length has been doubled given this first instalment comes in at a sizeable 2 hours and 40 minutes.  It feels a little padded in places but not to a detrimental extent as we saw in the finales of Twilight and Harry Potter.

I’ve never seen the live stage show (gasp!) and so look at this through fresh eyes.  The Governor of Munchkinland has two daughters about to commence studies at the prestigious Shiz University.  Nessarose (Bode) is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic described as “tragically beautiful” while Elphaba (Erivo) is derided for her unusual green skin and labelled “beautifully tragic.”  It’s on their first day that Elphaba is paired as roommates with Galinda (Grande), a socialising, pink-loving, semi-illiterate “princess” accustomed to getting everything she wants.

The film’s opening half is centred on the humorous conflicts and verbal stoushes between Elphaba and Galinda, two personalities who couldn’t be more different.  The fact these scenes are so good is a testament to the lead performances of Cynthia Erivo and Araina Grande.  Neither has an extensive cinema resume but their learnings from theatre, in the case of the Tony-winning Erivo, and singing, in the case of the Grammy-winning Grande, have allowed them to create wonderful characters.  I particularly love what Grande brings to the role – from the confused facial expressions to the obvious hand gestures.

Events become more dramatic in the second half but let’s keep hush to avoid giving things away (for the handful of people in the world who haven’t seen the stage musical).  American director Jon M. Chu is no stranger is directing film musicals, and I enjoyed what he did for In the Heights, released in 2021.  Wicked is a “flasher” piece with colourful sets and a gazillion overemoting extras but he’s still able to tap into its emotions.  They’re characters you’ll take a liking to.  The themes are heavy-handed (e.g. misinformation, embracing difference) but they fit the exaggerated nature of the storyline.

We won’t have to wait as long as Gladiator for Part II (it’ll be in cinemas this time next year) but for now, Wicked: Part I should whet audiences’ appetites.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 November 2024

Sylvia (Chastain) is a recovered alcoholic (sober 13 years) and sexual abuse survivor who lives with her only daughter, Anna (Timber).  Reluctantly attending her high school reunion, she falsely accuses as attendee, Saul (Sarsgaard), of abusing her as a teenager.  Once the “mix up” is cleared, Sylvia learns that Saul has early onset dementia.  His wealthy family provides Sylvia some much-needed cash in return for looking after Saul during the day and as they spend more time together, romance ensues.

Memory is difficult to believe.  It comes across as a strange, contrived story that you struggle to think could ever happen in the real world (perhaps I’m wrong).  While the narrative is a battle, it’s filled with a bunch of great individual scenes which help compensate.  The three headline performances of Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass), and Meritt Weaver (Nurse Jackie), as Sylvia’s younger sister, also boost the material.

There’s a moment when Sylvia’s young niece asks why she doesn’t drink alcohol, and it starts a discussion about what age it’s appropriate to be talking about alcoholism and one’s troubled past.  Sylvia’s brother-in-law (Charles) quickly shuts the conversation down.  While Sylvia talks about her troubles with booze, she’s less open about the sexual abuse she experienced during her childhood.  It leads to conflict with her own daughter who can’t understand why her mum is so guarded and protective.  The situation becomes more complicated when Sylvia’s estranged mother (Harper) forces her way back into their lives.

It’s these sequences about parenting, honesty, and dealing with trauma which resonate most strongly.  I was less sold on the romantic interplay between Sylvia and Saul which is too much of a focus.  Winner of best actor at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival for Sarsgaard and nominated for best actress at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards for Chastain, it’s taken over a year for it to reach Australian shores.  Written and directed by Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco (After Lucia, Sundown), Memory is well-intentioned but a little unfulfilling.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 November 2024

In the 1980s, the Israeli Government declared control over a sizeable chunk of land in the southern West Bank to use as a military training site (called ‘Firing Zone 918’).  Roughly 1,200 Palestinians lived in the area, known as Masafer Yatta, and the first eviction orders were issued to them in 1999.  The residents took their battle to the courts arguing their community had existed (and been on maps) since the 19^th Century.  After decades of legal battles and appeals, the Israeli High Court of Justice sided with the Israeli Government in a final decision handed down in May 2022. 

There’s a splash of archival footage but No Other Land is a documentary which chronicles the time period between 2019 and 2023 in Masafer Yatta.  It is largely centred on two people.  The first is Basel Adra, a Palestinian who grew up in the area and is now organising protests to save his town.  They continually resist the advances of Israeli soldiers who are trying to knock down homes, schools, playgrounds, and infrastructure.  He shoots footage on a digital video recorder to record what has taken place.

The second is Yuval Abraham, as Israeli journalist who sympathises with Basel’s cause and is trying to bring it to the world’s attention.  It’s a challenge, however.  Yuval uploads his own stories and videos online but there’s minimal interest.  Given how many other problems exist across the globe, how do you make 8 billion people care about the plight of 1,200 ordinary Palestinians living in the middle of nowhere?  Without power and political clout (note the scene involving Tony Blair), little can be achieved.

No Other Land’s timeframe is interesting given the film was completed in mid-2023 – just prior to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war which began on 7 October 2023.  When asked in a CNN interview about whether the documentary takes on new meaning, Yuval answered with the affirmative.  Coverage of the conflict is now seen every day on news sites/channels – the opposite to when Yuval was trying to generate awareness.  He wants audiences to know “the world was not paying attention, almost at all, to the violent life the Palestinians are living under for decades before October.”

A few conversations feel staged and/or reenacted but for the most part, this is a powerful, eye-opening documentary where the footage does the talking.  It provides a 90-minute snapshot into the lives of an oppressed people and, just as importantly, we get to know and care about them.  One story you’ll remember is that of an elderly mum who, despite living in a cave, must care for her grown son after he is shot by as Israeli soldier and rendered a quadriplegic.

No Other Land is already regarded as one of the year’s top documentaries having been nominated at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the European Film Awards (where it also earned a nod for best film).  I expect it to receive more acclaim over the coming months.