Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 October 2024

He may not be a household name, but Melbourne-born Adam Elliot has earned his chapter in the annals of Australian film history.  In 2004, his took to the stage of the then Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and accepted an Academy Award from presenters Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.  He had been honoured in the best animated short film category for Harvie Krumpet – a 22-minute stop motion flick which, helped the Oscar win, was watched by many across the country.

Sticking with the stop motion theme, Elliot followed it with the feature length Mary and Max in 2009 and the short Ernie Biscuit in 2015.  He now returns to cinemas with the likeable Memoir of a Snail, a dark comedy about a young girl enduring a troubled life.  You’ll notice I’ve underlined the word “dark” for emphasis.  An animated movie with a snail on the poster might sound perfect for kids but this is heavy going and the M-rating in Australia (for mature themes, coarse language, and sexual references) is justified.  A heightened level of maturity is required.

Using a lot of narration, Grace Pudel (Snook) is the central figure.  She explains her rocky upbringing in the 1970s through to her predicaments of today.  I don’t want to spoil too much but her mother died in childbirth, her father was a paraplegic with an addiction to scratch-it tickets, and her twin brother (Smit-McPhee) was a pyromaniac.  Orphaned at a young age and separated from her brother, she was sent to Canberra and placed in the hands of two foster parents who had a love for swinger’s parties and nudism.  Standard stuff, right?

Whether it’s a product of her upbringing or just her inherent nature, the Grace we get to know is a reclusive, softly spoken individual who struggles to make friends.  She becomes a hoarder (collecting snail memorabilia) and moving in with a chatty, elderly woman named Pinky (Weaver) who has seemingly done it all in life – from playing ping-pong with Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro through to having sex in a helicopter with American singer John Denver.  The interactions between these two are the heart of the movie with Grace trying to find a sense of peace and happiness she has long wished for.

For those with an offbeat sense of humour, Memoir of a Snail is to be admired for its nuttiness and randomness.  There are so many unexpected laughs – exemplified by an early gag involving a “retired” judge.  The dramatic layers are also impressive as Elliot covers topics including dementia, addiction, mental health, religion, sexual fetishes, hoarding, and suicide.  To include all of that inside of 94 minutes is a testament to Elliot’s talents.  The voice cast, headlined by recent Emmy winner Sarah Snook (Succession), add to the great material and bring these quirky characters to life.

It may not be for everyone but when picking out my favourite Aussie movies of 2024, Memoir of a Snail sits on top.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 October 2024

Hollywood tends to play it safe when it comes to sequels.  They’re too afraid to take chances and so they stick to the same templates and formulas audiences lapped up the first time around.  That’s not the case with Joker: Folie à Deux.  I wasn’t enamoured by the film, but I give credit to returning director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) for creating something madly different from the original.  If you’re going down, you may as well go down swinging!

Released in late 2019, Joker received 11 Academy Award nominations (the most of any comic book adaptation in history) and, in addition to Joaquin Phoenix’s unforgettable performance, the film stood out from the superhero pack as it was centred entirely on a villain.  This wasn’t a stereotypical, over-the-top “bad guy” stealing nuclear codes with an army of incompetent henchmen.  Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) was a strange, complex, troubled human being who was the product of broader societal issues.  I described it at the time as a Ken Loach film set in the superhero realm.

Joker: Folie à Deux is set two years later where Fleck has been incarcerated for his previous crimes and is awaiting trial.  There’s no issue as to his guilt (he murdered a talk-show host on live television) and so his shrewd lawyer (Keener) is going with an insanity plea.  She is working with psychologists, digging up details from Fleck’s troubled upbringing, and showing the jury he suffers from multiple personality disorder.  The man who murdered five people is not the real Arthur Fleck.

Working with co-writer Scott Silver (8 Mile, The Fighter), Phillips has crafted a 138-minute movie which is part courtroom thriller, part romantic drama.  Media interest in Fleck’s case is through-the-roof (it’s the first publicly televised trial in Gotham’s history) and it evolves into a circus as the judge struggles to keep a reign on proceedings.  As that goes on, Fleck strikes up music-loving romance with Lee Quinzel (Gaga), a fellow patient at the Arkham State Hospital who is obsessed with his darker side.

There are a few interesting ideas swirling around here but the film lacks the clarity of the original.  The best element is the curious connection between Fleck and Quinzel and the extent to which each other understands the intent of the relationship.  It’s rare to have a comic book movie with such a thought-provoking desire (you’ll have lots to chat about with friends afterwards).  I also liked the addition of unexpected musical numbers to again, create a point of different from the first movie.

The rest is ho-hum.  The courtroom scenes drag, the lawyer interactions become repetitive, and not enough is made of Oscar nominee Brendon Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) as a chatty security guard.  I was hoping the film would explode with a burst of new subplots and themes but, aside from the romance, that never eventuates.  Marking the first time Joaquin Phoenix has ever appeared in a sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux is likely to generate a wide, wide range of reactions.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 October 2024

Given the way Donald Trump has shaped the global political landscape over the past decade, it’s no surprise to see a dramatised biopic made about his life.  That said, we’ve been saturated with information over that same time period (he’s in the media every day) and so one must ask the question –  is this film offering a new perspective and does it have any chance of shaping people’s views of the man who would become the 45^th President of the United States?

The movie shares the same name as the long running NBC television series but instead of being the one dispensing advice and telling people they’re fired, it’s Donald Trump who is the “apprentice” as he tries to make a name for himself in the business world.  Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider) picks up the story in the mid-1970s as Trump, played by Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The First Avenger), tries to emerge from his wealthy father’s shadow and build a reputation of his own.  His first is to buy a rundown hotel in Manhattan (The Commodore) and transform it into one of the world’s best.

It’s a decent-sized ensemble but the film is focused on Trump’s interactions with two key individuals.  The first was his future wife Ivana (Bakalova) who rejected his initial advances but was won over by his charm and power.  It was a rocky relationship.  The second was Roy Cohn (Strong), a ruthless lawyer who took Trump under his wing, shaped his deal-making views, and became a powerful weapon in his battles against government officials.  Cohn has become more famous in the afterlife given his depiction in a raft of productions including the 1991 Tony Award winning play Angels in America through to the 2023 television miniseries Fellow Travellers.

The Apprentice is a moderately interesting release that provides a curious snapshot of the corruption and dodgy behaviour which permeated New York City in the 1970s and 1980s.  Sebastian Stan is up to the task of playing Trump.  He doesn’t overplay the role and does a great job showing the evolution of Trump’s confidence (he’s quite meek in the early scenes).  However, I’d argue the most thought-provoking character in the movie is Roy Cohn (it’s as if he steals the movie from Trump) and it’s prompted me to do more reading about his accent to power.

Unlike some other biopics where the subjects (or their families) get involved to ensure it’s spun in a positive manner, The Apprentice isn’t authorised by the former President who stated that he would use the filmmakers following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.  Journalist Gabriel Sherman, who penned the screenplay, stands by the material and while it has been condensed and fictionalised, it is based on “really rigorous research.”

I’m not convinced it’ll do much to move the needle on Trump’s standing in the community (he’s already such a divisive individual) but if you’re looking to know more about his background, The Apprentice provides a succinct overview (without digging too deep).

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 October 2024

Set in 1930s London, The Critic draws from a 2015 novel (Curtain Call) authored by Anthony Quinn.  The owner of The Daily Chronicle newspaper has passed away and the business has been handed to his middle-aged son, David (Strong), who is looking to restore the struggling paper to its rightful place as a widely read, family-friendly publication.  Redundancies will be required.

One individual in his sights is Jimmy Erksine (McKellen), a theatre critic for 40+ years who has developed a reputation for his humorous barbs and brutal insults.  He’s an arrogant, self-centred person (“I doubt out readers can read”) with a penchant for cigarettes and alcohol… but he’s still incredibly powerful person who few can stand up to.  His pen has the sway to make or break a theatrical production.

The firm advice from David is to tone down the negativity (“more beauty, less beast”) but Jimmy is undeterred.  Tapping into the “freedom of expression” argument, he’s sticking with the harsh approach which has built his reputation.  The film might get you thinking about the obligations of critics and at what point the metaphorical line is crossed.  Which side will you take – David’s or Jimmy’s?

That’s about as far as my interest levels were maintained as the second half develops into a contrived, less-nuanced thriller involving a wannabe actress, Nina Land (Arterton), who seeks Jimmy’s critical favour.  Power games ensue and the narrative becomes less about freedom of speech, and more about silly plot twists (which I won’t spoil) to keep audiences guessing.  The characters struggle to stay true to themselves.

Academy Award nominee Ian McKellen (Gods & Monsters), now 85 years of age, has fun as the film’s title curmudgeon but he doesn’t get a lot of support from the script or the supporting players.  As an openly gay man, he can relate to another of the film’s themes – his character is a closeted homosexual who risks being arrested for “indecent behaviour.”  However, I’m not sure this subplot is given ample time nor is it telling us anything new.

The Critic starts with promise but fizzles out in the later stages.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 October 2024

I did a straw poll around the office last week to see who knew the name Christopher Reeve.  As expected, the results were largely divided based on age.  Older folk knew him as the actor who played Superman in the four movies of the 1970s and 1980s, and whose life was forever changed after a horse-riding accident rendered him a quadriplegic in 1995.  Younger folk were unfamiliar given he passed away in 2004 and the role of Superman has been taken on by a fresh generation of actors in several movies and television shows.

Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, nominated at the BAFTAs several years ago for their excellent documentary McQueen, return to the genre and have crafted an attention-grabbing film about Christopher Reeve.  It’s never easy encapsulating one’s life inside of two hours but they’ve done a terrific job using a mix of interviews and archival footage.  Reeve’s own thoughts are also on display as the filmmakers have pulled from his own audio books, recorded prior to his death, and made him the quasi-narrator of his own tale.

Told in a non-linear way, the movie spans a 30-year period.  We go back to the 1970s and learn that because of a troubled upbringing, Reeve used acting as a means of escaping his family and pretending to be someone else.  He started out on stage – working alongside the likes of Katharine Hepburn and Jeff Daniels, and becoming life-long friends with Robin Williams.  He would soon become one of the most famous people on Earth when, despite being cast a relative unknown, Superman became the highest grossing release of 1978.  The film drops interesting titbits of information regarding the production of the four Superman flicks.

There’s also a heap of material between 1995 and 2004 as we see Reeve deal with the accident, both physically and mentally, and try to find a new path for himself in the world.  Working closely with Reeve’s children, Bonhôte and Ettedgui had access to old home movie footage which audiences can now see for the first time.  It’s a “warts and all” look – highlighting the strain it took on the broader family, while also showing Reeve’s strength and bravery.  He was a likeable guy and, as alluded to in the film’s title, he was as much as “superman” behind the screen as he was on it.  Current day interviews with Glenn Close, Susan Sarandon, and Whoopi Goldberg add further insight into the person he was.

Reeve’s legacy continues today as his children maintain a charitable foundation raising money for research into stem cells and spinal cord injuries.  While his life was tragically cut short, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story reminds us that the way we deal with misfortune, not the misfortune itself, is what ultimately defines us.