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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 March 2019

Two weeks ago, there was an interview doing the rounds on social media with Adam Silver, the chief executive of the National Basketball Association in the United States.  He said that the outside world sees all the “fame and money” associated with professional sport but in his one-on-one conversations with basketball players, many of them felt unhappy and isolated.  They have the same problems as everyone else (e.g self-confidence issues, family issues) but with the added pressure of the public’s continual interest (complete with taunts on social media).

Based on a true story, Fighting with My Family delves into this subject through the eyes of a young girl, Saraya (Pugh), trying to forge a career in the sport of professional wrestling.  In the film’s first half, she’s a feisty teenager from Norwich, England who is falling in love with the sport and simply having fun.  It’s how it so often begins with young kids.  They’re not thinking about celebrity and fortune.  They’ve engaged with the pastime purely because they enjoy it.

It helps that Saraya is from a family who has a similar admiration for the sport humorously described as “soap opera in spandex”.  Her parents (Frost and Headey) run a small gymnasium and provide wrestling lessons to other kids in the area to help keep them off the streets.  Her older brother, Zak (Lowden), trains religiously and has dreams of making it professionally in the WWE.  Together, they all ride around in a rundown van putting on shows for small, passionate crowds in the local community.

The tone shifts significantly in the film’s second half when Saraya is discovered by a talent scout (Vaughn) and gets a life-changing opportunity to travel to the United States and train with the next generation of WWE athletes.  It may sound like the stuff of dreams but Saraya, now going by the stage name of ‘Paige’, quickly discovers the downsides of being a professional athlete.  She’s exhausted by the training, she’s missing her family back home, and she’s grappling to make friends given the intense competitiveness of coaching sessions.  The sport which once made her so happy… now makes her sad and lonely. 

Emmy winning writer-director Stephen Merchant (The Office) didn’t know much about the world of professional wrestling but that changed when Dwayne Johnson sent him a copy of The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family, a 45-minute British television documentary that first aired in 2012.  He was drawn in by the story’s varied emotions and after immersing himself in the world of WWE, he came up with this worthy screenplay.  It’s a fitting tribute to the source material and features a well-balanced mix of comedy, drama and suspense.  I was surprised by the number of genuine laughs (Merchant helps with his own cameo).

You could know next-to-nothing about wrestling and still be enthralled by this eclectic group of characters.  23-year-old Florence Pugh (Macbeth) does an outstanding job illustrating the contrast between Paige’s tough, confident exterior and her doubtful, insecure interior.  It’s a subplot that could easily have been overlooked but Jack Lowden (Dunkirk) is equally impressive as the older brother who struggles to watch his sister succeed while his own dreams dissipate.

I have to smirk when looking at the poster for Fighting with My Family and seeing Dwayne Johnson feature as the most prominent character.  The reality is that he only makes a small cameo (as himself) but given his broad box-office appeal, it’s hard to blame the distributors for trying to use his presence to sell tickets.  Given my admiration for the film, I can only hope it works!

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 06 March 2019

2018 was one of the best (if not THE best) year in terms of superhero movies.  Black Panther became the first superhero flick to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards (winning for best costume design, production design and original score).  Avengers: Infinity War enthralled audiences with its cliff hanger finale and became just the 4^th movie in history to gross $2 billion USD at the worldwide box-office.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won the Oscar for best animated feature and surprised many with its creative premise.

Captain Marvel is the 21^st movie to be released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It’s taken a long time but finally, we have a film where the heroics are left entirely to a female character.  Marvel has generally proven themselves to be better than their DC rivals (in terms of quality and box-office) but this is one area where DC beat them to the punch given the deserved success of Wonder Woman in 2017.

The purpose of Captain Marvel will be obvious to fans of the genre.  After half the universe was decimated at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the film ended with Nick Fury (Jackson) activating an old pager that sent a rescue message to Captain Marvel (Larson).  Since her character had yet to be introduced into the franchise, a stand-alone movie was required to explain her background prior to the release of Avengers: Endgame next month.

I’ll cut to the chase and say it’s a standard, kind-of-seen-it-before origin tale.  We’ve got a hero learning about their abilities and we’ve got some one-dimensional villains who just want to be powerful and controlling.  There’s no shortage of action scenes but they’re heavy on special effects and light on emotional resonance.  I couldn’t help but think of the intense ritual combat sequence between Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther.  It’s those strong, potent moments which are missing here.

The film borrows from a formula which has worked successfully in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.  Guardians continually pays homage to the 1980s and so Captain Marvel does the same to the 1990s.  When she lands on Earth for the first time, star Brie Larson crashes through the roof of a Blockbuster video store and shoots a giant cardboard standee advertising True Lies (the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from 1994).  It’s one of many references to the era and if you’re a fan of 90s music, you’ll know the lyrics to most songs on the soundtrack.

If you need a quick tease in terms of storyline, Captain Marvel comes from the civilisation of Kree – a harmonious society ruled by a mysterious “supreme intelligence” who ask “you put your people’s needs ahead of your own”.  They’re about to go to war with the Skrulls – an alien race who are inherently dangerous because of their ability to transform into other creatures (one of them even has an Aussie accent thanks to Ben Mendelsohn).  The over-emotional Marvel, under the tutelage of an experienced mentor (Law), finds herself caught in the middle as they fight for control of a valuable light speed engine.

Captain Marvel is watchable but it struggles to get out of first gear.  This is most evident during the closing credits when we get a fleeting glimpse of Avengers: Endgame and the key role the character will play in teaming up with the remaining Avengers and taking down Thanos.  That 30-second glimpse is more memorable and intriguing than the two hours which precedes it.  

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 March 2019

Losing a child is one of the greatest tragedies for a parent to endure.  That grief is further extended and magnified when there are unanswered questions about their child’s death.  These emotions are explored in Sometimes Always Never, a slow-burn British drama from 53-year-old filmmaker Carl Hunter who, after a series of short films and TV documentaries, is directing his first feature film.

Veteran actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually) steps into the shoes of Alan, a semi-retired tailor who has never fully come to grips with the disappearance of his son, Michael, roughly two decades ago.  Michael stormed out of the family home after an innocuous argument over a game of Scrabble (strangely enough) and was never seen again.  The presumption is that he met with foul play but it remains just that – a presumption.

The crux of the film is spent watching Alan, complete with his offbeat sense of humour, interact with an assortment of characters across several days.  He goes on an unexpected road trip with his other son, Peter (Riley), to visit a morgue and inspect an unidentified body.  He befriends and then hustles a long-married couple during a game of Scrabble while staying at an old hotel.  He spends time with his grandson (Healy) and helps him impress a girl by fitting him out in his first suit.  

Sometimes Always Never is best described as a dark comedy.  It sounds like a heavy, depressing premise but screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Hilary and Jackie, The Railway Man) attempts to inject comedy into most scenarios.  There are times when it works and times when it doesn’t.  As an example, the references to Scrabble words and scores win early laughs but it becomes tiresome and repetitive during later scenes.  It’s a “hook” that’s relied too strongly upon.

It’s hard to fault the casting of Bill Nighy in the leading role since we’ve seen him take on similarly quirky, forlorn characters in the past.  It’s a suitable performance but given the sluggish nature of the material, it’s hard to say it’s a memorable one.  Newcomer Louis Healy will win fans with his scene-stealing performance as the awkward grandson looking for love.

It’s the interaction between the characters that should serve as the film’s heart but given some scenarios are so odd, Sometimes Always Never isn't as effective as it could have been.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 March 2019

Weddings are a great excuse to bring people together.  During the opening scenes of Everybody Knows, a group of jubilant family and friends have descended on a home in Madrid to celebrate the union of Ana and Joan.  We follow the story from a number of perspectives but perhaps the most prominent character is Laura (Cruz), the older sister of the bride.  It’s the first time she’s seen her sister and father in years given she now lives in Buenos Aires with her husband (Darín) and two children.

A crime is committed at the end of the opening act which dramatically changes the film’s tone.  What appears to be a celebratory family get-together is transformed into something much more sinister.  I’m reluctant to give too much away given the trailers and online promotional blurbs are light on detail.  The intent to preserve the surprises as much as possible for the audience.

In the aftermath of the crime, there’s a lot of soul searching and finger pointing.  It’s as if everyone reacts in a different way.  Some remain calm and cool-headed while others struggle to keep their emotions to check.  The best scenes involve a retired police detective (played by José Ángel Egido) who offers sage advice to those affected.

Everybody Knows is the latest from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.  Those who have seen A Separation and The Salesman (which both won the Oscar for best foreign language film) will appreciate his abilities to create intriguing stories and then fill them with complex characters.  That’s again the case here but Farhadi takes on the additional challenge of using a non-native language.  Farhadi has a very limited Spanish vocabulary and he required the help of two gifted translators to communicate his detailed instructions.

The cast is headlined by two of Spain’s most renowned actors, Oscar winners Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) and Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona).  Their on-screen relationships began in 1992 when they starred alongside each other in the award winning Jamón Jamón.  Their off-screen relationship began in 2007 while filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona (they’re now married with two children).  They clearly have no issue mixing business with pleasure given Everybody Knows is the 9^th time they’ve appeared together in the same movie.

The finale doesn’t offer the knockout punch that you might be expecting but Everybody Knows is still an absorbing drama-thriller that delves into family relationships and the secrets we keep from each other.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 March 2019

At a first glance, the premise for Hotel Mumbai sounds like it’s from the mind of a Hollywood screenwriter looking to create a fictional, over-the-top action piece.  There’s a luxury 5-star hotel with more than 500 rooms and guests from all over the world.  There’s a group of heavily armed terrorists who have stormed the building and are killing anyone they see.  There are no police on the way and so it’s up to the staff and guests, none of whom have any experience with such situations, to take on the terrorists and find a way out of the hotel.

The sad truth is this film is based on actual events that took place in Mumbai, India in 2008.  Members of an Islamic terrorist organisation carried out a highly coordinated terrorist attack across multiple locations that resulted in the death of roughly 166 people.  Train stations, cafes, cinemas and hospitals were all targeted but the film focuses its attention on the longest of the attacks – a 3-day siege at the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

Rather than structure the narrative around a single character, writer-director Anthony Maras (an Aussie) has made the decision to show events from multiple perspectives.  Dev Patel plays a hard-working waiter looking to provide for his family, Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi play an American couple visiting on holidays, Anupam Kher plays a level-headed chef running a prestigious restaurant, Tilda Cobham-Hervey plays a nanny looking after a crying baby, and Jason Isaacs plays a wealthy Russian in search of women and alcohol.

The film struggles with the depiction of the terrorists.  Perhaps the better option would have been to avoid this perspective so as to heighten the overall tension (since we wouldn’t know where they are in the hotel).  Maras and co-writer John Collee have made the decision to include the terrorists’ viewpoints but it adds little given their characters are not developed.  What’s motivating them?  They simply take phone instructions from a mysterious person (who is never identified) and walk around the halls of the hotel callously killing people as if it’s a simple video game.

That’s not to say this isn’t a thought-provoking piece of cinema.  It delves into the different ways people react when faced with a life threatening situation.  There are staff members at the hotel who are prepared to risk their lives to save complete strangers.  Would you do the same?  The film also explores the tough decisions faced in formulating an escape plan.  Do you find a hiding place and hope to be rescued or do you take your chances and run for the nearest exit?

Hotel Mumbai doesn’t shy away from the horrific nature of what took place.  It’s rated MA here in Australia for its “strong themes and violence”.  It’s the kind of movie that is both unsettling and inspiring.