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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 October 2018

Spoiler alert!  This film ends with Neil Armstrong making a “giant leap of mankind” and becoming the first man to step foot on the surface of the moon.  I make that comment sarcastically because it’s one of the most widely known events in human history (well, unless you’re a conspiracy theorist).  The take away from First Man is therefore not a bleedingly obvious history lesson but rather, insight into who Armstrong was as a person and the decade of hard work that led to the famed Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Josh Singer (Spotlight) faced an unenviable task in encapsulating Armstrong’s story inside of two hours.  Given he couldn’t speak to the subject himself (Armstrong passed away in 2012), he interviewed family members, advisers and former astronauts.  The most important source material came from writer James R. Hansen who spent more than 50 hours interviewing Armstrong before publishing his official biography in 2005.

Perhaps the most surprising detail we learn about Armstrong is that he while he was extremely driven in terms of career, he was a quiet, reserved individual.  I don’t think there’s a single scene in the movie where we see him raise his voice or express profound emotion.  When spoken to by the hungry media at a pre-launch press conference, you’d think Armstrong was simply on a mission to walk across the street such was his level of enthusiasm.  Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine, The Big Short) delivers a restrained but powerful performance that captures these personality traits.

The focus is Armstrong but there’s still plenty to be learned about other characters in this big ensemble.  Claire Foy gives a heartfelt performance as Armstrong’s wife, Janet.  She’s supportive of her husband’s career but at the same time, she’s worried about the experimental, high-risk nature of the space program.  Corey Stoll is also great as Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong’s co-pilot on the Apollo 11 mission, and the film doesn’t shy away from their frosty, fractured relationship.

There’s a broader perspective too.  The film delves into the public’s opinion of the American space program and how it wasn’t universally appreciated.  There were protests (including chants of “Whitey’s on the moon”) by those who felt it was a significant waste of taxpayer money.  We also get to see what went on behind the scenes at NASA in terms of training and preparation.  As an example, there’s an eyebrow raising moment where a NASA director drafts a press release to be used if the astronauts don’t return safely.

33-year-old Damien Chazelle will add to his power in Hollywood with another outstanding directorial effort.  His last two movies were both nominated at the Academy Awards for best picture (Whiplash, La La Land) and First Man is odds-on to continue that impressive streak.  It’s beautifully shot.  The use of handheld cameras by cinematographer Linus Sandgren creates an enaging, documentary-like feel.

The film’s momentum is a touch sluggish during the middle stages but the emotion ramps up during the final act as Chazelle dispenses with all other perspectives and shows the entirety of the Apollo 11 flight from only Armstrong’s viewpoint.  There are no shots of his anxious wife or the busy mission control team.  It’s as if we’re in space and watching events unfold against the backdrop of a grand, memorable film score from composer Justin Hurwitz.

It’s “go for launch” in terms of this year’s Oscar season and First Man will be spoken about frequently over the coming months.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 September 2018

Director Malcolm D. Lee made one of the best comedies of 2017.  Girls Trip was about four middle aged ladies who got together for a fun, boozy weekend at a music festival in New Orleans.  It had strong characters, memorable scenes and many great one-liners.  Aside from the laughs, the film also had a big heart as it delved into the subject of long-term friendships and how they change and evolve over time.

The director may be the same but none of the adjectives and descriptors used in my opening paragraph apply to Night School.  It’s a woefully dull comedy that fails to extract any laughs from its silly premise.  As the film opens, we learn that Teddy Walker (Hart) never officially graduated from high school 17 years ago.  He was all set to complete the final exams for his General Equivalency Diploma (GED) but he had a panic attack and fled the examination hall.

It hasn’t held him back though.  Thanks to his natural ability to schmooze customers, Teddy has become a very successful salesperson at BBQ City.  There’s a wall which honours the “employee of the month” and, probably to the disappointment of all the other staff, Teddy’s photo is the only one that appears.  That’s how good he is.  The juicy commissions help pay for his expensive taste in cars, food and fashion.

His cruisy lifestyle comes to an abrupt halt when the BBQ City store explodes (a bizarre scene in its own right), the store owner flees the country, and Teddy finds himself unemployed.  A good friend agrees to give him a plumb job in a financial services firm but before he can be appointed, Teddy must attend night school and get his GED.

This leads into the introduction of Carrie (Haddish) – a disgruntled, underpaid teacher who has taken on a group of misfits in a night school class so she can afford luxury expenses such as “rent and antibiotics”.  Her class consists of a conspiracy theorist, a drug user, a religious mother, an incarcerated criminal, a dim-witted father, and a waiter-turned-Uber driver.  Teddy’s efforts to sweet talk Carrie into giving him an easy ride amount to nothing.  If he’s going to get that GED, he’s going to have to study and work hard.

There are a bunch of other subplots but like the main show, they’re lacking when it comes to humour.  Teddy accepts a part-time job at an overly religious fast food restaurant and has to lure customers by wearing a chicken suit.  There’s a baseball-bat loving principal (Killam) who tries to sabotage Teddy because he bullied him in high school.  There’s a sequence where Teddy and Carrie end up in a boxing ring to help with his learning difficulties.  It’s all so random and I couldn’t care less what became of these characters (unlike Girls Trip).

Kevin Hart has been better.  Tiffany Haddish has been better.  Night School should have been better.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 October 2018

Four American college students break into a library at a prestigious university in Kentucky and attempt to steal a number of rare, extremely valuable books to sell on the black market.  That alone makes American Animals sound like a cool heist flick but there’s so much more to this fascinating piece of cinema that makes it essential viewing.

Firstly, as we’re told during the opening credits, this is a true story.  The planning began in 2003 and the actual robbery took place in 2004.  Secondly, we know things didn’t go to plan and the guys were caught.  This is made clear from the outset and so as we watch events unfold, we know there’s no slick Ocean’s Eleven style finale where they walk off into the night with a sack full of gold.

The most intriguing element to the movie is the decision of British writer-director Bart Layton (The Impostor) to make it part re-enactment, part documentary.  We watch actors bring this compelling story to life but in between, we are treated to interviews from the real life students who committed the crime.  There’s even a point where an actor and his real-life counterpart sit in a car together in the same scene.  It’s very creative.

There’s a lot to take away from American Animals.  Through the interviews with the real students, we understand their respective mindsets and you may be surprised as to their motives.  It wasn’t all about the money and other factors came into play.  The film also makes commentary about how memories change over time and how the stories from those involved are not consistent.  I’m reminded of the great line from the 1998 film adaptation of Great Expectations – “I’m not going to tell this story the way it happened, I’m going to tell it the way I remember it.”

Layton has done a terrific job balancing up the film’s different tones.  The first half is quite comedic as we watch the students bumble their way through the planning phase.  They know nothing when it comes to crime and it reaches a point where they rent heist movies from a local video store in search of ideas.  The mood shifts significantly in the second half as we follow the robbery and its aftermath.  A line had been crossed and there was no going back.  You can sense the regret and remorse from the real-life people involved (who would spend time in prison).

American Animals is anything but your ordinary crime thriller. 

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 September 2018

Frenchman Xavier Legrand has been a theatre actor since the age of 10 but his career took a seismic shift in 2013 when he made a 30-minute short film, entitled Just Before Losing Everything, about a mother trying to escape from her abusive husband.  Legrand won a César Award and also picked up an Oscar nomination for best live action short.  Not a bad directorial debut for someone who never attended film school!

Custody marks Legrand’s first feature film and is an intriguing project choice given he uses the same characters as his successful short movie.  It opens with a legal hearing in a small meeting room.  Miriam (Drucker) and Antoine (Ménochet) are a separated couple who, with the help of their respective lawyers, are arguing in front of a judge about who should be granted custody of their 11-year-old son, Julien (Gioria).  Each puts forward a persuasive argument but given inconsistencies in their stories, it clear that at least one side (if not both) is not being truthful.  The judge wraps things up by stating she will review their claims and make a decision at a future date.

The film is structured in a way that we, as the audience, become the jury.  This is the first time we’ve met these characters and we have no idea about their history and time together.  Rather than provide superfluous flashback sequences, Legrand wants us to form our own opinion as we observe Miriam, Antoine and Julien in the days following the custody hearing.  There’s a widely-held belief that it takes just seven seconds to make a first impression but you’re likely to need a lot more time than that to size up these individuals and their motives.

There’s a lot to think about here.  It’s a movie that delves into the complexities of a relationship breakdown when children get caught in the middle.  The 11-year-old Julien, beautifully played by newcomer Thomas Gioria, finds himself the unwilling participant in a game of emotional tug-of-war.  He’s old enough to understand the situation and form a view about which parent he prefers.  However, he’s still too young to appreciate the way he is being manipulated in pursuit of other goals.

Xavier Legrand uses a number of techniques to create a tense, uneasy experience for the viewer.  First and foremost is the lack of a composer.  Music is often used to subliminally guide our emotions (e.g. an ominous score means something bad is imminent) but the absence of music here will keep you on edge and unsure what’s around the corner.  The lengthy, observational nature of key scenes also adds to anxiety levels.  There’s a particularly powerful moment involving two characters in a darkened bedroom that serves as a great example.

Custody took home the prize for best director at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and is one of 5 movies shortlisted by the French National Film Board as the country’s entry into next year’s Oscars race for best foreign language film.  The unrelenting narrative and flawless performances make this a powerful piece of cinema. 

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 October 2018

I wouldn’t describe Venom as a hero but I wouldn’t call him a villain either.  He sits somewhere in the middle and that fact alone makes him an intriguing individual.  He comes into existence when an alien life form infuses itself within the body of Eddie Brock (Hardy), a sacked journalist living in San Francisco.  What we’re left with is an interesting mishmash.  The alien tries to influence Eddie’s thoughts and actions but he’s not seeking full control.  He’s open to some of Eddie’s suggestions and the banter between the pair provides the film’s comedic backbone.

Unfortunately, he’s the only appealing character.  Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) plays Eddie’s one-time girlfriend but has little purpose apart from being a concerned, helpful citizen.  Riz Ahmed (Four Lions) is the main “bad guy” but he’s just an over-the-top super villain with a dubious, illogical plan and a team of incompetent henchmen.  There are a handful of other characters but none have a strong screen presence.

The film’s major weaknesses is its screenplay.  So many sequences lack credibility.  Carlton Drake (that’s the villain) is an uber-rich guy with a futuristic research facility overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.  He’s experimenting on alien lifeforms and performing other ground breaking research and yet, he’s dumb enough not to have security cameras in his labs.  This allows Eddie Brock to sneak in (with the help of a newfound friend) and come into contact with the alien for the first time.

More head-scratching moments arise from a subplot involving a second alien which infiltrates several humans in Malaysia before making its way to the United States.  This happened six months prior to the San Francisco storyline so how did the alien survive so long, what was it eating, and why weren’t any eyebrows raised about the trashed ambulance or the attack in the food market?  There were no shortage of eyewitnesses!

Tom Hardy (The Revenant) does his best to salvage the film and while some have been critical, I think he’s a good choice for the lead role.  He portrays Eddie Brock as a relaxed, carefree kind of guy who has a bit of fun with the alien.  This is best illustrated during a scene in a convenience store (without giving too much away) which adds one final laugh before the credits start to roll.  The visual effects guys also deserve praise in bringing these creepy, slimy aliens to life.

Venom is the first film in a new Marvel Universe being created and distributed through Sony Pictures.  It’s a rocky start but based on the two clips shown during the closing credits (one in the middle and one at the very end), there’s hope this could develop into something bigger and better.