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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 August 2023

I recently played golf with an American man who was on the 20^th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York when struck by a plane in September 2001.  He was able to escape using the fire stairs but, not realising the gravity of the situation, he left his BlackBerry device in the office.  This made it harder to get in touch with worried friends and family in the aftermath to let them know he was safe and well.

In addition to the fascinating tale of survival, the man’s story triggered by memory of BlackBerry phones.  It’s a brand name I hadn’t heard in years!  Their first device was an email pager released in 1999 and by 2010, they’d beaten the likes of Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung to control roughly 50% of the smartphone market in the United States.  Today, it’s market share is 0% – the result of poor business decisions, and the rise of Apple’s revolutionary touchscreen iPhone.

Directed by Canadian filmmaker Matt Johnson, who also has a feature role in the movie, BlackBerry draws from a 2015 book and creates a semi-fictionalised history of the company inside of two hours.  It is focused on three specific time periods.  The first is 1996 when businessman Jim Balsillie (Howerton) teams up with existing CEO Mike Lazaridis (Baruchel) to commercialise the original idea.  The second is 2003 when they dramatically expand operations, with a touch of illegality, to thwart a takeover attempt.  The third is 2007 when things start to go off the rails and competitors make their move.

BlackBerry isn’t as juicy as its source material.  It feels every character has been overdramatised.  During the slow opening act, Baruchel and Johnson portray the co-founders as clueless, socially awkward geeks with zero commercial acumen.  I don’t know how they landed business deals in the first place.  As co-CEO, Glenn Howerton is channelling Ari Gold from Entourage with his no-idea-about-technology, phone-smashing schtick where he verbally denigrates anyone who shares a different view.  It gets tiring and repetitive.

The film’s second hour is the better half.  It’s more interesting to watch these people screw things up than succeed.  That said, the two writers have made odd choices by showing us trivial, unnecessary events, like the drama of cancelling of “movie night” due to a tight deadline, instead of more detail regarding the stock option fraud, and the ice hockey manager fall-out.  Supporting characters, like Michael Ironside as the hard-ass Chief Operating Officer, are also underutilised.

The Blackberry tale will provide great fodder in business textbooks but as a movie, this rags-to-riches-to-rags film isn’t as engaging as I’d hoped.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 August 2023

Released in 2018, The Meg was trashy and fun.  Those behind the production felt we’d had enough shark “thrillers” and so it was time for a Sharknado-style comedy to balance the ledger.  The idea paid off with the film making over $530 million USD at the worldwide box-office – more than three times the budget and enough to justify this 2023 sequel.  It too is based on a novel from sci-fi writer Steve Alten but there’s a new director this time around with Englishman Ben Wheatley (High-Rise) taking on responsibilities.

There’s an entertaining movie buried in here somewhere but for the most part, Meg 2: The Trench can’t fulfill its potential.  The opening hour is a complete write-off.  I’d almost suggest buying a ticket, having lunch/dinner, and then popping in at the half-way mark.  It’s centred on a group of scientists, headlined by Jason Statham leading character, who head 25,000 feet under the sea to map a previously unexplored section of the ocean.

They encounter trouble but (most of) our heroes are able to extricate themselves with the help of motivational speeches like “we’re a strong group… we can do this.”  They also have an ability to override the laws of physics, get extremely lucky when the time is right, and deal with villains and henchmen who are incredibly stupid.  The laughs are non-existent, and the focus is too much on the boring characters instead of the wacky, prehistoric sea creatures (feels weird saying that but it’s true).

Things improve towards the end of act two.  The characters return to the surface, visit a well-populated holiday island, and mayhem truly breaks out.  It finally reaches a point of over-the-top stupidity where you can laugh.  Bad folk meet a predictably humorous demise, even-bigger-than-last-time sharks are killed in creative fashion, and the scenarios become increasingly farcical with each passing minute.

Wheatley, with the help of Oscar nominated editor Jonathan Amos (Baby Driver), have struggled in pulling the material together.  We move too quickly between characters during the finale and some good one-liners are rushed.  I’ve no issue with the visual effects being deliberately goofy (at least I hope that’s what they intended) but the action scenes don’t flow – the editing it too chaotic and the camera locations are far from ideal.

It’s not easy making a good movie but Meg 2: The Trench also shows that it’s not easy making a good bad movie.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 August 2023

We’ve seen many video games adapted into movies, but Gran Turismo is slightly different in that it’s the true story of a video game narrative playing out in real life.  In 2006, a British businessman came up with the idea for GT Academy, a television series where the best racing gamers across Europe would compete against each other in physical cars.  It asked an interesting question – could skills garnered from years of simulator training at home… make them just as good as a professional driver on an actual racetrack?

Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) and the three-man screenwriting team have applied Hollywood’s cosmetic brush in crafting something palatable for the widest audience possible.  Yes, it’s based on a true story, but parts come across as manufactured.  As a simple example, there’s one moment where a trainer provides useful competitor intel to his driver in the moments before the first race.  It might make for “good cinema” but yeah, you’d have thought this info could have been passed onto the driver well beforehand.

The narrative is focused on Jann Mardenborough (Madekwe), a British teenager and university dropout who is selected for the inaugural GT Academy and, when he proves his worth, gets a chance to compete on a professional circuit (in reality, Mardenborough won the 3^rd series of the show).  It features the sort of scenes you might expect – arguments with his parents about the sport’s dangers, musical montages when he hits the gym, rivalries with fellow competitors, and races featuring an assortment of ups (high speed passes) and downs (unexpected crashes).

The film’s biggest positive is the performance of David Harbour (Stranger Things) as Jack Salter, a former driver with a troubled past who is brought in to help Mardenborough realise his potential.  He becomes a father figure and the honest-feeling interactions between Salter and Mardenborough, particularly in the second half, get to the core of the film’s uplifting themes – fighting mental demons, overcoming adversity, and following your dreams.

The other two high profile cast members aren’t as convincing.  Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) stars a Danny Moore, a Nissan marketing executive who pulls the strings at the GT Academy.  He’s a forever shifting character (sometimes helpful, sometimes villainous) but I never fully understood his rationale and motivations.  What does he get out of it all?  Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (In America) plays Mardenborough’s father but it’s role that requires little more than looking concerned while watching races on television.

Gran Turismo should lure fans of the super-successful video game but as an engaging car racing flick, it’s a few laps behind the likes of Ford v. Ferrari and Rush.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 31 July 2023

No matter how hard we try, it’s often difficult to escape the past.  It’s a theme which has been explored in countless movies and is again on display in The Miracle Club, a period piece directed by Irishman Thaddeus O’Sullivan (Ordinary Decent Criminal).  The three-person screenwriting team take us back to 1960s Ireland and a fictional tale centred on four women with long-held secrets they need unburdening from.

Chrissie (Linney) has travelled from Boston to her childhood home in Dublin following the death of her estranged, “saintly” mother.  Lily (Smith) is an elderly woman who has never fully come to grips with the death of her teenage son several decades ago.  Eileen (Bates) is a nosy gossip who has become a little weary of her husband (Rea) and broader family.  Dolly (O’Casey) is a struggling mum with a grown child who does not speak.

In the company of a kind-hearted priest (O’Halloran), this unusual quartet set out on a bus/ferry journey from Dublin to the famous Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Southern France.  The reasons for the trip vary but there is a common thread – they’re looking for change in their lives, whether it be through a divine miracle or something more realistic and organic.

The Miracle Club is a compassionate flick with a contrived screenplay.  Characters allude to their guilt-laden secrets but then don’t spill the beans right away to help prolong the narrative.  There’s nothing wrong with that technique but it’s done so in a clunky manner which is far too obvious.  Subplots involving other characters, such as family members stuck in Dublin while the women are away, add a splash of comedy but not much else.

Elevating the material are the wonderful performances of the four leads – Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith, and Agnes O’Casey.  They share some great conversations – from tough-love arguments laced with sharp barbs… to soothing, speak-from-the-heart moments which reminds us of the value of true friendship.  They’re all superb but it’s hard not to single out Smith who continues to make an indelible impression at the age of 88.

The Miracle Club is a corny, likeable, old-fashioned yarn.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 August 2023

I recently had a chance to visit the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City where the exhibits included an “auditory collage” blending sounds of Germany with sounds of Nigeria, a giant human hologram to help us imagine other bodies, and an “assemblage” where everyday objects are combined to create something different and symbolic.  It’s not for everyone and I can’t purport to understand the deeper significance… but I love modern art for its randomness, originality, and thought-provoking nature.

Writer-director Wes Anderson has been leaning into that mentality his entire career.  He’s established his own warped, weird, wacky style and, to put it bluntly, you either get it… or you don’t.  My personal favourite is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou but it’s also hard to overlook films like The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.  His trademarks include quirky narratives, big casts, colourful sets, and distinctive camera work.  They’re not massive box-office hits but in going against the grain of most Hollywood fare, he’ll always have a fan in me.

Asteroid City is his latest outing and it’s everything you’d expect from Anderson.  The story is about an eclectic group of people visited by a UFO in a tiny American township in 1955.  There’s also a story-outside-the-story centred on a playwright trying to develop a new work.  The cast includes a dozen Academy Award nominees including Scarlett Johansson as a high-profile actress, and Tom Hanks as a concerned grandfather.  The crew is headlined by past collaborators including composer Alexandre Desplat (who won an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel), and cinematographer Robert Yeoman (who has now worked with Anderson nine times).

The screenplay lacks the emotional depth of some other Anderson flicks (can’t say I really cared about anyone here), but I enjoyed Asteroid City for its eccentricity and bizarre humour.  You’re never quite sure where it’s going, the criss-crossing between the two worlds is interesting, and the offbeat character interactions earn plenty of chuckles.  I’ve read a few online articles delving into the film’s meaning and symbolism but, just like the exhibits at MoMA, parts flew unknowingly over my head.

Asteroid City is a little unfulfilling but still a fun adventure.