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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 April 2016

Screenwriters use plot devices to further the storyline.  Sometimes they feel credible.  Sometimes they do not.  The main device in A Month Of Sundays fits into that later category.  Frank (LaPaglia) is a real estate agent who gets a phone call from a woman who sounds like his mother.  That itself isn’t unusual until we learn that Frank’s mother has been dead for more than a year.

No, this isn’t some sci-fi time travel movie.  The person at the other end of the phone is an elderly woman named Sarah (Blake) and she called his number by mistake.  Frank could have spoken, hung up, and left it at that.  It’s what I’d do.  Instead, he’s intrigued by this person who brings back memories of his mother and he decides to meet her.

It’s a bizarre way of bringing two characters together but thankfully, it does develop into something meaningful.  Frank is in need of change, direction.  He’s not particularly good at his job despite the encouragement of his friend/boss, Phillip (John Clarke).  He recently separated from his wife (Justine Clarke) and he’s losing touch with his teenage son (Crowther) who grows more distant each week.

Frank and Sarah are from different worlds but they find comfort in opening up about their respective troubles.  Director Matthew Saville (Felony) is following in the footsteps of other filmmakers and highlighting the value and importance of human interaction.  Internalising our problems is seldom the right approach to take.

Parts of the film don’t come quite come together.  The relationship between Frank, his son, and his ex-wife is the best example.  Given these characters are so critical to his life going forward, it’s strange that they appear in so few scenes.  There’s also a noticeable lack of backstory to explain why their relationships are fractured. 

That aside, the interaction between Anthony LaPaglia and Julia Blake in the leading roles makes the film more than worthwhile.  You’re watching two gifted actors work beautifully alongside each other and it adds up to a moving climax.  To help lighten the film’s tone, John Clarke also wins points as a real estate agent kingpin (complete with a giant billboard) who doesn’t mince his words.

Shot in Adelaide and selected to screen last year at the Toronto Film Festival, A Month of Sundays may not leave a lasting impression but it’s likely to hold your attention.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 April 2016

As a huge fan of The Simpsons, I remember the episode in series 8 where Mr Burns goes broke.  He moves in with Smithers, turns to Lisa for help, starts doing work for the community, and quickly regains his fortune.  Well, that’s almost the exact same premise for the new Melissa McCarthy movie, The Boss.

The film is quick is portray her character, Michelle Darnell, as a business tycoon with no interest in anyone else but herself.  She’s the 47^th most wealthy woman in the United States and she proclaims that she’s so wealthy, that she paid for Destiny’s Child to get back together only so she could split them up again.

Her ego is as big as her bank balance.  On the wall behind her office desk is a giant painting of herself surrounded by magazine covers that also feature her image.  When her loyal assistant (Bell) asks for a raise, she uses a litany of excuses to avoid the subject.  It’s not that she can’t afford it.  It’s just that she’s a jerk.

Lo and behold, all is lost when Michelle is found guilty of insider trading.  She was dobbed in by a man (Dinklage) who was once her lover but is now a business rival.  She spends 4 months in a low-security prison and on being released, finds all her assets either taken or frozen.  She doesn’t even have a home to live in.

No one is willing to lend a helping hand.  It’s no surprise given her cruel nature.  It falls upon her assistant, Claire, to offer a place in her home on an old sofa bed.  In return, she has to help out around the house.  That includes taking Claire’s daughter, Rachel (Anderson), to a Dandelions meeting (it’s a kind of scout thing).

It’s here where the light bulbs switch on and Michelle realises how she can reinvigorate herself.  The Dandelion girls sell cookies but the product is terrible, the margins are poor, and very little funding is raised.  She pulls together her own group of teenage girls and gets them selling delicious brownies using dubious sales techniques.  She takes a cut, the girls take a cut, and the profits can be put to a good use.

Melissa McCarthy has a decent strike rate when it comes to comedy.  She earned an Academy Award nomination for Bridesmaids and followed that up with hilarious performances in films such as The Heat and Spy.

Most would regard this as a failure though.  The writers, including McCarthy, have failed to create conflict or tension that feels credible.  As an example, there’s a scene where Michelle and her crew get involved in a street fight.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense given these girls are well-tempered either side of this sequence. 

Further, the screenplay tries too hard to have us sympathise with Michelle because of her difficult upbringing.  By that I mean she was raised in an orphanage and was rejected by several groups of parents (this is all covered in the first 2 minutes).  It’s tough to swallow given how awful she is throughout much of the film.  I won’t spoil the finale but that itself is too over-the-top ridiculous.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 April 2016

Florence Foster Jenkins will be released in Australian cinemas in two weeks.  Based on actual events, it tells the true story of a wealthy heiress from New York (played by Meryl Streep) who became a renowned opera singer in the early 20^th Century.  Jenkins was not known for her talent.  Rather, people flocked to see her perform because of how bad she was.

The story won’t be new to anyone who sees Marguerite, a French film that is also based on Jenkins’ life.  Characters names have been changed but the essence of the story has been retained.  The release strategy in this country is intriguing.  I can’t ever recall two films based on the same person screening in Australian cinemas at the same time.

As the film opens, we see Marguerite (Frot) singing in front of a large collective of friends in the comfort of her own home.  A journalist asks if she always sings this badly to which a fellow guest sarcastically responds – “no, she’s come a long way.”  It’s clear that most don’t want to be there.  Even her husband (Marcon) faked a car breakdown so as to avoid attending the performance.

I saw a fellow critic make an apt reference to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes.  Marguerite is being duped in the same manner.  As she is a woman of wealth and influence, her friends lack the courage to be honest when appraising her singing voice.  A few critics have written scathing reviews in local newspapers but her husband and loyal assistant (Mpunga) ensure she never reads them.

It may all sound very mean-spirited but there’s a beautiful complexity to Marguerite’s character that’s hard to resist.  On one hand, you hope that she finally wakes up to herself and realises she is tone deaf.  Why should a rich socialite be given opportunities that should be provided to others who are far more deserving?

On the flip side, there are moments where you hope she never learns the truth.  It’s like watching an adult teach music or sport to a child for the first time.  They offer encouragement regardless of ability because having fun is more important than winning a competition.  You can see that Marguerite lives a lonely, loveless life and this is the only part of it that provides joy and satisfaction.  Why should others spoil it?

Catherine Frot took home the best actress trophy at the 2015 César Awards (the French equivalent of the Academy Awards).  It’s easy to see why given the nuance she brings to the leading role.  She also had the tricky task of singing so poorly on screen.  There were fleeting moments where I looked away from the screen because I was so embarrassed for her character.

The ending didn’t work for me but it’s hard not to be lured into such an unusual story.  The eclectic group of supporting characters only add to its charm.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 April 2016

Cinema managers and film commentators are generally astute when it comes to box-office predictions but most were caught off guard by the success of Mrs. Carey’s Concert in 2011.  Focusing on the efforts of a high school musical teacher to organise a concert at the Sydney Opera House, the documentary made more than $1m and screened in Australian cinemas for more than 3 months.  That take was fuelled largely by positive word-of-mouth.

Those behind Wide Open Sky can only hope for an equally impressive result.  They’ve certainly followed in the same footsteps.  As we are told during the opening credits, Michelle Leonard is a music conductor who travels to rural schools across New South Wales and auditions more than 2,000 children for her Moorambilla Voices Choir.  Less than 10% will be chosen to perform at a season-ending concert in Coonamble.

It’s clear that Michelle isn’t doing this for fame and fortune.  The concert itself generates next-to-no revenue.  There’s no competition to win and there’s no lavish tour around Australia.  She simply wants to expose remote and disadvantaged kids to the world of music.  It’s as if the further you travel from capital cities, the harder it is for them to get such exposure.

Michelle’s other major motivation is get kids together and to build friendships.  In the lead up to the concert, a group of passionate volunteers help organise a 3-day training camp.  For many of the children, it’s their first time away from home – something that is both exciting and nerve wracking.  A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make the experience as memorable as possible.

We hear from Michelle throughout the film but director Lisa Nicol makes the right decision to let the children do most of the talking.  It’s so cute to watch them audition and seeing them discover their talents.  When interviewed on camera, they come across as confident and honest.  Some of their responses are hilarious.  Other responses are quite touching.  As an example, Mack is a 13-year-old boy who talks about his struggles to make friends because he likes singing and dancing more than rugby league.

There’s not quite enough material to stretch this out to a full 90 minutes but Wide Open Sky is still a warm-hearted documentary that highlights the importance of artistic pursuits.  Schools struggle to find the time and funding to give them the attention they deserves.  The skills generated from these activities are also overlooked.  I don’t expect this film to “change the landscape” in Australia but it will hopefully get audiences thinking about the subject matter.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 April 2016

When asked about my favourite sporting movies, one of the first that comes to mind is Rudy.  The 1993 drama told the true story of Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger who dreamed of playing college football for the University of Notre Dame.  It would take too long to detail the huge adversity that he had to overcome.  After years of hard work and perseverance, he was finally given a few seconds on the field during the final game of the season in his final year at college.

Part of the reason that the film has stuck with me is that it’s not a movie about a team or a player that reaches the top of their sport.  Rudy was not the best.  He was never going to be the best.  It stop him from trying though.  He had a love for the game that could not be quashed.  If you haven’t seen the film, do your best to track it down.  It also features a powerful and inspiring film score from the late Jerry Goldsmith.

The reason I refer to the tale of Rudy is that is has parallels with Eddie The Eagle.  One of my first Olympic memories is from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and the publicity generated by Michael “Eddie” Edwards, a 20-something-year-old ski jumper from Cheltenham, England.  The country wasn’t known for their prowess in ski jumping.  In fact, they conducted no trials and Edwards was the first ski jumper to ever represent Great Britain. 

The film culminates with the Games in Calgary but there’s a lot of material to cover in the lead up.  We see in the early scenes that Eddie has a single dream that dominates his life.  Most athletes pick a sport and then strive to compete at an Olympic level.  Eddie took the reverse approach.  He knew he wanted to represent his country at the Olympics… he just had to find a sport first.

There was no shortage of people trying to stop him.  Eddie still lived at home with his parents and his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and earn a regular living as a plasterer.  The British Olympic Association didn’t want to use taxpayer dollars to fund an athlete with zero chance of winning a medal.  Fellow ski jumpers saw Eddie as a laughing stock and were concerned that he would direct attention away from elite ski jumpers who had spent years training for the event.

All of those groups had a point but it’s clear that director Dexter Fletcher (Sunshine on Leith) wants audiences to fall in love with Eddie and his “never give up” attitude.  The tone of the film is light and it chooses not to shine a harsh spotlight on Eddie and his motivations.

Eddie’s only major supporter in the movie is Bronson Peary (Jackman), a former ski jump champion who threw his career away and is now a washed up alcoholic looking for redemption.  He reluctantly takes Eddie under his wing and becomes his coach.  You may be disappointed to learn that no such character existed.  The writers have tried to craft the ultimate crowd-pleaser but they’ve got a few steps too far.  Some parts feel unbalanced and don’t ring true.

I’m a fan of Taron Edgerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and he’s commendable in the lead role.  He’s created a likeable character who looks and sounds very much like the real Eddie Edwards.  You may cringe at some of the cheesy dialogue but you can see Edgerton and Hugh Jackman are giving it their best shot.  Oscar winner Christopher Walken makes a brief cameo but his confusing subplot adds little-to-no value.

It turns out there was no shortage of material that came out of the 1988 Winter Olympics.  It was at the same time when a group of Jamaicans found fame while competing in the bobsled competition.  Their tale was chronicled in 1993’s Cool Runnings when even the ending was changed to help make it more audience friendly!  Two decades have passed by the same adage applies – never let the truth get in the way of a good story.