Two Friends Reunite Against a Wicked Stepfather

Anya Taylor-Joy (left) and Olivia Cooke in "Thoroughbreds"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

High school can be an exciting time in anyone’s life.  You learn how to drive, visit colleges, celebrate homecoming, go to prom, graduate, and come more into your own as you approach adulthood.  There isn’t any doubt that it’s a time to remember.  However, when it comes to characters in high-school films, those four years are likely to go beyond the typicalness that we experienced back then.  Just ask Ferris Bueller.

This is the case with Cory Finley’s directorial debut for his darkly comedic thriller, “Thoroughbreds,” which soars on its gripping story and the dynamic chemistry between the two leads.

When Amanda (Olivia Cooke) and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) were children, they were the best of friends.  After years of being apart, circumstances arise that reunite them.  When Amanda visits Lily’s mansion for tutoring, she notices the emotional abuse from the latter’s stepfather (Paul Sparks) and proposes that they murder him.

Olivia Cooke’s character is someone who mentions that she doesn’t feel any emotions, and while Cooke does an excellent work in exhibiting Amanda’s dispassionate nature, her approach to the character has us paying close attention to Amanda as we try to figure out if anything’s going on behind her blankness.

Anya Taylor-Joy brings across Lily’s kind personality with much skill, presenting someone who makes it difficult to think that she’s friends with someone like Amanda.  When Lily makes a drastic change in her character, it’s not only certain factors in the story that make this change believable, but also Taylor-Joy’s acting abilities.  All of these elements make this a fascinating transition to watch, one that provides the narrative with some of its surprises.

Anton Yelchin (in one of his final movie roles after his passing in June 2016), provides an entertaining performance as a drug dealer who agrees to assist Amanda and Lily with their plan.  The manic personality that Yelchin gives to his role adds some unpredictability to an already-unpredictable story, and his work in this film is a reminder of his talent.

The cinematography by Lyle Vincent uses long takes throughout the film to invest us in the characters’ actions and conversations in some instances, and to build tension as they execute their actions in others.  One such instance of the former is in the beginning when the camera follows Amanda around Lily’s home for a couple of minutes as she takes in her surroundings, and it serves as a fascinating introduction to Amanda’s character.  And, all of this is lifted up by a terrific score by Erik Friedlander.

In terms of using long takes to build tension, it’s done so most-effectively in the film’s climactic scene.  I can’t say much without giving anything away, but the camera stays in one spot as a particular event unfolds offscreen, and the use of sound (Never has the sound of a rowing machine put me so on edge!) keeps you enthralled throughout.

Despite the film only having a 92-minute runtime, Finley’s screenplay does a remarkable job in taking its time with establishing the characters and their situation, while still leaving enough time for the rest of the movie to play out.  One of the many notable aspects of Finley’s story is how he doesn’t bog the narrative down by filling it with backstory about Amanda and Lily’s friendship and their separate lives, but instead offers pieces of information pertaining to those things as the movie progresses in order to enrich the plot.

As a director, Finley’s able to build suspense in several ways, one of which is through his aforementioned use of sound.  This is most-significant in two particular scenes: one is in the long take in that climatic scene that I mentioned earlier, and another involves photos being e-mailed to a character’s laptop.  It might not sound tense, but the way in which Finley lingers on an image as we’re waiting for something to happen in both of these cases shows that he has a talent for absorbing viewers and making them sit tight with great anticipation as they wait for something to happen.  

Given Finley’s writing and filmmaking abilities that are displayed here, I’m sure his follow-up project will be just as compelling as his debut.  And, with this movie’s directing, acting, drama, humor, and thrills, “Thoroughbreds” comes charging out of the stable.

Final grade: A

During a Normal Game Night, Friends Become Pawns

From left: Kylie Bunbury, Lamorne Morris, Billy Magnussen,
Sharon Horgan, Jason Bateman, and Rachel McAdams
in "Game Night"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

We’ve all had times when we get together with friends to have a game night.  Whether it be board games, video games, or any other kind of game, there’s a good time to be had when you mix friendship with the thrill of competition.  At times, it can go from playful rivalries to screaming at each other (I’ve experienced such a transition while playing Mario Kart: Double Dash with friends in college).  However, no matter what happens, the steam blows over right away, and all’s well again.

The concept of bonding over games is something that’s taken to comedic extremes in John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein’s new film, “Game Night,” a funny, smart, and unpredictable romp that revels in its madcap antics.

Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) are a husband and wife who connect over their competitiveness and have hosted many game nights.  When Max’s more-successful brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler), comes to town, he invites Max, Annie, and their friends (Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, and Kylie Bunbury) over to his rental for a game night of his own, which he intends to be a kidnapping mystery.  When a duo of assailants breaks in and takes Brooks, the others believe the criminals to be actors in the game.  After the friends begin to play, they soon realize that everything that’s happening is real and must do what they can to find Brooks.

The cast is loaded with fine performances, all of whom get to contribute laughs, but there are a few who stand out the most, particularly McAdams, Magnussen, and Jesse Plemons, who plays a police officer and Max and Annie’s neighbor.  

Although McAdams has been in a few comedies throughout her career, this is the first time since her breakthrough role in 2004’s “Mean Girls” that she gets to show off her comedic skills.  She exhibits a boundless energy for the duration of the film that keeps you caught up in the excitement, and she has one of best moments of the film where she gets to imitate Amanda Plummer’s Honey Bunny character from “Pulp Fiction.”  

Plemons is a blast to watch, seeing as he takes a comically serious approach to his character, hardly cracking a smile throughout the film, but making the audience do nothing but that during his scenes.  With his character, Plemons strikes a terrific balance between being creepy and funny, and whenever he’s on screen, this enjoyable movie becomes even more so.

Magnussen steals his share of scenes as the group’s lovable doofus and provides wonderful delivery for some of the film’s funniest lines.  What’s great about Magnussen’s character is that, even though he’s dumb, his brainlessness is downplayed, as opposed to putting it into trying-to-hard-to-make-you-laugh territory, such as what we saw with Chris Hemsworth’s character in 2016’s “Ghostbusters” reboot.

The screenplay by Mark Perez takes the simple idea of a game night and provides it with many twists, which results in a narrative that offers plenty of fun as it leaves you guessing where the insanity is going to go next.  Given the amount of characters that take part in the outrageousness, the film has lots of possibilities as to what could happen, and this allows each character a chance to exhibit their comedic skills.

The story also includes some subtle references to different games, such as Operation and The Game of Life, and uses them for certain plot points.  This lets you see the comedic results of the characters being in real-life versions of these games at certain moments, which adds another level to the aspect of them having to use their gaming expertise to get through each challenge.  One such instance is an entertaining sequence, which is meant to resemble a game of Pac-Man, where the group of friends is chased around a mansion by assailants, and the scene is made more enjoyable because it’s shown in a fast-moving long take, thanks to Barry Peterson’s cinematography.

Although this movie’s basically a comedic version of David Fincher’s 1997 mystery-thriller, “The Game,” directors Daley and Goldstein still manage to deliver terrific entertainment.  They have the film maintain a quick pace as they move from one set piece to another, keep the laughs constant, and use neat visuals in some instances to make the settings look like that of a game board.

If you would like a game night with higher stakes and wilder times, ditch Hasbro and Milton Bradley, and go with this movie.

Final grade: B+