A Patriarch’s Birthday Becomes Deadly for a Bickering Family

From left: Katherine Langford, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis,
Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Riki Lindhome,
and Jaeden Martell in "Knives Out"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Writer-director Rian Johnson is a filmmaker who has grown a talent for investing his audiences in mysteries that offer one surprise after another.  With his 2012 sci-fi thriller, “Looper,” he took us through a complex story involving time-travel, and with his 2017 film, “Star Wars: Episode VII - The Last Jedi,” Johnson kept his viewers guessing as to where the franchise mythology would go after the questions that were set up by the previous installment.

With that, it’s more than appropriate that he tackles a murder mystery for is movie, “Knives Out.”  It’s a film that’s packed with thrills, laughs, and a great cast, all of which make this a total blast and a terrific contribution to the whodunits that came before.

The movie follows a celebrated crime novelist who’s murdered in his house on the night of his 85th birthday.  Soon after, his family is asked by a detective to gather at the home, where each person explains their side of the story.

The cast comes equipped with a slew of first-rate actors, including Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey, the murder victim; Jamie Lee Curtis as Harlan’s daughter, Linda; Don Johnson as Linda’s husband, Richard; Michael Shannon as Harlan’s son, Walter; Toni Collette as Harlan’s daughter-in-law, Joni; and Lakeith Stanfield as Detective Lieutenant Elliot.  Despite all of these cast members sharing the screen, they each have their own moments that grab our attention and make an impression in our minds.  It’s a movie filled with conflicting personalities, and it’s so entertaining to see all of these characters interact with each other as the cast relishes the quick wit of the dialogue that they’re given.

Although there’s plenty of talent throughout the cast, there are some who manage to rise above the aforementioned ensemble members, such as Ana de Armas as Harlan’s kindhearted nurse, Marta, and Chris Evans as Harlan’s bratty grandson, Hugh.  However, true standout of the movie is Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc.  With Benoit’s southern-gentleman attitude and smooth-talking ways, Craig is determined to make you realize that there’s more his acting abilities than just playing James Bond.  The way in which Craig exhibits his character’s passion for finding clues helps to immerse you in the excitement of trying to decipher every little hint that you find.  Between his performance here and 2017’s “Logan Lucky,” it’s clear that Craig has much potential as a comedic actor, which proves that he will continue to have a great career outside of the Bond series.

Johnson’s screenplay does superb work in setting up the enticing mystery and getting you intrigued right away.  There are many characters that he has to introduce, but he pulls it off by having them arrive at the mansion, and then sitting them down one by one to speak with the detective and talk about who they are, their connections with Harlan, and their possible motives for the murder.  Once this portion of the movie is complete, we’re able to ponder a lot of the characters’ backstories as we try to figure out who might be responsible for Harlan’s death.

The film boasts a classic murder-mystery setup, but the direction in which the film goes gives you something a little different from what you would expect.  The story offers plenty of time for there to be enough surprises to keep us off of the scent of the truth, but it also provides enough setup for whatever revelation will come next.  There isn’t ever a time where the story drags because it always finds more layers of the mystery to peel back and expose the cause of the events.

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who collaborated on all four of Johnson’s previous films (“Brick,” “The Brothers Bloom,” “Looper,” and “The Last Jedi”), provides a wonderful use of light and shadow in order to create an atmosphere of increasing tension and mystery.  This is most apparent for the scenes within Harlan’s mansion as Yedlin’s camera movements capture the many details of the home as it brings us into the many rooms and hallways that hold many secrets.

The production design by David Crank offers an intricate layout of the mansion that fits the essence of the murder-mystery narrative.  The spaciousness within the house and the big and small characteristics throughout add to the enjoyableness of the plot as you try to absorb everything that the house is trying to show you and see if there’s anything of significance that can give you some semblance of a clue.   

Despite the abundance of information that Johnson has to provide us, he succeeds in keeping the film fast-paced, thanks to the energy of his cast, clever writing, and the engaging nature of discovering what the story is hiding from you.  He makes sure that you become obsessed in unraveling the narrative as you go from one turning point to another, having your heart beat faster as you sense the truth on the verge of revealing itself.

With Johnson’s enthusiasm for creating this entertaining puzzle of a movie, the suspense in “Knives Out” will have you teetering on an edge as thin as that of a blade. 

Grade: A

On an Assignment, a Journalist Learns Life Lessons from His Subject

Tom Hanks in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Check out my review on SiftPop.com!

Through Chance, a Truck Driver Finds His Place as a Gangster

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in "The Irishman"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Check out my review for "The Irishman" on SiftPop.com!

Following an Unstable Marriage, Divorce Looms Over a Wife and Husband

Scarlett Johansson, Azhy Robertson, and Adam Driver in
"Marriage Story"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Writer-director Noah Baumbach’s comedy-drama, “Marriage Story,” begins on the most bittersweet note that’s possible.  His two main characters are in the midst of separation, and they narrate to us what they admire in each other, with each taking around five minutes to go in-depth about their spouse.  This is a scene that’s both romantic and heartbreaking because you know that they’re preparing for a divorce, but there’s so much that they like about each other, that you can’t understand why they would ever want to be apart.

Baumbach’s story gets more turbulent from there as he explores the crumbling of a relationship in a film that manages the impressive accomplishment of being both hilarious and emotionally brutal.

The story follows theater actress Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and theater director Charlie (Adam Driver) as they go through a coast-to-coast divorce that soon exposes all of the pain that has built up over time.

Johansson’s performance makes you sympathize with her character because of her need to break away from Charlie in order to have the career that she could never have with him, but it’s made all of the more heartrending because you can see that, despite wanting to leave him, she still finds it somewhat difficult to do so because of the life that they have built.  There’s a scene within the first act of the film where Nicole meets her lawyer (Laura Dern), and she’s asked to describe her reasoning for the divorce.  This leads to an extended monologue that’s done in a long take (thanks to cinematography by Robbie Ryan) with the camera staying on Nicole as she vents about what brought her to the point of choosing to end her marriage.  The passion with which Johansson spills her soul makes you hang onto her every word as she brings this cinematic confessional to poignant life, allowing us into her mind as we learn about what’s been troubling her all of this time.

Driver delivers a terrific deal of urgency to his performance as his character faces the possibility of losing his son (Azhy Robertson) to Nicole gaining full custody.  Although you’re meant to be upset with him for neglecting Nicole’s wishes throughout the years, you still can’t help but feel sorry for him as he shows how distraught he would be if his son was taken out of his life.  It’s a performance that’s every bit as distressing as Johansson’s, showing Charlie as he becomes at a loss of how to handle the legal situations and borders on a panic as he tries to gain some control over the issue.  Your heart begins to hammer as he’s faced with one setback after another, and Driver is able to elicit the intense worry in his character’s demeanor as the time-sensitive aspects an unexpectedness of the divorce start to have his life spin out of control.

Despite their characters wanting to separate, Johansson and Driver make us believe that there’s still a little bit of love between them.  The scenes that they share simmer with tension and thoughts that are still left unconfessed, making you wonder what they will say next to each other.  However, even when they’re not in the same scene, it still feels like the other is there because of how much they linger on each other’s mind, and that’s the highest of testaments as to the solid nature of Johansson and Driver’s chemistry.

This film comes equipped with a wonderful supporting cast, such as Robertson as Nicole and Charlie’s son; Alan Alda as Charlie’s reassuring lawyer; Ray Liotta as Charlie’s more abrasive lawyer; Julie Hagerty as Nicole’s peppy mother; and Merrit Wever as Nicole’s overanxious sister.  However, the top supporting player is Dern as Nicole’s lawyer, an individual who will do whatever she can to make sure that Nicole wins the case.  It’s a performance that’s enjoyably malicious, one where you can see that Dern intends to make us loathe her character as much as possible, and she accomplishes that without flaw and offers some terrific laughs.

The screenplay by Baumbach is drawn from his own experiences with divorce, and we can see how much this aspect of his life has impacted him as he takes us into the ruthlessness that both parties bring out when going through a separation.  We’re given scenes where they’re apart, which allows us to see how they cope without each other, and then there are the scenes where they’re together, where those interactions have them trying to be civil, but also peppering those interactions with understated hostility.  Their time together during the divorce process culminates in an explosive scene where Nicole and Charlie bear all of their innermost feelings towards each other, leading to a sequence that’s not only full of catharsis, but also becomes one of this year’s most devastating movie scenes.

Although this film’s premise may seem rather thin on the surface, don't let that fool you in the slightest because there’s a lot that’s at stake between the two main characters as their divorce procedure becomes more and more challenging.  Baumbach is always bringing us further into Nicole and Charlie’s separation, and as he does so, his direction has us experience the anguish through which Nicole and Charlie are traversing.  As they go through the separation process, none of the scenes feel repetitive in terms of them not getting along because Baumbach does unforgettable work in displaying the complexities of the scenario, and it gets to the point where you begin to break out in a sweat because of how contentious the process becomes.  However, in the middle of all of this, he also shows the bits of tenderness that still exist in Nicole and Charlie’s relationship, making you feel that, even if they separate, they will still come out of it with some level of respect between them.

“Marriage Story” isn’t just about divorce, but about the affection that Nicole and Charlie had, and still might have for each other, making this an unconventional love story about how hard it is to give up that love. 

Grade: A

For Two Automotive Experts, Winning a Race Will Take More Than Speed

Matt Damon and Christian Bale in "Ford v Ferrari"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Director James Mangold is someone who has tackled several genres throughout his career, such as psychological dramas, romantic comedies, horror films, biopics, westerns, action movies, and superhero films.  Having done so, Mangold has proven that he can deliver memorable drama, such as in films like “Girl, Interrupted” and “Walk the Line,” terrific thrills, like in “Knight and Day” and “The Wolverine,” and sometimes, a combination of the two, such as in “3:10 to Yuma” and “Logan.”

He accomplishes the latter with his sports drama, “Ford v Ferrari,” a film that provides a huge canvas to showcase a gifted cast, its inspiring true story, and breathless racing sequences. 

In the 1960s, automotive designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), British professional driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), and a group of American engineers are chosen by Henry Ford II (Tracey Letts) to create the Ford GT40, which they will use to compete at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France with the hopes of defeating the Ferrari racing team.

Damon’s performance is that of an individual who is passed his prime in terms of racing, but is determined to ensure a victory for Ford.  He shows Shelby’s passion for racing as his character begins to set the pieces in motion for Ford to take on Ferrari, exhibiting someone whose quest for the winner’s circle is always in his blood.  The deepest fascination of Damon’s performance comes from how he displays someone who knows racing from both the technical side and the business side, and seeing those two mindsets converge makes it intriguing to see an individual use his extensive know-how to maneuver his way around the boardrooms and the sidelines of the track, offering Damon a chance to revel in the humor and moving determination of his character.

Just as Bale (who acted in Mangold’s “3:10 to Yuma”) has done in many of his previous movies, he loses himself in his character and always shows that he won’t settle for anything less than authentic.  Whenever he’s on screen, you can’t help but smile at the passion that Bale brings to his performance.  With Bale portraying Mile, a character who exudes confidence in his knowledge of tearing up the track, Bale shows a great deal of wit Miles outsmarts the people who doubt him, while also supplying his performance with some emotional touches.  The latter is exemplified in one of the best scenes of the movie, where Miles gives his son, Peter (Noah Jupe), a short speech about driving the “perfect lap,” in which Bale shows his character’s enthusiasm in a quiet, yet emotional way that’s punctuated by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders’ score and the lighting from the dusk help set a contemplative mood as Miles shares his love of racing with his son.  Although Bale has many memorable scenes that will make you laugh with Miles’ outgoing and eccentric personality, this is the scene of his performance that will likely stay with you the most. 

The film also comes with a stellar supporting cast, such as Letts; Jupe; Caitriona Balfe as Miles’ wife, Mollie; Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca, the vice-president of Ford; and Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe, a Ford executive.  With some of these characters believing in the work of Shelby and Miles and others not believing in it, there’s enough tension between these characters as we watch them try to arrive on the same page in regard to what it is that they wish to achieve.

The screenplay by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller does well in pacing the story as it presents us the many facets of this true account.  While Shelby and Miles meet each other pretty early in the movie, the story then keeps them separated for quite some time, allowing us to get to know these two characters individually before they solidify their friendship and begin working together.  Included with these interactions are some detailed views of what goes on behind the scenes in the racing world, where we have discussions in executive offices and at maintenance sites that help bring you into the layers and exhilaration of this sport.

Running at two and a half hours, the film earns every bit of that time.  For the first three quarters of the movie, other than shedding enough focus on the dynamics between Shelby, Miles, and the other characters, the movie dedicates some time to giving us a bit of racing here and there, such as the 24 Hours at Daytona race.  Then, for the final quarter, the movie uses most of its time for the climactic race in France.  With the amount of time that we spend on this race, we feel the long hours that go into this event, having Miles transition from the excitement of the track to exhaustion as he has someone take over for him until it’s time to get back in the driver’s seat.  There’s a lot of buildup to this race, and you’re given a chance to experience the grandness of this day-long celebration of the thrills that racing offers.

Mangold assembles an effective team of people with whom he’s worked before to get the most out of the racing scenes.  The cinematography by Phedon Papamichael, who worked with Mangold on “Identity,” “Walk the Line,” “3:10 to Yuma,” and “Knight and Day,” offers many amazing visuals for the racing sequences.  Whether the shots come from inside or outside of the car, you’re left in awe as you try to imagine what it must be like to be going 200 miles per hour as you burn the pavement.  When this is all combined with the careful editing by Michael McCusker (who collaborated with Mangold on his last five movies) and Andrew Buckland, you’re almost left either swaying in your seat as the cars go around turns or being pushed back in your seat when the cars hit a straightaway.

“Ford v Ferrari” is a wonderful tribute to what people can accomplish when they push their talents further than they ever have, and once this film brings you across the finish line, you’re guaranteed to feel a sense of triumph.

Grade: A

With His Career at a Standstill, a Filmmaker Reconnects with His Past

Antonio Banderas and Cecilia Roth in "Pain and Glory"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Writer-director Pedro Almodóvar has given international cinema an illustrious career that has spanned across four decades.  When making these films, he has gone through comedy and drama from different angles to offer audiences inventive stories that come from an individual who always seems to be in command of his cinematic voice.

He now takes us on a deep and personal journey with the semi-autobiographical “Pain and Glory,” a film where we see him examine his life through the main character’s relationships with family and friends and showing us the impact that filmmaking has had on Almodóvar.

Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is a filmmaker who has suffered through years of physical and mental ailments.  As he struggles to renew his artistic passion, he will soon find himself coming face to face with people from his past and trying to fix those connections that have been lost.

Banderas, who has collaborated with Almodóvar several times, gives a performance that’s subdued, but towers with drama as his character seems to live a life of solidarity, but shows some hope for Salvador because of him never seeming to have lost his ability to open up to others.  When he meets with the people from his past, you see Banderas’ character as he removes Salvador’s emotional layers and unveils the person who has been mentally shut away for years.  Even when Banderas isn’t speaking during these interactions, you feel the weight of these encounters hitting Salvador as you see him trying to process what he’s being told.  In each scene, Banderas exhibits the full impact that his physical and mental issues have had on him over the years, while also diving into his regrets and desires.  There is so much to this character that needs to be extracted, and Banderas brings us inside Salvador’s mind as we try to get to the root of the issues that span for most of his life.

The amount of time that we spend with the supporting performances, no matter how much, gives us an idea of the way in which these individuals have left an everlasting impact on Salvador, and vice versa.  We have Penélope Cruz as Salvador’s hardworking mother, Jacinta, a parent who will ensure that her son has the best upbringing that’s possible; Julieta Serrano as an older Jacinta, who at that point in her character’s life is trying to understand her son and the choices that he has made; Asier Etxeandia as Alberto, a person who’s friendship with Salvador has been strained after a creative difference tore them apart decades ago; Leonardo Sbaraglia as Federico, a former love interest of Salvador; and Cecilia Roth as Zulema, his compassionate assistant who’s always there for him.

The screenplay by Almodóvar transitions between Salvador’s life in the present and his childhood in the ‘60s.  During the scenes in the present, we have a series of one-on-one conversations between Salvador and the people with whom he has built connections over the years.  Through these exchanges, we’re given many details as to what Salvador’s life was like when shared with these characters in the events before the film and how they have shaped him. Even if a couple of these characters only have a few minutes of screen time with Salvador, you still feel as though you know them in the end because of how they’re able to reveal their feelings towards Salvador and how he has effected their lives in return.

In the sequences that take place in Salvador’s past, Almodóvar provides us with just as much detail as he does for the sequences in the present.  Almodóvar explores Salvador’s academic gifts, highlighting the possibilities that his character has for his future, which makes it all of the more heartrending when we find out the troubles that threaten those gifts later in his life.

Although Almodóvar gives plenty of focus on both the past and present, Almodovar adds an extra angle to the former by showing that the past never stays in the past.  With this, Almodovar does well in emphasizing the merging of the past and present and showing how the people with whom you formed relationships over the years can come back into your life in unexpected ways.

Almodóvar’s direction is all about getting us to understand the complexities of Salvador, and seeing as Salvador represents Almodóvar, Almodóvar wants us to also understand who he himself is.  Almodóvar makes you experience every ounce of emotion in this film as he takes you on this quest as he and his movie counterpart deconstruct who they are and what their art means to them.  Through this, the collaboration between Almodóvar and Banderas elicits hard-hitting drama whose strength doesn’t do anything less than immerse you in Salvador’s complicated life.

Given the many films that Almodóvar has made over the years, you know his artistic trademarks.  But, with the personal nature of the story that’s told in “Pain and Glory,” you get to know him.

Grade: A

Alone on an Island, Two Lighthouse Keepers Unleash Their Inner Darkness

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in "The Lighthouse"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Almost five years ago, writer-director Robert Eggers debuted his first feature film, “The Witch,” at the Sundance Film Festival  With this movie, he gave audiences a nerve-shredding, slow-burn descent into turmoil.  It presented an inventive new voice in the genre, giving us a frightening New England folktale.

Eggers now brings us another New England horror story with “The Lighthouse.”  As great as “The Witch” was, Eggers manages to top himself with another film about people thrown into terror and teetering on the edge of their sanity, and this movie displays its raw power by Eggers direction and two mammoth performances.

In the late 19th century, Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) travels to a lighthouse off the coast of New England for four weeks of work, all while being under the watch of Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe).  While their time together begins well enough at first, they soon come face to face with a madness that threatens to destroy them both.

Pattinson delivers a performance that draws us in with his character’s ordinary need to find honest work, only to then become trapped in a devastating turn of events from which there doesn’t seem to be any escape.  He shows Ephraim’s strong disquiet towards the unsettling events, which mirrors the audience’s own reactions to such scenes, with them matching his surprise and horror at the terrifying events that plague the two characters.  It’s apparent from the beginning that Pattinson’s character has some issues weighing on him, and to see him slowly unravel as these deep troubles come to the forefront make for a startling vision of someone losing his mind.  Pattinson has proven his astounding acting skills in his post-“Twilight” career many times, such as with films like “The Lost City of Z,” “Good Time,” and “High Life,” but he still manages to impress us with the depths to which he’s willing to go with his latest character, and the final half hour displays some of the finest work that he’s ever accomplished.

Dafoe puts every ounce of his power into his role as Thomas.  His masterful command of a seafaring dialect helps bring you into his world where his obsessions have taken what seem to be an irreversible toll on him.  This is a performance where it’s impossible to not become mesmerized by what’s happening in front of you.  Dafoe inhabits his character to such a degree that the madness that ripples in his eyes sends shock waves across the theater, creating a thunderous atmosphere that makes this film a visceral experience.  There’s a moment in the film that solidifies Dafoe’s performance as one of the best of the year, where he gives Winslow his “Let Neptune strike ye dead” monologue, and the way in which he’s shown on screen couldn’t be more chilling, between his maniacal persona and the way in which the lighting and shadows hit his face that make him a ghoulish presence.  Just when you think the state of apprehension in which you find yourself can’t get any stronger, Dafoe will make you reconsider that with this sequence.       

The work that Pattinson and Dafoe do with their shared screen time is so tremendous that you can’t believe the screen is still functioning once the movie is over.  This is a battle of two chaotic minds that creates a perfect storm with a power as strong as the howling winds and crashing of the waves that surround Ephraim and Thomas.  They’re in an ongoing conflict of who’s-deceiving-who, and the intensity that their animosity reaches will leave you wondering what sort of outcome the movie has in store for them.  Pattinson and Dafoe will grip you as they bear the souls of their characters as Ephraim and Thomas are torn apart by each other and suffer irreparable damage.

The screenplay by Eggers and his brother, Max, takes a simple story of cabin fever and takes a dive into the psyches of the two main characters as their faults begin to manifest within their shelter.  This is a movie that thrives on the constant interplay between Ephraim and Thomas and how they respond to the horror that soon takes over their lives.  With the story placing us right in the middle of these two dueling individuals, we’re given a chance to learn much about both of the characters.  As we get to know them, we realize that the Eggers haven’t made either of them a hero or a villain, but rather two people who are victims of a cruel fate placed upon them by their surroundings, an aspect of the narrative that causes the viewer to not give allegiance to either character, but instead fear for both of them.

Just as Eggers did for “The Witch,” it’s evident that he and his brother did a tremendous amount of research to make sure that the form of English that the characters speak is accurate to the time period that the movie presents.  This helps to transport you to a different period in history, investing you in the dialogue and providing a remarkable authenticity to the setting and characters.

Eggers reunites with his “Witch” cinematographer, Jarin Blaschke, to construct another film whose visuals are as gorgeous as they are haunting.  This time around, Blaschke uses black-and-white cinematography, and by doing so, he emphasizes the hopelessness of Ephraim and Thomas’ situation and strengthens the aspect of how the characters are only surrounded by water and are without any signs of lushness to their environment.  They always seem to be in the middle of a storm or under the threat of one, be it an actual storm or a psychological one, and there isn’t any better way to present that than with the bleak use of black-and-white as we become stranded in the middle of nothing. 

The aspect ratio that’s used for “The Lighthouse” is 1.19:1, which presents the image in more of a square-shaped frame, heightening the sense of being stuck in a place with someone for a lengthy period of time with very little room in which to move around.  We’re given several long takes that bring us throughout the main house and provide us with an idea of the limited space that Ephraim and Thomas have for where they’re living, and we feel the claustrophobia of being in close quarters with a stranger and not knowing if they mean the other person harm, which is something that’s felt in both Ephraim and Thomas.

While many horror movies these days take place in the present, or a few decades in the past in some cases, Eggers gives us new atmospheres of horror to explore as he unleashes terror in stories that take place a long, long time ago.  With “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” you can see how he has many things in mind that he wishes to accomplish, which are giving us flawed and richly detailed characters, a disturbing story, a well-researched view of the narrative’s time period, and a relentless sense of dread, and he fulfills every one of these tasks.  This year, we’ve been fortunate to have Jordan Peele and Ari Aster release their second horror films, and now, Eggers joins that prestigious company and shows that he’s a filmmaker who can craft terrifying stories that are worthy of a dissection.

“The Lighthouse” will shock, scare, and mentally drain you as you go on a journey through the devastating change that your life can take when your demons wash ashore.

Grade: A