THE REPORT

Adam Driver     Annette Bening     Corey Stoll     Jon Hamm     Linda Powell     Maura Tierney

Douglas Hodge     T. Ryder Smith     Joanne Tucker     Michael C. Hall     Matthew Rhys

     The dramatization of the U.S. Government’s reaction to 9-1-1 is outlined in Scott Burns’ movie, The Report, which focuses on the report prepared by Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Intelligence Committee, delegated to David Jones, one of her aides.  It shows the dogged five-year efforts of Jones to wrest documents from the CIA related to its practice of detention and enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) to get information about when/where the next attack would be.

     Gathering data for the report was impeded from the very beginning by CIA officials who refused to share most of their files. Adam Driver embodies the Jones character, eloquently expressing his patience, his diligence, and his intelligence in reading and interpreting reams of material amidst all kinds of setbacks.  Setbacks that never came from his boss, California Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening), however; as deliberate and politically aware as she was she was also clearly aware of Jones’ honesty and capabilities, so protects him and guides him in negotiating shark-infested waters.

     The film charts Jones’ journey, highlighting his findings despite obstructions, the strategic use of subterfuge to make sure the report was seen and circulated, and the horrifying examples (some presented graphically) of what he found, including clear-cut examples of torture. The two psychologists hired as consultants—James Mitchell (Hodge) and Bruce Jessen (Smith)—had no experience in interrogation, at a time when the country had teams of FBI agents who were experts and should have been in charge of the program.  But, instead, Mitchell and Jessen were put in charge, implementing their unproven methods with virtually no checks or oversight.

     It’s sadly ironic to learn that as early as 1978, the CIA had concluded that brutal tactics are not effective in getting detainees to talk; moreover, they typically result in false answers. The report showed that in their desperation following the 9-1-1 attacks, leaders in the CIA willfully ignored its own earlier findings. 

     I think this documentary is valuable in illuminating a part of our government’s history in which major miscalculations were made, hundreds were made to suffer—some to die—and there were proven injustices committed.  It’s pertinent to present-day situations, and one hopes we will be mindful of and remember what we learned previously.

     My difficulty with the film’s presentation is the rapidity with which major players in the drama are introduced (without clearly identifying who they are).  Moreover, some subtitles meant to give the viewer context fly by so quickly, its difficult to see them and simultaneously follow conversations that are ongoing.  Although I think the film is basically a good one, director Scott Burns and editor Greg O’Bryant should have picked up on this during postproduction.  

     Adam Driver is consistently admired for his acting skills in many different kinds of roles including this one.  He conveys the carefulness shown by Jones, as well as his agony when he is being blocked and questioned.  Annette Bening is likewise highly skilled, but not as often recognized for it as she deserves.  Here, as Senator Dianne Feinstein, she captures the politically astute Congresswoman’s quiet, confident demeanor and decisiveness in tense situations, despite trying to navigate successfully through the sensitive politics of the situation.  These two leads are backed up by a strong cast including Jon Hamm, Maura Tierney, Linda Powell, Corey Stoll, Ted Levine, and others.

A real-life drama depicting the reactions of Washington’s politicos to the 9-1-1 disaster. 

Grade: B                                                By Donna R. Copeland

CAPTAIN MARVEL

Brie Larson     Gemma Chan     Ben Mendelssohn    Samuel L. Jackson     Lee Pace

Jude Law     Annette Bening     Djimon Hounsou     Colin Ford

     This female Captain Marvel lights up the screen—literally, in brilliant bursts of light—and in her noble beliefs in truth and justice and her aim to be a bridge between Earth and space.

     The story opens with her/Carol Danvers (Larson) as a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot suffering from unexplained amnesia when Yom-Rogg (Law), member of the notable Kree military group known as Starforce, rescues her after a plane crash.  He gives her some information (leaving out significant bits), and informs her that he will be training her to be a Kree warrior subsequent to her DNA being fused with that of a Kree during the accident.  This has given her superhuman strength and other super powers, such as photon blasts from her hands.  He puts her through rigorous fight maneuvers, attempting to train her away from her human emotional reactions to become more like the unemotional Kree.  The Krees are in the midst of a war with another alien group, the Skrulls.

     When “Vers”—the name she is to go by—is ready for her first mission, she is visited by the Krees’ Supreme Intelligence (Bening), who tells her she is ready to be a warrior, gives her instructions and then disappears.  At this point, she can’t really recall her own history.

In her mission, Vers will encounter the bewildering, green-skinned Skrull shape shifters led by  Talos (Mendelssohn) to keep them from stealing a light speed engine invented by the Krees and banish them from the universe.  It gets complicated because the characters and the viewers cannot always tell who is really who they say they are, which also provides the opportunity for humorous scenes in which characters are asking one another factual bits and incidents in their past that a shape shifter wouldn’t know. It also means that who are the “good” guys and who are the “bad” guys frequently shifts.  Since the viewer is in the dark too (unless well informed about Marvel comics), this becomes a teaser in the film, which may capture your interest or seem tedious.

     Brie Larson in a completely new role for her has just the right mixture of sassiness, bravado, playfulness, and fierceness to be convincing as an action figure, Captain America.  It was fun seeing a woman in that role, like it was with Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman, although Captain Marvel doesn’t seem as bad-ass as Wonder Woman.  Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson, and Annette Bening are all comfortable in complex roles where their characters are seen in different lights at different times.  The arc of Gemma Chan’s role as Minn-erva, Carol Danvers’ best friend/sister, and an ace pilot is gratifying to see.  

     Boden/Fleck as writers/directors (and their co-writers) can be pleased with their new Captain Marvel, which entertains, is well paced, and sustains suspense with brilliant special effects, music (Pinar Toprak), and cinematography (Ben Davis) that complement the story and the characters.  

The emergence of a female Captain Marvel and the war between two alien groups make for an exciting, colorful ride, with a revealing twist toward the end.

Grade:  B+                                 By Donna R. Copeland

20th CENTURY WOMEN

Annette Bening     Elle Fanning     Greta Gerwig     Billy Crudup     Lucas Jade Zumann 

         A film about women, yes, but just as much about motherhood.  It’s 1979, and Dorothea (Bening) has tenants and an occasional visitor in her 19^th Century house in Santa Barbara.  She has her son Jamie (Zumann), Julie (Fanning) who comes only by night to talk and sleep in Jamie’s bed, Abbie (Gerwig), an artist who’s run away from home and renting a room, and William (Crudup) who has a room in the house but is doing major remodeling of it.  Perhaps without realizing it, Dorothea has created a family with the utmost intention of providing the best she can for her son.  It’s a little bit sad that she has no awareness of her own needs in this regard. 

        Jamie is a thoughtful child who asks his mother probing questions that, to him, she avoids answering (like, whether she’s happy); and when at one point she asks why he’s not open with her, Jamie retorts that he’s not the one who doesn’t talk.  And when she asks why he has done something dangerous, he smartly asks her why she smokes.  These questions do not seem to get through to her.

          Later, she becomes more anxious about Jamie’s progress (understandably—he’s 14-15) and enlists the help of Julie and Abbie, with both of whom, Jamie seems to have a close relationship.  She had already engaged William, thinking that Jamie needed a masculine influence  (never realizing until someone pointed it out that the two had little in common). 

          What follows is the story of young women influencing the development of a teenage boy.  Dorothea has grave misgivings from time to time, but when she confronts Julie and Abbie she gets her misconceptions corrected and is reassured (thanks to her trust and confidence in them).  This is a fine illustration of how motherhood can just be a muddling through, with no guarantee of the outcome.  Dorothea has many soul-searching moments about how she’s doing as a mother, but unlike most mothers, she has younger people close by to explain to her what is going on.

           In observing Dorothea, we get the perspective of her generation, instructive to a fault, prone to deny anything negative (although anxious about it), but wanting to maintain control of a son’s life.  To her credit, she trusts her “family”, and steps aside for Julie and Abbie to be his primary advisers (not that they have everything together).  Williams gently supports and advises her, but is respectful of her space.

          Perhaps this is a modern day fable about feminism and motherhood and how both need to accommodate to a changing world.  Women need help in their mothering and need to consider some of their own interests.  Men can help by being more sensitive to women and letting go of some of their feeling of responsibility for them.

          Mike Mills, writer-director of the film, has said it is partially autobiographical, and I think that is apparent in his sensitivity to Dorothea’s situation as she perceives it and the different perspectives shown by the characters.  Above all, I appreciate his nonjudgmental, empathic depiction of the characters.

          Bening, Fanning, Gerwig, and Crudup are perfect in their roles, and young Zumann is a treasure in his portrayal of a young man beset by so many influences.  Music by Roger Neill enhances every scene and helps us enjoy the lightheartedness of the whole production.

Motherhood as you’ve not seen it before.

Grade:  A                                                          By Donna R. Copeland

RULES DON'T APPLY

Warren Beatty   Lily Collins   Alden Ehrenreich   Annette Bening   Matthew Broderick

Ed Harris   Alec Baldwin   Martin Sheen   Oliver Platt   Candace Bergen   Steve Coogan 

          “It’s about sex and romance in the old Hollywood”, Warren Beatty (director and co-writer with Bo Goldman) says of his comeback movie, Rules don’t Apply.  “…and about American Puritanism”, he adds.  Hughes was someone who didn’t have to follow rules because he was a billionaire; we see the influence of Hollywood (where rules don’t necessarily apply) on him and, through him, on the people who worked for him.  When he saw Howard Hughes briefly in the 70’s, Beatty stayed fascinated with him, and although he began conceiving the film in the late ‘90’s, it took 20 years to bring it to fruition.  It’s not a biopic, but rather a take-off from Hughes’ reputation and creating a drama from that.  I liked it for its harking back to older Hollywood films in which storytelling is prominent and meant to be inspiring.

          Marla Mabrey (perfectly cast Lily Collins) is a young woman from Virginia who has turned away a scholarship to try her luck in Hollywood, and has been invited to a Howard Hughes audition.  She is accompanied by her mother, cheeky Lucy Mabrey (Bening), who soon becomes impatient with the Hollywood/Hughes slow tempo and goes back home. 

        Much is made of Marla’s Baptist background, and when her Hughes driver Frank (Ehrenreich) informs Marla and her mother that he is a Methodist, we see them connect.  Complications ensue when Marla and Frank have a kind of pheromone-like attraction to one another.  Keep in mind that it is strictly forbidden for any of the Hughes employees to socialize with any of his 20+ starlets.  Breaking this rule will cost them their job.  Of course, this is an unenforceable rule, but Hughes has the illusion that he is keeping tabs on everyone, and he has no qualms about the way he gets information. 

      The story then alternates between Hughes’ business activities and a couple of romances.  Humor is sprinkled occasionally into the drama, such as the starlets getting their weekly paychecks in envelopes sent down from a second story window on a string.  Hughes was known for his secretiveness, and the film spoofs this by having him constantly refuse to meet with people.  The issue becomes so heated, rumors circulate about his mental stability, and he has to ward off those who think he should be declared insane.  There is a curious disconnect between Hughes much of the time looking a bit senile, but at the end showing a sharp memory and being able to rattle off complicated business analyses and plans.

          Beatty as the star demonstrates again his acting skills, and in this role he’s portraying an eccentric older man who alternates between sounding demented and relaying complex information about his projects.  His directing skills are apparent in the pace and composition of scenes in moving the story along.  He was canny in his casting two up-and-coming actors, Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich, for the young couple who attend church and say the blessing before meals and then get caught up in the Hollywood lifestyle. 

          Caleb Deschanel is a known master of cinematography, and his talent and experience are apparent in scenes of the Los Angeles city- and landscape, the grounds where Hughes resides, and the mysterious door in dark shadow out of which Hughes slowly emerges when he does finally deem to meet someone.  Those “someones” are usually a part of Hughes’ staff whose jobs are always tenuous, but there are others too.  This allows for many interesting cameos from Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick, Martin Sheen, Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Oliver Platt, Candace Bergen, and Steve Coogan.

         Not much is new here, but some older viewers nostalgic about old Hollywood days may enjoy Rules Don’t Apply; it’s not likely younger viewers will, however.

A reminiscence of Howard Hughes and Hollywood in the 1950’s.

Grade:  C+                                            By Donna R. Copeland

DANNY COLLINS

Al Pacino     Annette Bening     Bobby Cannavale     Jennifer Garner     Christopher Plummer     Giselle Eisenberg

The script for Danny Collins written by Director Dan Fogelman is so smart and true to life it’s scary at times (such as the accurate portrayal of ADHD), and the fine actors make it shine even more.  Loosely based on a true story about a British folk singer, Steve Tilston—whom the movie calls “Danny Collins”—who discovered years later that John Lennon had written a letter to him that was delivered to someone else.  The film uses the letter to tell its story about a rock star who, by this time, is aging and performing the same material he has for 30 years.  Then his agent (Plummer) surprises him with the letter, and it has an immediate impact on him in a positive sense of straightening up his boozy, drug-filled life and starting to write music again.

           Danny remembers the son (Cannavale) he never met, who is now grown and living in New Jersey with a wife (Garner) and child (Eisenberg).  The son, Tom Donnelly, has made it clear that he wants nothing to do with his father and wants him to stay away from Samantha, his wife, and their daughter Hope.  But Danny is committed to his self-styled rehabilitation, and makes offers Tom can hardly refuse.  They go back and forth, with Tom trying desperately to hold onto his anger, and Danny never giving up on his plan.  Their interchanges—which include wife and daughter—are both funny and agonizing at the same time.  In the midst of it all spunky Hope takes in everything that is being said and voices her opinions in a way that an indulgent father has to listen to.

            Danny has rented a room at the local Hilton, where he’s had a grand piano shipped in, clearly intending to work; but he’s not above trying to have a little fun with the all-business hotel manager, Mary (Bening).  They get into verbal jousting, and when she finally relents and has some tequila, they actually get close and start sharing their troubles.

The story has many developments on all fronts as Danny progresses and slips backward, and money starts to become an issue.  All of this has to be worked out, and Fogelman’s script never lets the viewer down. 

           Pacino is a master at portraying complex characters with precision and fullness, and Bening is well placed in being his counter force.   The performance of Cannavale is at its usual level of excellence, and Garner, who has a less well fleshed out role, still has to convincingly be the go-between in father-son struggles—which she does.  Plummer, like Pacino, has a long history of fine performances, and his presence in this film is true to form.  The child Giselle Eisenberg steals the scene every time she is on, and I SO appreciated her lines being authentically child-like and not obviously written by an adult.  They are so true to life, I wondered if Fogelman was getting that part of the script from his experience with a real child.  Giselle clearly has a future in acting if she maintains an interest in it.

         I hadn’t expected much from Danny Collins the movie, and was thrilled when it became clear that it was going to be so good.  It is fresh, believable in terms of character development, and it maintains suspense throughout.  Of course, much of what happens could only occur if at least one character had access to big bucks, but still, it is a fine work of art nevertheless.

An insightful, entertaining look at a modern family’s dilemmas.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland