COCO

Voices of:  Anthony Gonzalez   Gael Garcia Bernal   Benjamin Bratt   Edward James Olmos

     Disney/Pixar’s colorful, entertaining animation will delight children and adults, which I inferred while watching the screening and hearing the applause at the end.  Production design by Harley Jessup is rich in detail and captures Mexican lore about the land of the dead.  The story by Lee Unkrich and his fellow writers has emotional depth that is understandable to children and is meaningful for adults, and carries a strong message:  “Never underestimate the power of music.”  Michael Giacchino’s score fits the mood and culture perfectly, employing both vocal and instrumental numbers.  The film is reminiscent of Jorge Gutierrez’s and Guillermo del Toro’s The Book of Life.

     The story is about young Miguel (Gonzalez) growing up in a multi-generation close-knit family that, for some reason, has forbidden music of any kind.  This presents a big problem for Miguel, in that music is “in his blood”, so to speak.  He feels a special kinship with Ernesto de la Cruz (Bratt), reportedly the most famous musician of the town, and aspires to carry on his tradition.  His family is horrified, but don’t explain, except to say that great grandmother’s father abandoned his family to go on the road and perform his music.  To support herself and her children, his wife began a successful shoe business, which everyone is expected to work in after they are grown, and forbids even the mention of music ever after.

     In the meantime, on Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Miguel is accidently transported into the Land of the Dead, where he encounters some of his ancestors, as well as de la Cruz himself (who was killed by a huge bell crashing down upon him).  By this time, Miguel is convinced the man is his great great grandfather, and seeks his help in becoming a musician.  In the process, and through Miguel’s acquaintance with a kindly dead man named Hector (Bernal), he discovers the source of his family’s age-old tradition of rejecting music.  In the process, he also transcends his antagonism toward family, and comes to see the inestimable value of it.

     This film is about staying connected with family in a positive way through photographs and by remembering and telling stories.  In the Mexican tradition, that is how the dead “stay alive” by living in the hearts and minds of the survivors.

This animation will transport you to the Land of the Dead and its mysterious, uplifting ways.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

DOCTOR STRANGE

Benedict Cumberbatch   Chiwetel Ejiofor   Rachel McAdams   Benedict Wong   Mads Mikkelsen   Tilda Swinton   Benjamin Bratt

     Spectacular special effects makes this comic book story come alive in a special way, perhaps because it captures a child’s imagination and puts it on the screen.  We see it as a child with a vivid imagination may in reading a comic book.  Its exciting and mystically fascinating tale conjures up mythology and the spirit world with heroes and villains, and throws out paradoxes for us to consider.  (Must we sometimes commune with the dark side in order to achieve good?  Must we have death in order to have life?) 

     The film has numerous comical lines and jokes (e.g., a mystical reference that is actually a wi-fi password), but perhaps the biggest one is its riff on doctors who have a reputation for their arrogance, ambition, and stubbornness.  The star, Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch), is certainly supposed to shed this in his pursuit of shamanic knowledge, but part of the spoof is its tenacity on the heroic doctor. 

     Dr. Strange is at the height of his career as an esteemed neurosurgeon in New York; he can choose his patients (accepting only those that will pad his reputation), be dismissive and over-rule the staff, and is essentially the king of his realm.  His residence is fashionable with a stunning view of the city, and his car the most expensive and sportiest.  But lo, he roars out one evening to attend a lecture honoring him, when…Don’t text and drive folks! 

     Yes, he is pulled out of a ravine, but has lost the use of his golden hands, which throws him into an existential crisis and angry depression, for he is empty inside without his career.  He brushes off his one friend Christine (McAdams), a colleague trying to help him, and in desperation heads for Kamar-Taj, a healing place in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he hopes for a miracle.  His physical therapist had told him about a “hopeless” patient who had regained his physical abilities after its help.  “It will be costly”, the healed man (Bratt) informs him, but of course this was not a monetary reference. 

     Once he finds the place, Strange blusters in, completely unaware of a different universe and way of being.  While there, he will make discoveries he had never imagined in his empirically anchored life, and it will change him forever in no way that he ever anticipated.  He certainly becomes a nicer person, but that is only part of it.  He will strive to become a real hero with dimensions far beyond his previous accomplishments.

     Scott Derrickson, writer (with others) and director and his filmmaking team (Ben Davis, cinematography; Michael Giacchino, music; Charles Wood, production design; Ray Chan, art; and all the special effects group) have crafted an entertaining film with visual, musical, and literary qualities that should appeal to children and adults alike, one that contains rich material for thought and discussion after viewing. 

   Casting is perfect, with Cumberbatch as one who is equally skilled in portraying narcissism, extraordinary intelligence, and charity all in the same character.  Mikkelsen seems equally talented in portraying all different types of characters, with the one here being the epitome of evil.  A real coup with this film is casting Tilda Swinton as the “Ancient One”—we’re as surprised as Strange is that “he” is a “she.”  Swinton can play any exotic character a writer can come up with, elevating it with her own imagination.

      I was a little sorry at the end of this film to see that it was extended for 15-20 minutes too long, and that there was the now popular teaser for a sequel.  If only the filmmakers/investors could learn from their main characters!

This is a finely crafted action film with artistic merit.

Grade:  A-                                By Donna R. Copeland

THE INFILTRATOR

Bryan Cranston   Diane Krueger   John Leguizamo   Benjamin Bratt   Olympia Dukakis   Amy Ryan

          Based upon a real operation in the 1980’s, The Infiltrator is edgy and tense, with periodic earsplitting bloody horrors that make you jump out of your seat.  (After about the sixth time, this gets to seem like an annoying cinematic trick, to quiet the screen before an explosive blast that kills someone.) Despite this little annoyance, the story is exciting and well told by Director Brad Furman and writer Ellen Sue Brown (book by Robert Mazur).  It is fascinating to see the day-to-day planning and execution of such an operation, and the film is especially good at showing us the binds secret agents must undergo in forming close alliances with criminals only to betray them.  The agony and thrills also come as they act out their made-up personas and have close calls, such as a recording device being discovered.

           Bob Mazur (Cranston) has had a long career in U.S. Customs as a special agent.  He is eligible to retire, but is always staying on for “one last job.”  This operation is to infiltrate Pablo Escobar’s Colombian Medellin Cartel to interrupt the flow of cocaine to this country by following the money laundering trail.  Mazur’s idea is that this will bring them to the players at the top.

          Cranston’s Mazur makes a convincing portrayal of a skilled, experienced agent who is still able to be surprised and even a little flummoxed.  It’s an interesting character study into someone who is reliable, stable, and genuine in his private life but adept at taking on a role where he is able to use those traits to get someone to trust him in a basically duplicitous relationship.  And for the most part, this character is hardened to emotional pulls, but does show some vulnerability after oh-so-close calls.  Cranston pulls this off without even seeming to be trying, a natural.  He is a large reason to see the movie.

          Diane Krueger as another agent, Kathy, playing Mazur’s “fiancé” is a worthy partner in both acting and in the film’s special operations story.  It’s a nice touch to present her as an agent first who is new on the job and rather plain, then show her to be a sharp, glamorous, multi-lingual woman who warmly reaches out to her partner’s contacts.  (I remember her especially for her portrayal of a border agent in the TV drama “The Bridge”, someone with a touch of Asperger’s.  None of that here!)

       Other actors deserving of credit are John Leguizamo as Mazur’s unpredictable co-agent, Amy Ryan as the head of the Customs agency, Olympia Dukakis as Mazur’s flamboyant aunt, and Benjamin Bratt as Mazur’s wealthy mark who befriends Mazur and Kathy.

A thriller that will grab you and make you jump in your seat.

Grade:  B                         By Donna R. Copeland