THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2

Voices of:  Oscar Isaac     Charlize Theron     Chloe Grace Moretz     Nick Kroll

Snoop Dogg     Bette Midler     Bill Hader     Javon ‘Wanna’  Walton

            Silly; as it’s meant to be.  This version’s entertainment focuses on Dr. Strange (Hader) who is claiming that there was a mix-up at Wednesday’s (Moretz) birth and that she is actually his daughter.  “Isn’t it obvious?”, he says; she clearly has inherited his scientific talents.  This seems to play into Wednesday’s recent plans where—she being a teenager—is feeling ashamed of her parents and disgusted with her brother and wanting to get away.  The Addams parents try to hide the identity of Strange’s lawyer from Wednesday after the lawyer pays them a visit, but of course it’s only a matter of time before she figures out who he is.

            Sensing his beloved daughter’s distancing, Gomez (Isaac) decides it’s time for a family vacation, a trip across the United States.  His wife Morticia (Theron) agrees, saying, “Of course; we have some of the best dark secrets, as countries go.”  As part of the family, brother Pugsley (Walton), Uncle Fester (Kroll), and Lurch (Carel Struycken) will all board a contraption to be driven by Fester, discovering the wonders of America, all while being tailed by the lawyer and his thug.  

            A trip to Salem gets cancelled because Fester sees a sign to Niagara Falls and immediately veers in that direction.  From there, they will make their way to The Alamo in San Antonio, the Grand Canyon, and finally to Death Valley, which was to be their final destination, except…they must do a detour to Sausalito and the home of Dr. Strange, because Gomez and Morticia are not about to cede their daughter to Strange.

            The story and animations in the 2-version are entertaining, although I imagine that those who have seen previous versions of the Addams Family may find it repetitious.  My favorite character is Wednesday who shows a delightful mixture of insight and acerbity and is almost unerringly logical.  When she wins a science contest along with all the other participants, she declares with a harumph, “How can I be a winner when there are no losers?”  After she gives her father the one hug he has been longing for and is ready for another, she refuses, saying, “I’ve been socially distancing since birth.”  These are subtle comments about our current time that I found amusing.

            I find the cruelty of Wednesday toward her brother hard to take, although I realize that’s the kind of “pratfall humor” many enjoy.  I find the rationalizing of the parents endearing and refreshing, as they use every means they have at their disposal to bring her back to their fold.  I like the movie’s message of tolerance—even admiration—for strangeness; that’s probably a hallmark of the Addams stories.

            

Although Addams Family 2 is not something of a new sensation or profound in its insights, I can easily see how many people will find it enjoyable, endearing, and funny.

 

Grade:  C+                            by Donna R. Copeland 

IT CHAPTER TWO

Jessica Chastain     James McAvoy     Bill Hader     Bill Skarsgard

Isiah Mustafa     Jay Ryan     James Ransone     Andy Bean

     This reunion of childhood friends after 27 years isn’t going to be typical; for one thing, a fat kid is now trim and fit—rather than everyone being more portly—the usual reunion preoccupation.  But of course it will be out of the ordinary in so many other, more important, ways.  It’s important to know that this group of reunion members are from the “Losers Club”, and “losers they will always be”, BUT they have pledged as a group to defend against a dark force.

     These friends are called together based on a promise (sealed in blood) made at a time when they thought they had done away with Pennywise (Skarsgard) the wicked clown who preys on young children.  Now Mike (Mustafa) is sending them all urgent messages to come to Derry, Maine, at once.  This will be no easy feat, because they’ve all (except for Mike) left Derry to establish careers and, sometimes, families.  We see each of them attempt to disengage from their commitments to honor the childhood pledge.

     Only one (Stanley, played by Bean) chooses not to go, but the rest brave all kinds of obstacles to return to Mike in Derry, Maine.  He has brought them all together, of course, to tell them that Pennywise has resurfaced and is killing children.  He has done enough research to learn that an ancient Native Indian tribal ritual is called for.  Each of them must find his/her own distinctive “artifact” (from childhood) and bring it to resolution in a ritual.  It’s a bit Jungian in that each must discover his/her shadow and resolve the conflict, one of the stronger assets of the film.

     Beverly (Chastain) has issues with her father, Richie (Hader) has unresolved sexual identity issues, Bill (McAvoy) is carrying the weight of his brother Georgie’s death on his conscience, Ben (Ryan) is still suffering from his “fatness” and the rejection of his childhood flame, Eddie (Ransone) has Mommie issues, and Mike has to come to terms with prejudice against his race.

     Much of the movie covers each person’s struggle with the psychological issue significant for him/her, emphasizing the “losers” aspect (“and we will always be losers”) and the group sticking together to accomplish a noble goal.  I enjoyed these parts of the movie, directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Gary Dauberman based on a Stephen King novel. 

     Unfortunately, the film degenerates into a showcase for special effects, making it insufferable in its length (almost three hours), and completely unbelievable in plot.      Additional nonessential sequences were in the beginning about brutality against gays and toward the end in gay references, neither of which fit in with the main story. The filmmakers seem to be making a side point—which I sympathize with—but find the sequences “stuck into” the plot.

     It Chapter Two has A-list actors in the major roles, and they are superb in what they are given by the script, but their roles are limited.  Jessica Chastain has little to do other than react to the male actors. With her talent, she is wasted in this film.  James McAvoy’s character is a little more filled out, but fails to make him the forceful presence he should be.  Probably the standout is Bill Hader as Richie whose ambivalence and neurotic characteristics gives him more of a platform to exploit his range and ability.

     Most of all, Director Muschietti can be faulted for getting so caught up in special effects, he lost sight of the “meat” of Stephen King’s works having to do with friends sticking together, the drama in the growing-up years, and the influence of early traumas on adult life.  He addressed these, but then covered them up with showy special effects and extended final scenes with Pennywise to an almost unbearable length.

Pennywise and pound-foolish seems to fit this rendition of a Stephen King novel.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE BFG

Mark Rylance   Ruby Barnhill   Penelope Wilton         Voices of:  Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement

          The BFG seemed to capture children’s interest and attention in the screening I attended, and there was applause at the end.  Noises I heard from kids during the film seemed more like they were engaged and involved rather than restless, despite the almost-2-hour production.  I got the impression they were following the BFG’s malapropisms as well or better than the adults.

         The story by the beloved author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox) and made into a screenplay by Melissa Mathison (ET), tells about an orphan named Sophie (Barnhill) who spies a giant outside her window late at night, and because he is concerned that she will tell others about him, he snatches her.  It turns out that he is a dream catcher who plants dreams into those who are fast asleep—good dreams mostly, but, if needed, bad dreams.  Unfortunately, he lives in the Land of Giants, many of whom are much bigger than he, and they bully him.  The well socialized Sophie, who comes to like and respect the BFG, is then incensed by the oafish giants and devises a plan whereby the Queen of England would rally her forces to capture the giants who are known to see children as delectable treats.

      The idea of capturing and planting dreams is appealing, and is one of the highlights/mainstays of the film.  The current technology shows vivid images of dreams, BFG’s “factory” for creating/mixing  dreams that can be infused into a sleeper’s brain, and the noble uses for dream infusion.  I applaud introducing the concept to children with the thought that it could be a very useful fantasy for them to use in making choices in their lives.

Director Steven Spielberg has sustained his child-like wonder in making films meant to inspire young people of all ages and offer them stories for their moral and ethical development.  His engagement of John Williams for music, Janusz Kaminski for cinematography and Rick Carter for production design are creatively wise choices. 

           In this production, I was mesmerized by Mark Rylance’s portrayal of the BFG.  We now know from his performances in Bridge of Spies, Wolf Hall, and other productions that he is a consummate actor who conveys innumerable expressions with his face and voice.  In this, it was delightful to see that in CGI and motion capture we could still see Rylance, especially in his pixie-like face, his eyes, and smile.  His range is noticeable from the spy character he portrays in Bridge of Spies to here in the BFG.  Those two characters couldn’t be further apart.  And it’s a little bit strange how his goodness shines through so well, we are prepared to root for him as a German spy.

       Strangely, Ruby Barnhill as Sophie did not carry the same weight, even though currently, child actors tend to be phenomenal.  Somehow, the actress does not elicit much fascination with the Sophie character, or maybe it’s simply the script.  I think that part of the problem is that the character Sophie is a bit obnoxious in her behavior and attitude (which may come from Dahl’s story), so it may not be a casting issue, but has to do with the story itself.

I think most children will enjoy and benefit from this fanciful tale.

Grade:  B+                        By Donna R. Copeland

INSIDE OUT

Voices of:  Amy Poehler   Phyllis Smith   Mindy Kaling   Lewis Black   Bill Hader   Richard Kind   Kaitlyn Dias

From the clever title to the animation, the script, and the actors, Inside Out is a positive tale about how to deal with emotions.  The primary thought coming through is that negative emotions like sadness, anger, and fear are healthy and need to be expressed in order to get the “bad” that’s inside neutralized or to use one (such as anger) to accomplish a task.  At one point, Anger (Black) blows fire out his head to break a window in order to rescue Joy and Sadness who have just been hurled splat against it from the outside.)  Joy (Poehler), the leader of the group instinctively learns how to deal with Sadness (Smith), which I recognized as what a therapist will do with someone who is depressed (e.g., unfailing encouragement, patience, and positive reinforcement for every successive approximation toward self-confidence and effectiveness).  Joy also discovers the value of sympathy in comforting someone who has experienced a loss, as when Sadness listens empathically to Bing Bong’s (Kind) woes and he begins to feel much better.  Upshot:  Joy is not always the answer to an emotional problem.

           I am impressed that Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen, directors, came up with the basic idea of having actors voice the emotions that a little girl goes through from the time of her birth.  Like an ego with executive functions, “central station” (the embodied emotions) does what it can to orchestrate the goings-on inside Riley’s (Dias) head, modifying Riley’s reactions and experience to maintain balance.  An important memory bank is kept to pull out those that might be helpful in a specific situation, and more complex “personality islands”—like “Family” are also available.

           This is a high tension film, and I was a bit weary by the end with all the close calls and constant urgency to rescue Riley, who has been traumatized by a move from the home she had always known to one that is so different and strange.  Her parents (Diane Lane, Kyla McLachlan) are understanding, but overlook the fact that she is having a difficult time adjusting.  Understandable, in that the father’s business is high stress, and the mother has to accommodate to a much smaller house (Minnesota to San Francisco) and different ethos altogether, like broccoli pizza! 

           I am curious about how much of the principles of this film get through to children and how much they are simply reacting to the colorful characters and animation.  There was applause at the end of the screening I attended, but there was also a lot of restlessness, noise, and babies crying while the film was running.  Presumably, it will appeal more to those older than seven or eight; I would guess that children younger than that will lose interest because so much of the film rests on the dialog, which is more about abstract concepts.

A fascinating trip inside the brain of a child.

Grade:  A                    By Donna R. Copeland

TRAINWRECK

Amy Schumer     Bill Hader     Brie Larson     Tilda Swinton     Vanessa Bayer     LeBron James

Trainwreck is a successful collaboration between Amy Schumer, the writer and star, and Judd Apatow, the director, and blends together their type of humor.  I personally think Schumer elevates what Apatow might do, although she is considered pretty raw herself.  Judd saw Schumer on one of Howard Stern’s shows, and their collaboration began soon after that when he read a script she was writing and essentially taught her how it’s done, encouraging her to write about what was going on in her life.  It was the first version of this film, and when I saw its current version at the SXSW Film Festival, it was still being called a work in progress. 

            I love the way the movie opens (as seen in the preview) with Amy’s father announcing to his two daughters (of about ages 7 and 5) that “Monogamy is not realistic!”  Of course, Amy the younger had no idea what the term meant then, but by the time she is a young adult, she has taken his philosophy about marriage to heart, and diligently plays the field, ditching any man who starts to get too close.  The story is about how that’s working out for her.

            She is convinced that she loves her life and her work, which is writing for a men’s magazine, and is excited about an assignment given to her by her gutsy, unpredictable boss Dianna (Swinton, once again hardly recognizable).  The assignment is to get a profile of sports doctor Aaron Conners  (Hader), a rising star in sports medicine with LeBron James as one of his patients.  She meets Conners, they hit it off, and begin a hot romance.  Amy is unprepared for the depth of feeling that arises across time, and tests her basic philosophy to its limits with great comedic and passionate force.

            The film is not all comedy and froth; characteristic of Apatow’s films, the characters spend some time with real-life issues and character-changing moments.  So Amy’s growing knowledge of herself and her relationship with her sister (Larson) and her father in the nursing home provide opportunities for some soul-enriching, insightful moments that give the film more substance.

            Schumer is a talented actress, and Hader is just as successful here in a dramatic role as he was in a similar drama-comedy, Skeleton Twins.  Supporting cast (Larson, Swinton, Bayer) keep the quality high, as well as the “non-actors” LeBron James, along with Amar’e Stoudemire, Tony Romo, and Chris Evert in cameo roles. 

Good Schumer humor.

Grade:  A-                                    By Donna R. Copeland