PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

Johnny Depp     Javier Bardem     Brenton Thwaites     Kaya Scodelario     Geoffrey Rush     Kevin R. McNally

    This fifth version of the Pirates is swashbuckling, extremely loud, and chock full of CGI effects.  It may have been the particular theater I was in for the screening, but the sound was so deafening, it was difficult at times to make out the dialog, especially if a character’s speech was not well articulated.  But this won’t bother a real fan of Pirates of the Caribbean; one I talked with afterwards was very pleased with what he saw.

    The tantalizing search in this version is to find Poseidon’s trident, which holds a secret (map) showing the location of treasure.  Henry Turner (Thwaites), son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), needs it to break the curse that keeps his father from returning home.  Carina (Scodelario), an astronomer (accused of being a witch because of her scientific knowledge), wants it to map the universe and reveal to her who her father is.  (He has left her a ruby-encrusted diary that will guide her to it).  Captain Salazar (Bardem), who used to be a pirate hunter for the Spanish Navy, was betrayed by Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) and has ended up getting trapped in the Devil’s Triangle.  He and his crew are now ghosts who cannot survive on land.  He has it in big time for the elusive, immature drunk, Sparrow. 

    Finally, Captain Barbossa (Rush), Sparrow’s erstwhile rival, has tried to execute Sparrow, Henry Turner, and Carina, but now becomes their ally against Salazar who is in the process of destroying Barbossa’s fleet of ships.

   The adventure in Dead Men Tell No Tales, is the quest for the treasure, with Henry’s and Carina’s father issues woven in.  My impression is that the filmmakers were more interested in a special effects extravaganza than dramatic characterization and story.  Consequently, we see many spectacular battles and close calls from which the heroes magically escape, especially Sparrow, who is portrayed as an endearing, spastic drunk. 

    Johnny Depp has played this character so many times, he can do it without much thought or planning.  Bardem and Rush are probably the most impressive actors in the group because the roles written for them are colorful and dimensional.  Thwaites and Scodelario are good, given what is written for them, but their characters should have been more fleshed out. 

     Even diehard fans may have trouble with this latest version of Pirates of the Caribbean.  Not much new is introduced to capture the imagination.  The film does acknowledge women’s issues in showing the skepticism toward women as scientists and the theme of the primordial search for the father, but both subjects are mostly in passing.

Dead men might not tell tales, but they can wreak havoc as ghosts (if you believe in them) or as thinly drawn characters in a so-so movie.

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland

RIDE

--> Helen Hunt     Brenton Thwaites     Luke Wilson     David Zayas     Richard Kind

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Ride (written and directed by Helen Hunt) becomes a much more complex “ride” than is suggested in the first ten minutes.  A New York “helicopter mom” (Jackie, played by Hunt) is shown dogging her son Angelo (Thwaites) at every turn, yet is frustratingly silent when he asks her directly for help.  She is a writer/editor who is persnickety about English and grammar, and clearly hopes her son will follow in her footsteps with little variation.  When the story begins, she is sending him off to college—a local one where she can keep an eye on him.

Before the semester starts, Angelo wants to visit his father in California; and after arriving, is immediately drawn to surfing, so much so, he makes plans to extend his visit.  Jackie is none too pleased, and eventually follows him to Los Angeles in hopes of bringing him back for school.  What she encounters there will be a total surprise to her—and to her son.

I was immediately struck by Hunt’s decision to draw a distinct contrast between New York and Los Angeles.  The woman in New York is driven, seems to eschew sports, and thinks nothing about correcting others’ grammar.  Her son—who calls her ‘Jackie’—makes comments about her not wanting to get her hair wet and never taking off her shoes.  She tries to hold onto that life, but California seduces her just as it does Angelo.  I see that Hunt was born in California and lives there now, but has spent enough time in New York to have an opinion about it.  Some of the funnier parts of Ride are when she seems to be spoofing New Yorkers and their lifestyle. 

Hunt has won and been nominated for numerous awards—including an Oscar—during her career as an actress.  Ride is her second movie to write, direct, and star in, although she has also directed episodes on television.  One of her strengths does seem to be that she can mix comedy with insightful portrayals of mostly believable characters; although here, I think she is a bit heavy-handed in emotional scenes, where subtlety and suggestion might be a better way to go.  She accomplishes that in her contrast between the two cities and in a significant revelation toward the end of the film, but emotional interchanges between characters punches a bit too hard. 

Hunt deserves all the awards and nominations she has received through the years, and is just as effective when she directs herself.  Thwaites and Wilson (who plays love interest and surfing coach Ian) step up to the plate in matches with her.  Mother-son interactions are filled with tension—which the viewer will experience as well—but the latter part of the film provides some humor and lightness, especially when Jackie and Ian begin their friendship.

 A comedy with emotional punches.                   

Grade:  C+        By Donna R. Copeland