NEVER GOIN' BACK

Maia Mitchell     Camila Morrone     Kyle Mooney     Arisotle Abraham II     Joel Allen     Matthew Holcomb

     Never goin’ back?  I wish I’d never gone to this movie in the first place.  Think of every motif filmmakers use to transmit grossness—farts, poop, vomit—every silliness and foolishness in ideas and behavior—every cockamamie scheme ever cooked up—well, folks, it’s all here in this mish mash of a conglomeration about young adult misfits.  Other than the set-up of Angela (Mitchell) and Jessie (Morrone) fantasizing about going to Galveston for a holiday, there is no real plot; there are only scenes strung together in which the characters argue loudly (incessantly) and come up with harebrained illegal ways to get themselves out of one jam into another.

     The filmmakers’ (e.g., writer/director/editor Augustine Frizzell, editor Courtney Ware) lack of experience is evident, and I have to wonder what possessed the producers and whatever underwriters there were to approve it.  What is its point?  It doesn’t really have a story—just offensive vignettes—no characters show learning and transformation, and no lines are really funny. There are occasional reasons to gasp when you see what is immediately ahead, but the story actually has no suspense, and it’s obvious how everything is going to turn out in the end.

     It is the case that the two leads, Mitchell and Morrone, are well cast, and the best scenes in the film are when they are together dreaming their dreams, planning ahead, and just being goofy.  It’s when they or (heaven forbid!) the guys Dustin, Cedric, and Ryan (Allen, Abraham, Holcomb, respectively) try to cook up plans for easy money that the movie sinks (and, frankly, becomes offensive).  I was sympathetic with the character Brandon (very well played by Mooney), who is the only one capable of keeping a job and having some sense of the real world.  His negotiating a deal with the two girls is one of the few scenes that connote tenderness and sincerity.  Brandon provides some sense of reality in the story, whereas interchanges such as the one of a bigot in a grocery store yelling at Angela and Jessie and their yelling right back are ludicrous and not funny at all.

     Never Goin’ Back is a movie worth skipping.

This movie is no more than a bunch of foolishness with zero entertainment value.

Grade:  F                                    By Donna R. Copeland

DEATH WISH

Bruce Willis     Vincent D’Onofrio     Elisabeth Shue     Camila Morrone     Dean Norris     Kimberly Elise

     This is a film that will definitely appeal to gun enthusiasts.  It not only glorifies guns, but it drums in the message throughout about how important they are for protection.  Why, a gun can shoot an intruder in seconds, while it takes police minutes to reach you, exclaims the young, attractive gun dealer at the Jolly Roger.  The film opens up with numerous announcements of all the murders in Chicago, saying to the audience, “Be afraid.” 

     Then we get a picture of a golden family:  Father (Willis) a surgeon, mother (devoted and earning a Ph.D.), daughter (Morrone) just accepted by her first-choice university, and loyal uncle (D’Onofrio) who is needy, but clearly loves his brother and his family.  Heinous things then happen to the wife and daughter, leaving the father, Paul, in despair.  He is a successful surgeon used to solving medical problems, and when he learns from Detective Raines (Norris) how slowly his investigations are proceeding and how few murders are actually solved, this, coupled with his guilt about not protecting his family, spurs him into action.

     Paul begins to educate himself about guns and practices shooting.  But he also has time on his hands and starts wandering the streets and riding buses, hoping he will run into a white van with three men inside (his only clue about the intruders).  He doesn’t see that, but he does see crimes being committed and feels behooved to intervene, which he does in a car jacking and when a young boy is shot in the leg by the “Ice Cream Man.”

     His interventions earn him a reputation, which, with his determination in finding the perpetrators in his own case, serves to encourage him in vigilantism.  Now, keep in mind, this is Bruce Willis the actor; he will be imminently successful, will be a perfect shot, and will have the best and biggest guns at his disposal.  What follows is entertaining if you like that kind of story and if you can ignore all the blood and torture that follows. 

     It’s hard to see what the purpose is in movies like Death Wish, which glorify guns and vigilante heroism, beyond that of supporting the National Rifle Association (NRA), which probably helped finance this film.  While the deaths that Paul wreaks seem justified in the heat and emotion of the moment, it sets a bad precedent for execution without the benefit of trial by jury. 

     Films such as this are troubling to me, especially when I hear audience reactions (like chuckles and laughs) that clearly indicate so many do not comprehend the enormity of the gun issue.  This is not “light entertainment”, nor should it be.  The only redeemable aspect of this film is that the acting is very good. 

This is a bad model for anyone to follow, even if you think you can be as successful a vigilante as a Bruce Willis character.

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland