SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO

Benecio Del Toro     Josh Brolin     Isabela Moner     Jeffrey Donovan    Catherine Keener

Elijah Rodriguez     Manuel Garcia     Matthew Modine     Bruno Bichir

     Taylor Sheridan is a writer whose fascination with the western ethos has prompted him to write screenplays highlighting the cultural (and cross-cultural) tugs and binds for people living in the spirit of the American West (Sicario, Hell or High Water, Wind River).  And now comes Sicario:  Day of the Soldado, where he picks up on the Mexican-American border and cartel issues seen in the first Sicario.  Our familiar protagonists, Alejandro (Del Toro) and Matt Graver (Brolin) are charged with pitting two Mexican cartels against each other to stem the tide of human trafficking to the U.S., which has now become the most valuable commodity for them.  

     The immediate plan is to kidnap the daughter of the Reyes cartel “king”, Isabel (Moner), and use her as leverage with the Matamoros cartel.  Things don’t go as planned, of course, and when Isabel escapes amidst gunfire and strikes out on her own, Alejandro goes after her, telling Matt to meet him at the border.  It will not be an easy task.  In the interim will be an encounter with a deaf-mute (fortunately, Alejandro knows sign language), identification of Alejandro and his charge by a sharp young trafficker at the border (Rodriguez), and no communication with the American agents.

     The film purposefully leaves us hanging in its last scenes, and sets us up for the inevitable sequel, which we all get tired of, but which will nevertheless be foisted upon us anyway.  Word on the street is that Emily Blunt will be featured in the third edition, but I hope that Sheridan will figure out how to write a role for her that will show strength and resourcefulness without the stereotypical “female” characteristics, which he seems to be stuck on.  

     One of the things that bothered me most in this film was to see Isabel portrayed in the beginning as a bully-female, beating up a fellow student and showing a narcissistic kind of entitlement when confronted by her school principal.  This scene kept me from sympathizing with her when she got kidnapped.  Yes, a privileged child might behave that way, but how much more inspiring and creative it would be to show her evolving as experience and time transpire.  The film shows a bit of this when she takes up for her captor at one point, but in this case, like with many of Sheridan’s female characters, it’s not a full-blown effect. It would have been better to give her more charisma and feistiness, making her someone the audience could delight in.

     Another underwritten character is Cynthia Foards (Keener), the supervisor of Graver.  She seems to follow her upper-level consultants mindlessly, without any creativity or assertiveness.

     Del Toro and Brolin play their roles as written with expert finesse, being the talented actors they are, but Del Toro can show much more frightening intimidation in his character and Brolin much more calculating bravado than they are given a chance to show here.  

      This is a good film, but seems to be another one in which the filmmakers are so focused on sequels they slight the film they are making.

Border patrol intrigue with twists.

Grade:  B                                                By Donna R. Copeland

INCREDIBLES 2

Craig T. Nelson     Holly Hunter     Sarah Vowell     Huck Milner    Eli Fucile

Catherine Keener     Bob Odenkirk     Samuel L. Jackson     Brad Bird     Isabella Rossellini

     I am always partial to Brad Bird, and think that his production of Incredibles 2i s just that—impressive enough to be regarded as incredible, and a film that is likely to appeal to all ages.  One of Bird’s strengths is in mixing lavish visual and special effects with an entertaining story of substance. Beyond the entertainment, values come through with respect to “doing good”, fulfilling civic duties, living up to one’s potential, and being a good parent (at times being equated with having super-powers—which I found very amusing andrealistic).

     The Parr family is a trifle at sea since super-powers have been outlawed (you get a real sense of loss of purpose from them), and their reputation is on the decline after their last job not turning out very well—at least in the public eye. Helen (Hunter) is flexing and saying they need to adapt, but her husband Bob (Nelson) is protesting.  Then something unexpected happens; a wealthy man, Mr. Deavor (Odenkirk) who is convinced super-powers are needed, has a plan for getting the law changed, and approaches the Parr family.  Well, specifically, he is asking for Elastigirl (Hunter), observing that she does less collateral damage in her heroics than her husband.  

     Of course, this creates a crisis in the Parr household.  Bob (Mr. Incredible) has trouble getting his head around the fact that someone would be preferring his wife over him, and Helen feels torn about leaving her family, even though it’s to save them.  Moreover, she and young Violet (Vowell) question the wisdom of breaking the law, even if it is to do good.  But Bob (to his credit) urges his wife to take up the mantle and perform a heroic act to save people and demonstrate the usefulness of super-powers.  After much soul-searching, all she needs is a fancy motorcycle delivered to her garage, and she is off.

     Mr. Deavor is in partnership with his sister Evelyn (Keener), who has designed new suits for the Parrs that have cameras installed, as a way to publicize their achievements.  What they do can be featured on the news, thus everyone will see their value, and public opinion will be successful in effecting change.

     There will be any number of major challenges to the Parrs, close calls, and a significant betrayal, which make the movie entertaining and provoke thought all the way through.  In the process, important contemporary issues are dealt with about men vs. women and their roles, about adherence vs. protest of laws, about trust vs. betrayal, about inventors vs. sellers of a product, and even about kids vs. parents.  I liked the way kids are portrayed, both needing guidance and nurturance and being listened to for their opinions.  

     A number of clever and humorous scenes are incorporated, revealing writer-director Bird’s ingenuity, such as inserting the role that he himself voices of Edna, the woman Bob turns to when parental duties have worn him out.  The interactions between her and the baby with emerging super powers, Jack-Jack (Fucile), are hilarious and heart-warming.  The cartoon figure looks exactly like Linda Hunt (NCIS-LA), who is the wise and supportive leader of undercover operatives with a blunt-cut pageboy hairdo on CBS TV. Jack-Jack, who is gleefully playful, manages to don just such a hairdo to win her heart.

An enthralling animation that will keep the whole family spellbound.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

GET OUT

Allison Williams     Daniel Kaluua     Bradford Whitford     Catherine Keener     Caleb Landry Jones

      Get Out is a freak-out not long after the film begins.  It starts cozy enough with two young people in love, Chris (Kaluuya) and Rose (Williams).  She’s about to introduce him to her family, which creates a hint of anxiety in him because he’s black and she’s white.  “No problem”, she says; she hasn’t told them, but they’re liberal parents (“My father would have voted for Obama the third time”) and will be accepting.  Her father is a neurosurgeon and her mother a psychiatrist. 

      They arrive at her parents’ home, a beautiful mansion with forested acreage—no other home in sight.  Dean (Whitford) and Missy (Keener) greet them warmly, though a bit oddly.  Chris gets just a twinge of unease, but this is heightened when the brother Jeremy (Jones) arrives and clearly challenges Chris with racial undertones. 

      As the weekend proceeds, numerous meetings and happenstances occur, such as Chris meeting “the help”, two black people, one a groundskeeper and the other a housekeeper; a large traditionally hosted party, with wealthy guests who see Chris and immediately mention a black person they know (example:  A golfer says, “I know Tiger!”); and, significantly, an older woman with a much younger, vacant-eyed black escort who, at times, resembles a performing monkey.  Horrified, Chris recognizes him as someone who went missing recently in his hometown.

      What follows is truly horrific, and will astonish you, repel you, and actually scare you (not something that happens to me much in horror films).  Chris is caught in a web he could not have possibly imagined from his earlier blissful days with Rose.  Who are these people and what are they about?

     For his debut directorial feature, Jordan Peele, can be proud.  He has written a real thriller that is exciting and thrilling, but importantly has socio-cultural elements that make us pause and think.  It’s a window through which we see how white people try to befriend black people, while demonstrating underlying prejudices in the process.  The hoot at the end is that Peele turns the tables by showing white people lusting after “black” (stereotypical) characteristics.

      I always love seeing Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford playing their characters so true and entertaining, and they’ve done it once again here.  They have talent for giving a veneer of wealth, fine breeding and cordiality overlaying dark and mysterious aims.  Daniel Kaluuya carries the weight of the suspenseful story, and does it well, showing the transition from affability, good nature, and curiosity, to desperation.  Allison Williams shows her talent in portraying an upper class young woman who appears to have crossed the racial boundaries. 

      I did have a problem with this film.  Hypnosis is a legitimate, often extremely effective treatment but with mythologies surrounding it.  Get Out exploits these in the interest of enhancing horror, and while that is clearly effective, it perpetuates fears about hypnosis that are ungrounded.  I wish Jordan Peele had figured out another clever way to manipulate the characters in his film.

A thriller that addresses racial sensitivities.  Be prepared to see a genuine horror unfold.

Grade:  B+                                    By Donna R. Copeland