CRUELLA

 Emma Stone     Mark Strong     Emma Thompson     Joel Fry     Paul Walter     Emily Beecham

            It’s hard to see this as anything but horrible.  We have the tired old theme of two women fighting with one another using underhanded means.  OK, but not only that, the whole exercise is set up to make room for the next installment, which is, probably, further manifestations of the same cat fight.

            Little semblance of creativity in the script can be found in this production; the underlying theme is that women are devious and cold-hearted.  Traits in the first evil woman, the baroness (Thompson), are sure to be found in her abused (aren’t all her attendants abused?) assistant, Estella (Stone).  

            I realize there have been reincarnations of the Cruella character for years, from the time she first appeared in Dodie Smith’s novel in 1956 (The One Hundred and One Dalmations) through numerous appearances in Disney productions ever since, the latest one in 2000 (102 Dalmations), when Cruella was portrayed by Glenn Close.  I’m puzzled about the public’s fascination with these movies—which are always popular—until I realize that they are tapping into a fundamental belief in the concept of women.

            Setting that aside, I have to say that the director Craig Gillespie’s previous films (I, Tonya, Lars and the Real Girl) are ones I’ve loved for their demonstration of psychological acuity and empathy.  Maybe there is something I’m missing, but I don’t see any of that here. 

            All of that said, Emma Thompson and Emma Stone give outstanding performances that display bravado and formidable talent.  Mark Strong, Joel Fry, and Paul Walter Hauser add many of the soulful and comedic twists that move the story along.  The costumes (Jenny Beavan) are extraordinary and form the essence of what part of the story is about and whatever creativity is found in the film.  The music of Nicholas Britell is so much a part of the story, it is essential to its production.

 

A movie that is bound to please, but begs the question about how women function in society today.

 

Grade:  C                              By Donna R. Copeland

I, TONYA

Margot Robbie     Allison Janney     McKenna Grace     Sebastian Stan     Caitlin Carver     Paul Walter Hauser     Julianne Nicholson

      This film could fit into that category of “Truth is stranger than fiction.”  If I weren’t so sad about the bad parenting and its disastrous effects, I could have giggled a lot about the ludicrous reasoning  and lack of judgment used by so many of the characters.  I did end up having more sympathy for Tonya Harding than I did at the time she was skating and this scandal broke out in the news, seeing (at least in the movie) first-hand how little positivity she got from her mother and few opportunities to learn sound judgment.  Her two coaches seemed to be the only helpful people around her.

     In brief, this is the story about a U.S. figure skater in the Olympics in the 1990’s, Tonya Harding (Robbie) who was the first woman to perform a triple axel in competition.  It starts when she is four years old and her mother takes her to a skating rink wanting to show her off.  The coach (Nicholson) tries to dismiss them, saying that she doesn’t coach beginning skaters who are four years old.  The mother (Janney) brazenly continues to smoke a cigarette (against the rules), use the f-word, and later tells her daughter to go ahead and start skating.  This is a perfect introduction to the kind of parenting Tonya received her whole life.  But…the coach does in fact pick up on the child’s talent and begins coaching her.

     The rest of the story is about the hardships Tonya encounters in navigating the figure-skating world (she doesn’t fit the “model” in dress or in behavior, and judges tend to be biased against her), trying to work through a destructive, abusive relationship with Jeff (Stan) (who sabotages her career at every turn), and managing to support herself while keeping up her training regimen.  The value of the film is in shedding light on this particular story, but just as much, in its depiction of life for children in this country who grow up with few values and little education.  As in Sean Baker’s current film, The Florida Project, we get a picture of what happens to children growing up in impoverished circumstances whose parents don’t have the slightest idea about how to nurture their children and build character with a good set of values; all of this is within a culture that has little sympathy or understanding of the problem.

     In addition to the fine direction by Craig Gillespie and script by Steven Rogers, the acting is superb, with standouts being Margot Robbie as Tonya, Allison Janney as her mother, Sebastian Stan as her husband, and Hauser as her bodyguard.  Accompanying music by Peter Nashel and cinematography by Nicolas Karakatsanis help make the picture come alive and command your attention.

A docudrama that elucidates the infamous story about Tonya Harding, a major figure skating competitor in the 1990’s.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE FINEST HOURS

Chris Pine     Casey Affleck     Ben Foster     Eric Bana

          The rescue boat for a sinking ocean liner ends up without a compass during the mission, and most of the audience could use a similar guide in order to understand what is going on in The Finest Hours.  Perhaps those with a Boston/New England accent will comprehend more, but unless they are familiar with nautical terms and have sharp ears for dialog over the cacophony of special effects sounds, I think they too will be mystified at least part of the time. 

         We get acquainted right away with Bernie Webber (Pine) and his friend Richard Livesay (Foster) as members of the Coast Guard in Massachusetts.  They’re easygoing and likeable, and Bernie has a reputation for going by the book.  He finds it easy to be polite and respectful of his elders and his superior, Captain Daniel Cluff (Bana), a man not well respected by the Coast Guard crew, who doubt his judgment.

           This is exemplified by his order for Webber to put together at great risk a rescue team on a 36-foot boat when a brutal nor’easter strikes and oilers at sea are sinking, one in particular being the Pendleton.  Chief Engineer Ray Sybert (Affleck) is on that ship, and since all the commanding officers were on the part of the ship broken off by hurricane strength winds and stormy seas, his knowledge of sailing makes him the effective leader.

          The Finest Hours is based on a true story written down by Michael Tougias and Casey Sherman in a book with the same title.  Even a small sample of their clearly written prose pulls the reader in immediately and sustains his/her attention.  The movie, The Finest Hours suffers from the screenwriters (Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson) and Director Craig Gillespie not realizing that a naïve audience is not going to understand the technical terms that are indistinctly shouted out, even if they could hear them over the din of the rushing sea, howling winds, clanking of huge chains, and motor sounds.  We do get some of the heroics of the Webber and Sybert characters—remarkable with the Doubting Thomases surrounding them—but not to the extent that makes it clear what is happening in a scene.  Inserting some explanations along the way—perhaps voiced by other characters—would have been helpful.

          Instead, the script calls for the insertion of a rather silly love story with the female character clearly being drawn from male concepts of what a “strong” woman would do (e.g., propose to a man, think that she could cheekily appeal to a captain on an emotional basis, and then flounce off in a huff, leaving her coat and gloves behind during a winter storm!).  Of course, this character (unfortunately for the actress, Holliday Grainger) ends up being rather unlikeable. 

          The Finest Hours is in 3D, but I couldn’t see that it made that much of a difference.  Carter Burwell’s music and Javier Aguirresarobe’s cinematography do elevate the presentation of this film.

A film primarily for northeastern sea lovers; for the rest of us, it’s mainly continuous howling winds and stormy seas.

Grade:  D+                                    By Donna R. Copeland