IMPERIUM

Daniel Radcliffe   Toni Collette   Tracy Letts   Nestor Caronell   Sam Trammell   Pawel Szajda   Seth Numrich

          Daniel Radcliffe plays an uncover FBI agent, Nate Foster, whose charge is to mingle with neo-Nazis and gain their trust.  His supervisor Angela (Collette) is certain that they are planning a major event that will risk the lives of many people.  She thinks the Harvard educated, ex-Marine, and personable new person in the department would make an excellent choice for the job.  Her boss, Tom Hernandez, who doubts her judgment in this case, frequently makes disparaging remarks about her, and thinks Nate is not ready for such a job, so he initially nixes the operation.  But with pressure, Angela gets her way and Nate embarks on a dangerous mission.

        The men comprising the Skinheads make a motley crew, with different shadings to their beliefs and prejudices.  Some are fundamental Christians, some are simply angry at the world, and some have more of an intellectual reason for joining the movement.  One is a hothead who Nate thinks it’s only a matter of time before he is arrested.  They’re all united in their belief, however, that “diversity” equals white genocide and that the white race deserves supremacy.  (They’re obviously unaware that race cannot be biologically defined.)  I found it enlightening to get a picture of what these people are like and the differing motives they have for joining the group.

       It’s also interesting to see how the FBI creates an uncover sting in and what the experience of being such an agent is like.  He has to be convincing in feigning beliefs he doesn’t hold, possess special knowledge so he appears as smart as or smarter than the others, be likeable to most of them, and be quick to change the script in a flash if something is about to go wrong.  Radcliffe achieves this persona, and the script is snappy enough to maintain the action.  Writer/director Daniel Ragussis has successfully adapted the true story on which the film is based to the screen.  That story with the same title was written by Michael German.

      Toni Collette, Tracy Letts, Sam Trammell, and Pawel Szajda provide excellent supporting roles in helping to make Imperium an interesting, exciting, and sometimes disturbing thriller.  It will be in limited release as well as VOD August 19, 2016.

Go to Imperium to be thrilled and chilled.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

SWISS ARMY MAN

Daniel Radcliffe     Paul Dano     Mary Elizabeth Winstead

          Swiss Army Man:  a truly bizarre film made up of idiosyncratic fantasies many of which, even so, seem familiar.  Opening the story is Hank (Dano) on a deserted beach trying to hang himself, when he looks up to see a body washed up from the sea.  He almost strangles himself getting down to see about the man (which is actually a preview of his woeful survival skills in general) and is horrified to find the young man (Radcliffe) is already dead. 

          Hank drags the body up to his campsite, sheltering in a cave when it rains and mulling over what he should do.  As time passes and his sense of isolation deepens, he starts talking to the body, voicing many of his fears and anxieties, hopes and dreams.  You’d think he was in a therapist’s office.  Perhaps, just like in a therapist’s office when the patient projects his fantasies onto the therapist, which become a reality of their own, what we see may be Hank’s fantasies or some kind of magical phenomenon wherein the dead regain life; because at one point, the body stirs, convulses, and finally, apparently, talks.  (I say perhaps, because it’s not necessarily clear what the writers/directors—Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—have in mind—simply psychological projections or some kind of magical phenomenon where the dead regain life.  I’m thinking the former.)

        At any rate, Manny—we learn his name when he talks—becomes a “tool” (hence, Swiss Army Man?) for Hank to use either to overcome his weaknesses and/or lead him back to life and civilization. But more concretely, he uses Manny's stiff body as a tool as well.

         The conversations between Hank and Manny deal with fundamental, practical things like riding a bus, emotional expressions, and how to get girls, but at times they take on a more philosophical/psychological tone when the two discuss sex, death, social conformity and acceptability, and the meaning of life.  This was much more interesting to me than the boyish humor about farts, which went on far too long in the beginning.

          Probably the most delightful sequence is in the middle of the film when Hank “dresses up” in found items on the beach and constructs vehicles, etc., out of them.  Then the two do roleplay that evinces the social life that Hank always dreamed of having but could never achieve.  Much of the success of these scenes certainly belong to the actors, but production design (Jason Kisvarday), art direction (David Duarte) and set decoration (Kelsi Ephraim) should be credited as well.  Their imaginative creations are so delightful I was glad they appeared again at the very end of the film.

          The music by Andy Hull and Robert McDowell is just as incredible.  It is lyrical and perfectly apt for what is going on in every scene.  Much of the score is without instruments; instead, Hull and McDowell used their voices in creating all kinds of sounds and making it seem like the songs are coming from the characters.

       Swiss Army Man is not for everyone; it includes standard jokes that typically evoke laughs and focuses on things most people consider gross.  However, it is more than that in its portrayal of people who don’t really fit in, are highly creative, and are often rejected by society.  (Hank has obviously been brought up to hold in higher esteem what is socially expected over creativity and joie de vivre.)  These are serious points that shouldn’t be ignored.

     Like Judd Apatow and sex, the writers/directors “Daniels” have a penchant for highlighting as many of the, typically considered gross, bodily functions as they can; e.g., farting (of course), defecation, and vomiting.  And they pull in masturbation and sex in general as well.  But they are fine artists who have points to make about human psychology and social constrictions.  My wish is that reviewers would focus more on the latter than the former. 

Go beyond the farts, and appreciate the art and social commentary of this film.

Grade:  A                        By Donna R. Copeland

NOW YOU SEE ME 2

Mark Ruffalo   Lizzie Caplan   Daniel Radcliffe   Jesse Eisenberg   Dave Franco  

Morgan Freeman   Woody Harrelson   Michael Caine   Sanaa Lathan

          Dazzling sleights of hand, cat and mouse chases, vengeance, and power struggles continue the essence of the Now You See Me films (#3 is already planned).  Revelations about mysteries left unresolved in the first picture are cleverly revealed, specifically with regard to Thaddeus Bradley (Freeman).

        The Four Horsemen of Now You See Me have been in hiding for a year after they robbed their sponsor’s Parisian bank account during their performance in New York to give the spoils to their audience, many of who were victims of Hurricane Katrina.  They have been in training for the next big caper, the details of which have not been revealed.  They’re restless and resentful that the secret society from whom they receive their instructions, the Eye, has not provided them with more challenges.  The sponsor of their original show, Arthur Tressler (Caine) of Tressler Insurance, had not been generous to the victims, so the Horsemen considered themselves Robinhood figures who give to the poor what the rich have withheld.  Now, finally, the magic troupe has plans to reappear by usurping a major advertising promotion by the company Octa in London, 

         But the FBI is after them for their previous heist, along with Thaddeus, in jail for his role in the previous story, and Tressler, who lost millions in one of their heists.  Along for the venomous ride this time is Tressler’s son Walter (Radcliffe) who has a big investment in pleasing and redeeming his father.

         Sanguine truths are sprinkled about through this story to at least give it some depth.  Walter, who has learned from his father the value of secrecy, says, “True freedom is not being seen”, an astute observation of one who wants his actions and behavior to remain anonymous.  Another character emphatically refers to the “power of an empty fist”, so useful in magic tricks.  And finally, in the last few moments, Thaddeus observes that “Seeing is believing…” but he thinks it’s important to ask whether what’s seen is truth or lie.  (It’s noted that belief has ‘lie’ in the middle of the word.) 

        When the film begins, we learn that one of the Horsemen (played by Isla Fisher) is missing, and the team needs to recruit another.  After some disagreement, cheeky Lula (Caplan) is accepted and wins their respect for her skills.  Magic tricks are very similar to those in the first film, and all the actors are captivating in their renditions.  Radcliffe does a fine, convincing job in being evil with daddy issues.

          The last scenes are clearly set-ups for Now You See Me 3.

If you liked the first one, you’ll probably enjoy Now You See Me 2.  If not, skip it.

           

Grade:  C+                        By Donna R. Copeland