RELIC

Emily Mortimer     Robyn Nevin     Bella Heathcote

     A horror story, to be sure.  The first part goes rather slowly in setting things up—mother, daughter, and grandmother not being very open in their communication.  True, the grandmother is clearly demented and refuses to account for a recent absence; she just stares into space or changes the subject.  All of this is a bit frustrating for the viewer in its pace.  

     The story begins with Kay, the mother (Mortimer) and her daughter Sam (Heathcote) being called back to the homestead because Edna, the grandmother (Nevin), has not been seen for quite a while.  Kay reports to the police that her mother is missing, and a search party begins scouring the nearby woods trying to find her.

     All along, while Kay and Sam are staying in the very large house, they hear bumps and other noises during the night, which are unexplained.  When Edna does finally appear, it is clear, as Kay says, “she forgets things.”  Other bizarre behavior doesn’t show up until later.

     After considerations of whether Sam might come to stay with Edna, or Edna being put in a retirement home near Kay, the situation begins to worsen.  It’s best not to go into detail, because the strength of the movie co-written with Christian White and directed by Natalie Erika James is in the suspense and the suddenness of certain events. James, a young director primarily of shorts, is already getting buzz from her first feature film at the Sundance Film Festival and others.

     The three actresses whom we see for almost the entire film deliver fine performances, especially Emily Mortimer with a number of fine films (Lars and the Real Girl, Lovely & Amazing).  She can always be relied upon for top-notch work. 

     Brian Reitzell contributes wonderfully eerie music, along with the production and sound design, which add greatly to the sustained suspense.  

     Relic is likely to be greatly appealing to horror fans.  For those of us not so enamored, some observations stand out, having to do with believability. One is that even though the house is very large, it doesn’t make sense that someone who is pounding and pounding on walls upstairs is not heard by those in the lower part of the house. Secondly, it is clear that Edna is so demented she should not be left alone for any time at all.  Yet, her daughter and granddaughter are not watching her constantly.  This may be too critical, is that in reality many family members frequently dismiss overt symptomatology in their relatives.  Yet, it seems that as disturbed as Edna is found to be, no one thinks about immediately putting her somewhere where she and others will be safe.

 

For hard-core horror movie fans, Relic might be a real treat.  For others, it may be too fanciful.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

Emily Blunt     Dick Van Dyke     Meryl Streep     Angela Lansbury     Emily Mortimer

Colin Firth     Lin-Manuel Miranda     Ben Wishaw     Julia Walters

     Everything is coming apart at the seams in the Banks household; Mr. Michael Banks is grieving for his wife, and is having a hard time managing without her. Their three children are remarkably responsible, but they are just children, and the housekeeper/cook is losing her grip as well.  Michael’s sister Jane comes by from time to time and does what she can to bolster things up, but a major threat looms with the possibility that the house Michael and Jane grew up in will be repossessed by the bank after Michael missed three payments. 

     Yes, it seems like the perfect time for Mary Poppins to drift down on her umbrella and pop in (sorry—couldn’t resist the pun).  It happens magically—as do many things having to do with the nanny—when young Georgie chases after a kite and it keeps rising with him attached. Jack, the town lamplighter, is helping Georgie pull the string with all his might to bring the kite down, when who should appear down through the clouds but Mary herself.

     Now, the three children don’t know who she is, as she was the nanny for their father and Aunt Jane when they were kids.  And when they learn that she has come to be a nanny for them—humpf!—these responsible children, especially the two older ones, can’t see the need. Michael is troubled because he can’t see how they’ll be able to afford her, but Jane—often the voice of reason—advises him to welcome her.

     Of course, it doesn’t take long for Mary Poppins to exert her authority and magic (just what the family needs). She wows them with a few things, but wins them over with a thrilling and beautiful sequence where she prepares a wondrous bubble bath with all kinds of beach-type things thrown into the bubbles then shoves each child in for their bath.  She follows, and we are treated to some of what Disney does best: a colorful fantastical trip down into the ocean filled with exotic marine life.  This is the kind of nanny to have.

     All sorts of intrigues, emergencies, and close calls follow, and it’s touch-and-go until the very end.  Director/producer Rob Marshall’s follow-up to the 1964 production of Mary Poppins is largely successful in sustaining the Poppins and Disney brands, being entertaining for children and adults, and achieving a mixture of fancy, excitement, and human values.  

     Emily Blunt has received a lot of advance press about her Mary Poppins role, and she comes across splendidly.  Contrast her role here and of that in A Quiet Place, Edge of Tomorrow, and Sicario, for example, to appreciate the full range of this actress’s talent.  Her acting here is as praiseworthy as in other films; however, as good as her voice is, she is not up to Julie Andrews’ first Mary Poppins (1964), and that is a slight detraction.  In a similar, but different way, Lin Manuel Miranda’s voice, while very fine and engaging, doesn’t quite mesh; although I think this has more to do with the composers’ (Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman) work than as a function of his voice and skill.  When he sings in rap—which he is known for, and which I presume he has contributed to the material—he is his usual fine performer.  (I dearly loved hearing his British accent.)  Overall, I think the score lacks the pizzazz of the 1964 version.  When Blunt and Miranda sing together, they almost rescue the whole score.

     A standout here is Meryl Streep as Topsy; she can immerse herself into a role so completely it’s hard to find Streep in it.  The sequence with her is one of the most entertaining in the film, and brings up important points for both children and adults about perspective. 

     Other instructive sequences for children include ways to think about and deal with the loss of a loved one, the message that even if one is a child he/she can be helpful to adults, and the optimistic idea that things that may seem impossible can actually be accomplished.

Cameo performances by Dick Van Dyke (reprised from the first rendition), Angela Lansbury, and Colin Firth are entertaining and engaging.  

An updated version of the Mary Poppins story that largely succeeds.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE PARTY

Timothy Spall     Kristin Scott Thomas     Patricia Clarkson     Bruno Ganz    

Cherry Jones     Emily Mortimer     Cillian Murphy

     This is a British comedy, probably not to American tastes, that presents as a staged theatre production in black and white film.  It starts as a drama among a group of intelligent academic types, and quickly transforms into a satirical comedy.  Janet (Thomas) is celebrating a political victory with a party in her home with close friends after she wins the position of shadow health minister.  With the support of her friends, she has aspirations eventually for party leadership and even prime minister.  Her husband Bill (Spall), a professor, seems a bit out of it, sitting in his rocking chair and drinking wine, until their friends April (Clarkson) and Gottfried (Ganz) arrive and he spends most of the rest of the time talking and drinking with Gottfried.  April is rather cynical, and satisfyingly reports that she and Gottfried are separated.  Gottfried is a “healer” of some kind who always takes an optimistic view of whatever is confronting him; hence his and April’s conflicts.  She constantly puts him down, but he never seems to notice.

     Janet is in the kitchen preparing canapes, while periodically taking calls from an apparent lover, when financier Tom (Murphy) arrives, looking very agitated, disappearing into the bathroom repeatedly, and conflicted about a gun he is carrying/hiding.  The other two guests at the party are Lesbians, Martha (Jones) and Jinny (Mortimer), who announce they are having triplets.  Jinny is the pregnant one, and she also has to disappear into the bathroom now and then, where she runs into Tom.

     The “fun” comes when crises erupt and secrets emerge, which seem to be related to all their relationships.  It turns out that the group is enmeshed with a colorful history that is impinging on their current lives.  As the secrets unfold, we see the reactions of each, and in the process are greatly entertained by their all-too-human reactions and solutions. 

     The Party does not contain profound observations, but it has sharp-witted conversation and striking characters played by top-tier actors.

Sit and enjoy the banter and barbs of long-time friends gathering for a celebration, which gets completely lost in the revelations of so many secrets.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland