AWAY

Hilary Swank     Josh Charles     Talitha Eliana Bateman

Mark Ivanir     Vivian Wu     Ato Essandoh     Adam Irigoyen     Ray Panthaki

     Creators of this remarkable dramatic series on Netflix, Jessica Goldberg and Andrew Hinderaker, deliver such a vivid rendition of a space journey it is hard to believe it’s not real.  But what really elevates it are the just-as-realistic characters and interpersonal relationships and conflicts, both on the ship and at home on the ground, and even back in time.  It makes for high drama in space travel while anchoring the film in plausible, nuanced complexities in human relationships.  

     A diverse group of five astronauts are setting out on a mission to Mars; before them, there have been numerous attempts, but no ship has landed and allowed the crew to walk on the planet.  The Atlas’ commander is the first woman in the role, Emma Green (Swank), who will have to prove her worthiness to be in that position many times during the three years of the mission.  She leaves at home her devoted husband Matt (Charles) and daughter Alexis (Bateman).  It’s noteworthy that Matt was an astronaut in training with Emma, but got disqualified for medical reasons.  He continues to work at NASA headquarters, and will be significant in problem solving and direction of the project.  His support of his wife all during the flight is exemplary, and serves as a model for husbands/fathers who are married to wives in the limelight.

     In addition to Emma, other astronauts include: Russian Misha (Ivanir) who feels he’s better qualified to be Commander by virtue of his experience; Chinese Yu (Wu), a chemist who initially sides with Misha and is regarded as cold; Indian Ram (Panthaki), second in command and an early supporter of Emma; and Kwesi (Essandoh), the least experienced and most religious, having lost his parents in Ghana and then adopted by a Jewish family. 

     The number of themes in Away speak to the quality of the writing; they are all substantive and add to the excitement of the drama. Tensions are highlighted between the pulls of family and adventure/career; parenting issues that arise constantly between the parent onboard and the child at home, between the spouse at home and the child; and in the childhood backgrounds of all the astronauts.  Physical illness and disability crop up among those on the ship and those at home; emergencies in health and on ship are ongoing; and foolish decisions—even those made out of altruism—are called into question.  Death is focused on in a number of settings/circumstances in a way that is encouraging.  To the film’s credit, all of these result in insights that are inspiring and move the story along.

     Hilary Swank as the star comes into her own in continuing a long career in playing strong, inspiring women who can be respected and admired.  In this, she is head of a proven elite team who meets her mark, but is still shown to be compassionate, empathic, and a nurturing parent with a close bond to her daughter.  Josh Charles has an array of good roles and good acting to his credit, and perhaps this film will serve as one that plays to all his strengths in depicting a male character showing three-dimensionality in being an aggressive leader, a protector, and a nurturing father.  All the other main actors—Ivanir, Essandoh, Panthaki, and Wu—are perfect in fulfilling their roles.  Talitha Eliana Bateman as Matt’s and Emma’s daughter should be given a shout-out, along with her boyfriend played by Adam Irigoyen, and her caretaker during her parents’ absence, Melissa, played by Monique Gabriela Curnen.  

     This Netflix series has much more to do with human beings and their relationships than it does with space exploration, although that aspect is certainly in the forefront and just as exciting as those that have gone before.  

Take this journey into space and experience the thrills, chills, and utterly human conditions that move us all forward in life.

Grade: A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE HUNT

Hilary Swank     Betty Gilpin     Ike Barinholtz     Wayne Duvall     Amy Madigan     Reed Birney     Emma Roberts

     A perfect allegory for the times.  The Hunt is a 20^thcentury take on George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, in which the animals rebel against their masters.  Only in this rendition, it’s the “Elite Liberals” against “The Deplorables.”  Its plot is not a straightforward telling of a story.  It starts out with a group chat on the telephone, then goes backward and forward in time.  (So keep track of the names, even though it will still be confusing because identities are frequently shifting.)

     Before (almost) everything becomes clear, we witness characters being restrained on a plane and later hunted with guns, arrows, and hand grenades in an open field or roadside station.  These are people from different parts of the country who have been kidnapped, anesthetized, and brought to…they don’t know what state they’re in.  They only hear references to “Manorgate” (parallel to Orwell’s “Manor Farm”), and two pigs wearing human clothes appear from time to time—clues for those familiar with Orwell’s work.)

     That’s enough of the plot; it will be more entertaining and engrossing the less you know about it.  

     Writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof are to be congratulated for their creativity in adapting a novel published in 1945 about Russia and the Soviet Union and cleverly making it relevant to our country today.  Director Craig Zobel expertly films their script, making it come alive in ways that are simultaneously entertaining and appalling.  I always have a problem with movies shifting back and forth in time, and in this film, it’s especially challenging when characters disappear and reappear, and identities often shift (e.g., it is not always clear whether a character is one of the good guys or the bad guys)—all of which contributes to its formulation as an intriguing intellectual puzzle.  

     Betty Gilpin exquisitely plays a somewhat mysterious figure who seems at first to be a deadpan young woman from Mississippi.  But she is a formidable fighter and always seems two steps ahead of whomever she meets.  Gilpin deserves a nomination for this role.  She easily carries the story as a lead figure.  Hilary Swank is perfectly cast in her role, although she is not present in most scenes.  Supporting cast is likewise a talented group of actors who move the story forward with ease.

     My only criticisms are in too much shifting back and forth in time (a current fad in filmmakers’ trying to make their movie more exciting) and in the length of the final battle (as unbelievable as it is humorous).

     This is one of those films that come along every so often to remind us of the artistic, intellectual talent at filmmakers’ disposal.  When you see a work like this, you wonder again why this talent is not tapped more often, and we are offered remakes and sequels ad nauseam.  Oh, yeah…once again, it’s all about the money.

Prepare to be entertained (likely) while being appalled (almost certainly) in this well-informed allegory reckoning back to George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

LOGAN LUCKY

Channing Tatum   Adam Driver   Riley Keogh   Seth MacFarlane   Katherine Waterston

Daniel Craig   Katie Holmes   Farrah Mackenzie   Hilary Swank   Brian Gleeson   Jack Quaid   Dwight Yoakum

            Crime capers are always fun when they’re cleverly worked out, smack of basic human truths, and have colorful characters.  Steven Soderburgh’s Logan Lucky is just such a film, keeping you guessing and chuckling throughout.  He is clearly the director, cinematographer, and editor, but the first-time writer named Rebecca Blunt is a mystery about whom Soderburgh’s lips are sealed.  But it doesn’t really matter, because the film is so playful, warmly human, and so well executed from the writing to the production, we don’t really care.

            In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Logan family has the reputation for being cursed, what with so many things happening to them through the years.  Jimmy Logan is having an especially hard time these days with a football promise coming to nothing, a failed marriage, loss of his job, a bum leg, and he can’t even pay his phone bill.  His brother Clyde seems to be doing reasonably well in his bar, even with part of his arm and hand missing because of a war injury.  They have a sister, Mellie (Keogh), who seems to be able to assist and manage any storm.

            Jimmy is desperate.  His ex-wife (Holmes) is getting ready to move out of town with her husband, taking his cherished daughter Sadie (Mackenzie) with her.  (Sadie is an amusing insertion into the story with her knowledge of tools to hand to her car mechanic daddy and her penchant for all things girly like fashion shows and the “culinary arts.”)

            What follows is Jimmy’s intricate plan to siphon off some of the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s  questionable betting practices, pulling in his brother Clyde (Driver), his sister Mellie (Keogh), prisoner Joe Bang (dynamite expert) (Craig) and Bang’s two brothers (Gleeson and Quaid), and other inmates.  To make matters even more entertaining and clever, some people are used unwittingly (but never exploited without compensation).  That is, no one is really harmed in this caper, making the crime go down as all part of the fun.

            The main characters are all warmly sympathetic—despite the film’s making fun of them in a loving way, absent of cruelty.  The actors should be congratulated on their southern accents, even British Daniel Craig.  The plot is set up to get back at “The Man”, which has a satisfying effect on the viewer and works to excuse the crime.  It roasts common defenses, such as firing a person for “liability issues”, a prison warden (Yoakam) swearing that X (fires, riots, escapes) “just does not happen here”, and a racetrack administrator claiming ignorance about an insurance claim.  I got a kick out of the last scenes showing pairs of characters getting together sometime later after the mysterious disappearance of a considerable amount of money.

            Channing Tatum is a star in evincing a character who is simple on the outside but enormously complex and intelligent on the inside.  Adam Driver is well versed in playing so many different types, and he comes across believably here as a younger brother looking up to his older sibling and really wanting to please everyone.  The actor Daniel Craig is almost unrecognizable as the bleached-blonde, hair-cropped felon he is.  I appreciated seeing the character of Sadie (Mackenzie) presented as a many-sided girl with diversified interests exploring the world. 

            I’m glad Soderburgh is back after a “retirement” from movie making.  He has a way of producing engaging films that have a social message, without detracting from their entertainment value.

           

Hee-haw heroes put one over on the powers that be:  a crime caper that’s an entertaining romp.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE HOMESMAN

Tommy Lee Jones     Hilary Swank     Grace Gummer     Miranda Otto    

Sonja Richter     Meryl Streep     John Lithgow     James Spader

     The Homesman is not your typical western movie; it has more to do with human psychology and sociology, and what sometimes happens to those who are under stress and ill-equipped to manage.  Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) is apparently not one of these; she farms a homestead on her own, maintains her house, goes to church, does her Christian duty, and plays the piano.  When she doesn’t have a physical piano, she fingers a cloth keyboard and sings.  When three women in the congregation lose their minds, she volunteers to take them east to Iowa so their families can take care of them.  When two women protest that as a woman she should not take on the task, the minister (John Lithgow) says she is “as good a man as any man hereabouts.”

     She is nervous about transporting them in a wagon across the prairie, however, and when she comes upon a man (Tommy Lee Jones) hanging from a tree, she agrees to cut him down if he will help her take the women east to their families.  He agrees only out of desperation; he is not ready to die.

     The women are indeed psychotic; one has to be tied down because she attacks whoever is in sight.  They seem to have been driven crazy for various reasons, such as losing children to disease, but the film does not always clarify their histories.  We’re introduced to them rapidly in the beginning without much explanation—which I see as a weakness in the exposition. 

     At any rate, the women are loaded onto a makeshift wagon that can be locked from the outside, and Mary Bee Cuddy and “George Briggs”—a name he decides to call himself—take the reins of the horses and head out.  You can imagine (I actually had a hard time of it) some of the issues they would encounter along the way (a runaway, Indians, snow), let alone hygiene (one of the woman has to be held and told to pee), food preparation, sleeping arrangements, etc.  As expected, Cuddy and Briggs will have major disagreements along the way to establish dominance.  The resolution of their conflicts and the outcome of their destination is one of the perhaps unique and surprising endings of a western genre film.

     The Homesman is well directed by Tommy Lee Jones, and the cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto is exquisite.  The main actors (Jones, Swank, Lithgow, Spader, and Streep) are some of the best and shine in their roles.  Jones has a couple of song and dance routines that are totally out of his usual character presentations and are a hoot—although you may not be able to understand the lyrics; it’s enough to watch him dance and shout.    Swank easily conveys Cuddy’s strengths, and is able to elicit sympathy—maybe even pity—from the audience during her times of weakness.  Spader and Streep have only cameo roles, but are powerful in the brief time they are on screen.  The actresses portraying the psychotic women (Grace Gummer, Sonja Richter, and Miranda Otto) capture their distresses perfectly.

     The Homesman is not likely to be a film for everyone; I had mixed feelings about it when I left the theater—presumably because of some of the more depressing, hopeless scenes, as well as a rather surprising ending.  In addition, I think one character in particular is not consistent across time with how she is presented initially—not that I’m saying people don’t change, only that how this character is presented in the beginning does not plausibly lead to what happens later.  Not so with Briggs or the psychotic women, all of whose personalities are entirely consistent with their characters throughout. 

Not a homespun tale.

Grade:  B-                        By Donna R. Copeland