AMBULANCE

Jake Gyllenhaal     Yahya Abdul-Mateen II     Eliza Gonzalez     Moses Ingram

Garret Dillahunt     Jackson White     Cedric Sanders

             There are thrillers, and there are thrillers.  But when the plot is so outlandish it becomes utterly unbelievable, the thrill goes…goes…it’s gone.  Imagine a case in which a criminal (38 banks robbed in the last 10 years) is so good-hearted he wants to aid his adoptive brother by stealing money from a bank so the man’s wife can get medical treatment.  Right from the beginning, the bank job has problems, after which an ambulance is commandeered with an EMT and a wounded policeman aboard.  All the while the two heist brothers Danny (Gyllenhaal) and Will (Mateen) argue with each other repeatedly.              

         Sometimes they are arguing with Kim (Gonzalez) the EMT attempting to treat the wounded officer while the ambulance is careening around the city.  The police and an FBI agent are after them with helicopters overhead, and they bicker as well.  There’s so much machismo all around trying to establish who’s the alpha dog, one could almost smell the testosterone.

           One of the most bizarre sequences is when Kim decides the wounded officer needs to have surgery, and Danny knowing that it’s crucial for them to keep the man alive, whips through her phone and finds the names of doctors who can guide her through it.  The one he gets hold of has to consult two trauma surgeons on the golf course to assist.  Can you believe she is able to get the bullet out?  Fantastic.

         Normally, I’m more lenient with films in which a favorite star like Jake Gyllenhaal is involved; however, this is a time where about all I remember of his character is that he is yelling.  None of the nuanced, uncanny portrayals that are his usual show of talent and skill.  Yahya Abdul-Mateen and Eliza Gonzalez are given a few more chances to show other kinds of emotions, which were a relief, and they both do well.

            A few humorous moments are in the film to pull up some laughs in the audience, but basically, this is a two+ hour car chase with constant vociferous challenges.     

              Producer/Director Michael Bay is known primarily for his six Transformer (2007-2018) movies, none of which were well received, except for Bumblebee in 2018.  I haven’t seen all of them, but of the ones I am familiar with, I was struck by his tendency not to portray strong human emotions in a convincing light.  It’s the same here, where all the characters are pretty much one-dimensional, stereotypic figures. 

There is almost nothing to recommend in this overly long movie consisting primarily of an endless ambulance/car/helicopter chase with implausible scenes in the forefront.

 

Grade:  F                              By Donna R. Copeland

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

Tom Holland    Zendaya    Jon Favreau    Jake Gyllenhaal    Samuel L. Jackson

 Marissa Tomei     Cobie Smulders     Jacob Batalon     Angourie Rice

     At first, it looked like this, the seventh rendition of Spider-Man as the central figure, was going to have a clever twist, and it did for a while, but the follow-through was less inspired. Nevertheless, the action is captivating as usual (except when the battles go on too long), and the special effects are especially grand.  Peter Parker has always been a kind of “aw, shucks” kind of guy, but that trait is more emphasized here—perhaps because he has been charged with an assignment he is not quite ready for, at least in terms of self-confidence and other concerns.  That tendency wears thin over time.

     Peter (Holland) has a burning love interest, and he is beside himself with anticipation for the science trip his class is scheduled to take in Europe, when he plans to romance and declare his feelings for Michelle Jones (“MJ”) (Zendaya). So like many teenagers called to duty, when Nick Fury (Jackson) needs Spider-Man asap, Peter stalls, trying to get out of serving.  

     Hearing more, his enthusiasm for the task waxes and wanes, depending on who is talking to him, and although Fury goes with Peter’s resistance, he has a way of inserting his will at strategic times.  One of the incentives Peter is given is a set of special eyeglasses from Tony Stark that gives him access to technology that he can summon at any time without regard to cost.  Of course, Peter is thrilled; this is something he was yearning for in 2017’s Spider-Man Homecoming, to be Stark’s successor. But, curiously, deep down Peter now feels unworthy of the inheritance.  

     That, coupled with his adolescent passions, causes him to make a decision, the implications of which he is completely unaware.  Until later.

     Peter is far from home, jaunting off to Venice, Italy, the Austrian Alps, Berlin, and London.  With filming taking place in all those sites, the visuals are heightened.   But Peter will not be on a sightseeing tour; danger and intrigue erupts at every stop.  He is relieved to find a potential ally in one of the heroes from another dimension named Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Gyllenhaal), who suddenly appears on the scene and who is able to thwart a huge new shape-shifting “elemental” threat that creates tornados and earthquakes on earth.  Gyllenhaal and Parker have a natural chemistry that charges up every scene they’re in together.  In all the goings on, Peter is caught up in complexities that take a while for him to figure out.

     Interestingly, beginning with the 2017 film when Peter’s friend Ned (Batalon) learns about his identity, MCU has decided in this version to be more public about who he is.  This makes for charming interchanges between Peter and MJ.  Zendaya’s character is so interesting in her deadpan expressions; and their pairing is a delightful part of the story.

Except for one new element, Far from Home resembles previous versions; but for Spider-Man fans, this one is likely to be fun and exciting.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

WILDLIFE

Jake Gyllenhaal     Carey Mulligan     Ed Oxenbould     Bill Camp

     After demonstrating his acting abilities in acclaimed movies (e.g., There will be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine, Love & Mercy), Paul Dano decided to try his hand at directing a movie based on a book written by Richard Ford, which brings us to Wildlife.  The book spoke to Dano, reminding him of his own experience of his parents’ separation, in which, as an only child, he was inclined less to rebel and act out, and more to try to hold everything together.  He was the responsible one, the “parent child” in psychological parlance.

     In the film, we see the family first as having just moved from Lewiston, Idaho, to Great Falls, Montana.  Joe (Oxenbould), a teenager who has felt uprooted with the move, is trying to satisfy his father’s wish for him to become a football star.  His father Jerry (Gyllenhaal) has aspirations to become a force in golf at the local club where he works.  However, he gets fired—in his own words—because he is so good with the customers.  When the club has second thoughts and wants to re-hire him, the narcissistic wound of rejection prevents him from accepting.  Instead, for some reason (visions of greatness?), he decides instead to fight forest fires raging in the nearby forests, which will take him away from the family for several months.

     Incensed, Jerry’s wife Jeanette (Mulligan), rails at him for the stupidity of his plan.  In the meantime, she has decided to ignore Jerry’s wish that she remain a housewife and has taken a job as a swimming coach.  This will introduce her to a different world from that she has been trained for and is used to, and brings her in contact with people in the town; one of her students is a wealthy widower, played by Bill Camp.

     The story is about what happens in this interim when the parents are separated, and Joe, feeling the tension between them, tries his best not to take sides and accommodate to an altered world.  But in fact, in Dano’s description, he is a “kid being kicked out into the wild [and told], “This is the real world.”  In other words, get used to it.  

     The rest of the story is about Joe’s experience of being with his mother, completely cut off from his father, and having to somehow make sense of it all.  In the role of this character, Oxenbould, a young Australian actor, perfectly captures the basic dilemma and the multiple awkward positions his mother places him in during the course of the movie.

     Problems with the film could be with the way the parents communicate with Joe. It seems to me they relate to him in ways that are unrealistic, asking his advice at strange moments (“Joe, what do you think I should do?”; “Joe, how do I look?” [for an interview or for a date], and always turning to him in moments of crisis.  I haven’t observed any parents being this blatant, but given that Dano is basing this partly on his own experience, maybe it happens.

     This is probably the “meatiest” role in Carey Mulligan’s career, and she takes to it with all she has.  She is brilliant.  Her character’s common sense arguments/putdowns of her husband’s decisions are careful not to attack him directly and personally, but clearly she conveys she is her own person and not willing to subject herself to anyone for any reason.  

     I never have enough words of praise for Jake Gyllenhaal; he inhabits all different kinds of characters in ways that are always believable.  I had a hard time at first seeing him as a passive/aggressive figure who is fiercely independent, assuming his family would be waiting for him with open arms when he returns, but of course he does just that with all the authenticity the role requires.  

     Paul Dano should be very proud of his new direction (and a script in collaboration with Zoe Kazan); he has all the makings of a good director who has an eye for the overall picture and knows characterization well enough to cast fine actors for the roles.  I congratulate him and his collaborators for a film in which a kid succeeds despite his parents’ utter disregard for him.  Let’s all hail the promise of the human spirit over adversity.

An example of how a teenager can master the challenges his family—and life—can throw at him.

Grade:  B+                                    By Donna R. Copeland 

THE SISTERS BROTHERS

John C. Reilly     Joaquin Phoenix     Jake Gyllenhaal     Riz Ahmed     Rutgar Hauer     Carol Kane

     Intelligent western may be an oxymoron to some, but in this case, I think it fits. Director Jacques Adiard directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Thomas Bidegain, based on a novel by Patrick DeWitt.  That Adiard is French, and this is his first English language film, makes it even more impressive, because much of the content has wry humor, references, and interesting emotional connections that ring true for the American setting.

     The film begins with a darkened picture that becomes punctuated with gunfire bursts seen in the dark, the galloping of horses, and finally a house coming into view, with gunmen killing everyone they see, apparently cold-heartedly (cinematographer Benoit Debie created this striking opening scene.)  The two gunmen doing the damage are Eli Sisters (Reilly) and his younger brother Charlie (Phoenix).  They work for The Commodore, whom we only get two glimpses of, who has vast international business operations he has to protect. At one point, there is a pertinent argument between the brothers as to whether the people they shot are victims vs. bad guys who have stolen from The Commodore.  This is just one example of the philosophical/social issues subtly discussed among characters.

     Two other characters that will come in contact with the Sisters Brothers are an unlikely pair, in that one, Hermann Kermit Warm (Ahmed), is a chemist (who has a formula for extracting gold from California streams) and the other The Commodore’s effete detective, John Morris (Gyllenhaal), from an upper class background.  The latter has been charged with joining up with the Sisters Brothers to get the formula from the chemist—whatever it takes.  How he got into the job will come out later.

     In introducing these four characters, Adiard plays with the well-known contrasts between the educated and people like the frontier-hardened, skilled sharp shooters.  Tidbits about their backgrounds are inserted from time to time, allowing a more detailed picture of them, in terms of who they are and how they got to where they are. Further information is gleaned from incidents and conversations that occur throughout the film so that, by the end, a plausible account of how this group of four men got together, their backgrounds and personal stories, and how they end up is made clear.  

     The four main actors are stunning in their portrayals of brothers and unlikely connections that are formed for expediencies of the moment.  John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jake Gyllenhaal can always be relied upon to bring potency and flair to their characters.  Riz Ahmed meshes perfectly with these well-seasoned actors to, likely, assure him of a bright future.

     The film was shot in Spain, but clearly looks like the American northwest. Debie’s cinematography transports the scenes to this country beautifully and convincingly.  Renowned Alexandre Desplat lives up to his reputation for capturing the essence of every scene with his music, and for his first western, he drew on strains of Charlie Mingus’ jazz and Nicholas Cage-type music.  I especially love his quiet piano accompaniment in emotionally charged segments; for instance, in a mother’s home.

     This film has many strengths beyond those mentioned.  Elaborating further, the interactions between the two brothers bring into play sibling rivalry, father issues, family loyalty, and the roles the two have come to own, such as the older Eli feeling and taking responsibility for the younger Charlie, who is more impulsive, more outgoing, more assertive.  But true to life, caretaking roles are switched now and then.  John Morris and Hermann Kermit Warm come together in a conventional way, in the spark created in their first meeting, and then through conversations in which they discover they have shared views about the world and how they might achieve a common goal.

     Another feature of the film that I appreciate is the way violence is portrayed in appealing to more artistic, sensitive tastes rather than eliciting shock through gore.  We are spared one shot and only see the body with a pool of blood on the floor.  Or it’s done in a kind of humorous way, such as an insect crawling inside a mouth and reproducing(!).  

This is a film for those who relish creative productions that can incorporate a modern take on a beloved genre, and still sketch out three-dimensional characters that resonate with most people today.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

STRONGER

Jake Gyllenhaal     Tatiana Maslany     Miranda Richardson     Clancy Brown

     David Gordon Green knows how to tell a story that gets to the heart of the common man—and of those who surround him during significant events in his life.  In Stronger, he captures not only the spirit of Boston after the Boston Marathon bombing, he shows the arc of one of the accidental heroes of the moment, Jeff Bauman, heroically played by Jake Gyllenhaal.  Hopefully, award season will be Gyllenhaal’s long-overdue time to get the credits he deserves.  How many people have kept a sharp eye on him through all the 2,000’s?  I certainly have, and think his superb performances in Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain, Prisoners, Nocturnal Animals, and other major films make him deserving again this year.

     In Stronger, Gyllenhaal plays a rather hapless guy who is trying to win back his girl by promoting her run in the Boston Marathon.  He and Erin (Maslany) have broken up several times before on account of his unreliability, smacking of a bipolar disorder.  He is late, doesn’t show up when he’s supposed to, etc.  And as is typical of him, he suddenly gets pumped when he discovers she is running in the Marathon and he wants to promote support for her.  He’s trying to win her back, and stands with a homemade sign about her on the finish line when the bombs start going off.

     Jeff is a smart man, and as soon as he wakes up from the anesthesia following surgery on both legs, he lets the FBI know he saw one of the bombers and can give them a description, something that helped authorities in apprehending the perpetrators. 

     So at this point, we know something about Jeff and the woman he loves.  Next, we get a picture of what this kind of fame can do to a person of his makeup and his relationships.  He is surrounded by people who unwittingly want to satisfy their own frustrated aspirations through him.  This is especially true of his mother Patty (Richardson), who hasn’t had much of a life after divorce, except what she can hold onto with her brother and his family.  But beyond his family, even passersby who have seen his story on TV feel like they own a part of him.

     Jeff is one of the least likely people who can manage the situation, much less use it to his advantage.  We see how the man tries to cope, see the admirably stalwart support he gets from Erin, and the complications his relationship with his mother presents.  This is Green’s strong suit—his presentation of very real, very flawed people who nonetheless deserve our love and support.  I appreciated so much his portrayal of Erin, a young woman who loves, forgives, and tries to cope with a situation that is thrown at her and not of her own making.  She seems to me to be as much a hero as Jeff. 

     This is a story about a hero that could go in many different ways.  Green has chosen to make it a real story about real people.  But he hasn’t limited it to Jeff and Erin.  We also hear about the man Carlos who rescued Jeff, also an unlikely hero who, after losing two sons manages to acquit himself.   Certainly, the direction and acting in this film is superb, but the cinematography by Sean Bobbitt and music by Michael Brook contribute significantly to the excellence of Stronger.

The story of an unlikely, unwilling hero and the complexities around him.

Grade:  A                                By Donna R. Copeland

OKJA

Tilda Swinton   Paul Dano   An Seo Hyun   Lily Collins   Shirley Henderson   Jake Gyllenhaal   Giancarlo Esposito

     A live pig sold for a golden replica serves as the metaphor for this film about a young girl in South Korea and her soul mate, a huge pig she’s named Okja.  Mija (Hyun) is devoted to her pet and is unaware of the contractural agreement her grandfather signed 10 years earlier.  Thinking he is doing the right thing, the grandfather is ready to return Okja to the American company who gave it to him for 10 years, in exchange for the gold piece.   But he is mistaken in thinking Mija is going to value the gold more than the pig.  His bargain illustrates how capitalist schemes can appear so appealing to naïve peoples.  When Grandfather proudly gives Mija the golden relic and she realizes what he has done, she races after the truck carrying Okja away.  In this, the film likewise illustrates the betrayal of the younger generation by the older.

     The background story is about a wealthy American family with a multi-national food tech corporation that is unmindful of its responsibility to humankind and is single-minded in its profit motive, as lived out by the Mirando twin sisters (Swinton).  Lucy, who has always seemed to be in a one-down position, has dreamed up a contest that she is sure will win over her sister and bring her respect and love from the general public.  This is done by giving poor people around the world a genetically altered pig to raise for 10 years, with the ultimate aim of having a contest as to which one could feed the most people in the world (example of genetic experimentation and conflict of interest perhaps?).  Mija’s grandfather was one of those given an animal.  In the meantime, Okja is Mija’s only companion, and has even saved her life once.

     What follows is a rather fantastical madcap story involving international travel, daring car/truck races on the highways, the involvement of animal rights advocates (Dano, et al.), the pig competition, and, ultimately, the slaughterhouse; but Mija has her head about her and extraordinary smarts, and is out to bring Okja home.

     Writer/director Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer, Mother) is a master at depicting dramas that pose ethical and socio-political situations for the audience to ponder, and here he makes it clear that we all have some responsibility for the state of affairs, either knowingly or by default.  That is, the grandfather is myopic as to his granddaughter’s wishes and ultimate welfare, the animal rights advocates are well intentioned but rather narrow-minded and inept, and the Mirando corporation has dual purposes topped off with petty rivalry among the owners. 

     Swinton is virtually unsurpassed in her ability to portray any character she’s presented with, and has a particular knack for odd, quirky personalities who have just enough plausibility to intrigue us.  Playing her character here and her chiding twin is entertaining in itself.  Young An Seo Hyun is captivating as a purposeful, devoted adherent to her principles.  Dano is gifted in his portrayal of appealing, sincere proponents of a cause, and he comes through here.  I was disappointed to see one of my idols, Jake Gyllenhaal, play such a buffoon role that seemed to have no purpose in this drama.  He executed it well, but I can’t see the reason for having such a character, who is shown as a self-inflated blowhard.

The purpose of this well executed film seems to be in having us contemplate where our food comes from, something we usually don’t want to do.

Grade:  A-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

LIFE

Rebecca Ferguson     Jake Gyllenhaal      Ryan Reynolds     Hiroyuki Sanada     Olga Dihovichnaya     Ariyon Bakara

      Life: an apt title for a gripping story about a mission to Mars in search of evidence of extraterrestrial life.  The six-member crew of the International Space Station are excited about testing the sample they’ve obtained, and all eyes are transfixed on it when Hugh (Bakara) begins his experiments to see if it will produce life at all.  When a one-cell organism appears, they joke about Hugh’s “child”, and as he teases it to interact, he starts getting attached.  (A rather hokey parallel event occurs at the same time when another crew member watches on Skype as his son is being born on earth.)  Please!

     Fortunately/unfortunately, the “thing” now called “Calvin” begins to thrive, and starts growing at an alarming rate.  After only days, it has uncommon strength and enough intelligence to threaten humans and their inventions.  At first, the concern is to get the sample to earth, which is then modified to getting Calvin there, and finally to how to keep Calvin away from earth entirely. Lives are lost in the most gruesome ways imaginable (and each one is shown in graphic detail) as various methods are tried to overcome it.

     Director Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Child 44) brings the script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to life (pun intended), greatly enhanced by Nigel Phelps’ production design, Seamus McGarvey’s cinematography, and all the other special effects artists.  Inventive ways are used to show in gruesomely graphic fashion how Calvin operates and what it does to human bodies.  Of interest are the ways in which we see the astronauts cope with the unreal situation—the times they keep their cool and the times they are completely freaked out.  Also demonstrated is the futility of attempting to plan for every eventuality in a complex system.

     Miranda (Ferguson), as the Project Investigator and medical doctor on board leads her team decisively with support from the other astronauts: Roy (Reynolds), David (Gyllanhaal), Kat (Dihovichnaya), Kendo, (Sanada), and Hugh (Bakara), biologist.  It’s a diversified group professionally and ethnically, which melds together nicely to get a job done, and heroes are not scarce.  A drawback of the film is that we don’t get to know enough of the background of the characters to see them and care about them as individuals.  The film seems to be more focused on the technology and special effects than on the people and character development.  It could also have spent more time and highlighted the weight of the numerous ethical dilemmas the crew faced, particularly Miranda. 

Life opens up thoughts about space exploration and the possible scientific, moral, and ethical dilemmas that may arise from it.

Grade:  C                     By Donna R. Copeland

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

Amy Adams   Jake Gyllenhaal   Michael Shannon   Aaron Taylor-Johnson   Armie Hammer  

Laura Linney   Andrea Riseborough   Michael Sheen   Isla Fisher

          It’s paradoxical that a designer of beautiful things can just as well create the same measure of ugliness.  Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals is stunning both for its beauty (people, art, landscapes) and its depravity (grossly obese naked dancers, disgusting images and sounds, menacing characters).  I assume that this reflects Ford’s view of the world in that he can find beauty even in ugliness. 

       After the shocking opening scenes with the credits, we are introduced to lovely, gorgeous Susan (Adams) driving through the gate to her architecturally striking home.  Eye-catching works of paintings and sculpture abound, and we soon learn that she is the owner of an art gallery.  Her equally attractive husband Hutton (Hammer) arrives, and we’re soon looking at the other side of the beauty; she is cynical and he is angry, anxious, and avoidant.  Their relationship seems strained.

          He flies back to New York for business, and Susan is left at home, alone because she let the help take the weekend off.  When she got home, she had opened a package from her ex-husband Edward (Gyllenhaal), which contained a copy of his latest novel, Nocturnal Animals.  The two had not spoken in years, so she was curious about why he had sent it.  But as she read it over the weekend, it became clear to her. 

      Most of the film thereafter jumps back and forth between Susan’s life now, with flashbacks of an earlier time when she was married to Edward, and to a movie of the novel.  The main character in the novel is Tony Hastings (Gyllenhaal as the character as well as the author) who, with his wife and daughter, are terrorized by “nocturnal animals” in the middle of the night on an isolated road on their way to Marfa, Texas.

         The novel has maximum impact on Susan, pulling up her memories and guilt about her first marriage and how she left it, and feeling threatened by Edward’s sending it to her.  Amy Adams’ performance is probably one of her best—much more impressive than in her other current release, Arrival, although she is outstanding in that as well.  The reason lies mostly in the difference between the two characters, one a scientist, the other a gallery owner with a complex history.

         The gifted actor Jake Gyllenhaal likewise pulls off a difficult challenge of portraying two different characters who have some similarities, but one is something of a pansy, whereas the other is more layered in temperament—a super nice, sensitive guy who has deeply vengeful thoughts and impulses that are terrifying.

          Reflecting Ford’s penchant for mixing up the good with the bad, the sinister character Ray (Taylor-Johnson) embodies the psychopath on the road who puts on an act of being rule-bound, polite and charming, but in reality is exceedingly cruel and twisted.  He and the policeman Carlos (Shannon) will send chills up your spine.

         Nocturnal Animals is exemplary as an art house film, one that doesn’t hold back any image, action, or state of mind, but covers a wide range of same.  That means it’s not always enjoyable or that it’s for everyone.  But Tom Ford’s script and direction, the cinematography (Seamus McGarvey), the music (Abel Korzeniowski), and the acting (Adams, Gyllenhaal, Taylor-Johnson, Shannon, Linney, and the rest of the cast) all come together to form a gripping production.

Hold onto your seats; this one is big, bad, and beautiful.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

DEMOLITION

Jake Gyllenhaal     Naomi Watts     Chris Cooper     Judah Lewis     Heather Lind

        Jake Gyllenhaal is a master at doing crazy (as in Nightcrawler and Prisoners), and so in Demolition as Davis, a man who is not equipped to deal with the death of his wife, he achieves another stunning performance.  Demolition is a psychological study of the grieving process in someone who is alienated from his emotions and therefore lacking empathy for others’ feelings.

      When his wife Julia (Lind) dies in a car accident (she, driving and he, a passenger), Davis exhibits little outward emotion, although we can imagine he is hurting inside when we’re shown his associations and memories of her.  Although he’s not particularly close to his father-in-law (Cooper), they work together, and Davis remembers an observation Phil made at one time.  It had to do with healing the heart, and how one must take it all apart and put it back together in order to heal.

       Davis takes this literally as well as metaphorically, and begins to do just that, first with the refrigerator his wife had told him was leaking in their last conversation, and gradually the urge to demolish more and more things increases.  He is rather compulsive, so is always interested in doing a thorough job.

       This quality surfaces immediately at the hospital in the intensive care unit, where he tries to buy some M&Ms from a vending machine, but the package gets stuck on the way down.  He takes a picture of the machine number, and proceeds to write the company for a refund.  But he doesn’t stick to the matter at hand, he writes his life history in letter after letter.  Of course, this comes to the attention of the Customer Care service woman, Karen (Watts).  She herself is rather kooky, and her son Chris (Lewis) is an astute, lonely kid.

      The connection made between Davis and Karen is one that makes you think of the belief that things happen for a reason or that people become attracted to one another to fill unconscious needs.  At any rate, even though they appear not to have much in common at all, they strike up a friendship, which means that Davis and Chris spend a fair amount of time together.  Interestingly, regressive experiences back to childhood link Davis and Karen together, and allows Davis to provide the kind of male understanding that Chris needs—not that everything that happens is sensible, but it does seem to be therapeutic.

     Director Jean-Marc Vallee has previously demonstrated his keen understanding of human psychological make-up and development in Wild and Dallas Buyers Club; and in Demolition with the writer Bryan Sipe, he shows how creative people are in getting their needs met and doing what they need to do to heal.  This is sometimes a painstaking process and not always one that makes conventional sense.  One of the many things I like about his work is how true to life it is, and how it demonstrates surprisingly effective ways in which we heal ourselves.  Humanity always reigns supreme in his work.

     I’ve mentioned how Gyllenhaal absolutely knew, understood, and portrayed the character of Davis, and Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper are right on target with their roles.  Watts is a natural for females who seem neurotic, but are actually stalwart (Birdman).  Cooper is versatile in a variety of roles he has played in American Beauty, Adaptaion, Lone Star, August:  Osage County, and Breach; here, he combines an aggressive Wall Street trader and a tender-hearted father.  The young actor Lewis captures the persona of a troubled teenager who is desperately looking for assistance in constructing his identity.  Guidance in the form of deconstruction (demolition) comes from an unlikely source, that of the troubled Davis.

Demolition, a film for the psychologically minded.

Grade:  A                         By Donna R. Copeland

SOUTHPAW

Jake Gyllenhaal     Rachel McAdams     Forest Whitaker     50 Cent     Miguel Gomez

Redemption comes at last when a slow learner finally masters his destiny in Southpaw.  It’s a hard-won battle every step of the way.  Billy “The Great” Hope (Gyllenhaal) is boxing at the top of his game after he and his wife Maureen (McAdams) have crawled up from an orphanage, always sticking together.  Then tragedy strikes—helped along by hotheaded Billy—and he begins to lose everything that is meaningful to him.  At rock bottom, he looks to Tick Wills (Whitaker) a former trainer who owns a gym, but is rejected because he appears not to be willing to make changes.  When it looks like this will be his only chance, he agrees to start at the bottom and see if he can work his way up to the point where he regains custody of his daughter.

           This is a brutal film (rated R for its violence) with long, bloody boxing scenes and agonizing sequences, so not for the faint of heart or those with weak stomachs.  Gyllenhaal bulked himself up for the role, and adapted his ordinarily clear voice to curt mumbles and grumbles to fit the character.  Just as much a star, Whitaker delivers philosophical truths (“Stopping punches with your face is not defense”) quick, targeted comebacks, and behavioral conditions that will be essential to Billy Hope’s rehabilitation and ability to fight strategically.  McAdams is well cast as a loving wife who takes care of her husband as much as she can.  Young Oona Laurence as the Hopes’ daughter Leila deserves recognition for her portrayal of a grief-stricken child who faces overwhelming losses.

           Director Antoine Fuqua realizes writer Kurt Sutter’s script in well-paced, believable sequences, and he works closely with his colleague in other films, Mauro Fiore, to produce stunning camera work, alongside an inspiring musical score. The film is dedicated to its award winning musician and popular film composer James Horner (Titanic, Avatar, A Beautiful Mind), who was killed last month in a plane crash.

           The film is a bit slow to get started with its real drama beyond the fight sequences (and some of the fights occur before you get a chance to invest in the characters), and the struggles between the Hope couple are excruciating to sit through.  A good bit of it is watching the wife trying to rein in her drug-addled, fight-obsessed husband, often to no avail.  I think trimming some of these scenes would have made this a better film.  When it moves into showing the psychology of Billy Hope and his rehabilitation and relationship with his daughter, it becomes much more engaging.

Redemption for a slow learner.

Grade:  C+                          By Donna R. Copeland