MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL

Angelina Jolie     Elle Fanning     Michelle Pfeiffer     Harris Dickinson    Chiwetel Ejiofor

Lesley Manville     Imelda Staunton     Juno Temple     Sam Riley

     Fairy tale land—one never knows what to expect as to what will come up.  In this version following on the previous Maleficent (2014) (both starring by Angelina Jolie in the title role), her goddaughter Aurora (Fanning) is grown up and falling in love with Prince Philip (Dickinson).  As expected, he has fallen in love with the son of the King and Queen of Ulstead, a human tribe with a history of conflict with the Moors, Maleficent’s land of the fairies.  An awkward dinner takes place initiated by Philip’s mother, Queen Ingrith.

     Maleficent is reluctant to go, but for the sake of Aurora, she agrees, and they all come together; but tensions abound, as happens when two very different cultures eat together.  Major conflicts ensue, with misunderstandings and subterfuge aplenty, and suddenly Maleficent disappears.  Where she goes propels the story forward and gives us insight into her origins and an explanation for what is to appear in the rest of the film.

     As before, Jolie embodies her character in all its dimensions and power, and Fanning provides balance in her tenderness and rationality.  Although she is a good actress, Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrith seems miscast in that she simply doesn’t come across strongly enough with the qualities called for by her character.  I can’t say any more so as not to spoil the plot.  Harris Dickinson as Prince Philip didn’t wow me as someone heroic, but I assume that is a function of the script, and the same goes for Robert Lindsay as King John.  Ed Skrein as Borra (one of Maleficent’s newly discovered tribe) is the only male who is a counterpart to Jolie’s and Pfeiffer’s female characters in strength.

     To me, the problems arising during this tale are related primarily to the unsuccessful attempt to insert actions that are clearly contemporary into a fairy tale. One example is Aurora coaching her mother on social manners.  Now, sophisticated Maleficent has been around the whole world and is familiar with such things as social graces, so having it seem as if she is being coached on what to do at a dinner party seems laughable.  I had the same impression when Aurora’s simple “woodsy” dress at one point is magically changed by Maleficent to one that looks like a contemporary Neiman Marcus creation.  Just as in the earlier film, the viewer is yanked back and forth between the fairy world and our reality-based one.

     As before in the 2014 version, the opening scenes in this sequel are so dark it’s impossible to know what is going on.  There is a battle, but who is who cannot be distinguished.  I still don’t know who the warring parties are.

     Finally, there is a disconnect between the ending of the earlier film and the beginning of this one in which Maleficent seems to have reverted to her previous maliciousness.  No explanation is given for this, or perhaps the viewers are just being led down a garden path. (More jerking around.)

     This second Maleficent doesn’t measure up to the first one, which is too bad, since there was an opportunity here to tell a story like a fairy tale that speaks to contemporary concerns (e.g., war vs. peace). But the way war and peace are dealt with here is no different from…how many movies and actual events?

     In the end, it’s not clear whom this film was made for other than the pockets of those invested in it monetarily.  Much of the story as presented will go over the heads of most children; and it is likely to be simplistic (meaningless?) to many adults.

If you love a good fairy tale, stay away from this one.

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland

UNSANE

Joshua Leonard     Claire Foy     Sarah Stiles     Amy Irving     Jay Pharoah     Juno Temple     Aimee Mullins

     When I like Steven Soderbergh’s work, I really like it (Traffic; Sex, Lies, Videotape; Behind the Candelabra; Logan Lucky) and mostly I like all his work.  However…Unsafe is so far-fetched, with a script devoid of cleverness—just one horror after another—I checked out early on. 

     We’re given a brief picture of Sawyer (Foy) as a bank clerk cheekily defending her report to a client and told in voice-over about her history of warding off a stalker.  This has left her with some problems to work through, and she goes to see a counselor.  What follows gives mental health care a bad name.  I will allow that its institutions can be criticized, but I seriously doubt any facility would incarcerate someone simply for saying they’d thought about suicide (just about everyone has, at some point in their life), even for the insurance money.  At any rate, this is how the story goes in Unsane (script by relatively inexperienced Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer).

   Sawyer is put in with (mostly) insane people, one of which—Violet (Temple)—is particularly confronting and annoying; one of which—Nate (Pharoah)—befriends her and is trustworthy.  It takes time and turmoil before she can contact her mother (Irving) who vows to move heaven and earth to get Sawyer released.  But the psychiatrist (Gibson Frazier) and the administrator (Aimee Mullins) give “reasoned” excuses as to why she must remain.

     The problem is the script, which shows a cool, thoughtful bank administrator that Sawyer is lose that cool and suddenly become hysterical, attacking others physically.  Other inconsistencies in character show up later on both in Sawyer and her mother, which I won’t spell out.  Another “trick” employed in horror movies, which these filmmakers have used, is for someone you think is dead to suddenly reappear.  The sudden shift in Sawyer’s personality at the end was particularly off-putting.  Oh, so she’s a b---- after all?

     Claire Foy holds this story together with her fine acting skills.  I’m particularly impressed with her American accent after seeing her in British productions like television’s “The Crown” and “Wolf Hall.”   Joshua Leonard as David Strine is just the right amount of creepy, pulling off a professional veneer with underlying psychopathology, and Juno Temple is lovably one of the truly insane.  Amy Irving and Aimee Mullins likewise do a great job as their characters.

     Unfortunately, I found this movie so offensive in the aspersions cast on psychiatric hospitalization that it colored my viewing.  Although I know there are valid criticisms of such facilities, I would hate to see unfounded fears about them reinforced, which I think this film does.

Inconsistencies in characters and an unimaginative plot with flaws dooms Unsane (which is not even an accepted word).

Grade:  F                                                By Donna R. Copeland

WONDER WHEEL

Jim Belushi     Kate Winslet     Juno Temple     Justin Timberlake

     Wonder Wheel is classic Woody Allen, even to one of the characters taking on his persona (a common motif in his films).  It’s his typical family drama in which relationships are tested and sometimes remain intact and sometimes not.  Humpty (intended reference to Humpy Dumpty?), played by Jim Belushi is somewhat down and out, but is managing to squeek by as a mechanic at the Coney Island Amusement Park.  He’s married to one of the waitresses at a clam shack, Ginny (Winslet), a chronically disappointed (with everyone and everything) woman who often appears to be doing her best, but consistently freaks out and has migraines.  One big problem is her son from her first marriage, a budding arsonist—which doesn’t bode at all well for his future.

     Ginny feels trapped in her marriage to Humpty, whom she has managed to wean off alcohol, but is bored with, and has become involved with the lifeguard Mickey (Timberlake).  But everyone has to go into emergency mode when Humpty’s enchanting daughter Caroline (Temple) appears at the door one day.  Her father disowned her after she married a mobster against his advice, but now she is desperate with no place to go (her mother died), begging her father to take her in.  She appears to be very sincere in recognizing her mistakes of the past, and genuinely tries to make positive changes, helping Ginny in the restaurant (making some mistakes along the way) and taking classes.  Her father is overjoyed that she has seen the error of her ways and wants to help her continue with her education.  But tension stays high, as we learn that her ex-husband’s cronies are looking for her because she “knows where the bodies are buried.”  So her life is in danger.

     Then fate seems to do its work, along with coincidences and human weaknesses.  Conflict heightens when no one seems to “get” Ginny; her husband, Mickey, and Caroline all misunderstand her in very different ways—none of them seeming to know what to do as they gain insight into her past and present experience.  It becomes a chaotic Woody Allen scenario. 

     The four main characters fit their roles hand-in-glove.  Belushi knows very well how to play the underdog man who has had to fight for everything he has, but isn’t the brightest bulb in the room.  Winslet is extraordinary in portraying a woman deeply disturbed who somehow manages to cope outwardly with everyday practical issues.  It’s just in the emotional areas she shows bewilderment and even hysteria, and her judgment falters.  Timberlake manages to pull off the man you both admire and become impatient with, depending on the situation.  He shows the character’s great efforts in being open and honest and still being oblivious to its consequences.  Juno Temple as the blonde, sexy, young Caroline, balances out her appearance with thoughtful consideration of those around her, and has clearly learned from her mistakes.  She is the most interesting character, showing adaptability to change and the only one not blaming others for her mistakes.

     The production is weakened by 1) appearing too “stagey” at times (you could swear you’re watching a play); 2) including the part about Ginny’s son withD psychological problems (which doesn’t seem to fit in the story and is left completely unresolved); and 3) by replaying standard Allen themes.  I though it ironic when Ginny, starting to feel suspicious, grills Caroline about whether Mickey took her hand, touched her, or kissed her. She is obviously over-reacting, but in view of the current news stories about powerful men preying on younger women, it’s an odd thing to include in a current film.  Because of Allen’s own family situation, one wonders upon whom he is basing the Ginny character.

     On a more positive note, the music—which I assume are jazzman Woody’s selections—captures so well the mood of each scene, especially the views of the amusement park and the merry-go-round.  The music merges with the story and lifts the movement of each scene.  Cinematographer Vittorio Stararo’s camera and palette elevate the production artistically.

A classic Woody Allen production.

Grade:  B-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE MOST HATED WOMAN IN AMERICA

Melissa Leo     Josh Lucas     Adam Scott     Brandon Mychal Smith     Vincent Kartheiser

Juno Temple     Peter Fonda     Sally Kirkland     Rory Cochrane     Alex Frost

     Hatred in America; it seems to be a running theme in its history.  It spans across racial/cultural (blacks and Native Americans), religious (witch trials), and political (Communism) realms from its earliest days.  This is a dramatization of one of those instances against an atheist, Madelyn Murray O’Hair, (Leo) that occurred in the 1990’s.  It should be said at the outset that most people saw the woman as difficult—and the film shows this very well. We see Madelyn first as a young woman living at home in a contentious relationship with her Baptist father.  Each would try to out-curse the other in expressing their antipathy toward the other.  We only see this when she is already grown, so do not know what circumstances brought her to such a rebellious attitude toward religion.

     She was apparently difficult to handle from childhood, and when the film opens to a family meal, we learn that she has had an illegitimate child and is pregnant with another.  Her explanation is that the fathers abandoned her, reaffirming her low opinion of men in general.  On the other hand, she appears to be devoted to her children, albeit in rather controlling and demanding ways, which comes back to haunt her later. 

     As O’Hair continues to fight for her children’s rights at school (their Constitutional right of free speech and religious freedom), she is successful in getting laws passed to that effect, but this is at great cost to her and her children.  Hatred is expressed toward them for years, including death threats, so when they go missing in 1995, no one seems to care.  Moreover, the police and some of Madelyn’s acquaintances are suspicious that she is simply repeating earlier stunts of purposely disappearing and turning up later. 

     This time is different, though, because, reasons her live-in assistant Roy Collier, her door is not locked, her dogs are left untended, her passports are found in a drawer, and breakfast is still on the table.  At this time, O’Hair has moved to San Antonio, Texas, and established the American Atheist Center, another move that brought more ill will from the predominantly Christian community. 

    When a local reporter, Jack Ferguson, hears about the situation, he contacts Billy, O’Hair’s estranged son, and Roy.  When he is persistent with his editor in getting permission to pursue the story and gather relevant data, he finds that rather than hatred, the motivation to kidnap O’Hair, her younger son, and granddaughter who lived with her, is greed, someone like David Waters wanting a share of donations to the Center.

     The film, written and directed by Tommy O’Haver, is an objective account of a significant, colorful figure in America’s history who garners little approbation for her political efforts, despite their far-reaching implications and the substance of which, the majority of contemporary Americans would ascribe to.  Although the film is a timely resurfacing of the issues, it may not garner much support for  O’Hair herself, partly because of the current religio-political divide, but in part simply because of her abrasive personality. The production could have been improved by giving us more insight into how she developed her atheistic beliefs early on in her life.

     In sum,The Most Hated Woman in America is a timely and helpful account of the woman behind two important landmarks in American history that reinforce our basic human rights.  Melissa Leo is up to her standard fine performance, along with an excellent supporting cast, particularly Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, and Brandon Mychal Smith.

A timely reminder of how two of our basic rights were guaranteed by the untiring efforts of a complex, divisive figure in American history.

Grade:  B+                                    By Donna R. Copeland