MEGAN LEAVEY

Kate Mara   Edie Falco   Bradley Whitford   Ramon Rodriguez   Common

            War is hell, but not just when it’s occurring; many fighters suffer the after-effects later, even dogs, as we see in this film.  Megan Leavey opens with a picture of a young woman at loose ends, seemingly not able to make it in life, a loser, partly because of lack of support at home.  Her parents are divorced, her father is in and out of the picture, and her mother is not the empathic kind.

            In desperation—just to get out of town—Megan (Mara) joins the Marines, a strange choice which is not explained.  Her mother finds a brochure after Megan has already boarded the bus for boot training.  She continues to fail for a while, but after being disciplined (by having to clean out the dog cages) and learning that there are few/no breaks in military service, her gaze falls upon a particular aggressive dog named Rex.  The filmmaking beauty of this is how she connects with the dog at gut level.  He motivates her toward wanting to achieve, which she has never felt before.  She qualifies to be a dog trainer, and to her surprise and delight, Rex is assigned to her.  [This is probably a wry move on the part of her superior, Sergeant Gunny Martin (Common), maybe because she is a woman, maybe because he wants to test/challenge her.] 

            Megan manages to bond with Rex, train him properly, and before long they are sent to Iraq for a seven-month stint.  Another strength of the film is to demonstrate to naïve people like us what it’s like to search out the explosive IEDs.  In addition to the treacherousness of planted bombs, there may be artillery aimed right at them as they search.  At these times, Megan proves her mettle by insisting on resuming even after she and Rex have been wounded.

            As relief from the warfare and chauvinistic attitudes toward women, we are given a little romance as Megan encounters Matt Morales (Rodriguez), another dog handler, he from New York like she, and they spar about the Giants vs. the Mets. 

            Other interactive scenes are with Megan and her mother and with Megan and her father (Whitford).  We see how conflicts with her mother crop up at every turn, even when Jackie (Falco) is trying to please Megan.  It’s clear that her relationship with her father is much more empathic.  He seems to know/recognize who Megan is and is able to reason with her, as in:  “All you gotta do is fight.  You know how to fight; you’re a Marine.”  And he is clearly proud of her.  He wants her to fight to be able to adopt Rex, which has become the primary aim in her life, but which the military is against.  This is a critical turn when it looks like Megan will revert to her previous self.

            Kate Mara (who played Zoe Barnes in Netflix “House of Cards”) is a natural in playing Megan, and there is a remarkable resemblance with the real-life Megan, which is shown at the end of the film.  She makes Megan come alive in her dysphoria, underlying rage, and tenderness toward an animal.  Supporting cast of Falco, Whitford, Common, and Rodriguez are very strong.  Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and writers Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo, and Tim Lovestedt have created an inspiring and realistic story about the real-life Megan Leavey. 

            The film could have expanded more on Megan’s relationships with her father and with Morales; these are truncated and leave us wanting more.  But in terms of the aim of highlighting the complex relationship between a female Marine and a dog and their mutual healing, Megan Leavey is a success.

About a woman and a dog; worth seeing!

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE MARTIAN

Matt Damon   Jessica Chastain   Jeff Daniels   Chiwetel Ejiofor   Kate Mara   Donald Glover   Sean Bean

          The Martian is so exciting, the 2 ½ hours fly by as the viewer is transfixed on the screen, first watching Mark Watney (Damon) using his considerable skills to survive all alone on Mars by producing water, setting up a farm for food, and making electronic equipment work for him; and second, watching as NASA and other scientists and the crew on a returning spaceship, the Hermes, make difficult decisions and work together to try to bring the abandoned astronaut home. 

        The crew of Hermes, led by Commander Lewis (Chastain) are busily collecting data on Mars when a fierce storm comes and blows Watney away.  Lewis risks her life in going out to try to find him, but can’t, and logically concludes he is dead.  In order to survive, the team needs to leave and head back to earth and they blast off.  However, Watney is not dead, and when he regains consciousness, he has a major wound he must treat and finds that he is on his own.  Oh, f---!

      For a good part of the film after that, we observe this very proud botanist problem-solving ways to get food and water, get battery power for the Rover, and attempt to reconnect communication lines with NASA.  Then we get good glimpses into organizational politics and see hypotheses formed, and policies made with insufficient information.  When astute observers see evidence that Mark is indeed alive, agreements have to be made about what to do with the situation and how wide the net of information to others should be spread, including the returning spaceship crew.  There are major setbacks along the way, and finally, the U.S. must rely on a foreign power for assistance. 

        I understand that the book on which the film is based is laden with technical information difficult for the average reader to wade through, so director Ridley Scott and writer Drew Goddard are to be congratulated on making the film just technical enough to heighten the drama of the plot.  Damon fits the role perfectly, with its blend of male-type analyses, wry humor, and drive for adventure.  He is the only one on screen for a significant amount of time and is entirely watchable throughout.  He deserves nominations at awards time. 

       The supporting cast members hold their own as well.  Jessica Chastain gives a solid performance as a female commander, Jeff Daniels as the bad-guy administrative head of NASA, Chiwetel Ejiofor as a scientist willing to take risks, Sean Bean as an advocate for major players lower on the hierarchy, Kate Mara as an astronaut with electronic know-how, and Michael Pena as an astronautic navigator and friendly competitor with Mark.  Kristen Wiig steps out of her usual comedy routine to be an able assistant to the head of NASA, Teddy Sanders.  Donald Glover is a stand out as Rich Purnell, a nerdy astrophysicist who stumbles out of bed after a late night of work and steps up with plans for rescue that make the higher-ups take notice. 

       Throughout, we get glimpses of the players’ personal lives, but the most entertaining and valuable aspects of the film have to be the ingenuity involved in survival and the ethical-moral-practical decisions that people in charge must make on an everyday basis and at critical times.  The point is well made that these are gut-wrenching decisions and that the best ones are those made by all involved, not just the people at the top.

An exciting, nerve-wracking, informative picture about what it takes to be a successful astronaut.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

CAPTIVE

David Oyellowo     Kate Mara     Michael Kenneth Williams

           Captive, a really tight, tense thriller, portrays the desperation of an inmate frustrated about being locked up for so long for something he did not do.  (The film leaves unclear whether he is right or not, but seems to imply that he is correct.)  Brian Nichols (Oyelowo) decides to take matters into his own hands when he finds out he has a newly born son.  So he breaks out of a courthouse jail leaving a heartbreaking mess behind him, and ending up at Ashley Smith’s (Mara) house, holding her captive.  Ashley is trying to get her life back in order so she can reclaim her daughter who has been taken away from her, deemed as unfit to be a mother, so this is a very inconvenient time, aside from the fear and anxiety it produces.

           Most of the drama—based on a true story written about in a memoir by the actual Ashley Smith, Unlikely Angel—takes place in her house where a relationship develops between her and the escapee.  Ashley is even more terrified because Brian was serving time for a vicious rape, which she knows about because his escape is breaking news on TV.  He binds together her hands initially and her hands and feet later on, but as time goes on and they share some of their back-stories, a certain amount of trust develops.  Interestingly, they both go through periods of soul-searching, especially when talking about children and their own childhoods, and when she reads excerpts from a book she had previously rejected, The Purpose Driven Life—a Christian based book written by Rick Warren and blessed by Oprah Winfrey.  Their interaction goes on through the night, and by morning she is fixing him breakfast. 

           A deadline is approaching; she has promised to attend her daughter’s program at school at 9:30 am.  It’s critical that she make it, and David feels torn, given his new feelings about parental responsibility.  He appreciates her need to go; but will he figure out a way to assure his own safety in the meantime if she does?

           The book and film on which this story is based is from a Christian point of view, with a quote from the Bible: “…but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20), which indicates the overarching principle behind it.  I appreciated it for its presentation of three-dimensional characters, and its picture of human beings in whole.  People are so much more than one aspect of their reputation.  It also shows how relationships are a process over time; that people can and do change.

           David Oyelowo, one of filmdom’s most talented actors, delivers here, and is to be praised for taking the role of the apparent bad guy.  He and Kata Mara give very nuanced renditions of people in the hostage circumstance.  Although this is a religiously based work, Jerry Jameson, the director, and perhaps the writers (Brian Bird and Ashley Smith) as well, use restraint from that standpoint, and have composed a work that is more humanly dramatic than anything else. 

A film with grace in the midst of human failings.

Grade:  A-                        By Donna R. Copeland

FANTASTIC FOUR

--> Miles Teller     Kate Mara     Michael B. Jordan     Jamie Bell     Tony Kebbell

-->          Fantastic Four in this case could be a reference to the utterly fantastic script that edges into being four times the ridiculous.   It starts out promising when a grade school kid reports in school that his career choice is to create a method of teleportation to another dimension.  Unfortunately, he has a bad teacher who won’t accept his dream and makes him do the assignment over.  But the plucky kid is not discouraged; on the contrary, he continues to build his invention in his garage with the help of his classmate whose parents have a salvage yard.

           In high school, Reed (Teller) and his friend Ben (Bell) present their invention at a science fair, and even though their demonstration of it ruins a light board and causes the lights to go out, they get a curious visitor, Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), accompanied by his scientist daughter Sue (Mara).  Storm offers him a scholarship and a chance to collaborate with him and Sue in bringing his dream to fruition at his private company.  Sue has already been working on a similar project.

           They make progress after Dr. Storm brings in a cynical scientist, Victor (Kebbell), who had become disillusioned with corporate management and was working alone until Storm brings him back into the fold.  He also forces his errant son Johnny (Jordan) to work on the project; and although Johnny is resentful, he takes to Reed, and diligently works alongside him.  The operation is a success when they send a chimp out and successfully bring him back.

           Enter one of the corporate suits who is now interested only because he sees something in it for him, and immediately sees that bringing in NASA and the government will make him look really really good.  This makes the idealistic young scientists who are thoroughly committed to their work antsy, and they decide to take a flight on their own so it’s their names written in lights.  Reed wants his old friend Ben to be a part of the rewards, so calls him up and insists he come with them.

           The four take off, unbeknownst to anyone else, even Sue or her father.  The men are supposed to spend only a few minutes away, plant a flag and come back.  However, once they get there, their curiosity gets the best of them and they go exploring, three of them barely making it back.  Open Pandora’s box and…Yes, the three, along with Sue who discovered their venture and was helping to bring them back, return, but radically changed. 

           This is where I think the story derails.  When they arrive back they have special powers, but are in the hands of the U.S. government, which is using them for its own purposes, namely war.  They’re kept separated from one another, so can’t work together to disengage themselves and regain control of their lives.  If you see the film, you’ll know if and how they work that out.

           I was on board for the first half of the film, which is interesting in considering what going to another dimension might be.  Although I’m not totally in sympathy with the corporate world or government, I did not appreciate how they’re portrayed here as completely uncaring, self-serving, warmongers who would not even respond to the explorers’ questions about what happened to their teammates.  This is unnecessary and irresponsible on the filmmakers’ part in my opinion.

           There are also some plot holes or gaps that don’t make sense; for instance, the one who was left behind does eventually get a chance to come back, but he immediately wants to return to the other dimension.  So why does he express relief that he is rescued and then immediately want to return?  He gives an explanation, but that doesn’t answer the question of why he returned in the first place if he was happier elsewhere.

           I also have the perennial problem in action movies that they must always contain two features:  car races/crashes and fistfights.  No matter how many advanced scientific tools they have at their disposal, we must always have one of each of these, and usually many more.

          The four main actors, Teller, Mara, Jordan, and Bell, are top-notch, and it’s too bad the script, direction, and production let them down.  I did appreciate their value in loyalty and collaboration and their commitment to science for its intrinsic value.

An adventure that comes up low on fuel.

Grade:  C-                        By Donna R. Copeland