MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN

Edward Norton     Willem Dafoe     Gugu Mbitha-Raw     Bruce Willis     Alec Baldwin

Dallas Roberts     Leslie Mann     Bobby Cannavale     Michael Kenneth Williams     Cherry Jones

     Picture New York City in the 1950’s with a gumshoe detective following clues to weed out the killer of his life-long mentor.  Or at least picture one of the detective films you’ve seen—or heard on the radio—from that time (e.g., Mr. Keen, Tracer of lost persons; Dragnet), with the smokiness of the rooms, the seediness of the neighborhoods, and the persistence of a committed private detective.  That’s the movie Edward Norton has written (based on Jonathan Lethen’s novel), produced, directed, and starred in, in Motherless Brooklyn.  Norton and his cinematographer Dick Pope capture this period’s mood and effluence of city corruption that ends up being a crime thriller, complete with car chases, goons, and the pressure of rescuing an endangered damsel.

     The extra intriguing twist to this story is that the main character Lionel Essrog (what a name!), played spot on by Norton, has Tourette’s Syndrome (a disorder involving involuntary tics and utterances).  It’s not really relevant or essential to the story, but adds a touch of color.  Lionel works in a private detective agency headed by his lifelong mentor Frank Minna (Willis).  From the time Frank took pity on and rescued Lionel from bullies in a boy’s home, he has continued to protect him.

     But Frank is also mysterious about jobs he’s working on, giving Lionel and the others only sketchy details about it, but explicit instructions about how to keep an eye out and what to do if…  The movie begins with just such a job, during which Frank is killed.  What ensues is Lionel following the slim clues he’s been given or picked up to find the killer.

     This leads him into major city politics and Frank’s role in it; Moses Randolph (Baldwin), who seems to be in charge of major city “improvements”; a homeless man (Dafoe); activist    Gabby Horowitz (Jones); and a mysterious “black woman” Laura Rose (Mbitha-Raw).

     The novel—and consequently the film—seem to be at least loosely based on true historical events in the 1950’s, documented in a 2018 film, Citizen Jane:  Battle for the City, when Robert Moses, a city planner, began to dismantle city neighborhoods to construct freeways and bridges through them without regard for the people affected.  That is what is happening in this film, but it’s put into a drama that is exciting and will pull at the heartstrings.  

     This is a fun movie for those who can get into period dramas from not too long ago and follow leads and cues the detective Lionel chases—all while explaining his “brain problem.”  The cast is superb (what a juxtaposition of Baldwin’s Moses Randolph and his “Saturday Night Live” Trump impersonations), with Norton capturing the Tourette-plagued Lionel, Mbitha-Raw as an attractive, accomplished woman with a dark history, Willem Dafoe as the mysterious homeless man with a significant background, Bobby Cannavale as a compromised man, and Leslie Mann, Michael K. Williams, and Cherry Jones all providing star-quality performances.

A cloak and dagger story harking back to the 1950s with the added twist of a detective with Tourette’s, but possessing a formidable memory.

Grade:  B                                                By Donna R. Copeland

WELCOME TO MARWEN

Eiza Gonzalez     Steve Carell     Leslie Mann     Diane Kruger

Gwendoline Christie     Janelle Monae     Merritt Wever

     “Welcome to Marwen”—just know that your visit will be a strange one.  Based on a true story, this film by director and co-writer Robert Zemeckis was inspired by a 2010 documentary about the life and work of Mark Hogancamp, a man who was severely beaten outside a bar after his reference to people he was chatting with about cross-dressing.  Prior to this incident, he was an illustrator; but after his impairments (occurring after a nine-day coma and having to relearn how to eat, talk and write), he turned to photography; and to cope with the psychological after-effects, he used dolls and fantasies about them to work through his increased anxiety.

     The film begins with one of these fantasies in which the doll “Mark” (Carell) encounters German soldiers in WWII, and just when it looks like they will capture him, a group of powerful female soldiers rescue him and finish off the Germans.  This is only one of hundreds of scenarios Mark has come up with, in which he draws on the people he meets in his community for his characters (dolls).

     Mark Hogancamp is regarded as an “outsider artist”, one who has little/no educational background, but whose works become highly regarded by connoisseurs.  It’s admirable that he was able to use his remaining skills after the injuries to therapeutically work through the trauma.  Robert Zemeckis’s idea of using this material for a feature film is intriguing, but somehow it doesn’t work.  The actors are excellent (especially Carell showing the confusion and bewilderment of a troubled soul), and the special effects to capture puppets as real people are likewise impressive.  However, the alternations between reality and fantasy fail to engage.  I think another aspect of the film that doesn’t work is the attempt to portray a therapeutic approach—especially one used by an individual on his own. This is a turn-off for many viewers, who are not necessarily able to grasp the value of, for instance, an adult “playing” with dolls.  Unfortunately, I imagine that many will regard this as simply silly, even though it’s not, really.

     On a final note, it’s disquieting to see so many fine actresses wasted, such as Diane Kruger, Gwendoline Christie, and Janelle Monae.  Their roles are minimal.  Merritt Wever is perfect as a sensible, kind helper who is able to see past the weaknesses of Mark. Leslie Mann is featured more than the other actresses, but her child-like voice and manner bring nothing to the table of quality.

Visiting Marwen is likely to unnerve most viewers.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

BLOCKERS

Leslie Mann     John Cena     Ike Barinholtz     Kathryn Newton     Geraldine Viswanathan    Gideon Adlon    Graham Phillips

     Ah, parents!  Three of them in this farce turn out to be helicopter parents bent on redoing their own youth through their children.  Which, of course, turns out to be interference.  “The Kids are All Right” as the 2010 entitled movie showed, and they’re all right here too, making much more sense than their parents—well, most of them.  Three of the teens’ parents were all right too; it’s just the other three who need an intervention.

     The basic conflict is that snooping parents find out that their three daughters plan to lose their virginity on prom night.  They’re set off for different reasons, but Lisa (Mann), Mitchell (Cena), and ambivalent Hunter (Barinholtz) simply assume that they should not let that happen.  

     Director Kay Cannon uses a script from Brian and Jim Kehoe to create a spoof about parents having to let go of their maturing children and protest it by including themselves in the kids’ prom night, of all times!  Of course, they are convinced that their only interest is in protecting their daughters from unscrupulous boys and “ruining their lives.”  It makes for a lot of laughs, without too much damage done.  Along the way, though, these intentions get them into hot water and embarrassing moments when they ironically get caught by their kids. (Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?  That parents “catch” their kids doing something?

     Blockers hits the mark in a number of places where, for instance, Lisa describes fears for her daughter Julie (Newton) that are clearly a reflection of her own disappointed hopes at that age. Especially funny is father Hunter, who has been an AWOL dad, but more than the others has kept up with millennials, and knows something about their culture and can interpret emojis. This is not always helpful, but at least he has some sense of the need for parents to step back.  No one heeds him, so in a desperate (although late) attempt to stay involved, he goes along with Lisa and Mitchell in their attempts to “rescue” their daughters.

     Where I think Blockers goes over the top is in the assumption that the more shocking something is, the funnier it is. Filmmakers don’t always recognize that fine line between dialog that is life-funny and that which simply turns the viewer off.  Example:  An innocent but determined character telling her partner to put his penis in her vagina in just those words.  No human is likely to say that, so it’s just not funny.  On the other hand, seeing uptight parents happening upon a couple play-acting a sex drama will make you laugh.

     Another place I think the filmmakers missed an opportunity is in deemphasizing the conflict between the sensible parent (who is a doctor) and her husband Mitchell and the parents of Julie’s boyfriend Austin (Phillips), all advising the trio to stay out of their children’s lives.  Maybe this is because Blockers is meant to be comedy over drama.

     Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, and John Cena are hilarious as the three interfering parents, all for different reasons, but consistent with their characters.  

A mostly funny account of parental meddling.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE COMEDIAN

Robert De Niro     Leslie Mann     Danny DeVito     Cloris Leachman     Harvey Keitel     Edie Falco     Patti LuPone

     Being truly funny takes talent, and The Comedian misses the mark; there are a few out-loud laughs in it, but mostly it tries to be funny by saying outrageous things nearly always with a sexual reference.  The movie won’t grab you.  Actually, the story is more interesting than the jokes.  Jackie (De Niro) is looking washed up as a comedian with a television sitcom, “Eddie’s Home”, which people have so identified with the actor they want to call him Eddie off stage.  And they either want him to entertain them with more Eddie on the spot (most annoying for him) or try to impress him with their own rendition of the Eddie character. 

     Jackie has gotten a lot of mileage as a stand-up comedian with insults that are supposed to make people laugh, and in his audiences there are as many horrified looks as there are chuckles.  (I suppose we’re supposed to think that is funny as well.)  He’s having a hard time winding down, and as a result has major anger issues, which land him in the clink.  He just can’t shut his mouth.  His agent (Falco in a fine performance) is patient with him as the daughter of his former agent, even though she is the frequent recipient of his bile.  She tries her best to get him to shape up and not insult the people she has gotten to hire him.

     During his post prison community service gig, his path crosses that of Harmony (Mann) with the same anger issues and a daddy complex.  Daddy is wealthy Mac Bernstein (Keitel), whom Jackie finds largely offensive, and the feeling is mutual.  Harmony is resistant to Jackie’s charm—which he can turn on—and his subtle advances, but she finds his comedy so endearing, she weakens. 

     The Comedian has a fine cast who are all at their best.  De Niro, Mann, and Keitel are entirely convincing in their roles.  Leachman is wonderful in her sharp comebacks and the portrayal of a very old star.  De Vito and LuPone make a great older Jewish couple just wanting to give their daughter a beautiful wedding and trying to tolerate Jackie’s dependence on them.  But the deficient script by Art Linson, Jeffrey Ross, Richard LaGravenese, and Lewis Friedman gives them little that actually works, further handicapping the work of Director Taylor Hackford.

     There is a major surprise towards the end, which is meant to give some punch to the emotional and relationship issues, but the very end is marred by blatantly copying the pièce de résistance from another well-known film not so long ago.

This is a rather mundane tragic tale of a comedian.

Grade:  D+                                                By Donna R. Copeland

VACATION

Ed Helms     Christina Applegate     Chris Hemsworth     Leslie Mann     Chevy Chase

Vacation did not seem like a vacation to me at all.  The writers/directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein must have used some kind of formula in which each joke or episode has to be done at least twice and every so many minutes there will be a joke about sex, bodily functions, or physical or verbal bumbling.  At least partly, the formula is based on numerous versions of the original National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), which makes it outdated, but even so, additional sequels are planned.  Clearly, many people enjoy this kind of humor, but to do each joke and incident twice and not come up with anything close to creative makes me tired.

           Rusty (Helms) is a pilot for a small airline, and the story begins with his older co-pilot thanking him for sticking up for him in keeping his job.  Of course, the old man immediately begins showing he is too old by repeating himself three times (funny the first time, but overkill for the second and third) and doing such a bad job piloting when Rusty is away from the cockpit, the plane starts bouncing around throwing Rusty right into the boobs of an attractive passenger (this happens at least three times).  And this is only in the first five minutes of the film.

           Briefly, Rusty overhears that his wife is tired of going to the same place for vacation year after year, so he plans a trip to a theme park (Walley World) dear to his heart without consulting his family.  He rents a foreign car, which he doesn’t know how to operate, and which sets the scene for repeated jokes of the car being out of control and Rusty’s repeated bumbling in trying to operate it.  Of course, they have horrendous accidents, but they all come out unscathed.  Ah, how funny.  They’re going on a 2,000 plus mile journey, so there will be plenty of time for shenanigans, usually with Rusty being the butt of the jokes because of his ineptness.

           Aside from simply not being funny, Vacation is obnoxious in giving a high five to a young kid mouthing off, swearing, and being cruel; glorifying/making light of over-drinking; and solving problems by physical violence.  The adolescent son who has some appreciation for cultural and educational aspirations and nonviolence is poked fun at; whereas his cheeky younger brother is held up as a model.  When his older brother finally takes him down, this is presented as heroic because he did it by (mildly) beating him up. 

There is one scene in Vacation that I did find truly funny, despite its slapstick tinges.  I won’t give anything away, but it takes place at Four Corners, where four states meet and involves officers from each state quarreling, each trying to maintain his/her control of territory. 

Save your money; just rent the original National Lampoon’s Vacation, and you will have seen a better version of this.  Go only if bodily functions, stupidity, and sex make you roll over with laughter.

Grade:  F                                           By Donna R. Copeland