MEMORY

 Liam Neeson     Monaca Bellucci     Guy Pearce

            No justice?  Well…maybe…  That’s the subject of this thriller starring Liam Neeson in the role of a paid assassin; that is, is justice ever served, really?

            The extra twist in this movie based on an earlier Belgium movie entitled The Memory of a Killer is that the paid assassin is suffering from progressing Alzheimer’s Disease.  In this case, Alex Lewis (Neeson) is in his later years and planning to retire.  No more “jobs.”  But as a favor to an old friend, he agrees to take on one more.  “Famous last words” and all that.

            The beginning of the intrigue is a bit confusing at first, with six different people in different places introduced right away.  Keep track because you’ll encounter all of them later.  The upshot is that Alex has been persuaded to take on another job.  We quickly move from Guadalajara to El Paso to Mexico City and back to El Paso.  Essentially, the plot addresses the fundamental issue of whether justice can ever be served.  There are different kinds of justice, of course—what happens to those caught up in something in which they have no control—and true justice in which perpetrators of cruelty are given their comeuppance.  Those who are complicit in injustice are likewise addressed.

            Vincent Serra (Pearce) is a committed FBI agent who takes an interest in a child, Beatriz (Mia Sanchez in a top performance), caught up in something she cannot possibly understand.  She’s the daughter of a trafficker snared by Serra and his team.  He recognizes her innocence (an emotion we later learn is possibly based on his own experience) and tries to see that she is protected by U.S. child protective agencies.  Here, the issue of the treatment of undocumented people is touched upon.  (A strength of this film is its ability to layer related social issues.)

            The history of the plot itself is based on first a book by Jef Geeraerts, a film, “De zaak Alzheimer” by Carl Joos and Erik Van Looy and a screenplay by Dario Scardapane.  Director Martin Campbell with his collaborators cinematographer David Tattersall, musician Photek, and the actors Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce and the rest of the cast deliver a thoughtful action film that is worthy of the genre.  

            Memory is a thriller through and through where we see a paid assassin acting on personal limits (which are explained in the end) creating such an uproar he ends up being on the side of the FBI agent he deems to be moral and committed.  I liked that in the end justice can be served.

 

An unlikely thriller in which moral limits are tested and found to be among those least admired.

 

Grade:  A                              By Donna R. Copeland

MADE IN ITALY

Liam Neeson     Michael Richardson    Lindsay Duncan

     Any movie with Italy in the title attracts me instantly because of the wonderful trips I’ve had there with incredulous landscapes, welcoming natives, and cultural milieu.  And this film does not disappoint in that sense.  The setting is mostly in Tuscany, among the rolling hills, luscious vegetation, and camaraderie of the Italians.   Provocatively, the story begins in a British art gallery where the owners are splitting up.  (Actually, the husband is being dumped by the wife whose family owns the gallery.)

     That is the underlying theme to begin with, but the crux of the story is about the young man—the husband above—who in desperation looks up his estranged father with the hope of selling a seldom-used property in Italy so he can buy the gallery in New York.

     Robert (Neeson) is surprised to hear from his son Jack (Richardson), but gamely travels to the property in Italy—actually a small estate—with the plan to sell it. As is often the case in old houses, memories abound, and it is there we get the back-stories of Jack and Robert. (Note that these are two men who are typically reticent, and their accounts are slow in coming.)  But in the meantime, the viewer can experience the richness of the Italian landscape and people.

     The story of the two men includes the sudden death of the older man’s wife and the younger man’s mother.  After that, the father tries to protect his son from painful memories and in so doing unwittingly closes off not only his relationship with his son, but also the child with his mother.  The beauty of the plot (although rather expected) is that in renovating the house, the two men restore their connection.

     Liam Neeson as the father is exemplary as always, and Michael Richardson fits the role as son extremely well.  Lindsay Duncan as the real estate agent brings genuine comic relief, and Valeria Bilello as the young restaurateur add color and interest to the plot.

     Made in Italy is a pleasure to watch, certainly for those who have been to Italy, but likely also for those with aspirations to visit.  I would recommend it as a pleasant evening entertainment.

Made in Italy will take you there for a pleasant visit.

Grade:  C+                                    Donna R. Copeland

MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL

Tessa Thompson    Christopher Hemsworth     Kumail Nanjiani     Liam Neeson

Emma Thompson     Rafe Spall     Rebecca Ferguson

     

     This is Men in Black:  International; so it will take place in Brooklyn, Paris, London, Marrakesh, and “Riza’s fortified fortress of sheer death”—wherever that is.  Following the High T’s (Neeson) maxim:  “Always remember:  The universe has a way of leading you to where you’re supposed to be, at the moment you’re supposed to be there”, Agents H (Hemsworth) and M (Thompson) will travel the world to uncover the Hive enemy or (God forbid!) a mole within their own organization.

     Molly has been interested in coming to know “the truth of the universe” since she was a child and visited by an alien.  She protected said alien from the authorities looking for him, and upon fleeing he made a promise to her in his own language, although she didn’t understand what he said.  Subsequently, she always took note when strange happenings occurred, and when she was grown up, she began looking seriously for ‘them’ (Men in Black). She actually does find them, much to the chagrin of Agent O (Thompson), who reluctantly gives in to her pleas and assigns her the name of ‘M’, sending her on assignment under the supervision of Agent H to find and destroy the enemy.

     Although Agent H has an excellent reputation and is tapped to take the High T’s place when he retires, at this time, he appears to be “vaguely inept, arrogant, and reckless”—in the words of M after she has come to know him.  But he is experienced.  She, on the other hand, seems gifted with both a sixth sense and logical reasoning in solving problems.  These two:  What a combination for a team, but there’s an underlying “like” for each other that keeps them working together.

     The main plot for this film is weak; that is, we don’t get much invested in the intrigues and struggles of the Men in Black until, maybe, the very end when the mole is revealed.  But there are some creative insertions along the way that help keep us engaged.  One is a tiny being who has lost his queen and becomes attached to M.  She names him Pawny (voice of Nanjiani), and he becomes her protector, as well as the arbiter in M’s conflicts with H.  He is also the resident comedian.  Another is M’s unexpectedly encountering the alien she protected years before.

     I think this film is a victim, like so many remakes and sequels these days, of a “been there; done that” reaction.  It appears that business aims are taking precedence over creativity in films like this.  They’re reasonably well done in terms of craft, but the mark of “retread” is unmistakable.  In this instance, there is not much that is new and creative to make us go, “Wow!”

Think of this film as simply another retread in the genre of “action, adventure, comedy.” 

Grade:  C                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS

Liam Neeson     James Franco     Tim Blake Nelson     Tom Waits     Zoe Kazan     Grainger Hines

Harry Melling     Brendan Gleeson     Jonjo O’Neill     Chelcie Ross     Tyne Daly     Saul Rubinek

      Ethan and Joel Coen have chosen to produce a western anthology containing six stories for their latest film.  Most of the main characters in each are loners, and there is at least one death in every story, but there are surprises in every one, particularly for the victims.  Characteristic of the Coens as well, humor—even if it’s sick—pops up from time to time. The music by Carter Burwell and cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel increase the artistic quality of the western stories significantly.

     In the first story titled “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”, Tim Blake Nelson is Scruggs, a singing cowboy, who receives a dare everywhere he goes.  He’s a sharp shooter who can even hit his target looking backward through a handheld mirror—which doesn’t exactly jive with his crooning talents.

     In “Near Algodones”, Cowboy (Franco) looks up to see an isolated bank in Tucumcari, New Mexico, thinking it will be an easy target, especially with only one old man as a single teller.

     In “Meal Ticket”, Impresario (Neeson) carries a paraplegic “Thespian orator” (Melling) through western towns to deliver poems and addresses based on the Bible and Abraham Lincoln’s speeches to the local townspeople.  The two support themselves by taking up collections at the end of each performance.  Then, the impresario discovers that a chicken might be just as entertaining.

     The next two stories are the best.  In “All Gold Canyon”, Tom Waits is a prospector panning for gold.  He mumbles constantly—either to his horse or to a deity, or someone else, not sure which—but after panning doggedly for gold, he finds a mother lode.  But…someone has been following him all this time and sees what he has discovered.

      In “The Gal Who Got Rattled”, Alice (Kazan) and her brother are in a wagon train headed for Oregon, where he has a business opportunity and the hope that his partner will want to marry Alice.  Unexpected events occur, which means that Alice is on her own and must make decisions for herself.

     Finally, in “The Mortal Remains” five travelers are in a stagecoach headed for Ft. Morgan.  It’s a motley group: Two bounty hunters, a French gambler, the wife of a minister, and a trapper.  They have rather tedious arguments about humankind (“There are two types, hale and frail”, “No, there are the upright and the sinners”). The trapper says he has only one kind, the dead, “but they’re different…” he allows.  The fears of death among three in the group are readily apparent when it’s time to stop, and the “bounty” of the bounty hunters is carried out in a bag and inside and up the stairs.  They have to force themselves to go inside.   

     The “surprised by death” theme is one thing that connects all the stories, except for the last one in which we’re left with not being sure whether or not the three passengers have something to fear.  At any rate, death is on their minds.  And, by the way, the Coen meanings/points/connections between the stories are not obvious in the least.  

More quirky, thoughtful, humorous tales from the Coen brothers.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

WIDOWS

Viola Davis     Liam Neeson     Robert Duvall     Colin Farrell     Michelle Rodriguez

Elizabeth Debieki     Cynthia Erivo     Brian Tyree Henry     Daniel Kaluuya

     Hold onto your seat; despite the leading title, this movie will keep you on edge—and on your toes—throughout the two-hours-plus time.  Rapid cuts between love scenes and major crime in the beginning shake you and disorient you, and then you must figure out who are all the characters thrown at you in the first few minutes.  

     Basically, if you’ve seen the previews, you know that the widow of a slain criminal contacts the other widows of her husband’s accomplices with a plan to secure their future after she finds the notebook he made sure she would get. As happens a lot in this film with men and women, he has underestimated her feminine wiles and will.

     In a role made for her, Viola Davis as Veronica uses her head after she is threatened by a rival gang, the Manning brothers (Henry and Kaluuya), who demand money from her that her husband Harry Rawlings (Neeson) stole.  Jamal Manning is determined to join the wealthy of the world, using his brother Jatemme as a fearsome hit man with no limits as to what he will do.  

     Corruption in city government is intertwined with criminal elements, assuring that interconnections among the characters will inevitably occur.  For example, Tom Mulligan (Duvall) and his son Jack (Farrell) are corrupt city officials who mete out city contracts to their friends.  Jack is currently running for city comptroller against Jamal Manning. All of them were well acquainted with Harry Rawlings when he was alive.  

     The main characters in this well-conceived plot are after the money that is now missing (burned up?) from the Rawlings caper that went down.  You will know who, if any, will end up with it only after many thrills and chills along the way.  The women occupy the stage most of the time, and actually, the men don’t come across well at all.  We see honor and care among the women who are following in their husband’s footsteps, but not in the same way.  The male characters are shown to be duplicitous, violent, and reactionary. 

     Writer-director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame) and screenwriter Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) based the movie on the popular British television series written by Lynda La Plante of Prime Suspect fame.  With this much talent, it’s not surprising that their production is of such high quality.  No cheap thrills here, every inch of it is solid and has internal consistency and believability.  Hans Zimmer’s score and Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography provide an additional degree of excellence.

     Quotable quotes:  “You reap what you sow”; the reply:  “I hope so” and “If something goes wrong, I want my kids to know that I didn’t just sit there.” 

For an exciting, invigorating, suspense-filled evening go see Widows.

Grade:  A                                                  By Donna R. Copeland

MARK FELT: THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE

Liam Neeson     Diane Lane     Marton Csokas     Josh Lucas     Michael C. Hall   

 Bruce Greenwood     Tony Goldwyn     Tom Sizemore     Julian Morris

     FBI agent Mark Felt was profoundly disturbed by his knowledge of the White House’s involvement in the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, and felt impelled by his conscience to do something about it anonymously.  He had been an agent for 30 years, and was completely devoted to its principles and solicitous of its integrity.  When J. Edgar Hoover died unexpectedly, there was a shake-up in leadership, and because President Nixon and his staff wished to have more control over the agency, they chose to pass over Felt, the #2 man with a spotless reputation, and put in the director’s place L. Patrick Gray, who would be more of an ally to them.

    This was a period of time when the FBI and the White House engaged in a number of clandestine activities such as bugging the offices of political rivals, activist groups, or just anyone it considered suspicious.  One of Hoover’s agents, Bill Sullivan, was especially skilled in these nefarious activities, and when the White House realized he could be useful even after Hoover had already dismissed him, the White House appointed him head of its own intelligence office.

    Soon after this film begins and Felt (Neeson) is passed over for the directorship in favor of Gray (Csokas), Sullivan (Sizemore) is appointed to the White House.  Felt sees this as very bad news, knowing that it would compromise the independence of the FBI.  In fact, the White House was successful in pressuring Gray to suspend the FBI’s investigation of White House involvement in the Watergate break-in.  As he witnesses the increasing erosion of democratic government, Felt begins to use what power he has to expose what is happening through the media.  He was able to keep his actions secret for 30 years.

    With all the secret machinations and intrigue going on in so many areas of the government during the time, this story should keep you on the edge of your seat.  It doesn’t.  Moreover, the story is not well told in the sense that characters are introduced without any explanation as to why they are, so by the end it’s not clear who is who, how they got to be where they were, or any of the intense emotions they must have been experiencing.  The only emotion in evidence is in a side story inappropriately inserted about Mark Felt’s missing daughter. 

    Neeson and the other main characters—Marton Csokas, Josh Lucas, Tom Sizemore—play their roles well; it is the script that lets them down.  Another example is Diane Lane, a fine actress who plays Felt’s wife.  We see brief glimpses of her and can tell she is very unhappy, but little about their marriage and family is elucidated, except, of course, about the daughter, which is still sketchy and seems only an excuse for the filmmakers to introduce some affect into a rather plodding script.

    Director Peter Landesman adapted the screenplay from Mark Felt’s book, which I have not read, but wonder if it is as dry as the film.  I wish I had come away from it with a good understanding of what happened, relate it to present-day events, and feel inspired by Mark Felt’s adherence to principles at not inconsiderable cost to himself.

This film will not give you a clear picture of the events surrounding the Watergate scandal.

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland

A MONSTER CALLS

Lewis MacDougall     Sigourney Weaver     Felicity Jones     Toby Kebbell     Geraldine Chaplin     Liam Neeson

          Recurring nightmares can be transformed into a fable to guide a 13 year-old boy in coping with his mother’s terminal illness.   A Monster Calls—originally a novel by Patrick Ness and realized in a movie with the same title by Director J. A. Bayona—uses Conor’s (MacDougall) nightmares to help him accept the anger inside him and face the reality of his mother’s condition.  In the wonderfully artistic, animated film (Cinematographer Oscar Faura, Production Designer Eugenio Caballero and the special effects crew), the Monster (voice of Neeson) is a yew tree near Conor’s house which comes alive as a huge gnarly monster.  The yew tree is considered to have healing powers, but we also find out later that this particular tree is meaningful to Conor’s mother.  Conor is very close to his mother (his father is far away in another country), and they have a special connection in their artwork.

          The Monster is not a gentle tree, it comes crashing through Conor’s house breaking up everything in its wake with fiery eyes at exactly 12:07 am.  It will appear three times to tell him a story, and at the fourth time, Conor must tell his story.  Conor resists it with everything he can muster, which is not what he does with the bully at school.  That’s because he is not ready to acknowledge the anger inside.  But after his mother tells him after the Monster’s first visit that the yew tree has healing powers, he asks the Monster for help in making his mother better.

        Each of the Monster’s stories produces a strong reaction in Conor that results in destruction, anguish, and agonizing over their meaning.  The Monster’s answers to Conor’s insistent questions (“Who’s the good guy here!?”) involve paradoxes meant to help Conor evolve from his black and white view of people and the world to one that contains the complexities of life and human nature, e.g., “You meant it and you did not mean it.  Both are true.”

        An important component of the story is that after Conor’s acting out his anger in various ways, he is not punished.  Instead, when he asks in wonder why, he is told, “What could possibly be the point?”  Adults like his grandmother (Weaver), whom he detests, his father (Kebbell) and the head teacher (Chaplin) take it for granted that he is angry and needs to express it.  Kudos to these wise, insightful authority figures.

        A Monster Calls is in the genre of tales like “Hansel and Gretel”, where horrific fantasies are intended to teach principles that help children grow up.  It explicitly and forcefully shows the debilitating effects of cancer and its effect on the patient’s child/children, but it also offers an effective means for children to use to get through the experience.  Art has been shown time after time to be effective in helping children express their thoughts and feelings about illness, death, and loss.  This film beautifully presents a graphic representation of how/why that is helpful.

A raw, realistic look at terminal illness from a bullied child’s point of view, redeemed by a graphic illustration of what can help.

Grade:  A                    Donna R. Copeland

RUN ALL NIGHT

Liam Neeson     Ed Harris     Joel Kinnaman     Common     Vincent D’Onofrio

 

Run all Night is another Liam Neeson picture in which he might be half dead, but can still manage to be a hero in a gun fight or even pass a physical test of brawn.  Here, he is Jimmy Conlon, a gangster with rivers of blood on his hands, and going into old age with a guilty conscience.  One detective in particular trails him, trying to get a list of his victims.  I understand that policemen often have a case or a few cases that haunt them, ones that remain unpunished and seem to have particular resonance for the detective (observed by Richard Price, the novelist who accompanied crime scene units in New York for years, gathering information for his books and screenplays, in an interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air).   Detective Harding cannot even be civil to Conlon in a casual conversation in a café because he’s so bugged that Conlon has been left free.   Of course, Neeson’s character remains his characteristic droll, slight-taunting self.

      Conlon and Maquire (Harris) have been lifelong partners in crime, and Maquire has always said that “Wherever we’re going when we cross that line, we’re going together.”  That cannot possibly hold, however, when sons are involved.  Maquire’s son has taken after his father—although without nearly the smarts and caginess of the old man.  He has made promises to some gangsters that he cannot keep, and they come after him.  He continues to handle the situation poorly, and it results in a bloody mess.  By coincidence, Conlon’s son Mike (Kinnaman) is the driver of a limo outside Danny’s (Boyd Holbrook) apartment, waiting for his fare to return, and has witnessed enough of the melee that he is a threat to Danny.  Mike gets away, and runs to his apartment, knowing that Danny will be after him, so he needs to protect his family. 

      Jimmy has gotten wind of everything, and although they have been estranged for years, he begs his son to protect himself and his family, because he knows how criminals work, and that Danny will be coming after Mike.  But Mike has suffered because of his father’s occupation, resents him deeply, and thinks it best simply to call the police, which is against his father’s advice.  Conlon is keenly aware that his son won’t have a chance of fairness because of his father’s reputation. 

      Indeed, the father is right, and then follows a series of encounters in which father has to save son just in the nick of time.  Not only is law enforcement after both of them (the police have been purposefully misinformed), but Maquire has also sent out his own minions to get them, the most fearsome of all being a thug (Common) with a laser night vision eyepiece.

      In watching films like this, my practical mind always asks questions such as, “in a car chase where the occupants of the cars have guns, why don’t they simply shoot at the tires, rather than trying to play bumper cars?”  Why does Conlon stay silent, rather than explain situations?  Numerous times, he could have explained in more detail to Maquire why Danny got killed, or could have told his son that he left him and his mother in order for them to have a better life.  And finally, Jimmy looks so out of shape, alcoholic, and half dead at times—particularly in the beginning of the film—it’s really a stretch to think that he could even participate in a physical fight, let alone come out the victor time and time again.

      If these and other implausibilities can be ignored and you don’t mind seeing replays of other movies (like the Taken ones), you may find Run all Night to be an exciting film with one catastrophe after another, close calls, and heroics.  And it has the gifted actors Neeson and Harris doing their thing.

For those who like the Liam Neeson genre, you will find this film to be a fine run—all night.

Grade:  C- By Donna R. Copeland