THE GENTLEMEN

Matthew McConaughey    Charlie Hunnam    Michelle Dockery     Hugh Grant

Jeremy Strong     Colin Farrell     Henry Golding     Eddie Marsan

     It takes intelligence and wit to create a drama that successfully mixes satire with extreme violence a la Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Inglorious Bastards, and Pulp Fiction), and Guy Ritchie has done it here in giving us an entertaining spoof on the underworld of crime.  The characters must be colorful, are sometimes admirable, but do outrageous things and--most important—the script is key in smartly pulling it all together.  Ritchie, with co-writers Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, has woven together a complicated plot that fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.  It requires the viewer to pay attention and keep in mind intricate connections and multiple plots.

     The center of the action is legendary Mickey Pearson (McConaughey), who has established a multi-million dollar business in drugs, with the key element being that his operations are all top secret. His astute second, Ray (Hunnam), is entirely trustworthy and runs interference for him.  Mickey is devoted to his gorgeous wife Rosalind (Dockery), who has her own automobile business on the side.  All is humming along smoothly until word gets around that Mickey is ready to retire and pursue the good life.

     Enter sleazy Fletcher (Grant), a reporter who has been sent by his publisher (Big Dave) to take Mickey down by blackmailing him.  How he is trying to accomplish his assignment constitutes the major action of the story, which involves one of Mickey’s upper-class peers, Matthew (Strong); “Coach” (Farrell), a petty criminal trying to rehabilitate young bad boys; and numerous henchmen with brute strength on all sides.  This is a “guys’” movie in which all the main characters have brawn and lightning-quick reaction times, except for a few of the bad guys, who are shown to be quite puny.

     Casting is a strong asset, with cool McConaughey playing the good bad-guy, Hunnam being the canny one who must figure it all out, Grant being the smarty-pants who thinks he has it all figured out, and Farrell in a gem of a character role in which he is a little like the McConaughey figure—good and bad rolled up into one.  Michelle Dockery goes completely against her Downton Abbey persona to be a smart woman who has come up from the sticks with a Cockney accent.  Maybe I’ve been too swayed by HBO’s “Succession” drama, but Jeremy Strong—for all his good acting skills—just doesn’t seem quite believable as the evil Matthew.  Other supporting actors like Henry Golding and Eddie Marsan are excellent.

     Although the film is meant to be an entertaining spoof about different kinds of bad guys in the crime world, it does make some canny observations. One is that it goes against the common assumptions that upper class implies honesty and uprightness, while crime is more prevalent among the lower classes.  Ritchie mixes them all up in this drama.  Another point illustrated is that all drugs are not the same; some really do destroy lives and families, and other normally benign drugs can be contaminated.  Still another is that honor (and dishonor) can be found among all kinds of humans and their endeavors, and that even hideous violence can sometimes be supremely satisfying.

     BTW, I was especially gratified that there are no car chases in this action movie. Vehicles are used in various ways, and there are car accidents, but the generally obligatory car chase in most action movies is nowhere to be seen (satisfied “sigh!”).

This is an entertaining action movie with plenty of brawn, but one in which different wits are pitted against each other in a cat-and-mouse game.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

SERENITY

Matthew McConaughey     Anne  Hathaway     Diane Lane     Djmon Hounsou

Jason Clarke     Jeremy Strong     Rafael Sayegh

     The complexity of the plot in Serenity (which is far from serene) hypes up the excitement and intrigue, and keeps you guessing throughout.  The theme of “What is real?” gives it an added boost in depth as the viewer is forced to ask the question over and over in terms of the plot, but also in terms of each of the characters and their minds—along with ethical questions that will arise.  It is the talented work of Writer/Director Steven Knight who has given us previous—sometimes quiet—thrillers, as in Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises, andLocke, that stay on one’s mind after leaving the theater.

     The story starts out as a simple tale about a fisherman who seems to be suffering from PTSD following his medal-earning service in Iraq, which he is self-treating with alcohol.  He is gruff and single-minded, seems to have no inkling about human management and relationships, and is compulsive about finding a certain tuna in the ocean that he has named “Justice” (which, like everything else in the film smolders with symbolic meaning).  

     Baker Dill (McConaughey)—not his real name, of course—is shown to run rough-shod over employees such as loyal Duke (Hounsou) and clients, every incident of which always gets spread through the town of Plymouth, where “everybody knows everything.”  And they do seem to know; the instance something happens everybody knows about it, even deals made supposedly in secret. There’s only one bar in town, which is part of the explanation, and a certain cat owner named Constance (Lane) has a perfect view of the dock from where all boats go to sea, but word also seems to travel mysteriously.

     Some may get turned off by the occult references in the film, but, to me, that only adds to its intrigue.  It’s done so subtly (and some kinds of supernatural events have been accepted in some circles), and for substantive reasons (as in a father connecting with his son), I could easily accept it as part of the story. Besides, the ending is so ambiguous in terms of what really happened, it’s one of those delightful films where you can pick the ending you favor.  Either it’s a fantasy of someone’s mind, or it’s a realistic account of what happened.  The capper for these thoughts is Baker’s comment about a telephone call he’s just had:  “I didn’t have enough coins to get in that conversation” [about what was real]. 

     McConaughey is in his usual form, capturing a character central to the plot of a movie. Here again, he confirms his status as a top-notch actor.  His movies vary considerably in quality, but in Serenity, he has chosen a role within a plot that is both complex and airtight.  The rest of the cast measures up to the task of characters who are presented as strong and convincing:  Anne Hathaway as the somewhat mysterious element of Baker’s/John’s past whose presence unnerves him; Djmon Hounsou as the one Baker asks to be his conscience, but intermittently dismisses; Jason Clarke as a thoroughly reprehensible husband; Jeremy Strong as an ambiguous figure offering an ambiguous bargain; Diane Lane as an important grounding connection for Baker; and finally, young Rafael Sayegh as Patrick, an elusive game-inventor-player who may or may not be real.

A delightful and thrilling exploration into reality/fantasy possibilities and the questioning of the rules of the game.

Grade:  A                        By Donna R. Copeland

WHITE BOY RICK

Matthew McConaughey    Jennifer Jason Leigh     Richie Merritt     Bel Powley

Rory Cochrane     Eddie Marsan     Bruce Dern     Piper Laurie     Brian Tyree Henry

     

     Recipe for disaster:  A lower middle class family living in Detroit in the ‘80s near a predominantly African-American section of town; FBI agents who are aware that the father is dealing guns illegally (although they’re not pursuing him) and that the son is developing friendships with the drug dealers in the black community, recruit Rick (Merritt) to become an informant for them.  

     What could go wrong?  A lot.  The trouble is, there are additional unanticipated factors and events that will complicate the picture.  The father, Richard Wershe (McConaughey), is an eternal optimist (“I’m a glass-is-half-full kind of guy”) who hasn’t done well, but sustains his dream of owning a string of video stores that will make him rich and able to take care of his kids, Rick and Dawn (Powley), and no longer need financial help from his parents.  He is good at communicating with his son about his business plan of selling guns (which he is clearly overly attached to) to get capital for his dream, but doesn’t seem to have the foggiest notion about guiding Rick or Dawn in sensible behavior and avoiding pitfalls and destructive temptations.

     So a lot goes down, with Rick getting more and more entrenched in shady dealings, Dawn making poor choices in the company she keeps, and Richard trying desperately to hold everything together.  It’s a statement about unmet needs, skimpy education, and desperate plans that have slim chances of success.  But the film also takes punches at black-white disparities in the criminal justice system, unethical practices of government agencies, and the inability of government to deal with economically ravaged cities such as Detroit in the 1980’s.  

     This is a difficult, painful film to watch from beginning to end, in its exquisite picture of flawed parenting, inadequacies in government service, seductiveness of drugs in distressed populations and the resultant crime, and the disparities in black vs. white lifestyles and communities and the criminal justice system.  The only positive element in all this mess is the example of family loyalty, which would be the primary support sustaining Rick for the rest of his life.

     White Boy Rick is a realistic picture of the 1980’s, but, unfortunately, shows that we have not made as much progress in social welfare and justice as we should have (or as I wished we would have). It could have made sharper connections between family dysfunction, social services, and the legal system, and how factors in all areas had such an impact on a young man’s life.

     The esteemed actor Matthew McConaughey clearly holds this film together in his ability to make the screen come alive when he is present, and then have this presence echo in the scenes where he is absent.  For his first film, Richie Merritt makes an impressive appearance, at home with his character and able to show a range of emotion.  Although not much more than a cameo, Bruce Dern and his brilliant blue piercing eyes gives us an extra treat.  Max Richter’s score with its doomsday tones and dramatic thrusts is a worthy accompaniment.

I realize that films like this need to be made, but they are painful to watch because of their realistic commentary about contemporary life.

Grade:  C                                By Donna R. Copeland

THE DARK TOWER

Idris Elba     Matthew McConaughey     Abbey Lee     Tom Taylor     Dennis Haysbert

     “There are other worlds than these”, says a character in The Dark Tower, based on a series of novels by Stephen King.  Apparently, this is a sequel that picks up where the novels end.  And during the film, which starts out in Keystone Earth, we’re transported to the Mid-World, another reality altogether.  First, we meet Jake (Taylor), a rather odd child who gets into trouble so frequently he’s in psychotherapy.  The reason he seems odd is that he has such realistic dreams he begins to think there is more to it.  He draws pictures of what he sees and tries to explain to his mother, his friend, and his therapist what he is sensing, but no one understands.  His mother and his friend just walk away mystified, and his therapist relates his fantasies to the father he has lost.

     In desperation, his mother considers sending him to a “clinic” for the weekend, but Jake is convinced there is nothing wrong with him, and that he is simply trying to understand what his experience is telling him.  When he sees that he’ll be forced to go, and that the driver looks like someone characteristic of people in his dreams, he bolts.

     Jake is clever and brave, managing to elude his pursuers, and follow clues to get to the source of his dreams.  What follows after that, is his being transported (not gently) to the Middle World, where he straightaway encounters Roland The Gunslinger (Elba) of his dreams.  Interestingly, Jake has made detailed drawings of his dreams, and Roland and Walter, the Man in Black (McConaughey), are accurately depicted.  Jake recognizes Roland immediately, but Roland has no idea who Jake is, does not want to be bothered, and really wants to get back to his business of revenge against Walter.  Jake, not willing to be thrust aside, gets drawn into the struggle, and to the film’s credit, a satisfying father-son bonding develops. 

     The film could have been a touching, meaningful (and sometimes it is) journey searching for a lost father.  Unfortunately, the filmmakers make it more a glorification of guns, revenge, and even sugar(!).  (Bad joke about sugar, which kids don’t need to hear.)  Jake is tutored carefully in shooting (which is not necessarily a bad thing) with mantras like, “I don’t kill with my gun; I kill with my mind.”  “I don’t kill with my gun; I kill with my heart.”  “He who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.”  But the culmination of all this is a visually spectacular orgy of vengeful gunfire and killing that seems to go on forever (to me).  All this is done in such a way it made me think it was dreamed up by the NRA for an advertisement.

   Instead of the gunfire, I wish the filmmakers had made more of the mind control techniques used by Jake and Roland, which, in the end, were much more powerful.  The film wanted us to think that it was the final gun battle that was the decisive victory, but how much more helpful it would be for young people to see how much their self-discipline and mindfulness could be potent, decisive forces in actualizing events.

     Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey elevate any film they are in, and they are certainly topnotch here.  The cinematography (Rasmus Videbaek) and visual effects make it exciting.  But the problem with this film is in adapting Stephen King’s work to a successful film.  Somewhere along the way, the thrust of his powerful fiction gets diluted.  The director, Nikolaj Arcel, has a fine record (director, A Royal Affair, writer, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo); the producers are acclaimed (e.g., Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Stephen King), and yet it seems less than.  (Could it be that gun advocates like the NRA and sugar dispensers in soft drinks exerted an effect?  I don’t know.)

This is an intriguing story based on Stephen King’s work that misses the mark.

Grade:  D+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

GOLD

Matthew McConaughey     Edgar Ramirez     Bryce Dallas Howard     Corey Stoll     Stacy Keach     Bruce Greenwood     Toby Kebbell    

         Paunchy, bald, and with a huge beer belly, McConaughey is practically unrecognizable as a prospector in Gold.  Stemming from a dream he had one night, Kenny Wells, an employee of Washoe Mining Corporation, is convinced there is gold in Indonesia.  He does some research, then flies over to contact geologist Mike Acosta (Ramirez), who has previously found gold there.  Wells is a fast-talking salesman type, and finally convinces Acosta to join him in prospecting a new location that Acosta knows about.

          After scrambling for money from investors, the two start their operation, only to run into major problems with worker dissatisfaction, malaria, and Indonesian government interference.  Ramirez has to step in more than once to rescue the operation.  At one point, investor company Brown Thomas offers a strategic alliance, but cocky Wells refuses.  He is so confident, he boasts, “The last card you turn over is the only one that matters”; he is sure he will turn over the winning card.  At times during the film, it seems like this is a prophecy; at other times, it’s also a prophecy.

          Gold does a really fine job of illustrating the old story about the ups and downs of investing in commodities.  When Washoe makes it onto the New York Stock Exchange, it looks like Wells and Ramirez have it made.  One of the themes throughout is that it’s always important to have a back-up plan, and across time, this becomes readily apparent to all the major investors, particularly Wells. 

         Ambiguity is another running theme:  Who are the good/bad guys?  Is this turn of events a good or bad thing?  Will what is found be valuable or worthless?  Can the Sukarno government connection be trusted?  Questions such as these keep the suspense going, particularly since the script calls for swings back and forth.  It’s never predictable how things are going to turn out, and even at the very end, viewers will have questions.

          McConaughey is a well known gifted actor with 50 awards and 67 nominations, and he is up to his best in Gold—as repulsive as his character often is.  I admire the “hunk’s” willingness not only to be cast as this kind of figure, but to gain 50 pounds and look bald for it as well.  Ramirez is a fine match for him, often coming across as the stronger figure, the rescuer of the McConaughey character.  Supporting actors are strong, although Howard’s character is not prominent; but Kebbell as the FBI agent questioning Wells, Keach and Stoll as canny investors, and Greenwood as a spoiler enrich the production.

          The experience of screenwriters Patrick Massett and John Zinman has primarily been in television, and this factor may underlie my sense that it comes across as a bit contrived, despite the high level of suspense maintained throughout.  Stephen Gaghan’s excellent direction mostly overcomes this drawback, but still implausibilities or at least questions of “How can that work?” remain.  Especially in the last scenes of the film.

Will this dreamer survive the prospecting ups and downs?

Grade:  B                                       By Donna R. Copeland

SING

Voices of:  Matthew McConaughey   Reese Witherspoon   Seth MacFarlane   Scarlett Johansson   John C. Reilly  

Nick Kroll   Nick Offerman   Leslie Jones   Jennifer Saunders   Rhea Perlman   

Jennifer Hudson   Tori Kelly   Taron Egerton   Garth Jennings   

       The show must go on.  Clever animation and a wealth of songs tell the story of Showman Buster Moon (McConaughey), a koala who has inherited a famous theater from his father, and he is desperately trying to keep it going.  But he has had a number of failed projects and is about to lose it to the bank when he has a great idea for a singing contest. 

          The screwball comedy in the efforts to make it happen include such things as Buster’s secretary Miss Crawley (Jennings) constantly losing her glass eye, which bounces around, landing on the computer keyboard, and making $1,000 into $100,000.  Buster doesn’t find out about this until much later, because as Miss Crawley was carrying a stack of the flyers announcing the contest to show Buster, the whole stack gets blown out the window and scattered by the wind.  Hundreds of flyers all get picked up by aspiring vocalists all around the city in need of cash.

        Sing is animated and all the characters are animals.  There are pigs, elephants, sheep, baboons, giraffes, and an alligator among others, but these are only the main players.  Rosita (Witherspoon) is a housewife pig with 25 kids and an absent-minded husband who takes her for granted.  She is tech-savvy, and creates an automated assembly line at home so she can get out of the house to compete.  Mike (MacFarlane) is a mouse with a Frank Sinatra voice who has a gambling problem, and hence has big brown bears chasing after him for cheating.  Ash (Johansson), a porcupine is part of a duo, but Buster only wants her to sing, wounding her narcissistic partner deeply.  When she gets really into her songs, quills have a tendency to fly out and get stuck in the audience.  Meena (Kelly) is an elephant with a voice, but she is so shy she clams up during a performance, which enrages her “stage-mother” father.  Included is Johnny (Egerton), a gorilla who has great talent for jazz piano, the only problem being that his gangster father wants him to continue to pull off jobs with him.

       When one disaster follows another, and it looks like all is lost, Buster engages the help of his friend Eddie (Reilly) the sheep, who comes from a wealthy family and has a nanna, Nana Noodleman (Hudson and Saunders) who used to perform in operas at Moon’s concert hall.  Buster wants her to sponsor the contest, so invites her to a rehearsal.  Disasters happen, involving all the contestants and those chasing after them, so that it’s doubtful Buster and his hall will survive.

       The primary theme of the film is that everyone involved must pull together to make the show go on, and that fundraising is always something to be dealt with.  Sometimes it also takes boosting the self-confidence of the performer, holding back parents pushing their children inappropriately, and then convincing other parents that their child has talent and needs to be encouraged.

       The film is a bit of a mish-mash in the beginning, and I wonder how many children can appreciate the plot, because it has a lot to do with the “business” of running a theater.  But when the contest and parent involvement begin to happen, the story gets more interesting and engaging.  Writer-director Garth Jennings has conceived of a picture that is ultimately engaging and has good information for children.  The production design by Eric Guillon and animation pull the audience in visually, and Toby Talbot’s music is a running delight throughout.

This is a fanciful animation about what is actually involved in show business.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

FREE STATE OF JONES

Matthew McConaughey     Gugu Mbatha-Raw     Keri Russell     Mahershala Ali     Bill Tangradi     Christopher Berry     Sean Bridgers

           How to give an account of a major struggle that goes on for years, makes only inches of progress with setbacks, and contains dozens of stories?  The filmmakers of Free State of Jones have attempted just that, but needed more judicious editing for the sake of coherence and a bit of brevity.  At 139 minutes, it is too long, especially considering the weight of the material.  The story jumps back and forth between what is going on in Missouri during and just after the war and 85 years later when the son of two of the characters seems still to be fighting against racism.  If writer/director Gary Ross wanted to make a point about the length of the struggle, maybe that is his rationale for including this segment of the film, but it is so far removed from the core of the story it becomes too much to absorb.

         That being said, Free State of Jones is educational and even inspirational in showing how people in the South coped with the ending of the Civil War and the departure of the Union troops.  It’s also very painful to watch as the cruelty continued toward people of color, and the Confederates deflected their anger toward the Union upon them.  This is based on the true story of Newton Knight (McConaughey), a white man who valued freedom and equality for everyone, and how he got caught up in the cause, even when his wife (Russell) protested that he seemed more intent on protecting others when she and her son were having to endure repeated raids on their farm. 

         Newton is serving as a nurse in the Confederate Army when a young relative suddenly appears, asking for his help.  (Even at his young age, he has been conscripted into the Army, which is also plundering local farms for supplies.  They are supposed to be taking 10% from each private household, but often take everything.)  Newton is trying to get the child out of harm’s way when a bullet kills him, and Newton feels honor-bound to get his body back to his mother.  Now, Newton is a deserter, and has his picture on “Wanted” posters.

         Much of the rest of the story involves Newton hiding out in the swamp, being helped by runaway slaves, and eventually taking up their cause—which coincides with his own wish for freedom and justice for all.  It’s rewarding to see the cleverness Newton brings to the cause—he’s a natural born leader—and how talented he is at exploiting the weaknesses of the enemy and using his and his team’s strengths. 

        McConaughey has become a quintessential actor of excellence, and this is a role made for him in its combination of heroics and modesty.  Mbatha-Raw, as slave and healer Rachel, joins him in the rebellion, showing a fine balance between the refinement she has learned in a plantation house, subjugation, and resistance. 

       This film will be favored more by those who have an interest in history and can appreciate the complexities in relationships that it depicts.  And in that vein, those viewers will see how relevant it is today in speaking to our own conundrums regarding race, politics, marriage, and equality.

Think of this film as a history lesson and go see it!  (Like a history class, you won’t enjoy all of it, but you’ll appreciate its truths.)

Grade:  B                        By Donna R. Copeland

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Matthew McConaughey     Jennifer Garner     Jared Leto     Steve Zahn

      I had two reactions to Dallas Buyers Club.  One is admiration for the real Ron Woodruff on whom the story is based.  He started out as a self-centered, angry, playboy who didn’t mind scamming his friends, but then shored up after he became ill with HIV, and began to help others (albeit to his own advantage).  Since he was equipped to recognize scams coming from others, he took on the establishment by outing the FDA for unprofessional practices.  Ever the hustler, he forms a club requiring $400/month, and in return the member receives all the drugs available at the club for free.  (How he acquires these medications is part of the story.)  Matthew McConaughey gives a stellar performance as this figure, looking and playing the part of an emaciated loser-turned advocate for medical patients.

     My other reaction is to what I regard as the “Hollywood treatment” of serious issues, namely medical research and the FDA.  Granted, I do not know the true story of Woodruff, but I did work in a cancer center for over 20 years, so have a great deal of respect for medical practice and research.  Although the film does not explicitly advocate running to Mexico for treatments, it provides a model for those who are apprehensive about standard treatment in the U.S.  In fact, many, many people have done that to their regret, including some film stars.  Although I would not defend the FDA entirely, for the most part it has protected Americans from horrific drugs such as thalidomide.  Still, I think it timely that Dallas Buyers Club highlights an example of how pharmaceutical companies and medicine allowed their partnership to undermine their objectivity in testing the effects of AZT on HIV.  Another bother for me about the film is the example of Ron making a few trips to the library, which equips him to provide drugs to seriously ill patients and chart their progress as a means of testing the treatment’s effectiveness.  There is a reason why placebo controlled, double blind, randomized trials have become the standard in medical research.

     On the other hand, as a drama, Dallas Buyers Club is entertaining, suspenseful, and interesting.  Along with McConaughey, Jared Leto as Woodruff’s transsexual business partner is fascinating.  He becomes so by sheer force of his charm and astute bargaining with the homophobic Woodruff.  Eventually, they create a workable association, and it is nice to see Woodruff relent and develop caring feelings toward him. 

Matthew McConaughey gives a stellar performance as a playboy who changes to become an advocate for medical patients.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland