DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA

 Michelle Dockery     Maggie Smith     Elizabeth McGovern     Hugh Bonneville

Penelope Wilton     Allen Leech     Joanna Frogatt     Jim Carter     Phillis Logan

            A new era, with mostly the right amount of sentimentality, joy, pain—and surprises.  The Crawley family is in a quandary about permitting a film crew to shoot a movie in their home (it’s still in the silent era), and of course—since they need money to fix the roof, they will agree.  But not without the vociferous protest from Mr. Carson (Carter), the ambivalence of Lord Grantham (Bonneviille), and the sheer delight of the starry-eyed staff, especially Daisy (Sophie McShera) and Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol).  

            This proposal comes at about the same time as the news that Violet Crawley (Smith) has been bequeathed a villa in France from someone she never took seriously, and she is in turn bequeathing it to Sybbie, the child of Tom Branson (Leech) and his late wife Sybil Grantham.  It’s a delicate situation, in that the son of the mysterious man has invited the Grantham/Crawley family to come for a visit to see it for themselves.  There’s a bit of tension in that the son’s mother is not happy with the bequest.

            You can see how all this is neatly set up to provide two new scenarios for the current feature—the second movie, the first of which had followed a popular series on PBS.  Not only that, the two strains of the story will separate the skeptics who will travel to France from the Hollywood fans in the cast who will remain to see the action (pun intended).

As a devoted fan of all things “Downton Abbey”, I admire the writer Julian Fellowes’ ability to sustain our interest by managing to keep us attached to the cast and characters of the episodes and all that happens to them.  To quote a colleague of mine, who said after we saw the film, “It’s like seeing old friends again.”  Considering that Fellowes has been able to maintain enthusiasm—not only that of fans but cast as well—through six seasons on PBS Masterpiece and two follow-up movies, is surely a rare accomplishment.  

Fellowes also manages to highlight human propensities that pique our interest, such as showing that some people can never let go of jealousy, even after their beloved’s death.  Or on a more positive note, showing the beauty and elegance of a death that becomes even more meaningful after the fact.

For all my admiration, I did find some aspects of this production less than stellar.  For instance, there seemed to be a conscious effort to pair up characters, even minor ones, in a kind of matchmaking.  Although some are truly moving, some are just a little too treacly.  In addition, it seems like the filmmakers are trying too hard to bring the work into “relevance” for today’s audience, such as blurring the lines between the “upstairs” and “downstairs.”  Seeing the wait staff socializing with royalty is, I think, still a dream; not a reality (e.g., Prince Harry and Meghan of today).  

But these are minor “beefs”; I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie.

 

An update on the Downton Abbey series that for true fans will delight.

 

Grade:  B+                            By Donna R. Copeland

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

DOWNTON ABBEY

Maggie Smith     Hugh Bonneville    Elizabeth McGovern     Michelle Dockery     Laura Carmichael     Penelope Wilton     Allen Leech

Geraldine James     Simon Jones     Kate Phillips     Imelda Staunton    Tuppence Middleton     Harry Hadden-Paton    

 Matthew Goode     Jim Carter     Phyllis Logan     Joanne Froggatt     Lesley Nicol     Sophie McShera     Robert James-Collier    Brendan Coyle

     For those who followed the television series, how the movie of Downton Abbey would be the same as or different from the series is a burning question.  Having been a devotee of the series, I can say that Julian Fellowes (writer of both) and director Michael Engler were highly successful in bringing in new mysteries and intrigues while maintaining the family drama as we have come to know it and have become attached to the characters. Fellowes is a genius in creating figures we can all recognize, whether they are among the aristocrats or the common people, and make them live and breathe as if they’re a part of our own family, and make us love them.  He is also witty and skillful in giving life to age-old arguments, such as between systems of monarchy and social hierarchies versus more progressive/liberal/democratic forms of government—topics still on the contemporary mind.

     Having the King and Queen of England (played by Jones and James) come to pay a visit at Downton Abbey provides the perfect opportunity to explore these issues. As would be expected, the royal entourage consists of people much more condescending toward the locals than the royals themselves.  That means that the staff members at the Abbey will be shunted aside by the snooty royal butler (although he has a fancier title), chef, valets, dressers, and other attendants.  But never underestimate the power and finesse of the more democratic system in Downton Abbey, where the Crawleys seem to be moving decidedly in the direction of more progressive societies.  How the Downton staff manages this insurgency is part of the intrigue and mystery in the production.  

     Subtly, Fellowes presents alternative ways of rebelling against a social order, one violent, others more clever and foregoing any violence.  This is one aspect of the film that will keep veteran watchers of the series glued to the action.

     Fellowes and Engler astutely placed the dowager Countess Grantham (in the inimitable form of Maggie Smith) at the center of the conflict, pitting her against a member of the royal staff, Lady Bagshaw (Staunton), cousin of Lord Grantham (Bonneville), with whom she has had an ongoing struggle for decades. Maggie Smith has remained the most visible character in the series for her sharp, acerbic, and always humorous witticisms, so it is both fitting and smart to put her center stage and frame her specific conflicts within the larger issues about social order.

     Other key roles in this drama include Lady Mary (Dockery) and her quandary about whether and how long to maintain the traditional house; her lady in waiting, Anna (Froggatt), who uncovers a crime and uses it to advantage, along with helping mastermind the resistance against the royal staff; and Tom Branson (Leech), an Irish commoner and relatively new member of the family clearly establishing his loyalty to them, along with the reasons why.  Each of the other beloved characters gets a slice of the story, which works to keep it moving (and, I suppose, satisfy veteran watchers as well as newcomers).

     To me, this production is unbelievable in its mastery in incorporating so many important elements of the series into the movie and still presenting a serious argument about social class and government from many different points of view. All this is accomplished while preserving a real sense of humanness and delightfulness in the characters. I still thrill to the sound of musician John Lunn’s theme song as soon as I hear it.  He has been with the production throughout its existence, beginning in 2010, and has made a substantive contribution to its success.

If you’re a Downton fan, run—don’t walk—to the movie.

Grade:  A+                                   By Donna R. Copeland

SELF/LESS

--> Ryan Reynolds   Matthew Goode   Ben Kingsley   Natalie Martinez   Michelle Dockery   Derek Luke   Victor Garber

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Self/Less could have been so much more of a film if the creators had maintained the focus on humans’ search for immortality.  Their fantasy of science creating a way for a person to “shed” a diseased body and retain their mental capacity and experience certainly is intriguing.  Dr. Albright (Goode) casually observes that this is a win/lose proposition, but unfortunately for Damian/Eddie (Kingsley/Reynolds) this is only elaborated on after the operation is completed. 

           The loss part for this particular movie for me were the car chases/crashes and fierce gun battles, with unbelievable outcomes.  Sometimes filmmakers think they have to always cater to the young man’s taste and include heroics even when it is not necessary to make a film interesting.

           Leaving that aside, Damian is dying and someone gives him a mysterious card that says the name on it could be helpful to him.  He tries to connect with his estranged daughter Claire (Dockery), but when she rejects him and they get into an argument, he feels guilty and miserable.  Soon after, he collapses and is taken to the hospital, whereupon he decides to visit Dr. Albright.  Damian is a billionaire, so he can well afford the “treatment” offered by Dr. Albright—the transplant of a new body while leaving his mind intact.  Damian does not want to die so agrees to the procedure.

           Interesting to me is that post surgery, he has to be retrained in many kinds of physical actions—like walking—but in short order, he is fit as a fiddle—and only in his 30’s.  He is given a new name, identity, and papers and lives the good life with a new friend (Luke) he has met in New Orleans, where the procedure was performed and where he is put up in an apartment as arranged by Dr. Albright.  Then he begins to have hallucinations and other symptoms associated with the transplant, and is reminded that he absolutely cannot skip taking the pills prescribed by Dr. Albright.  Without the medication he will eventually lose his abilities and die.  But Dr. Albright has built in a handy little perk for himself:  The patient cannot contact him; Albright will periodically visit the patient and give him a small bottle of the medication, thereby keeping him “on a hook” and observed.

           But what he—now he is Eddie—observes in his hallucinations bothers him so much because they seem so real, and because he has never seen the people within them before.  He starts to explore, first by searching on the internet, and then doing some detective work.  What he finds, is shattering, and the rest of the story is about how all that plays out.

           I was upbeat about seeing Self/Less because I liked Tarsem Singh’s earlier film, The Fall, and as I say, the part about seeking immortality through the process called “shedding” (i.e., shedding the body) was intriguing, and the aspect of crime associated with scientific breakthroughs enlivens the pace and captures our interest.  It’s going over the top with the violence to the point of absurdity that detracts from the quality of this film.

           The main cast is really fine with Ben Kingsley acting out a billionaire’s dilemma in encountering something he can’t do anything about, and Ryan Reynolds’ portraying an armed services veteran whose fitness and combat skills are formidable.  Matthew Goode is convincing as a competent scientist in complete control, but with ulterior motives that are initially hidden.  The two main actresses (Michelle Dockery and Natalie Martinez) have lesser roles, but are very good in what they do.

Too much violence lessens the impact of a potentially interesting film.

Grade:  C+                                                             By Donna R. Copeland