OCEANS 8

Sandra Bullock     Cate Blanchett    Rihanna    Sarah Paulson    Mindy Kaling    Awkwafina

Anne Hathaway     Helena Bonham Carter     Richard Armitage     James Corden    Dakota Fanning

     This clever, fun heist movie will engage you, intrigue you, and keep you entertained. Debbie Ocean (Bullock), sister of Danny (George Clooney) in previous Oceans movies, is just being released from prison after serving five years. She bounds out in the same outfit as when she went in—dressed for the evening in a trendy black outfit—assured that she can go anywhere and do what she wants with the $45 in her pocket. And we see how she begins to do just that with her light fingers and made-up stories as she ensconces herself into a fancy hotel and gets in touch with her seven specially talented friends and accomplices, the first being Lou (Blanchett), an Australian motorcycle enthusiast and sharp observer of human behavior  

     Debbie has used her time in prison well, figuring out detailed plans for living up to her family name, exacting a delicious revenge, and getting a ticket to the high life for life.  Debbie and Lou flesh out a strategy for a major heist of jewelry at one of THE social events of the year, the Met Gala, hosted by the iconic Vogue Magazine editor and artistic director of Conde Nast publications, Anna Wintour who appears as herself in the film.  

     Debbie and Lou assemble a motley team of thieves, smugglers, fashion and jewelry designers, forgers, and computer geniuses to play their roles in an intricately choreographed dance designed to net them all a sizeable share. What are they after? Cartier’s 150-million-dollar diamond necklace.  It will involve managing to get just the right celebrity to wear it to the ball.  

     Some of the funniest scenes include the eccentric fashion designer Rose Weil (Carter) flattering the always-aspiring celebrity Daphne Kluger (Hathaway) to go along with the plan to wear the necklace.  (Not hard at all, once she sees it.)  To watch Hathaway acting out preening and self-love in brilliant red lipstick in front of the mirror as she tries on various necklaces (the real diamond one is held out as a tease) will surely make you groan and laugh at the same time.  

     Also engaging are glimpses into the current lives of the fellow co-conspirators. Tammy (Paulson) is a contented mother who buys tens of bicycles on eBay when she has only one child.  Nine Ball (or “Baller”, if you prefer) (Rihanna) is a wizard on the computer, and most of the fun here is seeing others having to catch up with her; and like any good Asian has a relative, April (Midori Francis), to come through at a crucial time.  Mindy Kaling, as Amita, the jewelry designer, is trying to find a partner on an internet match site, but she will amuse and impress you with her rather naïve pronouncements coupled with design efficiency.  Constance (Awkafina) always shows up just in time, and even though she is simply collecting and sorting things, you smile at her dedication.  

     In Oceans 8, Director Gary Ross demonstrates his sensitivity toward women’s important issues, his delight in mixing up craftiness and comedy, and his flair in infusing excitement into a rather predictable plot.  The journey there is the point, and it will serve as a good time to relax and simply enjoy.

     This Oceans’ cast impresses with its unwavering skill and art.  The major protagonists and supporting actors deliver what we hope for and expect in a film of this kind.  Bravo to all!

This is a great movie for kicking back, relaxing, and letting the irony and truthfulness amuse you.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

OUR BRAND IS CRISIS

Sandra Bullock     Billy Bob Thornton     Anthony Mackie     Ann Dowd     

Scoot McNairy     Zoe Kazan     Joaquim de Almeida

          Crisis is the key word here in this picture showing the seamier (realistic?) side of politics.  The setting is Bolivia where a race for president is going on, the screenplay (Peter Straughan) of which is inspired by a documentary (same title) directed by the talented Rachel Boynton (Big Men http://texasartfilm.com/bigmen.html) about a political race for president of Bolivia in 2002.  Candidate Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozado hired an American political firm that consulted all over the world to run his campaign:  Greenberg Carville Shrum.  (That’s Carville, as in James Carville.)  Since I haven’t seen the documentary, I don’t know how much the movie reflects events in that work.

          Our Brand is Crisis the movie begins with two political strategists, Nell (Dowd) and Ben (Mackie) driving through the snow to Jane Bodine’s (Bullock) isolated cabin to talk her into joining their team in Bolivia.  Hurt by political machinations in her work as a crack strategist in the past, she has developed new interests and a new life.  Somehow, though, the thrill of a campaign is seductive, and she decides to join them. 

        Unfortunately, after arriving in Bolivia with altitude sickness and feeling rotten in general, she realizes that her prior nemesis Pat Candy (Thornton) is on the scene.  Bad news.  The movie takes a neutral stance about their past, so it is unclear who actually was responsible for the most heinous dirty tricks in previous campaigns, although, I think they want us to believe that it was Candy, who comes across as slimy as the snake in the Garden of Eden. 

        The campaign proceeds and the two teams end up going for the jugular.  It is a fascinating (at least to me) look at how political campaign strategists think and reason.  In Jane’s case, she deftly sizes up the psychology of her candidate Castillo (de Almeida) and figures out how to turn his weaknesses into strengths—clearly going against the advice he is currently receiving from his own consultant and the American team.  In view of this perceptive cogency, the filmmakers’ showing her clumsy and neurotic for comic effect was silly and an unnecessary distraction.  They should have dispensed with the “comedy” altogether and gone for dramatic effect and political illumination.

          Although we learn how the election turns out, the film ends with an ambiguity that I see as a strength.  Beneath Jane’s many “masks” (alternately crazy, tender, calculating, insightful, and—above all—perceptive), she is a thoughtful and sincere woman with convictions who will continually surprise.

       We know Sandra Bullock is a phenomenal actor, and I think she portrayed this character to a T.  Such a talent actor can make the character come alive so forcefully you forget the actor.  She was strongest in this film when Candy is speaking to her in a taunting, seductive, goading manner and she simply stares into space (and you know exactly what she is thinking) or—in contrast—when she forcefully confronts her team or the candidate with hard truths; or at the end when she is mulling over in her mind the comments of the young campaign worker and all that has just transpired.  Billy Bob Thornton is masterful in portraying a truly evil person, all while talking in the most civil and seductive manner.  His idea of coming into the filming looking exactly like James Carville was a brilliant move.

          David Gordon Green does the quiet, personally revolutionary films that I am inevitably drawn to (e.g., Prince Avalanche, George Washington).  I imagine he smiles as he thinks about the issues he has brought up in Our Brand is Crisis that will spark controversy and differences of opinion.  In discussions about this film, I expect many will have strong opinions about political consultants, political processes (particularly elections), and the marketing of candidates.

An insightful look at the underside of political campaigns.

Grade:  B                        By Donna R. Copeland

MINIONS

--> Voices of:  Sandra Bullock   Jon Hamm   Michael Keaton   Allison Janney   Steve Coogan   Pierre Coffin   Geoffrey Rush

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The Minions are some of the most lovable creatures in children’s movies.  Illumination Entertainment, directors Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin, writer Brian Lynch, and musician Heitor Pereira  deserve high praise for making a film that is truly entertaining, uplifting, and insightful about human beings, with all accompanied by delightful music from the sixties.  The very premise of the adorable minions searching all around the world for an evil leader makes one smile.  And the fact that we can only decipher a part of what they are saying (made up of Spanish, French, English and blabber) and still know exactly what they mean is fascinating.  Also remarkable (especially for young children who have already gotten a bad reputation) is the pride shown by those who get the label of villain.

           Minions serves as a prequel to their appearance in the Despicable Me series, and here, Geoffrey Rush narrates their origins and history up to the 1960’s.  The Minions have finally found a home they love after being banished to Antarctica (in The Despicables 2), but are distressed because they can’t keep a leader.  They have lost their previous leader, super-villain Gru, and every time they think they’ve found a replacement, something happens to make him/her/it disappear.  Then Kevin has a bright idea.  He will go out into the wide world and search for the perfectly despicable leader and then they’ll all be happy and motivated again.  He recruits two Minions to follow him:  One-eyed Stuart and tiny Bob.  They manage to get to New York City, but get a tip about Villain Con soon to take place in Orlando, an ideal place to find a despicable leader.  It’s 1968 when it’s popular for hippies to hitch rides, which seems like a good idea for them, and after several futile attempts, they’re on their way when a family stops to pick them up. 

           The Nelsons (Keaton and Janney as parents) are not an ordinary family; they’re headed to Villain Con in Orlando, and have to stop along the way for funds.  After robbing a bank in colorful masks, they elude the police in a wild car chase.  Ultimately, they deliver the trio to Villain Con and part company, although the Nelsons will see them again from time to time.  And indeed they do find a potential, Scarlett Overkill (Bullock) who takes pride in her evilness and has challenged a huge audience of fans to take a valuable stone from her hands, the reward for which will be a position as one of her henchmen.  After a major skirmish among the aspirers, it turns out that Bob coughs out the stone to everyone’s amazement.  Thereupon, Scarlett and her husband Herb (Hamm) take the three Minions to their swanky home and give them their charge.  They are to steal the crown of the Queen of England, something Scarlett has yearned for all her life.  And to help them, Herb gives them three of his inventions (mechanical limbs that extend out endlessly, a lava-shooting gun, and a cap).  The cap is hilarious because it looks like a round hot water bottle, but when it inflates and spins around like a globe, it puts the viewer into hypnosis.  All of these items will come in handy when the entourage travels to London to carry out the evil deed where they will encounter major threats of imprisonment and even death.

           Minions has received only mediocre ratings from critics, but I enjoyed it a lot, and do think the general public might as well.  My only reservation is the apparent acceptance of the characters’ getting away with deeds that are sometimes illegal, but these aren’t blatant enough that children will get the idea it’s all right to copy them. 

Charge of the Minions. 

Grade:  B                                            By Donna R. Copeland