BLACK BEAR

Aubrey Plaza     Sarah Gadon     Christopher Abbott

     In a rather tangled two-part plot, writer/director Lawrence Michael Levine explores some version of the “life imitates art” juxtaposition.  To illustrate his point he uses a recurring image of the main character in a meditative position surrounded by nature.  The first scenario is presented with certain actors in certain roles followed by those same actors and characters enacting a different story.  

     In Part One, Aubrey Plaza plays the role of a director (Allison) seeking inspiration at an isolated retreat owned by Gabe (Abbott) and Blair (Gadon), an unmarried couple expecting a baby.  One of the first evenings with them is disturbing—for the viewer, as well as for Allison—by the couple’s constant bickering and by Blair’s jealousy toward Allison.

     Suddenly, in Part Two, a movie is being shot, with the plot being somewhat the same as in Part One, but with the characters shifted around.  Here, Gabe is a movie director married to Allison, the star of the movie.  That is, “Gabe” and “Allison” are the married couple, and “Blair” is a rival of Allison.  Living up to what Allison has claimed in the first movie—that she was an actor difficult to work with, Allison portrays that character in the movie, being late to the set and arguing with her husband (the director, now, in the movie being shot) about the script.  Lying is a sub-theme throughout both parts of Black Bear.

     The movie demonstrates Aubrey Plaza’s skill in portraying a chameleon personality who can act out a scene on the spur of the moment and thus has some mystery about her.  Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon, her co-stars, likewise show very different personas, depending on what is called for in the script.  

     As intriguing as this might be for those informed about anti-mimesis (Oscar Wilde’s belief that “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life”) and the notion that we only see what artists have taught us to see, I think most viewers of this movie will not be entranced by it.   I appreciate what writer/director Lawrence Michael Levine has tried to do, but figure that such esoteric content will be lost on most, and that they will see the movie as a bit of a jumble.

     On the other hand, I figure that actors themselves will love the script, which embodies what they have to do on a regular basis.  It also reflects the constantly changing relationships they see every day in their own lives.

     The symbolic significance of the black bear of the title is more difficult to determine. If it refers to William Faulkner’s “The Bear”, I can only relate it in terms of Falkner’s equating the bear in his story to nature or to the wilderness and its death.  The last scene of the movie is Plaza’s character encountering a big black bear with interest and a glint in her eye. Is she encountering the bear as something of nature to which she needs to get reconnected? Or is it about nature on its road to destruction?

 

This is a film primarily for those in the business of filmdom or to those who ponder humans’ relationship with nature.

 

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE 9TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX

Jamie Dornan   Sarah Gadon   Aaron Paul   Beckham Skodje   Aiden Longworth   Barbara Hershey   Oliver Platt

          Poor Louis (Skodje).  He is accident-prone even from birth, and escapes one close call after another—which he can chronicle in complete detail—then it looks like death finally holds him in its grasp after he falls off a cliff into the ocean.  Louis’ mother Natalie (Gadon) is an attractive blonde who is attentive and caring, and even though his parents quarrel frequently, Louis is close to his father Peter (Paul) as well.  They’re on a picnic for Louis’ 9^th birthday when his parents begin to quarrel and suddenly there is a terrible accident, after which, Louis is taken to the hospital in a coma and his father disappears.

          Louis narrates most of the picture, so we stay in touch with him throughout the film, which opens with him as a young man (Longworth) giving a TED talk.  After that, the story is told in flashback, which involves Louis’ mother, his father, his physician Dr. Pascal (Dornan), and his therapist (Platt).

          Max Minghella has stitched together a mysterious, exciting thriller based on the novel by Liz Jensen.  It has repeated twists, turns and surprises, as well as a bit of sci-fi in a zombie-like figure and in forensic hypnosis.  Alexandre Aja’s direction keeps a good pace, and although the story jumps back and forth in time, it is not as confusing as that sometimes is in films. 

          Beckham Skodje as the young Louis is expressive and convincing, speaking his lines crisply like a precocious child.  His responses to his therapist impress you and make you chuckle at his insight and creativity.  Sarah Gadon brings some of the sexiness and fragility that she shows in the soon-to-be-released Indignation to this role, where in both, the character’s whole story only emerges gradually.  Jamie Dornan as a young, committed physician who is still trying to figure himself out conveys the earnestness and susceptibility required of his role, and Aaron Paul is perfect as an ambiguous character you have conflicting feelings about.  Almost stealing the limelight is Oliver Platt, whose approach to psychotherapy is noteworthy for its quality—a rarity in film, maybe because its writers and director are European rather than Hollywood types.

          9^th Life holds your attention hostage throughout, with just enough of a dash of sci-fi to give it a bit of quirkiness. 

An eventful 9^th life for one young Louis Drax.

Grade:  A-                        By Donna R. Copeland

INDIGNATION

Logan Lerman     Tracy Letts     Sarah Gadon     Linda Emond     Danny Burstein

          The noun ‘indignation’ captures well the most intense conflict in Philip Roth’s same entitled novel, adapted to the screen by writer/director James Schamus.  It refers to the bitter interchanges between the main character, Marcus (Lerman), and the Dean of Men, Caudwell (Letts), at his college in Ohio.  Marcus is of Jewish background and the college is predominantly Christian, with requirements for students to attend chapel services in order to graduate.  Marcus is indignant about that (he’s an atheist) and about the Dean’s intrusive questioning about his personal life.  Caudwell is indignant about an upstart young man who, although gifted, rebels against college rules and refuses to take the dean’s advice about working through his problems with people instead of simply walking away.  His lectures to Marcus are not effective because they go against the basic tenets of counseling.  Well-trained counselors know that one is unlikely to be convincing when advocating for changes in behavior in such a well-defended person who has had years and family influences to shape his behavior.  Thus, Marcus continues his rebellion with dire consequences to follow.

        The movie Indignation is very well presented by the lead actors.  Lerman is pitch perfect in portraying a naïve, young Jewish man who is brilliant at school, but has been over-protected by his pessimistic, nervous father.  Marcus has learned to excel in presenting his arguments in debate class, but that mode does not usually fit well in social interactions.  He comes across more as an attorney in his arguments than in gentle persuasion.  Letts is an accomplished actor whose Dean Caudwell serves as a good counterpoint to Lerman’s Marcus.  He renders the combination of an authoritarian stance mixed with difficulties in socialization smoothly and accurately (e.g., praising Marcus on the one hand and then on the other, lecturing him intrusively).  Romantic interludes are provided by Marcus and his one-date girlfriend Olivia (Gadon), who ensnares his reluctant, ambivalent wavering on that occasion and on subsequent visits.  Scenes with Marcus’ parents played by well-known stage actors Emond and Burstein add color and interest to the story.

        Writer-director Schamus adheres closely to the Roth novel, including some mystification in the narration in the beginning, and an explanation/surprise toward the end.  The time frame is in the ‘50’s during the Korean War, and Marcus is at college partly to avoid the draft.  Costume (Amy Roth) and production (Inbal Weinberg and Philippa Culpepper) designs are authentic for the period and beautiful to look at.  A nice touch is the theme of roses associated with the beautiful Olivia on three occasions.

          The main problem with Indignation is that the war scenes toward the beginning and end are so dark, the action is not visible.  I don’t know what the director and cinematographer (Christopher Blauvelt) had in mind, but these are crucial scenes for the viewer to see to understand the context of the film.  Even the other scenes that are supposed to be well lit are often a bit blurred and cloudy, not sharp at all.  Also, to open the film in a nursing home, with a character we’ve not met is disorienting, unless one has perhaps read the book.  In all fairness, however, my viewing of the film may have been a function of watching it on an internet link on my laptop.  Most likely audiences in theaters will be able to see the darker scenes with more clarity.

Cinematic rendition of Philip Roth’s novel about coming of age in the ‘50’s.

Grade:  B-                        By Donna R. Copeland