KING RICHARD

 Will Smith     Jon Bernthal     Dylan McDermott     Aunjanue Ellis

Saniyya Sidney     Demi Singleton     Tony Goldwyn

            This is a fascinating account about how to make a champion.  Richard Williams, the father of the famous tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, knew the value of positive reinforcement, despite his tendency to be overbearing, and temperamental.  And let’s not forget the decisive role of his wife Brandi.  She knew him like a book and could read him in such a way she helped him understand himself when he otherwise couldn’t.  And she was a real force in their girls’ training.

            The gist of the story is known by most people, that the black family from Compton, California, took the tennis world by storm in the early 2,000’s when Venus began winning tournaments at an early age.  The proud father always responded to reporters and coaches when they praised him for one daughter by reminding them he had two girls who would be stars.

            As oppositional and pompous as he often was, Richard had rules he lived by and taught his children, such as “Fail to plan, plan to fail.”  Humility is another principal he at least wanted his children to retain, always remembering where they came from no matter how many prizes they won.  No matter the win, he forbade them to “brag.”  Clear from the film is that much of the success of the girls depended on his salesmanship.  He seemed not to be intimated by anyone; he successfully convinced almost (not all) all of them to at least look at his daughters’ prowess on the court.

            I am not a tennis player or big fan, but the film comes across as an authentic representation of what it takes to become a tennis star, the role a parent so inclined could play in a child’s success, and in this case the tremendous support provided by a family that not only stood together but talked through and hashed out problems that arose.   I appreciated the background information about the father that led to the fierceness and perseverance he shows in situations where he is challenged.  Valuable as well is the occasional focus on the marriage and the way the couple solves their issues.  

            Will Smith seems tailor made for the role of Richard Williams.  He embodies it so well one can imagine that aspects of Williams’ personality are ones Smith knows very well.  As Mrs. Williams, Aunjanue Ellis is an inspiration for all women who need to stand up for themselves.  Ellis shows the full dimensionality of a bright, creative, and loving woman who knows how to be a partner to a strong man, and I hope both actors will be recognized come awards season.

            The movie is entitled “King Richard” apparently because of the way Williams conducted himself in coaching and advocating for his daughters.  It seems an apt title to me.  The film does not go into the marriages and divorces of the parents or other types of conflicts in the women’s careers—which is a bit of sugar-coating perhaps—but wisely concentrates primarily on the family during the time Venus is just getting established as a pro tennis player.

 

This account of the background of two record-breaking female tennis players will keep you entertained and cognizant of the importance of family support.

 

Grade:  A                              By Donna R. Copeland

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE

Will Smith     Martin Lawrence     Vanessa Hudgins    Alexander Ludwig    

Charles Melton     Paola Nunez     Jacob Scipo

     At one point, a character says to another, “Now it’s time to be good men.”  In the meantime, though, Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) are going to be bad boys—really bad boys—and take pride in it.  Forget about codes of conduct, following orders from superiors, or reasonable driving in a car chase (car chases are obligatory for any action movie) through heavy traffic. Such codes are for sissies and “quitters” to use Mike’s term.  I shudder when I see the fare that is put out there for young people to consume.  In the first five minutes, the filmmakers show us the some of the poorest sides of men (a hair-raising ride through crowded streets) and women (murder of a public official), and that’s only the beginning of the glorification of might and brawn winning out over fundamental values.  Religious beliefs, family considerations, and acknowledgement of limitations are scoffed at.  Oh, and all of this is supposed to be hilarious—and indeed is, for some people, apparently.

     As to the story, detectives Mike and Marcus have been partners in Miami for years, with the code “bad boys for life” (fist bump).  Marcus is having some reservations about continuing and is ready (eager) to embrace retirement.  But Mike is incredulous, seeing Marcus as simply giving up, and he frantically attempts to dissuade him.  After Mike is drastically injured, even the captain of the police force tries to persuade him to let go, and absolutely forbids him to investigate his own injury case.  But no; brain and all brawn is the theme of Bad Boys, and we have an idea that might will get its way in the end, and Mike will get what he wants.

     What follows, is the typical good guys against the bad guys battles between the Miami police force and the mysterious (to them) force against them. Significant figures in the law enforcement community are being killed—high crime, it turns out, with a very personal message.  We will learn about that in the last half-hour, a close-to-maudlin twist that ends up in an inferno in Mexico City ruins.

     The one thing good I can say about this film is the cinematography by Robrect Heyraert. His depiction of the street scenes, the shoot-outs, and the eerie beauty of the Mexico City ruins are all exquisite.  Likewise in artistry—which the script sorely lacks--Lorne Balfe’s music captures the haunting, raucous, and enigmatic moods of changing scenes in the movie.

How long, oh how long, must we endure films lauding the macho man at the expense of humanitarian values…and even technology?

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland

SPIES IN DISGUISE

Voices of:  Karen Gillan     Rachel Brosnahan     Tom Holland     Will Smith

Rashida Jones     Ben Mendelsohn     Reba McEntire     DJ Khaled     Masi Oka

     This is a high-tech animation that the kids in the audience found at the screening I attended to be great fun.  There are the obligatory scenes of puke, poop, and pee; but the story has substance in pitting a nerdy little peace-loving scientist against a macho master spy who always insists on doing his jobs alone and “fighting fire with fire.”  The scientist Walter’s (Holland) response to that is, “Then we all get burned.” Writers Brad Copeland and Lloyd Taylor have inserted segments that make you chuckle and sometimes laugh out loud when the character Walter uses scientific lingo that few would understand—least of all, Lance Sterling (Smith)—like “spectral analysis” and “thermography”, and “exothermic reaction.”  Walter always explains what he is doing, and he comes up with ingenious inventions to get Lance out of trouble:  a robotic hand (which has gone missing!), glitter that obscures the visual field, and then produces serotonin when the field clears and kittens appear, making the gnarliest of bad guys go, “Aw…” There’s even something that produces a giant hug that envelops the bad guy and traps him in its bubble.

     The gist of the plot is that the young budding scientist is encouraged by his mother to be himself, and reassures him that they are a team and she will always have his back.  He takes these lessons to heart, and is more than puzzled when his path crosses that of ace spy Lance Sterling, who has a habit of dismissing everyone as beneath him. Because he doesn’t really see anyone besides himself, he misses young Walter’s gifted talents and actively tries to swat him away like a fly.

But there is something that will haunt Lance when he discovers someone has stolen an asset from him, and is even passing himself off as Lance, damaging his reputation.

     The film has a number of good points, especially the one in which children will see Walter’s persistence in the face of dismissal and discouragement, his maintaining his integrity throughout, and ultimately becomes a hero for his intelligence and creativity.  Also helpful for children is for them to witness Lance’s transformation from an over-confident narcissist to someone who is reduced to a pigeon (a pigeon?? Yes!!) and learning that other beings have phenomenal skills too, and that they know how to function in a team.

     Voices of actors like Tom Holland, Will Smith, and Ben Mendelsohn (playing the bad guy) bring excitement and verisimilitude to the story, backed up by the talents of Brosnahan, Jones, McEntire, Khaled, and Oka.  Music by Theodore Shapiro adds much to the drama and humor of Spies in Disguise.

Spies in Disguise is entertaining, and a great film for kids to see.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

GEMINI MAN

Will Smith     Mary Elizabeth Winstead     Clive Owen     Benedict Wong     Ralph Brown     Douglas Hodge

     This is not your typical father-son drama, but that is one of the themes applicable to three characters in the film.  Clay Verris (Owen) dedicates himself to serving as a father figure for young men in training, seeing himself as a “loving, dedicated, present” father—words that will be thrown back at him at a later time.  Henry Brogan (Smith) is one he took under his wing, making him the top, universally acclaimed assassin in the world.  After Brogan became employed by the U.S. Government, Verris started his own company, Gemini, which specialized in DNA research and cloning. From the trailer, you know that he has made a clone of Brogan’s DNA, which Verris raises as his own son, calling him Junior (also Smith).

     At a certain point, Brogan has had enough and is ready to retire; after 72 killings, he’s feeling a “hurt” deep in his soul.  Just as he starts launching his boat to go fishing, though, strange things start happening, and he will gradually learn that he is being played by more than one party.  First of all, he spots a government agent working at the boat dock disguised as a kind of clerk, but he blows Danny’s (Winstead) cover in nothing flat, and because he appeals to her, they become partners in solving the mystery of what is going on behind the scenes and who it is who suddenly turns up, trying to kill him.

     The story has intrigue in being set and filmed in exotic places like Cartagena in Colombia, Budapest in Hungary, and even the southern state of Georgia, and it has thrills (a daredevil motorcycle chase in one of the cities, as well as extended physical fights with impossible maneuvers where the fighters get up repeatedly after looking like they’ve been killed), all of which resembles most action films.  It is appealing to see the warm and genuine Danny fight with the same ferocity as the men.

     Most of the drama consists of Brogan and his clone struggling with one another, one to kill, one to survive, and this is mostly entertaining (except for each encounter being extended for too long a time), but the real “meat” of the story is whether and how they will work through the curious position each is in, one being a clone of the other.  

     Complex relationships between characters has been Director Ang Lee’s forte (Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm), and I presume it was meant to be similar in Brogan and Junior’s relationship here.  It certainly seems like fodder for a rich characterization of the most complex relationship of all.  But with the director’s and writers’ focus on action rather than psychology, Gemini Man looks and feels a lot more like the generic action film than a psychological exploration of a futuristic relationship, which was not neglected, but was only minimally explored.

Gemini Man has an intriguing aspect, but this takes second place to the typical action movie thrills.

Grade:  C-                                    by Donna R. Copeland

COLLATERAL BEAUTY

Will Smith   Edward Norton   Kate Winslet   Michael Peña  

Helen Mirren   Keira Knightley   Jacob Latimore   Naomie Harris   Ann Dowd

          Whimsical movies with heart and soul make for fine holiday fare, and Collateral Beauty fits the bill, if the viewer doesn’t mind some attention given to death.  Collateral Beauty is more than whimsical; it illustrates how devastating the loss of a child can be for a parent.  Director David Frankel’s film, like Hope Springs, Marley and Me, and The Devil Wears Prada before it, makes insightful observations about the human condition in some of its variants (including issues of the three other main characters), mixed with good doses of plain humor, black humor, and pure fancy.  I found this movie hilarious at times, extremely moving to the point of tears at other times, and simply delightful, ultimately.  

         The problem at hand is that the head honcho of a business is going through an extended bereavement reaction (he stops coming to work at all), threatening the livelihood of his partner and business associates and employees.  Howard (Smith) has lost his daughter, so Whit (Norton) his partner, and colleagues Claire (Winslet) and Simon (Peña) try everything they can think of to help him function again, but nothing seems to work.  In desperation, Whit has a brilliant idea involving a private detective (Dowd) and three actors.  The actors will represent love, time, and death, the abstractions Howard has literally been writing letters to and dropping in the mailbox.

        Something like angels—but not quite—death (Mirren), love (Knightley), and time (Latimore) visit Howard at unexpected times, producing the letters he has written to them in which he claims that all have betrayed him.  The actors function something like therapists, addressing his comments like (to death) “You’re dead tissue that won’t decompose.”  And Howard reacts belligerently to all of them.  But he also lurks outside a bereavement group room, peering in the window and then walking away.   

          It’s clear that writer Allan Loeb and director David Frankel want us to think about life, time, and death in a different way; they can be serious and weighty, but just as well fanciful, truthful, and truly funny.  These are non-respecters of person; as the film points out, Whit, Claire, and Simon all have challenges, just like Howard does.            A strong cast, along with the script and direction, make this movie sing, boosted by the music of Theodore Shapiro.  A bonus is the trope of progressively falling dominoes signifying the vast reach of human connectedness.

         Collateral Beauty reminds me of Lars and the Real Girl in their sometimes serious, sometimes humorous depiction of human neuroses and the protagonists’ overcoming them with the support, understanding, and patience of family and friends.  The former is a little more absurd and artificial, especially the twist at the very end.

Not your typical Christmas tale, but warmly human and amusing.

Grade:  B                                By Donna R. Copeland

SUICIDE SQUAD

Will Smith   Margot Robbie   Viola Davis   Jared Leto   Joel Kinnaman   Jay Hernandez   Jai Courtney  

Robin Akins Downes   Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje   Karen Fukuhara   Cara Delevingne   Adam Beach   Common

          Writer/Director David Ayer has effectively turned a comic book into a fairly good motion picture—something not so easily accomplished.  Colorful, entertaining characters—most of whom are bad guys—comic antics, and a dastard plot will keep you engaged for the full two hours (and ten minutes) if your expectations are not too high.  Some of these are more than cardboard characters; for instance, one has turned to yoga/meditation to try to overcome his past behavior; one has a daughter begging him to give up his kill-for-hire service, one is a psychiatrist brought under the spell of a criminal she was supposed to be counseling, and so on.  We get the back-stories on almost all in a rapid flash, which will be fine for those familiar with the DC Comics and movies, but a little too fast for people like me.  Even though Amanda Waller’s (Davis) character is a re-tread of Will Smith’s previous role, I would have liked to hear much more about her and how it is as a government agent she dreams up a cockeyed plan to recruit incarcerated criminals in a black-ops assignment to fight a war against invading aliens in exchange for reducing their sentences.  (Note this is not a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”)   

           Oh, by the way, Batman (Ben Affleck) does make an appearance.

       Appearing as the main characters are Deadshot (Smith), Harley Quinn (Robbie), Boomerang (Courtney), The Joker (Leto), El Diablo (Hernandez), Katana (Karen Fukuhara), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaju) and Slipknot (Beach).  They all have their special skills/powers, and deliver a swaggering, action-packed drama with plenty of hi-jinks and bravado.  But to have a PG-13 rating, the drama is pretty tame.  It’s very unclear how “suicide” got into the title.

        Suicide Squad is like many action movies, loaded with CGI and battles that go on interminably, always ending in car chases and hand-to-hand combat.  If that’s your thing, go for it.

A squad of hardened criminals out to save the world.

Grade:  C                           By Donna R. Copeland

CONCUSSION

Will Smith   Gugu Mbatha-Raw   Alec Baldwin   Eddie Marsan   David Morse   Albert Brooks

          Young Dr. Bennett Omalu is from Nigeria, and from the time he was a boy he dreamed of coming to America.  He obtained medical degrees (bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery) at the University of Nigeria, obtained a residency position at Columbia University in New York, and along the way earned multiple advanced degrees and certifications, eventually ending up as a forensic pathologist.  When the story of Concussion (based on a true story) begins in 2002, Omalu (Smith) is at the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office in Pittsburgh, with the notable Dr. Cyril Wecht (Brooks) as his mentor.

              Omalu will soon gain recognition as the physician-scientist who first discovered that head injuries among professional football players have long lasting and sometimes devastating consequences.  He called the condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  No small thing, because when it progresses, it eventually makes the person crazy, often driving them to suicide.

           Now, football is big business, employing hundreds of thousands of people, seeing that disadvantaged kids get an education, and making senior executives in the National Football League very rich.  The NFL will not take Omalu’s discovery lightly, and will fight circulation of the information about the damage to players like the tobacco companies fought the truth about the danger of cigarettes.  It will attempt to destroy the careers of Omalu and his mentor Wecht using every scheme the executives can think of.

           The themes of the film are very interesting and educational.  First is the dramatic story of how Omalu came to his conclusions, primarily by studying the brains of five or six players after they began developing problems.  This is not a smooth journey, and Omalu faces all kinds of objections and derision along the way, always with the backup of a strong mentor, Wecht.  Keep in mind that this drama is taking place in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers, with one of the largest fan bases in the country.  Fans are just as vociferous in their objections to Omalu’s work as the NFL is. 

          Another enlightening theme is what the affected players go through once they develop the condition.  It’s heartbreaking to see the devastation to their minds, and consequently, the destruction of their families and finances. 

Another theme that lightens the burden of learning about a shocking condition is the romance between Omalu and his eventual wife, Prema (Mbetha-Raw) that gradually develops after his priest puts pressure on Omalu, a loner completely dedicated to his work, to take in a border who recently arrived from Nigeria.  She brings order to his home life and provides impressive support as he goes through his trials.  A touching item she brings up at one point is that his last name in Nigerian means “If you know, you must come forth and speak.”  She reminds him at a time when he is doubting the wisdom of pursuing such a controversial subject. 

         Writer-director Peter Landesman (Kill the Messenger, Parkland) is gifted in his presentation of controversial subjects, maintaining a comfortable balance of factual information and emotional experiences of the players.  He does not preach, but maintains a neutral stance in laying out material for the viewer to consider.  His storytelling is captivating.

           I would say that this could be Will Smith’s most important and well-done performance in his acting career.  He has been nominated for and won numerous awards, but he completely loses himself in this role and consistently maintains a plausible Nigerian accent throughout.  He and Mbatha-Raw (Belle, Beyond the Lights) a gifted performer as well, have good chemistry and come across as a very believable couple somewhat awed by their new love.  Supporting actors Albert Brooks, David Morse, and Alec Baldwin live up to their usual standards of quality.

A most enlightening and timely account of a troubling scientific discovery.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland