THE OUTFIT

Mark Rylance     Zoey Deutch     Dylan O’Brien     Johnny Flynn     Simon Russell Beale

            A lowly tailor plays a bait and switch game when he is involved in complicated situations with some of his customers, most of whom are criminals.  He can weave a convincing story on the spot, which saves his life numerous times and provides us with great entertainment.  Director Graham Moore (who wrote the script for The Imitation Game) and co-writer Johnathan McClain’s script is a wonder in itself with its constant situational changes suffused with threat and requiring immediate action—all while being intelligently calculated.  Background stories of all the main characters are dribbled out deliberately and explain why the person we see is who he/she is.  “Ah ha!” moments will occur throughout the viewing time for this movie, which is also part of its enjoyment.

            It seems as if the Leonard Burling character was written precisely for Mark Rylance.  As a soft-spoken British man outwardly unassuming ([tailoring] “isn’t art.  It’s a craft.”) he carries a big stick of craftmanship and wit that frequently take his listener off guard.  He knows how to charm and distract the most fearsome mobster into listening to his story as it is unfolding, and he knows how not to be seen slipping away for some contrivance that will be all-important later.  In addition to the plot, just observing him in action is fascinating.  Rylance is well known and respected internationally, most notably for his work in Bridge of Spies, Wolf Hall, and this past year in Don’t Look Up in which he plays a less than admirable character to great effect.

            It is curious that the tailor allows a drop-box at the back of his shop for his star client mobster Roy Boyle’s (Beale) gang to communicate with one another and plan operations.  Burling makes no eye contact with them as they pass through his work room, being completely engrossed in his tailoring. His receptionist Mable (Deutch) resembles her boss in her astuteness and pleasant overlay, but she too is interesting to observe as the story unfolds.  In the end, we will see how all this fits together and makes sense.

            Composer Alexandre Desplat’s music and Dick Pope’s cinematography capture and elaborate upon The Outfit’s mood and suspenseful uncertainty in a way that makes it all of a piece.  

 

It’s always a joy to see a smart, clever person with a good heart in action.

 

Grade:  A                                 By Donna R. Copeland

BUMBLEBEE

Hailee Steinfeld     John Cena     Jason Drucker     

Voices of:  Dylan O’Brien     Justin Theroux     Angela Bassett

            Bumblebee is a lovable transformer that may convince you that robots have emotions after all.  This is not so far-fetched; a podcast of “This American Life” verifies that robots can come up with adages that the human mind can perceive as wise (Podcast #663, “How I Read it”).  Of course it’s a bit of a stretch to take that to emotional sensitivities, but…

            A prequel to the Transformermovies that started on TV in 1986 and appeared in movie theaters every few years thereafter (2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017), Bumblebee(O’Brien) has been sent to earth by Optimus Prime, Chief of the Autobots, to set up operations to defeat the Decepticons, which are out to destroy earth.  

            Meanwhile on earth, Charlie Watson (Steinfeld), a teenage girl grieving over the death of her father is sustaining her memory of him by continuing to work on cars, their favorite activity together.  She has become sullen and self-preoccupied, but cheekily asks her mother for a car for her upcoming birthday.  Her mother doesn’t take this seriously, but Charlie has been looking in her friend Hank’s junkyard and spies a yellow VW Beetle.   She cagily bargains for it, and Hank lets her have it, giving his employee a wink that says, “if she thinks she can make that work…” good luck to her.

            Charlie doesn’t realize it, but this little car is one in which Bumblebee is hiding from the Decepticons.  When he first transforms himself from a car into the giant robot Bumblebee in her garage, she’s a bit intimidated, but her fascination and curiosity makes her pause, reflect, then want to make friends with him.  

            Most of the action thereafter will be battles with the formidable Decepticons Dropkick (Theroux) and Shatter (Bassett), mixed in with the not-very-helpful U.S. Sector 7 interventions led by Agent Burns (Cena).  

            Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie continues her fine record of performances in True Grit and The Edge of Seventeen, showing a spunky, searching teenager trying to sort out her life and understand the world she lives in.  As her newfound friend/neighbor Memo, Lendeborg lights up the screen with his initially smitten character who gamely goes along with whatever comes up, eventually respecting the strange girl next door.  Playing Charlie’s younger brother, Jason Drucker, captures your attention with his realistic portrayal of a kid who looks up to his older sister, but has ambivalent feelings about her.  

            I think this is a worthy addition to the Transformers franchise for those who like this kind of fantasy.  And the addition of a mechanically minded girl who becomes a hero especially pleases me.

A worthy addition to the Transformers franchise.

Grade:  B                                 By Donna R. Copeland

AMERICAN ASSASSIN

Dylan O’Brien     Michael Keaton     Sanaa Lathan     Taylor Kitsch     Shiva Negan

      This is a thriller about international intrigue involving the CIA and black ops, Mossad, the Iranians, the Israelis, and a nuclear device, taking place in Malta, Romania, Warsaw, Tripoli, Istanbul, and Rome—all lovely places to visit, but except for a scene here and there, we won’t see much.  The story is set up with young Mitch Rapp (O’Brien) and his girlfriend (Charlotte Vega) on a beautiful beach on Ibiza enjoying tender moments, when they are attacked by Muslim terrorists.  This affects Mitch so profoundly, he signs up to be a black-ops recruit under the tutelage of Stan Hurley (Keaton).  Mitch already has an oppositional streak, which will sometimes serve him well, and sometimes undermine him.  He is expected to get this under control in his training.

      Mitch’s recruiter, Irene Kennedy (Lathan) regards him as a prodigy, but Rapp is reluctant on the basis of Mitch’s psychological characteristics.  After rigorous training and a practice run or two, Hurley decides Mitch is ready and takes him into the field.  You know this is a movie when Mitch repeatedly goes against orders and still saves the day.  The most critical operation is one where a rogue agent called “Ghost” (Kitsch), a former star pupil of Hurley’s, collaborates with Iranians in Poland to construct a nuclear weapon.  The rest of the story is about the CIA’s attempts first to retrieve stolen plutonium, and then to sabotage efforts to make a bomb.

    The film is fast-paced under the watchful eye of Director Michael Cuesta, whose experience as a producer/director has been primarily in television, but succeeds here too.  Cinematographer Enrique Chediak follows the action and fight sequences so well it’s always clear what is happening—unlike in many action films.  Dylan O’Brien is believable as a fresh-faced green recruit bursting to make his mark, and of course, Keaton is a perfect foil for him.  I did not find Taylor Kitsch to be as formidable and evil as I think he was supposed to be, which diluted the impact of some key scenes.

     My problem with action thrillers is that they are so filled with preposterous successes that I’m left cold.  In American Assassin, at one point, a character asks Mitch how he has survived so many close calls, then derides him if he thinks he’s special and deserving of sympathy.  All during the film, Mitch is amidst of all kinds of dangers, but somehow he comes out ahead, and the last scene shows that this is an origin story with sequels to come.  At least this one was more clever than most.

Take a ride on the black-ops special to see intrigue, bloody torturous encounters, and occasional humor.

Grade:  C                                    By Donna R. Copeland

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS

Dylan O’Brien   Kaya Scodelario   Patricia Clarkson   Lili Taylor   Thomas Brodie-Sangster   Aidan Gillen   Ki Hong Lee   Giancarlo Esposito

          The title Maze Runner is apt in that the protagonists seem to run during almost the entire movie.  In The Scorch Trials, a group of kids are racing through “The Scorch”, which is desolate, sandy, hot terrain and bombed out cities with buildings caving in, and they have zombie-like beings and others chasing after them for one reason or another.  It’s rather remarkable through all this that they seem to survive for days without much food or water.  The film opens with a group of teenagers routed out of bed and told to run (with the implication they are being rescued).  And in fact, they are taken to a place where someone named Janson (Gillen) repeatedly reassures them they are in a safe place and to “just relax.”  It appears to be true to the starved, beleaguered teens as they are fed and clothed and begin to feel content.  Except…

          One odd member of the group whom Thomas (O’Brien) doesn’t know takes him for an exploration at night that raises his concern.  Apparently Thomas (although unbeknownst to him because something has happened to his memory) is seen as a leader [“maybe they’ll listen to you”, says Newt (Brodie-Sangster)], not only by members of his group, but by others he encounters during the rest of the story.  They boys do find things that disturb them so much they plan an escape, but since they don’t know where they are, they have no idea where they’ll run to.

          And that’s the main part of this drama.  It’s a post-apocalyptic world as told in a trilogy (The Maze Runner) by the novelist James Dashner.  Scorch Trials is the fifth in a series of films based on Dashner’s Maze Runner novels.  This is actually the first one I’ve seen personally, but although there are references to previous events in the series, the film still stands on its own. 

          When Thomas and the others in his group discover that the experiments they are a part of might be dangerous to them, they attempt to escape but must go through the barren Scorch land to get to a safe place they’ve been informed about.  The researchers are hot on their trail, along with bounty hunters and the zombie-like creatures they meet along the way.  The questions become about whom they can trust and whether or not they’ll make it to their destination. 

          Although perhaps not as original as some would hope, the story is exciting and tense throughout, and the production design (Daniel T. Dorrance) and set direction spectacular.  Director Wes Ball, Musician John Paesano and Cinematographer Gyula Pados, worked together in previous Maze productions and all contribute to the quality of this one.  Young Dylan O’Brien—who was Thomas in the 2014 production—is a fine actor who holds his own as the lead.  Other actors (Clarkson, Taylor, Gillen, and Lee) are likewise forceful in their presentations. 

A fast-paced young adult thriller with panache.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland