F9: THE FAST SAGA

 Vin Diesel     Michelle Rodriguez     Jordana Brewster     Tyrese Gibson     Ludacris

Nathalie Emmanuel     Thue Ersted Rasmussen     Helen Mirren     Kurt Russell

 

If car racing, heists, and spying—with all the special effects that one can think of—is your thing, and you don’t mind absurdity, then F9 is the movie for you.  This is the 10^th full-length version of the theme since it first appeared in 2001.  Another theme puts great emphasis on family, a motif repeated across the series, with the star Vin Diesel as Dominic always implying that family is sacred and of the utmost importance.  (“Family” includes all the people one is close to as well as those biologically related.)  The problem in this newest iteration is that Dominic’s estranged brother Jakob (Cena) has suddenly appeared on the scene. 

Jakob is clearly less principled than Dom, and is easily drawn in by nefarious schemes, this time with Otto (Rasmussen), with whom he plans on getting his hands on an object that will allow him and Otto to rule the world.  They have captured Dom’s nemesis Cipher (Theron) and put her in a glass box so she can assist them, but she shows only disdain for Jakob.

The movie will take us on a world tour (London, Tokyo, Central America, Edinburgh, Azerbaijan, Tbilisi in Georgia, even outer space) as a way I presume of making the story more exciting.

The biggest problem with the movie as I see it is that practically all of it takes place on streets in big cities with cars and people getting hit and scattered every which way, punctuated with fist fight free-for-alls.  A little dialogue will transpire, but soon it’s back to car chases and fist fights.  It is a tiny bit to their credit in my book that the women are just as ferocious and active as the men; not one hesitates to blast with a gun, her body, or fist…AND with a computer.

All of the movies in the franchise have been big box office draws, although critics tend to be much less enthusiastic.  That has to do with the numerous implausibilities (e.g., cars being shot out over large bodies of water and an actual trip into space) and contradictions (characters seemingly rising from the dead) replete in the series.  But promoters of the film advise viewers just to sit back, suspend realistic considerations, and just enjoy the movie with your popcorn.

Director Justin Lin—who has previously directed three Fast films—is also scheduled to direct the final(?) two adventures.  He knows exactly how to please enthusiastic fans of the franchise, helped along by the special effects crew, cinematographer Stephen F. Windon, and composer Brian Tyler.  

 

F9 remains true to the franchise in its daring thrills and main characters, with the cast cast headed by Vin Diesel as usual.

 

Grade:  C-                             By Donna R. Copeland

THE GOOD LIAR

Helen Mirren     Ian McKellen     Jim Carter     Russell Tovay     Lily Dodsworth-Evans

    There are lies and damn lies (we’ll leave out “and statistics”, which is part of the popularized quote about three kinds of lies), which this clever film has aplenty.  Best not to sort them out in a review, because lying is one of the most entertaining aspects of The Good Liar.  It’s based on the same entitled thriller novel by Nicholas Searle, with screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher, and it’s very cleverly written.  Director Bill Condon has exploited its strong points by leading the audience where he wants us to go with good pacing and information doled out in strategic bits.

     Of course, the two main actors (Mirren and McKellen) are a major part of the show, bringing all their impressive experience to bear in portraying characters who are themselves acting, although not apparently so.  They meet on an online dating site with assumed names, but soon reveal themselves to be Betty and Roy, who have lost spouses fairly recently.  

     She is taken by his charms, much to the chagrin of her grandson Steven (Tovay), whom she regards as overly protective.  She makes it clear that even though she is a simple widow, she is in charge of her life. So when Roy makes her feel so special, she is ready to make life plans with him, disregarding her grandson’s warnings.  

     How will this turn out?  It’s clear that she is a wealthy woman who appears a bit naïve, and he has some kind of past that keeps bubbling up, but they seem to have worked out an arrangement.

     But this is only part of the story.  The last 45 minutes of the film delves into material you probably wouldn’t have surmised.  The denouement brings in a history not imagined, although the viewer might be suspecting certain outcomes.  

     At any rate, The Good Liar is a deliciously conceived thriller that entertains throughout.  Music by Carter Burwell heightens the mood of the time and the action on the screen, transporting us into a thriller we can invest in.

An entertaining, intriguing story lit up by charismatic actors in a delightful ruse.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS

Keira Knightley    Mackenzie Foy    Morgan Freeman    Helen Mirren

Misty Copeland     Matthew MacFadyen     Jayden Fowora-Knight

     The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is just as enchanting as it should be, and involves a twist.  In this case, the traditional hero’s journey is undertaken by a girl named Clara, the girl in Tchaikovsky’s popular “Nutcracker” ballet.  The script is based on E. T. A. Hoffman’s 1816 story (“The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”), in which the young girl Clara has a very special Christmas.

     The film opens with the Stahlbaum family preparing to go to the grandfather’s for their annual Christmas party.  The mother, Maria, has died, but has left presents for each of the three children.  Mr. Stahlbaum (MacFadyen) is clearly grieving, but is trying to make the best of it.  Louise and Fritz are thrilled with their gifts, but Clara (Foy) is puzzled by hers.  It’s some kind of egg, and as pretty as it is, Clara, a very smart inventive girl like her mother, sees that it requires a key, which she doesn’t have.  Enigmatically, there is a note from her mother, noting, “Everything you need is inside.”  Then Clara brightens; her grandfather very likely made it and gave it to her mother.  He should have the key.  Now, the socially shy girl is excited about going to the party.

     It’s after that the adventures start.  First, when Clara runs to her grandfather (Freeman) looking for the key, she solves a problem for him and presents him with hers.  He lets her know that she must search, saying, “Some locks are harder to pick than others.”  That will be an understatement!  As she is wont to do, Clara begins wandering around, and comes upon a whole new world, snowy and beautiful, and a certain tree that is lit up like no other.  She spies a key, but then…pesky mouse!

     As she continues her journey through this strange world, she comes upon Phillip (Fowora-Knight), a guard who warns her about going to the fourth world, which is very dangerous.  She’s still curious, and wants to forge on, and the guard is skeptical, but goes with her, more willingly when he discerns that she is a princess.  She knows nothing about that, but along the way, they meet the heads of the three realms:  Lands of Snowflakes, Flowers, and Sweets, and are entertained with a ballet that explains the realms, the fourth being one that belongs to Mother Ginger (Mirren) who has mice attending her and a reputation for being fearsome.
     A ballet is performed to tell the story of the four realms, with New York City American Ballet Theater's Misty Copeland making her debut in a movie as the lead dancer.  She was able to bring in the ABT choreographer, Liam Scarlett, and Director Lasse Hallstrom welcomed their input into which dances from the traditional Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Ballet to include and supplement them with more contemporary choreography.

     The bulk of the story is told by the Sugarplum Fairy (Knightley), from the Land of Sweets.  Whereupon, Clara—who is feeling more and more like a princess and even a queen—decides it is her duty to solve a mystery and do what she can to unite the four realms.  It’s exciting to see Clara come into her own, figuring out what is going on in the four realms, showing bravery in overcoming obstacles and betrayals, and achieving her goal and reuniting with her family as a changed person.

     Disney is often criticized for its shallowness in productions, but I think their story here should inspire young girls while it entertains with enough intrigue, captivating graphics and special effects to please its audience.

An inspiring story with a superb model for young girls.

Grade:  A                                        By Donna R. Copeland

WINCHESTER

Helen Mirren     Sarah Snook     Jason Clarke     Finn Scicluna-O’Prey

     This work of horror and intrigue, co-written with Tom Vaughan by Directors Michael and Peter Spierig (identical twins born in Germany and working in Australia), does what such a picture is supposed to do—keep us on the edge of our seats, play into common fears about old mansions, and pull us into the world of spirits and ghosts as it tries to convince the character, Dr. Price (Clarke), that the spirits/ghosts are there for a cause and a purpose. 

     Dr. Price has been contracted by the board of the Winchester Company to evaluate the mental stability of Sarah Winchester (Mirren), heir and half-owner of the Company, out of their concern for the company’s solvency.  Is she still fit to be on the board?  She has been adding onto her mansion in San Jose, California, for years; construction goes on 24 hours a day.  She says the purpose of this work is to calm the spirits of all those who have been killed by Winchester guns.  Sarah is convinced that if she shows them remorse, they will be at peace and go on to a better place.  She builds a room for each of them until they get that peace, then they move on.  (Now, those who never get to a calm place must be locked away in their room with, specifically, 13 nails.)

     Eric Price, a staunch empiricist, is quite prepared to consider Sarah delusional, even though eerie things begin to occur immediately after he arrives at the Winchester mansion—glimpses of strange figures flitting by, the bells tolling precisely at 12:00 every night, and of course unexplained noises at all times of day.  Once, when he goes to investigate, he peers through a door slightly ajar to see Sarah in a trance gazing upward, and sketching instructions for re-building that someone seems to be telepathically sending her. 

     Sarah has her trusted niece Marion (Snook) living in the house with her young son Henry (Scicluna-O’Prey), and he shows strange and even dangerous behaviors from time to time.  The question arises about whether he is cursed as a Winchester or simply showing signs of grief over the loss of his father. 

     As time goes on, the weirdness increases to a point that it looks like everyone and everything will be destroyed. 

     I think Winchester succeeds in what it is attempting to do in its genre, and beyond this, astute observations are made from time to time that give it more depth, such as making the point that sometimes real (i.e., personal) experience is more valuable than professional training.  It especially highlights the motivations that can result from guilt—Mrs. Winchester’s for the damage her gun company has done, and Price’s for his role in his deceased wife’s demise.  Just importantly, it shows how each is able to assuage guilt through action and/or taking a different perspective.

     Helen Mirren’s artful portrayal of a woman with spirit, determination, self-confidence, and a little quirkiness is persuasive in drawing us into her world, just the way she draws in Clarke’s Price.  And he skillfully transitions from a grieving skeptic without a purpose in life to someone drawn in to more meaningful endeavors.  Snook, as the intensely loyal but thoughtful niece shows the bind her character gets into when she gets put between Winchester and Price.  Young Scicluna-O'Prey as Henry is alternately endearing and frightening, depending on whether he is a normal boy or caught up in a spirit’s machination. 

     I interviewed the Spierigs at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2014 where their film Predestination, based on a Robert Heinlein story, premiered.  It has a complex plot, full of intrigue and social issues and, like this film, shows their creative thinking merging with social conscientiousness.  I was impressed with them then, and regard them as filmmakers who will advance the artfulness and thoughtfulness of films for years to come.

An intriguing horror film with a wonderful blend of history, biography, and fantasy.

Grade:  A                                    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

EYE IN THE SKY

Helen Mirren     Aaron Paul     Iain Glen     Alan Rickman     Barkhad Abdi

          This is a different thriller from most; the tension is mostly in the inaction rather than the action.  Helen Mirren is the no-nonsense Colonel Katherine Powell in London and in direct command of the U.S. drone operators who are waiting to pull the trigger on a target in Kenya.  She is logical and decisive while still being compassionate, unlike some of her superiors who cannot seem to think through problematic situations and come up with a plan.  Clearly, many of them have sat at a desk through most of their careers.  That is unlike Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Rickman), however, who immediately comprehends Powell’s reasoning and is prepared to give his authorization of a strike.  He is a military man.  It is the political officials who may not have had direct experience in war who struggle with making a decision.

         There are agonizing moments as we watch two suicide bombers get fitted with their vests while we wait for multiple authorizations (these have been “kicked upstairs” or over to U.S. officials to avoid personally taking responsibility).  Since this is spur-of-the-moment, many of the authorities are otherwise occupied, and are stunned about making such a decision at all, much less on the fly.  The salient issue has to do with weighing the cost of one innocent casualty versus the potential of killing 80 men, women, and children.  It becomes much more potent because everyone can see a particular little girl who could be caught in the explosion.

         It is instructive for nonmilitary people to see the kind of agony that decision-makers must go through during a war—especially the newly appointed and young drone operators.  In this instance, it is just as agonizing for the audience to sit through long sequences waiting for the higher-ups to make up their mind.  And we have to listen to considerations that have more to do with political fall-out and “covering one’s butt” than humanitarian and ethical concerns, which makes it even more nerve-wracking. 

       During and after this long process, instructions are given as to how to report the incident, and the quote at the beginning of the film becomes applicable:  “In war, truth is the first casualty” (Aeschylus).

          Director Gavin Hood and writer Guy Hibbert have created a fine picture of substance that will grab your attention and pull you right in with the feeling of being a part of the action.  They shed light on the new arena of drone warfare and help us understand some of its complexities.  The cast is part of the excellence of the film, headed up by the ever-perfect Mirren who seems to be able to convincingly play any role.  She and Rickman (May he rest in peace) make a good team, in sync with one another in timing and emotional space.  Aaron Paul subtly evinces the conscience-ridden drone operator who has no experience in actual “kills”, and knows enough about the law that he can request reconsideration of an order.  Barkhad Abdi reprises his role as a Somalian (Captain Phillips), but this time he is one of the good guys—well played. 

Eye in the Sky will make you squirm and groan about wartime decision-making.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

TRUMBO

Bryan Cranston   Diane Lane   Helen Mirren   Louis C.K.   John Goodman   Elle Fanning

          Dalton Trumbo was a very successful Hollywood screenwriter in the late 1940’s when he was called to answer questions about his beliefs by the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).  He refused to testify, so was sent to prison for 11 months for Contempt of Congress.  He and many others were put on a Black List by the movie studios, which refused to hire them, denying them any means of support. 

         The film Trumbo dramatizes these events with major actors in the roles of the principal players.  Bryan Cranston plays Trumbo in another one of his remarkable performances.  He truly can melt himself into a character so well you forget him, the actor.  Diane Lane plays his wife Cleo—capturing the near-saint that Cleo must have been, while easily asserting herself forcefully when she perceived a wrong.  Helen Mirren plays Hedda Hopper, an apparently conniving, devious zealot with incredible power given her occupation, a gossip columnist.  In her younger days, she was an actress and still seethes about being rejected as “too old”, but is still able to threaten studio executives with exposure of their weaknesses unless they go along with her political stance, i.e., supporting the HUAC. 

       Louis C.K. is turning out to be a gifted actor; he plays Arlen Hird, one of Trumbo’s reluctant screenwriter colleagues also called to testify.  Trumbo pulls him along by convincing him that even if they’re convicted, the case will go to a liberal Supreme Court that will defend their right of free speech, and he pays for Hird’s attorney fees.  (In a stroke of bad luck, one of the Supreme Court liberal judges dies unexpectedly, so they lose their appeal.) 

        Another star always up to his reputation is John Goodman, who plays Frank King, a Hollywood producer who just wants to churn out box office successes.  He doesn’t give a flip about political issues, so has no problem paying Trumbo to rework the terrible scripts he is given.  This is what saves Trumbo financially, and as amazing as he is in turning out scripts in record time, he has so much work he can’t do it all.  He hires his fellow blacklisted writers to help him, and thereby they survive. 

       Trumbo is an extraordinary film in showing us an important “happening” in American history, in having well known actors playing major figures (which blows your mind a little bit), and more importantly, reminding us of how critical it is for Americans to have free speech to sustain our democracy.

        Director Jay Roach is known primarily for comedies (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers), but I think he does a good job in presenting this bruising history of Hollywood and America.  It is more liberal in its presentation, but an important speech by Dalton Trumbo gives the import of the movie’s message: There was bad faith and good, honesty and dishonesty, courage and cowardice, selflessness and opportunism, wisdom and stupidity, good and bad on both sides; and almost every individual involved, no matter where he stood, combined some or all of these antithetical qualities in his own person, in his own acts (Cieply, Michael (September 11, 2007). "A Voice From the Blacklist: Documentary Lets Dalton Trumbo Speak (Through Surrogates)". New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2011.) 

An instructive piece of American history dramatized.

Grade:  B                                 By Donna R. Copeland

WOMAN IN GOLD

--> Helen Mirren     Ryan Reynolds     Katie Holmes     Charles Dance     Elizabeth McGovern     Daniel Brühl     Max Irons

-->

Beautifully filmed, Woman in Gold tells the story of one woman in about 100,000 whose family’s art works were stolen by the Nazis during World War II.  Maria Altmann (Mirren) and her well-to-do Jewish family lived in Vienna at the time, and had acquired now-famous paintings and jewelry, most notably Gustav Klimpt’s Woman in Gold.  Newly wed, Maria and her husband Fritz (Irons) arranged to flee before they were sent to a concentration camp, but had to leave her parents behind along with, of course, all valuables. 

      The two made it to the U.S., and her sister followed.  Years pass, her husband and sister have died, and Maria finds some old correspondence that reminds her of her aunt—of whom she has very fond memories—and the Klimpt painting of her.  She questions why it is in an Austrian museum instead of being returned to the family heirs.  She has a friend whose son is a lawyer, and Maria asks to talk with him and show him the letters.

      The two don’t exactly hit it off; he seems slightly boorish to her, and she seems troublesome—even rude—to him.  But there is something that compels them to persist in the project to reclaim the paintings legally.  This will be a difficult task, partly because the Austrians have so “owned” the Klimpt paintings, they’ve become a national treasure, and obviously, the museum will not let the paintings go lightly. 

      The film draws on the lives of two real people, E. Randol Schoenberg and Maria Altmann for the story, from which Alexi Kaye Campbell wrote the screenplay.  That gives it an authenticity and a sense of history-in-the-making that a film such as this needs.  The film The Monuments Men (2014) attempted a story on the Nazis’ making off with thousands of art works, but it lacked the personal and present connection that this film possesses, which might make a difference in its popularity with the general population.

      Simon Curtis’ (My Week with Marilyn) art in directing is visibly apparent, with Campbell’s strong script, Martin Phipps’ and Hans Zimmer’s music, and the cinematography of Ross Emery.  Adding to the artful mix are the performances of Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds.  Mirren is at her usual inimitably strong talent for bringing a character alive, but the surprise is Ryan Reynolds who, as the attorney showing persistence, frustration, dismay, and sheer determination, gives his very best performance.

A heart-rending and historically meaningful film.

Grade:  A                            By Donna R. Copeland