THE POWER OF THE DOG

 Benedict Cumberbatch     Kirsten Dunst     Jesse Plemons

Kodi Smit-McPhee     Thomasin McKenzie     Keith Carradine

            This well-conceived and crafted film is so evocative, you are likely to be talking about it and figuring it out with others after you see it.  That means, it’s necessary to watch and listen closely—even at the very beginning when there is a monolog spoken by Peter (Smit-McPhee).  

            The setting is a cattle ranch in 1925, but this won’t be like a typical American western.  The ranch is owned by two brothers who couldn’t be more different from one another.  Phil the older (in a stunning performance by Cumberbatch) is macho, glib, and sarcastic, lording over everyone—even to the point that in the local saloon when he thinks the party at the next table is too loud, he shuts them and the piano player up.  Everyone seems to kowtow to him.  His brother George (Plemons also at his personal finest) is his opposite—diffident, unexpressive, and self-effacing.  He clearly feels antagonistic and disapproving of his brother, but quakes in his boots when he feels forced to confront him.

            But George is man enough (and this film is clearly about manhood and how it’s achieved.  George manages to woo childhood friend Rose (Dunst) who is a widow now with a son, Peter, and marry her on the sly outside of Phil’s presence and control.  Of course, this does not sit well with Phil, and he disparages her and her son loudly and clearly.

            He is especially dismissive of Peter, who is artistic and studying to be a doctor like his deceased father.  Modeling themselves after Phil, the ranch hands yell out “faggot!” when Peter walks by, and when Phil takes it upon himself to teach Peter manly things like riding a horse, everyone is surprised.  Not Rose—she is horrified.  The antagonism between her and Phil is palpable.  

            The film is expert in bringing the viewer along with little puzzles to think and hypothesize about along the way.  It’s a study in personality types and how they might function within a family.  It’s an incredibly thoughtful movie with subtle references and signs.  Writer-director Jane Campion based it on Thomas Savage’s novel of the same title, The Power of the Dog, a biblical reference to Psalms 22:20, “But be not thou far from me, O LORD…haste thee to help me.  Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog…”  [power of the dog as a symbol of gluttony, a scavenger, something evil].

            The actors are so well cast, and Cumberbatch put himself through all kinds of training exercises to learn ranching, an American western accent, and so on.  I would think he is at the top of award lists for best actor, even though he is a bit of a villain.  Plemons is in more and more films these days, and in the past seemed rather unremarkable; but in this film, he pulls off being a sympathetic character with authenticity.  Dunst herself disappears into a complex, troubled—yet vengeful—woman who lacks self-confidence except in the case of her son, whom she will defend to the end.

            As in her previous major work, The Piano, Jane Campion brings to life real people and real struggles to create a psychological drama in which the ending remains ambiguous, at least as far as the main characters are concerned.  We get attached to Peter, Rose, George and others, wondering what happened to them.

 

A psychological study of personality types and how they might function in a family.

 

Grade:  A                              By Donna R. Copeland

DOLEMITE IS MY NAME

Eddie Murphy     Kodi Smit-McPhee    Wesley Snipes    Keegan-Michael Key

De’vine Joy Randolph     Chris Rock     Craig Robinson     Snoop Dogg     Mike Epps

     Here’s a way for black people to get into their groove and for those of us unfamiliar with Rudy Ray Moore (aka “Dolemite”), the “Godfather of Rap”, to jive a little with him and his cohorts when he is just getting started in show business in the 1970’s.  In the beginning of this story, he’s trying to make it as a comedian in L.A. when he has an inkling that there are black audiences who are not being served in the entertainment industry.  He finds in his stand-up routines that black people can appreciate a certain kind of humor, so he cagily puts out three bawdy records that sell well—much to others’ surprise, and even to his own.  

     It turns out that what was regarded by most of America at that time as profane—even porn--black people found in it a particular kind of humor (as in “Yo daddy’s a freak, and yo mama’s a whore”—the beginnings of the rap genre).  This encourages Rudy—who has stellar aspirations to add singing, acting, and film producing to his resume.  He is determined to satisfy the appetites of his people without regard to conventions (primarily white people’s), running up against not only white “shirts”, but (middle/upper class?) blacks in the arts and in production, who have been going in the direction of “refinement” as they envision it.  Rudy crashes right through all of that, while bringing many of those people on board with him.

     Rudy Ray Moore (expertly rendered by Murphy) is a fascinating individual with the unusual ability to sell his visions (and he is a master salesman) to producers who will back him so that he can give full vent to his creativity, first and foremost in comedy with music (what would eventually become rap), but as well in business (managing to get funding, construct a studio, act in and produce a movie).  How Rudy got started in show business is remarkable.  After serving in the Armed Forces, he was working in a record store, trying to get the DJ (Snoop Dogg) to play some of the records he’d made, which were based on a homeless man’s lewd limericks.

     We get to go along with Rudy on a major part of the making of his first movie, Dolemite, its significance being that it’s the first of what came to be known as Blaxploitation films. The filming of it has hilarious scenes where ineptness is clearly visible, but in Rudy’s hands becomes a delightful farce, helped along by Wesley Snipes (stunning!) as director D’Urville, Keegan-Michael Key (socompetent) as writer, Kodi Smit-McPhee (respectful, how-old-is-he? cinematographer), and Lady Reed (Randolph), Rudy’s creation of a saucy character from a self-deprecating, disillusioned woman. 

     Rudy is a complicated character in whom people have little faith; but in actually possessing talents in salesmanship, sensibility about black folk, and astute judge of character, he was able to pull it off, not only by proving his worth to the powers that be, but also recognizing traits in others that could be encouraged and brought out to serve his purposes.  A prime example is Lady Reed (Randolph) whom he decides after talking to her in a bar that she could be a funny sidekick in his comedy routine.  Writer Jerry Jones (Key) helps in coaching Rudy in script writing.  Rudy plucks his reluctant, snobbish director D’Urville Martin (hilariously played by Snipes) out of a strip club.  He accepts a new graduate (Smit-McPhee) from film school to be his cinematographer.  His old friends Ben Taylor (Robinson), Jimmy Lynch (Epps), and Daddy Fatts (Rock) are his reliable stand-bys.  

     In Dolemite is My Name, Eddie Murphy and Director Craig Brewer revive this character with apparently similar sensibilities about the world today as Rudy had about his people at the time.  It may seem a bit slow to viewers in the beginning, but that is partly because it takes a while to get oriented in another world—at least for many of us.  This was certainly true for me, as I had not seen previews and knew nothing about Rudy Ray Moore.  But after a time it became fascinating and truly funny.  

An entertaining account of the beginnings of rap popularized by a remarkable figure in showbiz.

Grade:  A-                                             By Donna R. Copeland

ALPHA

Kodi Smit-McPhee    Johannes Hauken Johannesson     Leonor Varela     Natassia Malthe

Priya Rajaratnam     Jens Hulten     Mercedes de la Zerda     Spencer Bogaert

     Although they didn’t have “wilderness” experiences in the Ice Age, in this movie, Keda (Smit-McPhee) does go through one in spades back in that time. Keda is the son of a proud chief of a Cro-Magnon tribe, Tau  (Johannesson), who makes it clear what his expectations are of Keda.  The young man must be strong and prove his worth to the tribe.  Keda’s mother (Malthe) takes issue with this, worrying about him going on a trial hunt with his father.  “He might die; he leads with his heart, not his spear”, she says.  But, of course, it’s doubtful such concerns would be paid attention to in their culture.  And besides, Tau has faith in his son, telling his mother that Keda is stronger than she thinks—even stronger than Keda himself thinks. (In an interesting storytelling twist, both prophecies will come true.)

     In tests before and during the hunt, Keda has a poor showing—except maybe for sharpening his knife—but his fire-building skill is lacking, and he absolutely fails when called upon to use his knife on an animal.  To his credit, Tau is patient with him and continues to teach him things he needs to know.  Unfortunately, a tragedy occurs, and Keda is left for dead by his tribe, much to his father’s overwhelming regret and grief—not to mention what he will face when he gets home.

     What follows are Keda’s personal trials in the wilderness by himself.  He is injured, he has to face the elements and wild animals, and somehow get food and shelter.  The most charming part of the story is about how he makes friends with a wolf he names “Alpha.”  (This is where the “heart” his mother talked about comes in.)  It’s touch and go as to whether he will be able to survive, especially through the winter.  

     This film misses the mark in so many ways.  First of all, the script based on director Albert Hughes’ story and written for the screen by Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt, is completely improbable. There is no way a young man could have survived what Keda does without any more personal resources than he has. He somehow manages to climb up/around/over a cliff after he has fallen to a place where his father and the tribe couldn’t reach him—this with an injured foot.  With this injured foot, he manages to outrun a pack of wolves.  Really?  It was good to see he made progress in learning how to start a fire, and somehow he caught a rabbit for food; but that he might survive the storms of winter with his now trusted wolf that he has saved and made friends with, strains credibility.

     The ultimate challenge in watching this film was a screwed-up 3-D picture that was so dark it was difficult to see what was going on.  Studios that want their films seen in the best possible light should make sure their pictures are seen in optimal conditions.

The intriguing set-up for this film about a boy in the Ice Age proving his worth is so improbable, it’s dis-engaging.

Grade:  D                                    by Donna R. Copeland