RICHARD JEWELL

Olivia Wilde     Sam Rockwell     Paul Walter Hauser     Jon Hamm     Kathy Bates

     This is a horror story, but it’s actually a dramatized account of what happened to the security guard who recognized the possibility of a bomb being in an abandoned backpack at the 1996 Olympics Games in Atlanta, Georgia.  After being called a hero for three days, the FBI got a tip from a local college president about a security guard he had fired. It’s unbelievable that such an elite group would place so much confidence in it, but they apparently did, and Richard Jewell (Hauser) was relentlessly pursued for almost three months, not only by the FBI, but as well by media outlets competing with one another to get the biggest scoop, and in such a hurry, they did not check their sources as they were supposed to.  The film focuses on one over-ambitious reporter (Wilde) who had unethically obtained a leak from one of the agents and wrote a front-page article identifying Jewell as the prime FBI suspect.

     The script by Billy Ray, based on a Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner, follows the true story closely and is taut and suspense-laden, but also carries with it humorous (not derisive, but sympathetic) portrayals of Jewell and his mother Bobi (Bates).  They are a Southern middle-class mother and son who live together in a neat apartment.  He has aspirations to be a police officer, but has a habit of taking his job too seriously, following the letter of the law (of which he is well informed by his own reading), without an understanding of practical/political considerations. He’s not taken seriously by local enforcement, but to their credit, when he points out a suspicious backpack, they indulge him, only to find that there is indeed a bomb inside.  The area is evacuated as quickly as possible, which does save lives when the bomb explodes.

     Along with the fine script, the actors are superb.  Hauser gives such a realistic portrayal of Jewell, the viewer is drawn in immediately with his combination of folksy charm, innocence, and commitment.  Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Way Way Back, Fosse/Verdon) is one of my favorite actors; he always nails whatever character he is portraying, and here he is a complex Southern lawyer with anti-authoritarian attitudes, just the right person to defend a social outcast with principals.  Kathy Bates plays Jewell’s soulful, devoted mother with just the right touches of dedication and commitment to make it believable that Richard is her progeny.  

     In his 50-year career, Clint Eastwood is a phenomenon in entertainment spanning television and movies in different roles of actor, director, producer, and even composer.   His films are generally well received, especially Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Bird, and Mystic River.  His most recent films in 2018 (15:17 to Paris and The Mule) were largely panned, but it is likely that Richard Jewell will represent a comeback to his usual solid form.  It may be over the top in some places, but seems to adhere closely to Marie Brenner’s magazine article.

A story about how self-serving machinations of the FBI and media outlets can ruin an innocent man’s reputation and torture him and his family for months.

Grade:  B+                    By Donna R. Copeland

JOJO RABBIT

Roman Griffin Davis    Taika Waititi    Thomasin McKenzie          Scarlett Johansson     Sam Rockwell     

Rebel Wilson     Archie Yates     Stephen Merchant     Alfie Allen

     What an ingenious anti-war film!  Taika Waititi has invested all of his creative energies into putting viewers into the mind of a child to take the journey from hope and hero worship on to despair and disillusionment, then full circle to hope, in a most unusual coming-of-age story set in Germany during the end of WWII.

     It begins (significantly, with a Beatles song “I want to Hold Your Hand” in German) with Jojo (incredibly portrayed by Davis in his first film), a gung-ho young German attending a youth camp for Nazi training.  He’s so into it, he has his [imaginary] friend Adolph Hitler (Waititi) by his side, bolstering him up when he’s discouraged and urging him on to a promising future as the bravest of Nazis.  There are signs, however, that Jojo might be too tenderhearted, and that’s how he gets his nickname, Jojo Rabbit.  (Jeers on all sides from his trainers and fellow recruits—except for one Captain “K” (Rockwell) who, uncharacteristically among Nazi soldiers, seems to have some empathy for him.)

     Jojo’s kooky-on-the-outside mother (Johansson) has a way of supporting her son while at the same time glossing over his stated fears.  In a way, she entertains him out of these concerns, but always with an underlying steadfastness that proves her worth.  She’s a mysterious character who appears to have important things going on, but Jojo doesn’t really know where she is when she’s gone from home.

     Which, because he is alone, is how he discovers an extra person in the house, “Elsa” (McKenzie) named, for purposes of subterfuge, after his dead sister, a young Jewish girl Jojo’s mother is hiding.  Jojo’s and Elsa’s interactions provide a context for Jojo to spout out all that he has heard of Jews (having never met one) and a framework for Waititi to illustrate how stereotypes vanish when actual people meet actual people, the distance shrinking as they become friends.

     Seldom have anti-war movies covered the scope of Jojo Rabbit.  It portrays the internal experiences of a young Nazi in training ushering us on through his figuring out “Jews”, his encountering primal fears of home searches, his observing people he trusts of glossing over facts for humanitarian concerns, and his discovery of who important people in his life really are, including his mother and his ever loyal friend, Yoki (Yates).  But beyond all of that, it has its comedic moments, e.g., reverse psychology is rephrased as “backwards mind power”, and the name of Jojo’s “book” about Jews he is writing is entitled, “Yoo-hoo, Jews”).

     I thoroughly enjoyed Jojo Rabbit, and hope that viewers will grasp all the underlying messages in it about children and about war.  It’s a satirical spoof, a heart-warming drama, a comedy, and horrifying picture of the costs of war.

Jojo Rabbit is not to be taken lightly, although it is a comedy, along with being a satirical spoof and heart-warming drama.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE BEST OF ENEMIES

Taraji P. Henson     Sam Rockwell     Babou Ceesay     Anne Heche

     It’s 1971 in Durham, North Carolina, where segregation is still de rigeur.  C. P. Ellis (Rockwell) owns a thriving gas station where all the customers are lily white and, by the way, he is president of the local KKK.  But he is a good man, devoted to his wife, teenage daughter, and young son with Down’s Syndrome who lives in a psychiatric facility.  It’s just that he’s been taught that the races don’t mix and that blacks are inferior to whites.

     There is a black activist in town, cheeky Ann Atwater, who clashes from time to time with Ellis and city council members at town meetings in her advocacy for blacks. It seems like there will never be a meeting of the minds, but then a fire destroys a school in town—one that only blacks attend.  In discussions about what to do until the school is repaired, one proposal is that the black students attend a white school.  This is the makings of a disaster when a black facilitator arrives on the scene.  That’s Bill Riddick (Ceesay), a diplomat par excellence, although it’s certainly not his title.  He has been sent by the NAACP to work out a solution.

     Riddick is also efficient, and immediately organizes a committee to come up with a resolution to resolve the situation.  In a stroke of genius, he appoints two co-chairs.  Of course, they are C. P. Ellis and Ann Atwater.  [It sounds like a movie script, but this story is actually based on real people and real events as told in a book by Osha Gray Davidson (1996).]  

     At this point, the drama unfolds with crises, penetrating insights, and touching moments.  The story as a whole graphically and poignantly illustrates how human beings negotiate their conflicts and their lives in general.  It shows the unexpected, touching ways that individuals connect and help one another, along with the devious and even savage ways some will try to sabotage and punish even people they are close to on the basis of a religiously held belief.  Director Robin Bissell concludes this sometimes disturbing, sometimes inspiring story with rays of hope for the future.

     The two main actors are phenomenal in their accomplishments playing such diverse characters.  I first became aware of Henson when she was a plump, honest and sincere, and clever cop on television’s “Person of Interest”, but she really came into her own in Hidden Figures and the TV series “Empire.” Here, she slips into an overweight, committed activist with a heart.  Rockwell is a similar chameleon, a jokester training a shy teen at a fun park (The Way Way Back), a policeman with mother issues (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri), and a former U.S. President (Vice) who can still pull off being a KKK president torn between conflicting values he has grown up with.  A big plus for the film is his explanation about what the KKK meant to him initially, and how he has come to question it.

     Above all, this film demonstrates how people coming together and talking honestly with one another is probably one of the most revolutionary activities we ever experience.  My hope is that millions of people will view this movie and vicariously experience its benefits.

A most unlikely of friendships makes this film a winner.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

VICE

Christian Bale     Steve Carell     Amy Addams     Sam Rockwell     Alison Pill

Don McManus     Eddie Marsan     Tyler Perry     Jesse Plemons

     This well conceived production with incredible casting and screenplay should hold up against the sure-to-come backlash.  Its greatest value lies in bringing to life background events and personalities that changed our country forever during the period of Richard Cheney’s political career (roughly the 1970’s-2009).  The choice of having a narration, and the selection of the figure to do it, points to just one of the creative ways in which writer-director Adam McKay and his colleagues present the personal and political values and characteristics that aided Richard Cheney and his wife Lynne in attaining the power they ultimately achieved in the U.S. government.  

     The story starts out with Cheney as a wayward partier when it looked like he would simply be a neer-do-well.  Enter Lynne Cheney, who had already dealt with alcoholism in her father, and gave her husband clear messages about her expectations of him and the consequences that would ensue should he choose not to abide by her conditions. Dick Cheney shored up, and began his career in politics.

     His true character begins to emerge after he has made it to Washington as an intern and aligns himself with Donald Rumsfeld.  Rumsfeld’s mentoring meshes completely with the personality of Cheney already in place:  ambitious, crafty/secretive, uncanny perception and the ability to look ahead and plan.  In the course of his career, Cheney will undergo ups and downs, but he will always have an eye out for opportunity, with a solid backer/strategist in his corner, his wife Lynne.  

     Through significant political threats (such as significant and historically unprecedented upsets in White House administrations) to his ambitions and heart attacks, Cheney forges on, seemingly undeterred, without any apparent contemplation or self-examination about his actions.

     Vice charts these activities, showing how stable he is in his positions and machinations.  When George Bush becomes President, he sees a golden opportunity to push forward something he has learned about from his lawyer, David Addington, the “unitary executive theory”, in which the power of the executive is absolute; the President can, literally, do no wrong. Application of this idea paved the way toward eroding previously firm policies about civilian privacy, foreign policy, and wartime engagement and behavior.  “Where law ends, tyranny begins”—an idea first attributed to British philosopher John Locke (1689) and carved on the Supreme Court building, which flashes briefly during a scene in this film, a meaningful quote.

     Christian Bale is a wonder playing Dick Cheney, who he doesn’t ordinarily look or sound like.  But with the extra weight, prosthetics, and studious attention he gave to media in preparing for the role, Bale is a dead ringer.  Amy Adams as Cheney’s stalwart, tenacious, and adoring wife is likewise convincing.  This is as strong a casting I’ve ever seen for a picture, including Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Sam Rockwell as George Bush (the younger), and Alison Pill as Liz Cheney.  Bale and Adams will almost certainly be named during the award season coming up.

     Adam McKay’s writing and direction of a subject that is sure to be controversial is, probably, one of his best, even taking into account The Big Short, which won an Oscar for screenplay.  I fully expect Viceto reap accolades during the awards season.

Demonstrates the power of drama in relating some significant historical transitions in the U.S.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Frances McDormand     Woody Harrelson     Sam Rockwell     Lucas Hedges     Peter Dinklage     John Hawkes

     The wistful opening song (“The Last Rose of Summer”) previews the emotional tone underpinning this story, even though comedy and drama emerge time and again throughout.  Seven months before, Mildred’s (McDormand) teenage daughter was raped and killed, and as time goes on and no arrests are made, Mildred—never one to shrink from conflict—starts to agitate for more action from the police, specifically Sheriff Willoughby (Harrelson).  He responds to her respectfully, explaining why, and he sounds reasonable; but Mildred is not to be mollified.  To make her case a public issue, she buys space on three billboards outside of town to post this message:  “Raped while dying.  And still no arrests.  How come, Chief Willoughby?” 

     With this action, writer/director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) gives us a window into Smalltown, USA, and how politics often work there.  And this is one where the Chief of Police is really conscientious, a mensch.  Not so much one of his officers, Jason Dixon (Rockwell), who has a huge chip on his shoulder, is unapologetic about his racist views, and has no trouble bending the law to suit himself.  Sheriff Willoughby has a challenge in mentoring him in his wish to become a detective. 

     When Mildred singles Willoughby out for her rage, she riles up most of the town folk who are already feeling sympathy for him because word has gotten out that he has cancer.  Some of the truths McDormand is illustrating is that the general public’s memory is short (seven months has made them “forget” the murder); few understand the depth of grief following the loss of a child (the very worst thing to happen to people and something that keeps going on across time), particularly when guilt is involved; and still the genuine caring and protectiveness seen when some in the community understand the issues and act accordingly.  McDonagh shows all these complexities with sensitivity and an even hand. 

     How does an Irishman get to know this?  McDonagh talks about taking bus rides around the U.S., visiting small towns, and acquainting himself with the people who lived there (Interview on Charlie Rose, 11/9/17 on PBS).  He saw a billboard in one place that first stimulated his thoughts about making this film.  In addition, McDonagh brings his own sensibilities to his dramas; in this case, showing characters in such depth, we see their strengths and weaknesses in equal measure.  And he goes further in showing redemptive experiences, where his characters actually acquire some insight and valiantly try to make positive changes. 

     McDonagh chose his cast carefully and well.  From the beginning, he knew he wanted McDormand, Harrelson, and Rockwell; and do they all shine.  McDormand is a shoo-in for award nominations for her performance here (previous wins have been an Oscar for Fargo, a Golden Globe for Olive Kitteridge, and Independent Spirit Awards for Friends with Money and Fargo), and her work has been consistently top-notch.  Rockwell deserves supporting role awards for his Dixon, whom he manages to make you hate in the beginning, and then have some sympathy for when he at least partially redeems himself.  Harrelson may not be considered for an award this year for this film, but he lends his expert rendition of a character with good judgment for whom we have great sympathy.  He, McDormand, and     Rockwell are all good for the high comedic moments as well as the drama in this film.

     McDonagh’s collaborators in music (Carter Burwell) and cinematography (Ben Davis) help make this film the artistic triumph it is.

A film likely to be on the award circuit when the time comes.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

POLTERGEIST

--> Sam Rockwell     Rosemarie DeWitt     Jared Harris

-->

            Scary?  Yes.  Tension producing?  Yes.  Mysterious?  A little.  Poltergeist is even funny at times.  I’m not a big fan of the genre, and did not see the four previous versions (and since this is the fifth, I seriously doubt there is much in it that is original), but taken on its own merits and disregarding the others, I found it to be a pretty decent rendition of a horror film. 

            It starts out in a rather glum tone because the father, Eric Bowen (Rockwell) has just been laid off his executive level job, so the family must settle on a lower grade house in a new community.  Parents Eric and Amy (DeWitt) are putting a good face on it for their kids, Kendra, Griffin and Madison, but it’s clear that adjustments will have to be made with some effort.  Maddy starts to feel right at home almost from the get-go, and even seems to be making friends.  That is, she is talking to someone, but only Griffin notices, and he dismisses it as her simply being imaginative, and says she needs to get a better grip on reality.

            Griffin is known to be “sensitive”, so he starts complaining right away about bumps in the night, a weird clown left behind by the previous tenants in his closet, and the skylight on the roof of his bedroom showing trees swaying menacingly even when it isn’t stormy, and when it does become stormy…oh my!  Others in the family start to notice a few things, like static electricity on the stair banister, lights coming on in the middle of the night, strange noises, etc.  But things really get hairy when the parents go out to dinner (in hopes of new job prospects for Erik) and leave Kendra to babysit.  During the evening, her treasured possession, cell phone, starts doing wonky things, which prompts her to start filming with it, and she ends up witnessing the floor starting to crack as if there were an earthquake, and horrible black gunk arising out of it.

            The parents are so horrified to learn about this when they come home, they consult paranormal experts (Erik worries that if they call the police, they’ll be seen as psychotic and their kids taken away), who do indeed grasp what is happening, and when they realize how serious things are, call in the nationally known expert, Carrigan Burke (Harris).  He not only has the academic credentials, but he has scars to prove his entanglements with spirits.  By this time, Maddy is missing, and the family is distraught.  Will he be able to bring Maddy back?  And if he does, at what cost?

            I jumped and held onto my seat during the course of Poltergeist, and apparently most of the audience did too, from what I could hear.  It seems to me that Director Gil Kenan, screenwriters David Lindsay-Abaire and Steven Spielberg, and cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe have delivered on their aims of making an interesting, exciting, scary production.  Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt are two of my favorite actors, and they easily step into their roles here.  Most impressive is Jared Harris, whose performance in a myriad of different roles, attests to his ability to provide gravitas and mysteriousness in his role here as “the fixer.”

            But I have to ask, “Why was this film made?”  Is it to appeal to those who are interested in this genre and love seeing the same film over and over again (thus being a money making project)?  What did Spielberg think he could add in making another poltergeist film?  We don’t need to do away with the past; let the viewers watch the older films—that are probably just as good—and make room for creative films that will advance the industry.

Scary—but apparently not new.

Grade:  C                        By Donna R. Copeland