ROLLING THUNDER REVUE: A BOB DYLAN STORY BY MARTIN SCORSESE

     Devotees of Bob Dylan and his songs will likely be pleased with this special production by Martin Scorsese.  There are many personal touches and background events that are likely to be new to many, and overall the film underscores the sociopolitical force that Dylan represents within a background of protests in America during his peak times of popularity.  (For example, President Jimmie Carter would quote him in speeches, and the famous playwright Sam Shephard observes that “rock and roll is a kind of medicine for hard times”).  Scorsese has included a large collection of songs that were gleaned from 57 concerts during Dylan and his band’s two “Rolling Thunder” tours in 1975 and 1976, a generous helping for fans of the music.

     The Rolling Thunder tours did not become notable because of their box office; Dylan had in mind to play in smaller venues where he would have a more intimate connection to his audiences.   And they were successful in that respect.  As one taxi driver expressed after going for the first time to any concert, that he had never seen or thought about before the dynamic connection between the performers and the audience that he witnessed in a Rolling Thunder concert.  But the promoter of the tour states outright that the investors lost money.

     Dylan apparently thrived on chaos (or as Shephard expressed his own reaction, “a feeling of being alive”) and along the way, if the band was in a city where there was a major performer, he/she might be invited to perform, which happened to Joni Mitchell, who ended up staying with the tour for its last three performances.  Dylan was so charismatic, that some would join/stay with the tour even if they weren’t performing. Two notable examples are the poet Allen Ginsberg (an accomplished dancer and aspiring singer) who, when he was cut out of the show stayed on as a baggage handler and the actress Sharon Stone (before she got famous, but after Dylan noticed her twice) joined the tour as a costume helper.

     We get glimpses of Dylan’s interactions with others—his avoidance of answering questions as much as possible, his reticence in general, and in the words of the promoter, his keeping to himself.  We also get vignettes related by band members like Joan Baez and colorful sword-carrying violinist Scarlet Rivera.  In one intimate scene, Dylan is telling Baez how he was sorry she got married and left the band, to which she gently retorts that he got married first—without even telling her.  But he has high praise for her, and we get a glimpse of her at some point dressing up and talking just like him as a joke.   

     Most enjoyable in the film are Bob Dylan’s abundantly performed story-songs—most familiar and some not so well known—that often leave you wondering exactly what they’re about, which says something about the enduring fascination with this life poet.  Live recordings of the tour will be released on June 7 in a 14-CD boxed set.

     Rolling Thunder Revue:  A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese will appear in select theaters and on Netflix June 12.

A story well told by Scorsese, accompanied by generous helpings of Dylan songs and interesting background revelations.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

Michael Shannon    Kirsten Dunst     Joel Edgerton     Adam Driver     Sam Shepard     Jaeden Lieberher

        For a fanciful blend of creativity and imagination with reality and clever CGI effects, go see Midnight Special.  Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter) spun this from his brain soon after he became a first-time father.  When his son was a newborn he had a febrile seizure, which the author drew on for the script.  Parental responsibility is one of several themes of the film, and the parents here—while outside the norm—demonstrate their love of their son in a way that is beyond that of most parents.

      The movie opens with a newscast of a child kidnapping, focusing on a religious sect housed on a ranch in the community—an unusual first look.  Viewers are apprised of the details gradually in a way that prolongs the suspense.  In short, there are two sets of parents, not necessarily on different sides, an intense search going on led by the FBI, and a state trooper risking his life in helping a childhood friend, one of the fathers.

      The reason the FBI is involved is that classified government data has been breached from a satellite meant to detect nuclear activity.  Moreover, the religious group has been apprised of the government codes, has formed their religious beliefs around them, and have become convinced that a day of judgment is at hand.  All this centers around a young boy named Alton (Lieberher), whom his biological father (Shannon) has in tow with the assistance of his friend (Edgerton).  The religious group wants him because if he is with them, they’ll be saved on the day of judgment.  Government officials are seeking the boy, who could possibly be a weapon.  Alarming events can happen when the boy goes into apparent seizures, such as brilliant lights streaming down from the sky and exploding on earth. 

      The actor playing Alton is very effective, partly just because of his looks, which are accentuated with blue-green goggles he wears when he is reading his comic books, as well as his sheer talent.  Shannon and Edgerton deliver their usual exceptional performances as the two “kidnappers”, and Dunst comes in as the boy’s mother—all of them demonstrating sensitivity to the boy’s needs despite being outliers and all looking a bit odd.  Driver has his moments as the NSA’s man whose training is in his expertise in understanding religious groups and chasing down evidence and data.  He has a major transformation in his encounters with this motley group of people that is cleverly inserted to help convince us of the validity of the boy’s visions.

      Jeff Nichols has become one of the rare writers/directors who is able to weave reality and fantasy together while still keeping the plot tight, without holes.  His and his team’s CGI is beautiful to behold, and serves a key function in depicting Alton’s surreal experience and the effects of other-world events. 

A TRULY SPECIAL MIDNIGHT RIDE.

Grade:  A           By Donna R. Copeland

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Meryl Streep     Julia Roberts     Chris Cooper     Margo Martindale     Ewan McGregor     Sam Shepard 

Julianne Nicholson     Benedict Cumberbatch     Juliette Lewis     Abigail Breslin

       August:  Osage County is a rip roarin’ study of a family in Oklahoma that is perpetually on a tinderbox.  The slightest disagreement can erupt into a major battle, and the only way they see to keep the lid on is to hide all their secrets.  Of course, this is a strategy that always fails, but like the good neurotics they are, they keep using it, thinking it will work.  As the story proceeds, we learn that the cruel parenting we witness stems from troubled childhoods, and we see it spread like an infection from parent to child across generations.  As each secret is uncovered, it has an explosive effect on all involved.

     On a more elegant note, the ensemble cast is a study in streamlined acting that continually hums along as if they had worked together for years and filled out every detail.  At the center of the story—and the cast—is the consummate award-winning actress Meryl Streep, who plays the damaged matriarch in a family with three grown daughters who have come home to “comfort” their mother after a crisis.  Her sister is present as well, with her husband and son in tow.  Present as well is the recently hired cook/housekeeper who is a beacon of sanity in the dysfunctional, turbulent group.

     The screenwriter Tracy Letts (Killer Joe) has based the script on his play with the same title, which premiered on Broadway in 2008.  The transition from stage to screen is not always smooth, but Letts has achieved it without a hitch.  Most of the action takes place in the family home, a beautifully landscaped colonial mansion in the countryside near a lake, or in the cars of the arriving family members.  Clues about the underlying conflicts are seen from the beginning in the interactions between Violet (Streep) and her husband Beverly (Sam Shepard), followed by the arriving sister Mattie (Margo Martindale) and husband Charles (Chris Cooper) and each of the daughters’ families.  In the process of the unfolding drama, the viewer experiences the trapped feeling that each of the characters suffers from; at one point, a character says to another who is running away, “Where are you going?  There is no place to go!”  And we feel trapped as well because the action is so powerful.  Also because, in a larger sense, we identify with the fact that we are always a part of the family to which we belong; there is not ever, really, any escape. 

     John Wells, the director, has performed his function of creating a work of art from all the components of the film, with the actors and other crew, such as the cinematographer Adriano Goldman and musician Gustavo Santaolalla, whose work illuminates the ongoing drama. 

Clearly August:  Osage Country will be prominent in the upcoming award circuit soon to take place.

Grade:  A                                   By Donna R. Copeland