GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE

 Emma Thompson     Daryl McCormack

            This is a fun and surprising movie about sex work that comes across as genuine in ways one wouldn’t expect.  Yes, it has a lot of laugh-out-loud humor—which is good, since many encounters are clearly awkward.  But the underlying truths and the transformation of both characters elevate the story above the purely entertaining.  

            I’m not sure how younger people will view the story.  Maybe the older woman Nancy (artfully played by Thompson) will remind them of a parent who is in their eyes strait-laced and judgmental, and it will be rewarding to see that character change in significant ways.  Or maybe they will be instantly turned off by an older woman discovering sex for the first time, despite the fact that she has grown children.  “Boring!” as covered in the story.

            For me, the film seems much like listening to a therapy session (ignoring the actual content for the most part).  The intrigue and oddity of it lies in how much the sex worker “Leo” (McCormack) sounds like a good therapist—always empathic, understanding, insightful, and reassuring.  He effectively overrides Nancy’s frequent misgivings and self-deprecations, re-focusing her attention on herself and her desires.  Never before in her life have her wishes been considered top priority.  That’s one new revelation/experience for her, but there will be many.  Most importantly, her need for control will be addressed without her realizing it until after the fact.

            A most important aspect of personal relationships is aptly addressed when like a “patient” Nancy does some sleuthing about Leo personally.  (Neither uses his/her real identity for the “sessions.”)  Leo reacts to this boundary infraction (this time not like a therapist), with outrage.  An engaging part of the movie is still very much in seeing how the characters deal with the reality of their lives.

            Thompson (as always) and McCormack as actors pull us into this story hook, line and sinker.  Both make Nancy and Leo real in ways we can envision and care about them.  She gets on the nerves from time to time, but his responses to her help us forgive her.  And you realize that that’s how things should work between people.  It’s a model for all of us to follow. 

            Something can be said about Daryl McCormick; he reminds us of Rege-Jean Page in the first season of “Bridgerton”, who became an international heart-throb before he left the show after the first season.

            Kudos to writer Katy Brand who came up with this story and to director Sophie Hyde for making it into a movie about an older woman and a younger man that has both substance and wit—not an easy thing to do!

            The film will be released on HULU on June 17, 2022.

 

A surprising comedy/drama that endears and has substance.  

 

Grade:  B                              By Donna R. Copeland

            

NEPTUNE FROST

 Cheryl Isheja     Bertrand Ninteretse     Eliane Umuhire     Elvis Ngabo     Dorcy Rugamba

 

        Multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams and Rwandan filmmaker Anisia Uzeyman have produced a sci-fi musical—an exotic, poetic collage—detailing the miners’ struggles in Rwanda in the early 1990’s.  The time period is after the civil war when the miners formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) to resist the cruel Rwandan Armed Forces who had taken over control of the country.  It depicts exploitation of the workers by colonialist nations depleting Rwanda’s natural resources, and makes statements about capitalism, revolt by the oppressed, and their eventual liberation.

            The film is intended to represent past, present, and future time, so is not a chronological account.  The narrator is a man/woman born into a coal-mining family who says, “My life was never quite mine”, as he/she tells the story of their lives and what happened to them and those around them.  Scenes of the miners working clearly illustrate what they are going through; for instance, when a young man pauses work to lift a rock to examine it, he is struck down by an overseer yelling at him to get back to work.  He ends up dead.

        The movement takes form when some escaped miners meet in the mountains above Burundi to form a collective with computer hacking expertise as a way of disrupting the industry.  They sing, “These mo…..rs don’t want to back down.”  What ensues is the pairing of a coltan miner, Matalusa (brother of the slain man who picked up a rock) and an intersex computer hacker fleeing sexual harassment (the narrator) to seed a revolution. 

            Much of the music consists of chants such as “We mine, but we don’t own what we dig.”  “They use our blood, sweat, and tears to communicate with one another [producing technological products], but they have never heard us.”  “F…Mr. Google.”  But humor is sprinkled in from time to time.  The figure called Martyrloserking came from someone mispronouncing MLK’s name.

        Whereas the film clearly makes a political statement, it truly is an artistic work such that summarizing it is like trying to summarize a painting.  Therefore, it is primarily for those who like to be absorbed in a work of art and use associations to it to understand it.

        Opens June 24 in Houston at the Museum of Fine Arts.

An afro-futurist musical that will delight the senses and arouse conflicting emotions as it makes its political statements.

 

Grade:  A                    By Donna R. Copeland

 

BENEDICTION

 Peter Capaldi     Tom Blyth     Jack Lowden

Simon Russell Beale     Ben Daniels     Gemma Jones

         This is not your usual war story.  It starts out in London in 1914 with a poem about war written by Siegfried Sassoon (played by Jack Lowden as the younger and Peter Capaldi as the older), the protagonist whose life is chronicled beginning with his years as a young man when he and his brother are going off to WWI.  We see him three years later after his brother was killed and he has become at the same time a decorated British soldier and an anti-war activist, based on his “Soldier’s Declaration.” He is refusing to return to the battlefield on the basis that the conditions for peace have not been stipulated by government and the powers that be are guilty of “political errors and insincerities.”  

         He is fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) in that a mentor with influence, Robbie Ross (Beale) sees that he is referred to a hospital for traumatized soldiers in lieu of being court martialed.  He is outraged by this “help” because he had wanted to publicize his protest.  Nevertheless, he concedes, and uses his time in a military hospital to develop more insight into himself with the help of therapist Dr. Rivers (well characterized by the script and performed by Daniels).  

         The plot takes a turn after Sassoon is discharged from the army and focuses on his life thereafter when he has acknowledged his attraction to men and becomes involved in ambivalent relationships with a number of them when, after a particularly painful period, he decides to marry a woman, Hester Gatty (Jones).

         Writer/Director Terence Davies has created a moving and interesting work on the life of the poet Siegfried Sassoon, although he has chosen not to adhere strictly to historical accuracy.  Presumably his interest was more in the direction of illustrating the lives of homosexual men during that period of time not only in the military but in everyday social life as well.  And perhaps just as much to validate anti-war sentiments. His depiction captures the passion against war and the advocacy for freedom of identity, which could be seen as related causes.

         Jack Lowden seems perfectly cast in the starring role, showing the interiority of the main character with subtle charm on the outside and depth of feeling on the inside, most particularly captured in the last scene.  Peter Capaldi as the older Sassoon with obvious bitterness and closed off emotions is aptly personified.  All the cast members are well chosen and help to give us a poignant impression of the people in Sassoon’s life.

 

An unusual war story that depicts international struggles mirroring internal conflicts.

 

Grade:  B                    By Donna R. Copeland

BOB'S BURGERS

 Voices of:  Kristen Schaal     H. Jon Benjamin    John Roberts     Dan Mintz     

Eugene Mirman     Kevin Kline     Zach Galifianakis     Aziz Ansari     Larry Murphy

         I overheard an audience member in the screening I attended say that he didn’t like the televised version of Bob’s Burgers at first, but it grew on him and he eventually got to watching it regularly.  I’ve never seen one episode, so you can imagine my reaction during the first fifteen minutes of the movie.  What was said about the television show “Seinfeld”? Yeah, that it was “a show about nothing.”  And that was my reaction to Bob’s Burgers Movie—it was amusing but didn’t engage me.  It seemed like I was wasting my time. 

         It is, however, a kind of low-key comedy that I can appreciate others really liking.  Writer/Co-director (with Bernard Derriman) Loren Bouchard, who was largely responsible for the television series, has produced an appealing movie version with many/most of the same actors as on television.  That and the wry comedy and “adventure” means that fans of the show are very likely to adore the movie.

         Action centers around young Louise Belcher (Schaal, whom I have long admired) responding to a taunt at school making fun of her hat with rabbit ears, calling her a “baby”, and accusing her of being a fraidy-cat.  Louise is outraged at the same time she is already worried about her parents’ losing Bob’s Burgers because the bank is calling in their loan.  And oh yes, a large sink hole has manifested itself right outside the front door of the burger place, keeping customers away.  Well, this is certainly not a “show about nothing.”

         Louise’s compulsion to prove her bravery puts her in detective mode, which means she proceeds to solve a murder (the body was found in the sink hole), aided only by her two siblings Tina (Mintz) and Gene (Mirman). 

         Solving a murder, trying to save a business, dealing with school, and getting into a wealthy family’s dynamics—all of this is put together in a meaningful way to tell a story that is entertaining and has some substance.  As I have been writing my review of Bob’s Burgers, more features that I can admire have come to mind.  In addition to the creativity involved in weaving together such disparate elements into a meaningful whole, I especially enjoyed various characters solving their problems by using made-up characters and sequences in their imagination.  

         Hmmm.  It sounds like I might be one of those viewers who initially discount Bob’s Burgers, then end up thinking there is more to it than I initially thought.

 

Bob’s Burgers Movie is a story with characters that eventually grow on the viewer—enough apparently to warrant over 100 episodes of the Belcher family on Fox TV.

 

Grade:  B                    By Donna R. Copeland

MEN

 Jessie Buckley     Rory Kinnear     Paapa Essiedu     Zac Rothera-Oxley     Gayle Rankin

         Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) is a master at mixing up reality and fantasy/symbolism, making viewers think one way, then another about the characters and the story.  One must do a bit of work to make sense of his films; otherwise, they would seem to be meaningless.  

         Choral music (Geoff Burrow, Ben Salisbury) and lush cinematography (Rob Hardy) pave the way for a delightful time in a beautiful old house for Harper (Buckley) to get away and heal from the recent messy break-up with her husband James (Essiedu).

         When she arrives at the house and meets the landlord Geoffrey (Kinnear), she is taken aback with his wry humor and teasing, but he is gracious after playfully chiding her for picking an apple in the yard and eating it.  He points out that television and wi-fi are a bit iffy, gives her the one house key (“you don’t really need to lock the door”), and he’s off.

         The horror only really begins when she ventures out for a walk in the forest, delights herself playing with echoes at the entrance to a cave, but then realizes she is lost, with it starting to rain.  And was that a naked man standing in front of an abandoned building?

         There is plenty of horror after that, with the naked man, a smart-alecky kid, the vicar, an unsympathetic policeman, and so on.  Intentionally, Garland has made it appear that Harper must be psychotic, and much of what seems to happen is only in her mind.  (How many times have women been told that?)

         But stepping back and with some thought, we realize that Garland is making a statement about the relationships between men and women and the way in which women are generally regarded.  (Hasn’t Eve always been held responsible for all the ills that followed from her eating the forbidden fruit?)  All the male characters in Men (and I think Garland’s use of the plural is meaningful, in that it guides us toward the general statement he is making) end up scorning Harper and even dying (“because of her”).  

         More of the symbolism could be discussed (e.g., references to death, birth, the barely audible “Papa says so” repeated several times, the appearance of blood on hands and on the naked man), but the viewer should go to see the picture with an open mind and give free rein to one’s personal associations to the images and references.

         Men is not likely to appeal to the general audience, but for those who like to see and appreciate films considered to be “artistic”, it’s well worth seeing.  My fault of the film is that its promised intrigue in the beginning falls into something that is so heavy-handed it becomes almost meaningless in the end.  A little bit of horror is good, but too much makes me just tired.

 

A well-crafted drama with elements of horror that make it intriguing, but maybe there is too much of a good thing.

 

Grade:  B                    By Donna R. Copeland

DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA

 Michelle Dockery     Maggie Smith     Elizabeth McGovern     Hugh Bonneville

Penelope Wilton     Allen Leech     Joanna Frogatt     Jim Carter     Phillis Logan

            A new era, with mostly the right amount of sentimentality, joy, pain—and surprises.  The Crawley family is in a quandary about permitting a film crew to shoot a movie in their home (it’s still in the silent era), and of course—since they need money to fix the roof, they will agree.  But not without the vociferous protest from Mr. Carson (Carter), the ambivalence of Lord Grantham (Bonneviille), and the sheer delight of the starry-eyed staff, especially Daisy (Sophie McShera) and Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol).  

            This proposal comes at about the same time as the news that Violet Crawley (Smith) has been bequeathed a villa in France from someone she never took seriously, and she is in turn bequeathing it to Sybbie, the child of Tom Branson (Leech) and his late wife Sybil Grantham.  It’s a delicate situation, in that the son of the mysterious man has invited the Grantham/Crawley family to come for a visit to see it for themselves.  There’s a bit of tension in that the son’s mother is not happy with the bequest.

            You can see how all this is neatly set up to provide two new scenarios for the current feature—the second movie, the first of which had followed a popular series on PBS.  Not only that, the two strains of the story will separate the skeptics who will travel to France from the Hollywood fans in the cast who will remain to see the action (pun intended).

As a devoted fan of all things “Downton Abbey”, I admire the writer Julian Fellowes’ ability to sustain our interest by managing to keep us attached to the cast and characters of the episodes and all that happens to them.  To quote a colleague of mine, who said after we saw the film, “It’s like seeing old friends again.”  Considering that Fellowes has been able to maintain enthusiasm—not only that of fans but cast as well—through six seasons on PBS Masterpiece and two follow-up movies, is surely a rare accomplishment.  

Fellowes also manages to highlight human propensities that pique our interest, such as showing that some people can never let go of jealousy, even after their beloved’s death.  Or on a more positive note, showing the beauty and elegance of a death that becomes even more meaningful after the fact.

For all my admiration, I did find some aspects of this production less than stellar.  For instance, there seemed to be a conscious effort to pair up characters, even minor ones, in a kind of matchmaking.  Although some are truly moving, some are just a little too treacly.  In addition, it seems like the filmmakers are trying too hard to bring the work into “relevance” for today’s audience, such as blurring the lines between the “upstairs” and “downstairs.”  Seeing the wait staff socializing with royalty is, I think, still a dream; not a reality (e.g., Prince Harry and Meghan of today).  

But these are minor “beefs”; I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie.

 

An update on the Downton Abbey series that for true fans will delight.

 

Grade:  B+                            By Donna R. Copeland

TOP GUN: MAVERICK

Tom Cruise     Jennifer Connelly     Miles Teller     Monica Barbaro

Val Kilmer     Jon Hamm     Ed Harris     Glen Powell     Lewis Pullman

         As with many Tom Cruise movies, this one seems made for him, although he doesn’t reign supreme all the time.  In the beginning, “Maverick” gets a lot of ribbing as an “old man” from a group of young Top Gun ace recruits, and his superiors are trying to tell him that new technology is going to make him and the planes he flies obsolete.  They’re obviously wanting to get rid of him (especially after he hijacks a plane to prove a point) and finally resort to thinking they will bump him into being a teacher.  Good luck with that—he has always refused career advancements that would take him out of flying.  Hence, he has stayed a Captain.

         The plot is creative in coming up with solutions by which Maverick manages to get his way repeatedly—usually through some derring-do that his superiors must acknowledge is impressive.  Well, OK, so they give an inch, but then, he will take a mile, so to speak.

         This is a very male movie in its illustration of how men relate to one another, especially in groups.  The beginning interactions among them are filled with bravado and macho competitiveness (insufferable at times from a female point of view).  Even the female recruit must do the same to be a part of the group.  Monica Barbaro as “Phoenix” very winningly illustrates this. Authority struggles underlie most of the conflicts.  One recruit, “Rooster” (Teller), has a long-standing resentment toward Maverick for something that still bothers both of them.  We also witness the “star pupil” in “Hangman” (Powell) who seems always to have the right answers and be on the right side, and the nerdy “Bob” (Pullman) who never seems to be able to lay claim to the group.

         I do admire the writers’ (Ehren Kruger et al.) making Maverick’s ingenious flight plan for the primary mission of bombing a uranium plant a metaphor for the entire story.  To wit, expert navigation that takes risks (flying low through a narrow canyon while dodging artillery, then a steep climb to safety (hopefully) using one’s experience, skills, and basic instincts).  These skills are called upon by many pairs of characters in working through their conflicts.    

         The writers beneficially inserted bits of humor and romance periodically to offset the high tension and at times heaviness of the plot.

         Along with the script, direction by Joseph Kosinski and a fine cast help move this Top Gun a step above many action movies that seem to be primarily about special effects and thrills.   These characters really move us and are so well drawn, we want to know more about them.

         Jennifer Connelly is always a joy to see, and cameos by Ed Harris, Jon Hamm, and Val Kilmer serve the movie well.

 

Underneath the blaring sound and visual effects of Top Gun, there are heartwarming stories that portray real human struggles.

 

Grade:  B                    By Donna R. Copeland