Downton Abbey: A New Era

 Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)

Starring Hugh Bonneville, Elisabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Maggie Smith, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggatt, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Lesley Nicol, Imelda Staunton, Penelope Wilton, Laura Haddock, Dominic West, Nathalie Baye, Jonathan Zaccaï, and Hugh Dancy

Directed by Simon Curtis

Written by Julian Fellowes

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Genius

Genius (2016)

Starring Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Guy Pearce, Dominic West, and Laura Linney

Directed by Michael Grandage

***This film is currently streaming via HBO Now/GO***

As the words of Thomas Wolfe were read aloud and his mellifluous prose lyrically opened Michael Grandage's film Genius, I was drawn into this tale about the unique author (played by Jude Law) and his publisher Maxwell Perkins (Colin Firth).  However, as I imagine I'd feel attempting to read one of Thomas Wolfe's lengthy tomes, lovely descriptive verbiage can only get you so far -- story also has to have some importance.  Unfortunately, Genius begins to falter as it enters its second half, failing to really take its characters on any type of journeys that weren't obvious from the film's opening scenes.

In 1929 New York, Perkins is reading Wolfe's first attempt at a novel with much aplomb.  Shot down by innumerable other publishers, the hickish-sounding, though verbose Wolfe was taking one final shot, going out on a limb by giving his novel to Perkins who edited and published works by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Guy Pearce) and Ernest Hemingway (Dominic West).  When Perkins agrees to publish Wolfe's work, a parental-type friendship is formed with Perkins seeing Wolfe as the son he never had.

There is something compelling in the opening act of Genius -- rarely do films translate the art of writing to the screen successfully and this film was working...at first.  However, as it progresses, it falls into stereotypical traps that don't allow its characters to feel fresh.  Its script also grows repetitive -- Perkins continues bickering with Wolfe about editing down his tomes, Perkins' wife Louise (Laura Linney) wants her husband to spend more time with his five daughters, Wolfe's lover Aline (Nicole Kidman) resents Wolfe spending all his time with Perkins -- failing to advance its characters in any substantial way, reiterating the same story notes over and over again.  Director Grandage with his first film has a fantastic cadre of actors at his disposal, but with the lukewarm script, he's unable to really pull anything substantial from any of them.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Money Monster

Money Monster (2016)

Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell, Dominic West, and Caitriona Balfe

Directed by Jodie Foster

Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the host of the successful financial cable tv show Money Monster, but one afternoon, mid-show, an armed man enters the soundstage on live television.  Aggravated that Lee's advice to invest in a company called IBIS has backfired, deliveryman Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) had had enough and his irritation built to anger at Gates and the 1% culture.  After placing an explosive vest on Lee, producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) must figure out how to save Lee, appease Kyle, and get the crew out alive.

Told closely to real time, director Jodie Foster creates a decent amount of tension in Money Monster, achieving most of that thanks to the solid performances of her three main cast members who certainly create an atmosphere that consistently keeps them on edge.  For the film's first forty-five minutes or so where it's trapped in the confines of the television studio, there is an overarching sense of doom and fear.  Unfortunately, the script drifts during the film's second half, taking Lee and Kyle on a ridiculous journey through the streets of New York City that seems ludicrous and improbable, oftentimes eliciting laughs as opposed to its intended goal.  It's a shame, really, because there was something exciting going on in its first half and the whole affair falls apart a bit as it continues down an ever-increasingly silly path towards its conclusion.  You could certainly do worse than Money Monster, but in the end, it's not quite recommendable thanks to its disappointing conclusion.

The RyMickey Rating:  C