Movie Review - The 33

The 33 (2015)

Starring Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Mario Casas, Jacob Vargas, Juan Pablo Raba, Oscar Nuñez, Tenoch Huerta, Macro Treviño, Adriana Barraza, Kate del Castillo, Cote de Pablo, Elizabeth De Razzo, Naomi Scott, Gustavo Angarita, Alejandro Goic, Bob Gunton, and Gabriel Byrne

Directed by Patricia Riggen

**This film is currently available via HBO Now***

While I was mostly captivated while watching The 33 - the true story of a group of 33 Chilean miners trapped for 69 days 2300 feet underground -- I was more entranced by the story as opposed to the film itself which feels too constrained by stereotypical movie tropes to really allow an emotional connection to the characters.  Director Patricia Riggen's film is admittedly hindered by a large cast of characters, but perhaps because of the abundance of possible stories, the movie never creates a visceral impact that I expected a film of this ilk to have.

The lead of the film is certainly Antonio Banderas as Mario Sepúlveda, a husband and father whose steadfast belief that they would be saved placed him in a leadership position with his trapped group.  Banderas does fine work here, but the film doesn't allow us to really connect with him in any way.  Sure, we get the requisite opening act in which we get a cursory overview and understanding of many of the lives of the miners before the fateful day, but these moments don't create a bond between the viewer and the characters.  Perhaps there's just too many people in play to really make this film work, or perhaps it would've fared better in the hands of different writers.

In addition to the darkness and oppressive heat 200 stories underground, The 33 also allows us to glimpse the troubles facing the rescuers and family members above ground.  Once again, there are too many pieces to the puzzle here for things to really click.  Riggen does a decent job of balancing both sides, but part of me wonders if the film would've succeeded if we'd never left the constricting confines of the miners' temporary habitat.  The 33 is undoubtedly an intriguing story and one that deserved to be told...I simply wish it was in a little better film.  It's not that what's presented is particularly bad, it's just a bit too generic for its own good.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Sisters

Sisters (2015)

Starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ike Barinholz, Maya Rudolph, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, James Brolin, and Dianne Wiest

Directed by Jason Moore

Every review of Sisters that I read seemed to indicate that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler deserved a better film than what was placed in front of them when it came to this flick, but, if I'm being quite honest, I'm not sure they do.  I say that not nastily, but simply to indicate that Fey and Poehler are known and acclaimed (quite deservedly) for the their work on the small screen.  Not every tv star (and certainly not every Saturday Night Live alum) is worthy of a big screen career.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  Perhaps in time I'll be proven wrong when it comes to Fey and Poehler's cinematic ventures, but Sisters is not doing the very funny duo any favors.

Drawn out for an interminably long duration, Sisters gives us Maura and Kate Ellis (Poehler and Fey) -- two sisters who return to their childhood home in Orlando after they've discovered that their aging parents (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) have just sold it so they can move into a retirement community condo.  Angry that their parents would do such a thing without consulting them, Maura and Kate decide to live it up one last time in the house and throw a party for all their high school friends like they did in the old days.  This leads to fellow SNL and variety show actors and actresses hooting and hollering it up in sketch-like scenes that do little to forward the actual plot of the film.  (Not that the film had much of a plot to start...)

There are laughs to be had in Sisters -- and, in fact, there are moments that sustained extended laughter for me which is never easy to do particularly when you watch a movie alone in your home -- but the bigger comedic bits aren't the least bit intrinsic to the plot.  Rather than add to the story, they make you feel as if you're watching an SNL-type show where only a few of bits are actually humorous and then you get angry at yourself for wasting so much time watching it.  [Therein is the reason I refuse to watch SNL anymore.]  The script by Paula Pell (an SNL writer herself) is a sketch in search of a full-length plot and it never gets there.

As far as Fey and Poehler go, the latter fares a tiny bit better than the former, but both aren't given much with which to work.  Perhaps one of these days, the two actresses will be given a movie part really worthy for their obvious comedic talent, but Sisters does not deliver in that department.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-