House of Gucci

 House of Gucci (2021)

Starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, and Jeremy Irons

Directed by Ridley Scott

Written by Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

The Little Things

 The Little Things (2021 - Oscars 2020)

Starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto

Directed by John Lee Hancock

Written by John Lee Hancock

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad (2016)

Starring Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne, Jai Courtney, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Ben Affleck, and Viola Davis

Directed by David Ayer

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

After the disaster that was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, there was an inevitable sense of dread as I began to watch Suicide Squad, the next film to unfold in the DC Universe.  Yet somehow, despite the horrid reviews (or perhaps because of them lowering expectations), I found this irreverent comedy-action piece a tiny bit better than the film that preceded it.

***SPOILERS from Batman v Superman below***

Notice that I just said "a tiny bit better" because in the end Suicide Squad is pretty bad as well.  However, at least writer-director David Ayer tries to inject a little bit of fun into the proceedings as it introduces a motley crew of imprisoned criminals brought together by government intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) in an attempt to help America fight big-time criminals following the death of Superman.  Unfortunately, bringing this whole group together in a single film gives little time to develop backstories beyond those of ace sniper Deadshot (Will Smith) and psycho criminal Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) who happened to be the love interest of the criminal mastermind Joker (Jared Leto) prior to her incarceration.  There are other folks that make up the squad including an alligator guy, an Australian bloke, and some Asian girl, but they are so disturbingly pushed to the sidelines that their existence in the film ends up being laughable by the time the credits roll.  And let's not even discuss the villain -- an evil spiritual entity that enters the body of archeologist June Moore (Cara Delevingne) and then proceeds to create zombie-like creatures that run rampant.

Despite the music video-esque series of introductions we get to each member of the Suicide Squad (which became immediately ridiculous by the time Ayer introduces his second or third character), I was onboard during the film's opening act.  As Amanda Waller rounds up the criminals, something was working for me and then it all devolves into the horrible dark and dreary DC Universe aesthetic with an hour-long finale that isn't the least bit compelling.  Unlike many I've spoken to about this disappointing flick, I didn't dislike Jared Leto as the Joker (although I'm obviously not attached to these characters in any shape or form) or Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn (who at least injected some light humor into the darkness that surrounds her), and I actually think Will Smith plays a nicely grounded character in Deadshot.  Still, Suicide Squad isn't good and it continues the rather abysmal track record for DC.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner, Denis O'Hare, Dallas Roberts, and Steve Zahn

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée

Ron Woodruff is an electrician by day and a bull-riding rodeo wrangler by night.  He's a ladies' man, a guy's guy, and is filled with stereotypical Texas bravado.  So on a fateful day in 1986 when Ron is told by a doctor that he's contracted the HIV virus, he can't even fathom how that would be possible.  To him and all his buddies, HIV and AIDS were exclusively found in the homosexual community and Ron angrily refuses to believe his doctor's diagnosis.  However, after being given a thirty day life expectancy, Ron succumbs to the diagnosis, but starts researching his options on how to survive with HIV.  While the local hospital is experimenting with the FDA-approved drug AZT, Ron travels to Mexico to get a drug cocktail of sorts and the results are fantastic.  Seeing how poorly AZT is working within the gay community of Texas, Ron sets up his own medical distribution center of sorts -- the Dallas Buyers Club -- while constantly battling the government and the medical professionals since his treatments are faring better than what the FDA is providing.

And therein is the true story behind Dallas Buyers Club.  Unfortunately, the rather straightforward manner in which I presented the summary above without a lot pep, pizzazz, or vigor, is the way Ron Woodruff's story is presented to us as well in the film.  While the movie isn't a chore to sit through or boring per se, there's no momentum driving the film along.  The arc of Woodruff -- tough guy who hates homosexuals morphing into less of a tough guy who begins to feel compassion for the gay community -- isn't surprising in the slightest and leads to a film that doesn't really go anywhere since we know where it's going right from the outset.

Fortunately, the film is buoyed by a very strong performance from Matthew McConaughey who famously lost a lot of weight for his role as Woodruff.  McConaughey couples his smooth Southern drawl with an obviously chauvinistic demeanor to give us an initial impression of Woodruff that sets him up as a staunchly homophobic guy.  (I don't mean to imply that a Southern drawl equates with a homophobic mindset -- it's just the way McConaughey carries himself that gives us that idea of the character.)  Rather nicely, the film slowly allows Woodruff to come to the realization that his predisposed ideas about the gay community in Texas were perhaps wrongly skewed and I enjoyed McConaughey's quiet transformation he has Woodruff undergo as the film progresses.

Much awards buzz for the film has been centered around the performance of Jared Leto as Rayon, a transgender woman whom Woodruff meets in the hospital.  Wryly sarcastic and unafraid to fight back against Woodruff's homophobic jabs, Leto's Rayon provides some of the humor this heavy story needs.  However, considering that Rayon herself is fighting for her life having also contracted the AIDS virus, I was expecting to be moved by her story and I never was.  It doesn't help that the character of Rayon doesn't have a "moment" to me -- something that is seemingly important if you want to make it far in the awards race.  This is why it's rather surprising to me that Leto seems to be the early frontrunner in awards prognostications.  Simply dressing up as a woman isn't enough to impress and Leto's character wasn't given enough gravitas to warrant the buzz in my opinion.

The film has a nice, though underwritten, performance from Jennifer Garner as a doctor sympathetic to Woodruff's needs but unable to assist as she's tied to the FDA's regulations.  Denis O'Hare also is quite good as the head doctor at the Texas hospital who's seemingly in the pocket of the FDA providing a nice counterpoint to Garner's character.

Still, overall, Dallas Buyers Club doesn't have the emotional arcs I wanted in a film like this.  The film doesn't drive its story forward in such a way that felt exciting or impacting.  Woodruff's story -- if this film tells the truth (and I have no reason to believe it doesn't) -- is compelling and interesting, but it may have been better served as a documentary.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

The Personal Canon - Requiem for a Dream

The Personal Canon is a recurring column discussing my favorite movies of all time.  While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher McDonald

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I previously reviewed Requiem for a Dream a little over two years ago (that review will contain a bit more of a summary of the film than this blog post if you're interested) and I resolutely stated that Darren Aronofsky's film is a bit of a masterpiece.  I firmly stand by that notion and am still in awe of the director's choice of camera techniques in order to place the viewer squarely in the mind of a drug addict.  Not only do we see Jared Leto's Harry or Jennifer Connelly's Marion snorting or popping or injecting their drug addiction into their systems, but we then get quickly edited, close-up shots of dilating pupils and crazed blood cells reacting to this foreign substance coming into their bodies.  Although difficult to necessarily convey on paper (or on a computer screen), these moments are visceral, breathtaking, and scary.

The reason these moments take on frightening tones comes from the fact that as we get to know these characters, it's obvious that their lives are not heading to a more peaceful place.  As Harry and Marion run out of money in order to support their addiction, the lengths to which they stoop to get their necessary kicks is devastatingly painful and a happy ending never seems to be in any of their futures.  However, illegal drugs aren't the only topic of discussion here.  Harry's mother, Sara (Ellen Burstyn), is desperate to lose some weight and begins to start a regimen of diet pills -- an addiction which slowly but surely spirals out of her control.

And it's perhaps the segments of the film dealing with Sara and her "legal" addiction that is most difficult to witness.  Here was a lovely Jewish woman who only wanted what was best for her family slowly plummeting into emotional horrors she likely never thought existed.  As her reality begins to twist and turn and her daily life becomes proliferated with hallucinatory visions of her favorite television show, one can't help but feel empathy for this woman.  Sure, we feel bad for her coke-addicted son, too, but there's a certain feeling that he brought that upon himself.  Sara, although somewhat responsible for her newfound predilection to pills, isn't necessarily finding the happiness in drugs that her son is, but she is hooked and simply unable to stop.

Certainly making the viewer feel for Sara is a stunning performance from Ellen Burstyn.  What starts off so innocently and perhaps caricaturish in her portrayal of a loving Jewish mother shifts into a woman who has lost complete control over everything.  Confused, scared, and unable to cope with her daily routines, Burstyn's Sara begins to be cut off from reality, forced into a dream-like (or perhaps nightmarish) state that is heartbreaking to watch.

Thanks to Darren Aronofsky, as the film progresses the viewer also finds themselves increasingly unable to escape the horrors of the characters onscreen.  The final thirty minutes is constantly ratcheting up the tension and he does this by incessantly switching back and forth between our four main characters (which also includes a wonderful turn from Marlon Wayans as Harry's friend Tyrone).  Every one of the quartet is finding themselves in horrifying situations they never would have dreamed possible and, much like the characters, we the viewers are never given a moment to breathe.

Kudos must also be given to the always fantastic Clint Mansell (Aronofsky's go-to composer) whose intense score for Requiem has become quite well-known and well-utilized in the cinematic world.  And this film certainly wouldn't be what it is without the awe-inspiring editing from Jay Rabinowitz.  His quick cutting and split screens are genius and certainly bring to life the aesthetic vision of the director.

This certainly isn't an analysis of Requiem for a Dream although there would certainly be plenty to write a college paper on.  Instead it's a rather "random thought" appreciation of a film that certainly won't appeal to everyone.  It's a difficult film to sit through and an even more difficult film to say you "enjoy."  All I know is that watching a brutal film like this would turn anyone off from experimenting with drugs and there's certainly something to be said for that.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Check out previous Personal Canon flicks -- like Saving Private Ryan and Once -- by clicking on this link.

Movie Review - Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher McDonald
Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Simply put, one of the best films of the past decade. No doubt about it.

Top-notch acting here across the board. How Ellen Burstyn lost the Oscar to Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich is incomprehensible (and Roberts was quite good, but she's no match for Burstyn). The scene where she's watching the television in her apartment and the tv version of herself begins dancing around the drug-addled version of herself is frightening -- who knew a refrigerator could be so scary. Add to that, some great performances by Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly, along with a surprising turn from Marlon Wayans (buddy, if you've got the talent [and if this film is any indication, you do have the talent], why waste it in movies like Dance Flick?).

Darren Aronsofsky's direction is something special, too. This was my introduction to the guy and it immediately intrigued me. His utilization of quick cuts to symbolize the drug-induced highs that each of the four main characters experience was really unlike anything I had seen at the point of its release. It was new and visually stimulating -- just amazing. And while I don't think his two films released after this (The Fountain and The Wrestler) match the uniqueness on display here, he's a director that undoubtedly fascinates me and has me longing to see his next movie. [I have been told I should watch The Fountain again...and I will.]

The final 30 minutes of this film -- some of the most nerve-wracking and unnerving moments I've ever seen on film. As we jump back and forth between three storylines focusing on the four main characters, the tension just builds as eveything spirals completely out of control for everyone.

I hadn't seen this movie since 2001 and I wondered whether it would hold up so many years later. Had my tastes changed in nearly a decade? Well, I'm thrilled to say that this is still one of my favorite movies of all time. An amazing movie. Sad, disturbing, disheartening, depressing, but gripping and sensational. If you haven't seen it, watch it...if you have seen it, watch it again...

The RyMickey Rating: A