Santa Claus: The Movie

 Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

Starring Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, and David Huddleston 

Directed by Jeannot Szwarc

Written by David Newman

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Bombshell

Bombshell (2019)

Starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow, Malcolm McDowell, Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Liv Hewsen, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Mark Duplass, Rob Delaney, Stephen Root, and Robin Weigart

Directed by Jay Roach

Written by Charles Randolph

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

Late Night

Late Night (2019)

Starring Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Max Casella, Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow, Denis O'Hare, Reid Scott, and Amy Ryan

Directed by Nisha Ganatra

Written by Mindy Kaling

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary (2019)

Starring Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, Jeté Laurence, Hugo & Lucas Lavoie, and John Lithgow

Directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer

Written by Jeff Buhler

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Beatriz at Dinner

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Starring Salma Hayek, John Lithgow, Connie Britton, Jay Duplass, Amy Landecker, Chloë Sevigny, and David Warshofsky

Directed by Miguel Arteta

Written by Mike White

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Masseuse Beatriz is invited to spend the evening at a dinner party given by her client's husband.  However, when the liberal Beatriz discovers the party's guests are all conservatives, she stands up to them and their beliefs (in a way only Hollywood movies could depict).

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Miss Sloane

Miss Sloane (2016)

Starring Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alison Pill, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Lacy, David Wilson Barnes, Dylan Baker, Christine Baranski, Sam Waterston, and John Lithgow

Directed by John Madden

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

There's certainly an undeniable anti-gun tone that squirms its way through Miss Sloane, a seedy look at the art of lobbying in Washington, D.C., but even this conservative is okay with that as I tend to agree that we need some greater from of oversight when it comes to our firearms in this country.  So while I was personally able to look beyond the slant, others may be less inclined.  With that in mind, Miss Sloane does take us inside the cutthroat world of lobbying, but it's a tad too emotionally detaching to really succeed at sucking me in.

That lack of emotional connection comes from the sheer brittleness of its headstrong, ballsy, and determined titular character Elizabeth Sloane played by Jessica Chastain.  Sloane is emotionally attached only to her job -- every relationship is sidelined, every waking minute is spent trying to advance what she's lobbying for at the moment.  Chastain is an actress who has the strength to take on a role like this -- a role where emotions are waylaid for gritty steadfastness.  Yet, as is the case with many of Chastain's roles, the lack of warmth in the character of Miss Sloane makes it almost difficult to really become invested.  Chastain is always an admirable performer, but the brittleness she brings to Miss Sloane is a bit disarming and admittedly harmed the film a bit for me.

(Sidetrack:  Would I say this about a male in this role?  Is it unfair that I make this comment about a female performance?  Maybe it's time to be a bit introspective, because I'm honestly not sure.  Do I need a female lead to have a more emotionally resonant character because I'm used to females being a little more emotional onscreen?)

That isn't to say that Chastain isn't successful in creating an interesting character -- she, along with Jonathan Perera's screenplay do just that.  The problem is that Perera's screenplay has one too many manipulations and oneupmanships by Sloane and her adversaries to really feel truly believable despite a game cast doing their best.  Sure, I'm certain underhandedness runs rampant throughout our nation's capitol, but that doesn't mean it always translates into a believable cinematic experience.  There's a convoluted nature to the film that director John Madden isn't able to wrangle and the flick suffers from a lack of brevity.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Accountant

The Accountant (2016)

Starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, John Lithgow, and Jean Smart

Directed by Gavin O'Conner

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

I can't say anything particularly bad about The Accountant, but I can't say anything particularly good either.  That damning middle ground is never a good thing.  Ben Affleck is the title character, a seemingly mild-mannered accountant from a small town outside of Chicago.  Little do his clients know that Christian Wolff, the meek, high-functioning autistic man hiding behind thick-brimmed eyeglasses, is actually a trained hit man who runs the accounts of several of the world's most infamous criminals.  When he's hired by the Living Robotics Corporation headed by scientist/creator Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow) and his sister Rita (Jean Smart) to determine how they're leaking money, Christian and LRC's internal auditor Dana (Anna Kendrick) find themselves in the midst of a huge conspiracy that will lead them into a world of danger.

Much like his role as Batman, Affleck's Christian is depressingly emotionless which is credited to his character's autism, but ends up creating a very bland main character.  There are moments of humor that pop up adding a much needed perk of energy to Affleck's performance, but in the end, it's a rather monotonous portrayal which is perhaps the reason I can't quite throw a ton of support behind the movie.  Fortunately, the rest of the cast perks things up, with a particularly intriguing performance from Jon Bernthal as a fellow hit man.

Surprisingly violent (not that there's a problem with that), The Accountant meanders back and forth between an action piece and a drama and the balance is never quite perfected by director Gavin O'Conner.  While it's a better than average film, I wanted to like it more than I did, but the sum of its parts don't quite add up to a solid whole.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Love Is Strange

Love Is Strange (2014)

Starring Alfred Molina, John Lithgow, Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows, Charlie Tahan, and Cheyenne Jackson

Directed by Ira Sachs

Together for 39 years, longtime couple Ben and George (John Lithgow and Alfred Molina) decide to get married to solidify their commitment.  Unfortunately, this legally binding arrangement causes George to lose his job as a Catholic school choir director.  With Ben retired and George now unemployed, the couple find themselves unable to afford their New York City apartment.  So, after nearly four decades, Ben and George are forced to live separately for a bit until they can find an affordable home -- Ben moves in with his nephew Elliot (Darren Burrows), his wife Kate (Marisa Tomei), and their son Joey (Charlie Tahan), while George moves in with Ted (Cheyenne Jackson), a gay cop and longtime friend of the couple.

Love Is Strange works best in allowing the audience to feel the surprising amount of pain and sorrow Ben and George feel as they're pulled apart just when they should be joining closer together.  The sense of love that Molina and Lithgow bring to their characters' relationship is admittedly palpable, undeniably charming, and surprisingly captivating.  Unfortunately, the film itself can't claim to be as beguiling as the film's central couple.

Director and co-writer Ira Sachs creates a great, lived-in relationship with Ben and George, but he surrounds them with storylines that don't really go anywhere and characters that lack the depth of the main couple.  He also makes an interesting decision to not spell everything out -- meaning that Sachs will simply start up new scenes days or weeks or months after the last scene without giving us any sense of things that came before.  We must pick up the missing pieces as moments progress.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in a movie that seemingly prides itself on simplicity it's an interesting technique that doesn't always pan out in the film's favor.

Love Is Strange is slowly paced -- I've never heard more complete Chopin piano pieces in a film before -- and it does many things well, but it unfortunately never fully comes together.  Superfluous characters and plot lines bog down an otherwise pleasing look at an aging couple's love for one another.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Interstellar

Interstellar (2014)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley Mackenzie Foy, John Lithgow, Timothée Chalamet, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine

Directed by Christopher Nolan

I was extremely wary about Interstellar.  During its theatrical run, I found myself avoiding it due to its nearly three-hour running time and the much-gossiped about notion that its story was too talky and too befuddling.  So, with trepidation I sat down to watch director and co-screenwriter Christopher Nolan's Interstellar in one sitting not expecting to enjoy myself.  Obviously, this lede is insinuating that I liked the film and that intimation would be true.  While not without its faults, Interstellar is a surprisingly action-filled drama that, while certainly "deep" and a bit convoluted, is much easier to comprehend than I expected.

To make a (very) long story short, Earth is dying and within several years, it will be uninhabitable.  While driving around with his daughter one evening, former astronaut Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) stumbles upon a secret NASA facility wherein scientists are building a spaceship that can send a crew to explore the far regions of space to look for another planet that can sustain human life.  Much to his daughter Murph's (Mackenze Foy) chagrin, Cooper agrees to take part in the mission which will likely take him away from home for several years.  This connection between father and daughter continues to take shape as the film progresses with Murph aging into a young woman (played by Jessica Chastain) and Cooper still out in space.

Interstellar works best when it finds itself in space.  There's a harrowing sense of anticipation and excitement in nearly every story element as Cooper and his fellow astronauts (Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentlely, and David Gyasi) desperately struggle to find a place where the human race can survive for eons to come.  As they journey from planet to planet, they're forced to make some tough decisions which are intellectually complex, though at the same time fathomable to the general movie-going public.

Unfortunately, Insterstellar takes a long time to actually get Cooper up into space.  For nearly an hour, we find Cooper and his family bemoaning the state of the Earth and then debating whether Cooper should take on the space mission.  I remember about forty minutes in looking at how much time was left and getting antsy that there was still nearly two hours to go.  I recognize the need to set up a father/daughter relationship in the first act, but Nolan and his co-screenwriter brother Jonathan fail to keep things moving and the languid pace weighs down the entire film.

As mentioned, though, once we're in space, Interstellar becomes an intriguing film.  The special effects are top notch and the sound design (which got dinged a bit by critics who watched the film in theaters) works fine on a small screen sound system.  The acting is solid, but I had a few qualms with Matthew McConaughey's lead performance as Cooper.  First, I wanted him to open his damn mouth when he talked because multiple times it sounded as if he was talking with a handful of marbles in his mouth.  Perhaps more importantly, though, I felt that he looked bored for most of the flick.  Unlike other characters who were desperately trying to save their planet and complete a successful mission, McConaughey's Cooper didn't convey that sense of urgency.  While there are certainly moments in space during which McConaughey successfully showcases his emotions as a father longing to be reunited with his children, overall I felt that Cooper left me longing to connect with him seeing as how he was the crux of the whole film.

Despite some qualms, Interstellar actually provides a rather enjoyable experience.  Did I understand everything that happens at the end as the film veers into some weird metaphysical stuff?  Nope.  But I at least didn't feel like I was completely oblivious to the proceedings.  If you were wary like me to see this because of these fears of confusion (or simply because of the film's length), let me brush those aside for you and beckon you to give Interstellar a chance.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - This Is 40

This Is 40 (2012)

Starring Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow, Megan Fox, Jason Segel, Chris O'Dowd, Lena Dunham, Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, and Melissa McCarthy

Directed by Judd Apatow

While he sometimes succeeds as a producer (see Bridesmaids, Step Brothers, and The Five-Year Engagement), Judd Apatow has never been a favorite of mine when he gets behind the camera or puts pen to paper.  He can't seem to edit himself and he's the single biggest contributor to the notion that began in the 2000s that comedies must be longer than two hours in order to "feel important."  This Is 40 is typical Apatow in that these same problems exist -- seriously, can't this guy afford an editor at this point -- but I found the film overall quite humorous and, ultimately, worth a watch despite the fact that there is hardly any story to sustain itself over its 135-minute running time.

This Is 40 is apparently the quasi-sequel to Knocked Up in that Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are reprising their roles of married couple Pete and Debbie, but there's nary a mention of that former movie and you certainly do not need to be even remotely familiar with it in order to understand the goings-on here.  As the film opens, Debbie is celebrating her fortieth birthday -- a milestone she refuses to accept which is why the birthday cake her two daughters Sadie and Charlotte (Maude and Iris Apatow) present her with has a giant "38" on it.  Pete is also celebrating his fourth decade on Earth in a few weeks and the couple finds themselves in a bit of a rut after having been together so long.  With a teenage daughter who always fights with her younger sister, a nagging Jewish father (Albert Brooks) who is constantly guilting Pete into giving him money, and a failing business leading to less income, life is difficult for the couple which leads to bickering around every corner.

The issue with This Is 40 lies in the fact that it doesn't bring anything new to the table and it feels like a dinner guest that just refuses to leave when he should.  There's simply not enough story presented to warrant its length and despite attempts at creating tangents -- Debbie is worried that a worker (Megan Fox) at her clothing shop is stealing, Debbie's estranged father (John Lithgow) tries to return into her life, an angry mom (Melissa McCarthy) accuses Pete and Debbie of harassing her son at school -- they're simply tangents that don't add anything to the overall story.  Granted, they're funny and they often caused me to laugh out loud, but in the end, it amounts to a whole lot of nothing.  And let's not even get started on the Judd Apatow reliance on something dramatically "important" happening that turns out not to be all that critical to the plot by the film's end.  There's several of those moments here, but I'm preferring to forget about them.

Still, despite these qualms, I wasn't ever bored by This Is 40 and the biggest credit for that probably should go to Rudd and Mann who work well together and are each more than capable of carrying out their own moments of required humor.  There's some nice cameos by folks like Jason Segel and Chris O'Dowd as well, but I can honestly say that I'm over the Melissa McCarthy craze.  This lady needs to stretch a bit as she's chosen the same exact role in every film she's undertaken.  For someone who burst onto the scene in an overwhelmingly strong way in Bridesmaids just two years ago, she's worn out her welcome very quickly.

I've never been a fan of Judd Apatow so I will admit that I came into this biased from the get-go and This Is 40 contains all of the typical Apatow-isms that I despise, but this one still manages to end on a good note for me.  There's probably something to be said in the fact that this is Apatow's lowest-rated film on RottenTomatoes and my favorite film of his, but I laughed enough to recommend it.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - The Campaign

The Campaign (2012)

Starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, and Brian Cox 

Directed by Jay Roach

For some reason, the previews of this Will Ferrell-ZackhGalifianakis election-based comedy looked surprisingly funny as they appeared over the summer.  While one might think my disappointment could be chalked up to election fatigue, I think the plain and simple fact is that The Campaign is just a dud.  Both Ferrell and Galifianakis don't inject a single iota of credibility or genuineness into their roles, instead creating one-dimensional sketch comedy characters that get incredibly tired after about ten minutes.

Admittedly, for the first ten minutes, I did laugh out loud a few times.  Ferrell is Democratic incumbent senator Cam Brady from North Carolina.  Despite being one of the sleaziest and most incompetent men around, he manages to get elected year after year since no one in his small district dares to run against him.  That all changes, however, when "lovable dimwit" Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) is approached by his father (Brian Cox) to run on the Republican ticket against Cam.  Marty's father and his Republican cronies (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow) feel they can manipulate Marty in order to get their ideas brought to the forefront.  As the two idiots compete against each other for the Senate seat, the humor fades incredibly quickly after the characters are introduced.

There's probably a solid comedy to be made about southern political rivals (although oftentimes the real life political soap operas we see every two to four years is ridiculous enough), but The Campaign is nowhere near being a solid comedy.  In fact, it's one of the worst laughers of the year at this point...except for the other Will Ferrell starrer Casa De Mi Padre.  His choices of projects as of late are dismayingly and disturbingly painful to sit through.  Stereotypes don't necessarily equate to chuckles and Ferrell seems to refuse to understand that as of late.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Starring James Franco, Frieda Pinto, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, and Andy Serkis

Directed by Rupert Wyatt

I mean there's no sense in keeping anyone in suspense here -- it feels great to finally see a 2011 movie that is really worth seeing.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a near perfect summer action flick that actually manages to transcend the genre to a degree by providing heart-tugging moments that never seem forced or fake -- which is all the more surprising when one realizes that there was not a single real monkey or ape used in the production of this movie.  Computer-generated effects have come a long way -- despite the thought in the film's initial moments that these were fake apes, I never once thought of it again as the movie progressed which is a testament to both the effects wizards and everything and everyone else that surrounded their creations.

I'm certainly familiar with the Planet of the Apes flicks, but I've only ever actually seen the 2001 Burton remake (and the less said the better about that one).  This 2011 version is apparently a prequel of sorts to the original 60s-70s series of flicks and, as the title would suggest, it showcases the rise of the apes and how they, perhaps, may take over the planet.  We're introduced to genetic engineer Will Rodman (James Franco) and his quest to create a drug to cure the effects of Alzheimer's, a disease that hits close to home as his father (John Lithgow) finds his quality of life to be seriously deteriorating thanks to the illness.  Testing his new drug on a group of chimps, Will finds the simians to grow highly intelligent.  However, when one of the chimps goes on a rampage, Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo), the head of the company sponsoring Will's research, slashes the program and orders all the apes to be put down.

It's discovered, however, that the reason for the chimp's rage was that she had secretly given birth and was simply being protective of her offspring which also happens to have inherited his mother's human-like intelligence.  Finding himself unable to kill the newborn chimp, Will takes him home, names him Caesar, and, to a degree, raises him as his own son.  Still, chimps are wild animals and, despite all the sign language in the world that Will can teach him, Caesar really just wants to be out in the real world.  Growing pains abound and Caesar (Andy Serkis) eventually commits an act that forces him to be removed from Will's home and placed into a primate compound where he finds himself awkwardly interacting with other apes.  It shouldn't be difficult to realize that things take a turn for the worse and somehow or another, the title of the film begins to come to fruition.  

Rise of the Planet of the Apes works for two big reasons.  Reason One is that director Rupert Wyatt manages his time well.  There's never really a dull moment here.  He sticks with scenes and characters just long enough for you to get to know their motivations and then he moves onto something else.  That being said, don't infer that there is a frenetic atmosphere on display here.  Quick cuts do not abound in this movie and that's seemingly a rarity in the summer movie season.  There really is a flow to this flick that's quite impressive.  Scenes that start out rather calm can find themselves effortlessly raising to palpable tension, but they never overstay their welcome.

Reason Two for the success is the surprising amount of heart on display.  Goshdarnit, I felt kinda moved when Will had to give Caesar away.  Sure, that's in part due to a solid performance from James Franco (who manages to redeem himself from his Oscar-hosting fiasco here).  But a huge reason is because Caesar seems so freakin' real.  I don't know what exactly Andy Serkis did here and what was crafted by the motion capture special effects wizards, but however they combined their powers was rather genius.  I'll take these apes over the Na'vi of Avatar any day.

Still, it's not quite without a flaw or two.  The film drags the tiniest bit when Caesar is first introduced to his fellow apes in the compound, but it's quite minor in the grand scheme of things.  On the other hand, the film's biggest drawback is Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame who repeats his fondness for playing villains in this flick as well...and unlike the real-looking apes, Felton's character (a worker at the primate compound) is one of the most cardboard evildoers I've seen in a while.  It's no fault of his own -- the screenwriters made his character obviously one-note -- but it's a real shame because he's the only thing in this movie that me cognizant of the fact that I was watching a "story" unfold as opposed to something that could (in some weird way) actually happen.

Seeing a good movie simply makes you want to delve into another and immerse yourself in the world that's on the screen.  It's nice that 2011 has handed me the first flick that fits that description.  I've missed you, you mistress that is Film.  I've seemingly abandoned you this year, but perhaps you've drawn me back under your spell with a film that I never believed could have done that.  So, kudos to you, Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-