Ant-Man

Ant-Man (2015)

Starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Anthony Mackie, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, and Michael Peña

Directed by Peyton Reed 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

Click here for my previous RyMickey Review

My current RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Far from the Madding Crowd

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)

Starring Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge, Juno Temple, and Jessica Barden

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg 

Far from the Madding Crowd is a lushly-lensed romance reminiscent of films shot decades earlier when sweeping Victorian love stories adapted from famous novels were commonplace occurrences in cinemas.  Sometimes these types of films can feel stuffy, slow-moving, and ostentatious, but thanks to a winning performance from Carey Mulligan as a liberated and independent English woman, Far from the Madding Crowd doesn't fall into any of those disappointing stereotypes, instead proving to be surprisingly captivating.

Two hundred miles outside of London in Dorset, Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan) is living with and working on her aunt's farm.  While there, her aunt's neighbor and sheep farmer Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) falls for the stunning Bathsheba, but she does not accept his advances and turns down his offer of marriage.  Bathsheba soon hears that she has inherited a large estate from her uncle following his death, while at the same time Gabriel loses his flock after a new sheep dog leads all of his sheep off a steep cliff into the ocean.  Both Bathsheba and Gabriel leave Dorset thinking they'll never see each other again, but fate works in mysterious ways.  One evening, the barn at Bathsheba's estate catches fire and Gabriel just happened to be walking by at the time, completely unaware that the estate belonged to Bathsheba.  He saves her barn and Bathsheba offers him a job on the estate which he reluctantly accepts seeing as how he still harbors feelings for the young woman.

Against all odds, Bathsheba is making it on her own which doesn't sit well with all the men in her town.  However, her neighbor William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) is immediately taken with her strength and falls for her.  At the same time, English soldier Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge) wanders onto her estate and also finds himself taken with Bathsheba.  With three suitors and independence always a goal in her life, Bathsheba faces the difficult question of whether to give herself to love or remain untethered to a man.

Far from the Madding Crowd embraces old school aesthetics and storytelling, yet somehow feels modern and fresh without ever feeling out of place.  Adapted from an 1874 Thomas Hardy novel, part of the "modernness" stems from the fact that Bathsheba is such a headstrong and independent woman.  Not knowing the story at all, I was quite taken by the character of Bathsheba, finding her a refreshing change to female characters we're used to seeing from novels of this one's era.  Carey Mulligan embraces the confidence of the character without ever coming across as overly feminist or off-putting.  The intelligence that radiates from Mulligan's persona is key to the film's plot and she successfully conveys it in what I think is her best role to date.

Next to Mulligan's Bathsheba, the men in the film are written with a little less depth, and as the film tries to give all of them their fair share of time attempting to woo her, it falters a bit towards its conclusion.  However, Far from the Madding Crowd was a wonderful surprise to me.  I expected to be bored silly, but I was anything but that.  Director Thomas Vinterberg has not only crafted a lovely film to look upon, but manages to create a bit of a romantic epic that doesn't feel the least bit tired or stale.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Secret in Their Eyes

Secret in Their Eyes (2015)

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris, Alfred Molina, Michael Kelly, Joe Cole, and Zoe Graham

Directed by Billy Ray

In 2002 in the months following the September 11 attacks, a group of Los Angeles investigators find themselves keeping a close eye on a mosque for any signs of terrorist activity.  One afternoon, they are called to a parking garage adjacent to the mosque to investigate a girl's body found in a dumpster.  Upon arrival, Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers that dead girl is Carolyn (Zoe Graham), the daughter of Jess (Julia Roberts), a fellow investigator in his office.  Devastated, Ray sets out to find out who committed this heinous act, but he's met with resistance within his office as his prime suspect - Marzin, a young Russian man (Joe Cole) - is a mole within the mosque.  With his boss (Alfred Molina) and the new district attorney Claire (Nicole Kidman), Ray seeks out justice on his own, but unfortunately doesn't succeed.  Thirteen years later, Ray, now an independent investigator, has never stopped looking for Marzin, whom he believes is Carolyn's murderer, and he may have discovered his current location.

Thus is the story of Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of a well-regarded Argentinean film from 2009.  Spanning more than a decade and told in two parallel-running time frames, director-writer Billy Ray's film doesn't achieve the emotional resonance that a revenge-driven story should innately contain.  The heaviness accompanying the piece is understandable - I mean, we're dealing with the murder of a teenager - but the film never converts the hefty drama to palpable emotional connections with the characters.  We're given three talented actors in Ejiofor, Kidman, and Roberts, yet their scenes together lack oomph.  Something just doesn't quite click here which is unfortunate because this is the kind of movie - steeped in tones of film noir - that I'm inherently drawn to appreciate.  Perhaps I should watch the original...but I'll wait a few years to get the memory of this disappointing flick out of my mind.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Beasts of No Nation

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

Starring Abraham Attah, Idris Elba, Kurt Egyiawan, Jude Akuwudike, and Emmanuel "King Kong" Nii Adom Quaye

Directed by Cory Joji Fukunaga

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

"I saw terrible things...and I did terrible things...and if I tell you about these things, you'll think I'm some sort of beast, a devil.  But I also had a mother once, and a father, and a brother and sister...and they loved me."

So says young Agu (Abraham Attah) in a gut-wrenching moment in Beasts of No Nation, a terrifying film about the horrors of a territorial war in an unnamed country in Africa.  Agu and his family were living in in a buffer zone in the war, supposedly free of involvement from the fighting factions, but when the buffer zone is invaded, Agu goes on the run after his father and brother are killed.  In the jungle, Agu is captured by a group involved with the NDF - a rising rebel army.  The head of this faction of the NDF is the Commandant (Idris Elba) who decides instead of killing Agu to bring him in to his army which is largely formed of young pre-teen children.  Although allowed to live, Agu's life takes a terrible turn as he's forced to commit heinous acts that he never thought he'd be capable of doing.

Beasts of No Nation is not an easy sit.  Director Cory Joji Fukunaga does a fantastic job of creating an atmosphere that is oppressing and harrowing.  Agu's progression from a boy with a bright disposition to one whose weathered face shows no concern when asked to kill someone is brilliantly captured in both story (also written by Fukunaga) and acting by first timer Abraham Attah.  Attah is surprisingly captivating considering this is his first role ever and he more than carries the emotional heft of the film on his shoulders.

While shot nicely and acted well, Beasts of No Nation begins to fall apart a bit near its conclusion.  Building so much tension and story around Agu, the film shifts its attention in the final act towards the Commandant and despite a fantastic no-nonsense and strong performance from Idris Elba, the film isn't about him.  While the flick eventually moves back to Agu (and gives us a fantastic scene to end things on), this misguided emphasis on the Commandant knocks the film down a notch.  However, Beasts of No Nation is still a powerful film that just loses its way a little bit.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Pawn Sacrifice

Pawn Sacrifice (2015)

Starring Tobey Maguire, Michael Stuhlbarg, Peter Sarsgaard, Liev Schrieber, Lily Rabe, and Robin Weigart

Directed by Edward Zwick

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

As a young boy growing up in 1950s America, Bobby Fischer lived with his mother (Robin Weigart) whose Communist beliefs didn't sit well with the population at large.  One particularly resonant moment in his life occurred when the young Bobby looks out the door at a party his mother is throwing and sees a man in a vehicle spying on their residence, taking pictures of the party's attendees.  As Bobby grows up (now played by Tobey Maguire), he becomes an incredibly well-known chess prodigy who places the game of chess squarely on the American map, particularly when he agrees to compete in a head-to-head battle against reigning Chess Master Boris Spassky (Live Schrieber) at the 1972 World Chess Championship.  However, moments from Bobby's difficult childhood -- including that moment from his mother's party -- have shaped the chess master into an extremely paranoid man who believes that he is being spied upon by everyone everywhere.  Bobby's personal inner demons stemming in part from his Communist-sympathizer mother are just as much a battle for him as it is going up against Spassky.

I am no chess player -- I know very rudimentary aspects of the game, but I was a checkers person growing up as no one in my family played chess -- and Pawn Sacrifice doesn't place the rules of the game front and center.  Instead, it tries to delve into the mind of Bobby Fischer, but this true story falls a little flat in achieving the dramatic moments I think it so desperately desires.  Part of the problem is its repetition of Fischer's psychological problems.  While the hammering home of his paranoia certainly paints a vivid picture of his psychosis, chess match met with paranoia followed by chess match met with paranoia is the film's only storytelling impetus.  Tobey Maguire has very little arc for his character to grow from and progress towards as his Fischer is played in a rather one note fashion because of the way the script unfolds.  There are some nice supporting performances from Michael Stuhlbarg and Peter Sarsgaard (Liev Schreiber has very little to do), but their characters similarly do very repetitive things over and over again as they try and get Fischer psychologically prepared for his various chess matches.

It's not that Pawn Sacrifice is particularly boring despite this repetition, but in the end the film lacks excitement (even for those of us like me who aren't familiar with the outcome of the 1972 World Chess Championship).  Director Edward Zwick's film can't overcome a script that lacks in depth character development and progression.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Tribe

The Tribe (Plemya) (2015)

Starring Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, and Rosa Babiy

Directed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi

"This film is in sign language.  There are no translations, no subtitles, no voice-over."

And that is how The Tribe begins - a unique film told completely in Ukranian sign language.  While this conceit certainly isn't played as a "gimmick," I was a bit worried that the concept would wear thin to those of us who are hearing, but it surprisingly doesn't across its rather lengthy 130-minute runtime.  That isn't to say that the film isn't without its faults, but it's not due to the language barrier, but rather story issues that oftentimes seem too absurd to believe.

High schooler Sergei (Grigoriy Fesenko) has just started at a Ukranian school for the deaf.  Immediately upon arrival, however, he discovers that within the school, a large group of students (and several teachers) have created a criminal gang that earns much of its money from sending out two willing female deaf students Anya and Svetka (Yana Novikova and Rosa Babiy) to prostitute themselves on a nearly nightly basis.  Sergei's timid nature soon shifts as he discovers that in order to survive at the school, he needs to toughen up and take part in the gang's activities, but when he begins to feel a romantic connection to Anya, things get complicated.

As I mentioned, the sign language isn't a barrier here.  The actors - all deaf in "real life" -  do a decent job of conveying what their characters are feeling, although there were admittedly many moments where their lack of acting experience led to overuse of facial reactions to get across things.  For this I blame the director Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi perhaps more than the actors as I imagine he felt the need to make sure the audience understood the characters' intentions and emotions and almost coached the actors to overact.  The problem with the film is in the lack of believability within the story itself.  How in the world do the teachers and the administration of the school not see what is going on within their walls?  How is it possible that these students are able to leave every night to rob innocent people on the street or hook for extra cash?  While I guess it's possible a school like this could exist, I couldn't wrap my head around it and it harmed the film pretty much from the get go for me.

Told all in long takes that oftentimes make the horrors facing these kids even more difficult to endure (one scene involving Anya heading to a rundown apartment for a medical treatment is particularly stomach-turning), The Tribe is visually appealing and undoubtedly will be something the likes of which you'll never have seen before.  Because of its uniqueness, however, I wish the story could've lived up to its conceit.  As it stands, The Tribe just comes off as okay as opposed to something truly special.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Time Out of Mind

Time Out of Mind (2015)

Starring Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Jena Malone, and Kyra Sedgwick

Directed by Oren Moverman

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Voyeuristically filmed at times, writer-director Oren Moverman's Time Out of Mind follows the life of George (Richard Gere), a homeless and possibly mentally ill man who roams New York City looking for food and shelter (along with the more than occasional consumption of alcohol).  Finding it difficult to sleep on the street, George decides to move into a homeless shelter where he meets the rambling and often nonsensical Dixon (Ben Vereen) and they strike up an odd, oftentimes contentious friendship.  Growing desperate to earn money, George reaches out to his estranged daughter Maggie (Jena Malone), a bartender who wants nothing to do with her father after he abandoned her for reasons revealed late in the film.

Moverman's camera plants itself far away from his main figures at times, causing the audience to feel as if they're peering in on George's life, creating a distance between the viewer and the characters that actually works surprisingly well.  As the film progresses, the camera gradually moves in a bit closer.  The concept is reminiscent of how most of us would feel around a homeless man -- keeping him at a distance, but, should we get to know him, we may welcome him into our circle with a bit less reticence.

Time Out of Mind is a very slow burn -- too slow at times.  The film's first half hour contains very little dialog, simply trying to paint a picture of George's difficult life on the street.  While it does a good job of getting across the trials facing the homeless (although it doesn't present solutions or espouse preachiness), the flick grows a bit wearisome at several moments throughout its runtime.  A condensing of certain aspects would've done wonders here, but the other Oren Moverman film I've seen -- The Messenger -- carries that same cinematic mindset of moving at a slower pace.  The film picks up particularly at the end as George attempts to reconcile his relationship with Maggie, but it's a bit too little too late.

Gere is very good here -- he's in every scene and there's a subtlety he brings to the character that never screams "Pity Me" which I very much appreciated.  Malone also makes the most of her two small scenes with Gere and it had me wishing the film would've explored her character in greater detail.  She really delivers in her moments and the film brightens in terms of story when she takes the stage.  It's these personal moments and connections Gere has with others that bring Time Out of Mind to life and while I appreciate Moverman's attempt here at creating something different, it doesn't work all the time, but it's certainly not a complete disappointment either.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

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 - Youth

Youth (2015)

Starring Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, Alex Macqueen, and Jane Fonda

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino

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

Oh, the potential of Youth.  A talented ensemble cast.  A sometimes touching story (with hints of humor) about two older men trying to remember their engaging past while dealing with their tediously dull present.  A stunningly beautiful nude woman portraying an intelligent Miss Universe winner.  This had a bunch of things going for it.  And then director Paolo Sorrentino goes and screws things up with some of the oddest direction I've seen in a 2015 movie.  Youth certainly looks beautiful, there's no denying that, but the images Sorrentino places up on the screen feel too esoteric to really push the film's plot along, and while I'm sure his visuals meant something to the director, they just befuddle the viewer with a "can't we just get on with the plot" mentality.

At the film's center is Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine), a famous classical composer and conductor who has left his profession behind after his wife fell ill.  Fred retreats at a luxurious spa catering to the incredibly wealthy in the Alps.  There with him is his daughter-cum-manager Lena (Rachel Weisz) who is always pushing him to reconnect with his sick wife (and her mother) whom he hasn't seen in a decade as well as his best friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel), a movie director prepping for what he believes to be his last film.  As Fred and Mick rest and relax, they reminisce and often have quite a lot to say about growing old and the effects it can have on one's life.  (Frankly, some of the dialog they spout is actually quite profound and oddly intellectually stimulating, so Sorrentino -- who also wrote the picture -- succeeds in that respect.)

The conflict in the picture arises from the arrival at the spa of a person into each of these men's lives.  For Fred, it's the Queen of England's emissary (Alex Macqueen) sent on a mission to coax the composer into one last outing to play his celebrated "Simple Songs" collection for Prince Philip's birthday.  For Mick, it's Brenda Morel (Jane Fonda), an aging actress who has starred in several of his films and whom Mick wants to appear in his final picture.  Both the emissary and Brenda cause the two men to question their current way of life, impacting them in surprising ways.

For the most part, the acting raises the bar for Youth with the ensemble impressing (including an understated Paul Dano playing a young actor also at the spa).  Michael Caine in particular captivates as his Fred copes with living with a bit of repressed guilt for past indiscretions.  Unfortunately, scenes that forward along the story are oftentimes broken up by tiny visual vignettes of other spa-goers that fall tremendously flat after Sorrentino decides to repetitively return to them throughout the film.  As I've said, I'm sure they mean something metaphorically, but this isn't a film that I particularly feel is "study worthy" to have to delve into and investigate what they really signify.  These throwaway scenes bog down the film's running time and take away from the heart of the story which lies in Fred's relationship with his daughter, his friend, and his estranged wife.

Youth is a weird beast because there are things I really liked about it (even the throwaway vignette-like scenes were shot well despite being frivolous).  In the end, however, it's too choppy and lacks a cohesion that I feel would've strengthened the picture.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Hitchcock/Truffaut

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Directed by Kent Jones

***This films currently streaming on HBO Now***

A few years ago, I embarked on a month long Hitchcock Fest delving into all of the great director's talking pictures and it was my favorite thing I've ever done on this blog.  (Seriously, check it out -- easy access via the sidebar.)  Of course, with my fascination with Hitch, it was inevitable that I'd check out Kent Jones' documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut which details the week-long interview French director François Truffaut had with his idol back in 1962.

As much as I love Hitch, this documentary serves more as a commercial for Truffaut's book detailing the aforementioned interview which carries the same title as this film.  Sure, here we get some fascinating interviews with directors like David Fincher and Martin Scorsese who wax eloquently over Vertigo and Psycho, but in the end, all I really want to do is snag a copy of Hitchcock/Truffaut -- which I will be doing ever so soon.  (How I don't have a copy of this already is astounding to me.)  As a documentary, I'm admittedly not quite sure of its purpose and although I enjoyed watching it, I wouldn't particularly tell anyone who isn't a huge Hitchcock fan to give it a go.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Body

Body (2015)

Starring Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina, and Larry Fessenden

Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen

Bored one evening after they've returned home for Christmas, twentysomething Cali (Alexandra Turshen) convinces her friends Holly and Mel (Helen Rogers and Lauren Molina) to visit the mansion of her rich uncle who is away with his family for the holidays.  Reluctantly obliging, the trio ends up having a blast at the huge house, but Holly soon discovers that Cali isn't in fact related to the home's inhabitants.  However, before they can leave, a man (Larry Fessenden) enters the house and, after a tussle, falls down a stairway, and is seemingly killed.  Body deals with the moral question faced by the three girls -- what do they do with the body?

Not exactly a horror film, Body gets its thrills from the ever-changing dynamics between the film's three young actresses.  The film does a nice job of making the emotional shifts of all the characters relevant, believable, and critical to the plot.  While the plot works, the three actresses themselves leave a little to be desired.  None of them are particularly disappointing, but I couldn't help but think that in the hands of slightly more adept directors, the performances and the lensing of the film itself would've been a bit more crisp and clean.  Even at a quick seventy minutes, the film takes a bit to get rolling which had me wondering if it would've fared a bit better as part of a horror anthology or something of the like.  However, Body is still an enjoyable, fun romp, but I can't help but think it had the potential for something more.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Victoria

Victoria (2015)

Starring Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski, Burak Yigit, Max Mauff, and André M. Hennicke

Directed by Sebastian Schipper

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Told in one continuous 132 minute-long shot, Victoria is undoubtedly an ambitious filmmaking experiment.  Credit is most certainly due to director Sebastian Schipper and his whole behind-the-camera team for making this film visually work.  That said, while the long running time adds to the impressiveness of the cinematic feat, it also hampers a story that lingers too long on particular moments, lacking a momentum at times that feels crucial for a film that contains this plot.

And what is that plot?  The film centers around Victoria (Laia Costa), a young Spanish girl currently living in Berlin.  When the camera first captures her, Victoria is dancing alone in a rave-type club.  As she leaves onto the streets at night, she meets a young German man named Sonne (Frederick Lau) who has certainly had one too many drinks.  He and his three buddies convince Victoria to walk through the streets of Berlin as they drink and smoke and essentially act like a quartet of douchebags. Eventually Victoria and Sonne break away from the group and head to Victoria's work at a little coffee shop.  With it still being night, the shop is closed, but Victoria begins to open up to Sonne about the reasons she left Madrid and Sonne grows infatuated with her innocence and intelligence.  Unfortunately, their conversation comes to an abrupt end when Sonne receives a phone call from one of his buddies...and Victoria's night takes a turn she never could have expected.

I'm in a bit of a conundrum with Victoria because in some ways, I think that the slow build the film takes us on in the first hour paints a picture of our title character that the audience needs during the film's second hour.  Director Schipper does a fantastic job of placing the viewer in the shoes of Victoria, panning his camera around for us to see things from both her point of view and as that of the omniscient onlooker.  However, it just takes too long for things to get going here.  Quite frankly, Sonne's friends are so obnoxiously arrogant that I couldn't comprehend why anyone would want to spend time with them and for us to have to spend so much time with them grows tediously boring.  (Yes, I do think the character of Victoria may have wanted to have spent time with them, but as an audience member, I had no desire.)

There was a moment in that first hour where I almost hit the stop button.  I'm happy I didn't, though, because Victoria turns into a suspenseful thriller with a fantastic performance at its center from Laia Costa.  Costa's Victoria is in search of something -- Madrid signified her past and Berlin is perhaps her future and that is why this seemingly smart girl decided to hang out with a group of unintelligent frat boy-type guys for the evening.  At first, I couldn't comprehend why she would do such a thing, but as the film progressed, Ms. Costa really keyed me in as to why her character does what she does.  There's a moment in the first hour in which Victoria sits a piano and begins to break down -- it tells us everything we need to know about the character through very little dialog or action.  It's a rather beautiful scene because in its simplicity, so much is revealed.  And from that point on, the film hooked me with Costa carrying the piece on her shoulders and taking me along for the ride.

Victoria isn't an easy watch in that it's too long by about forty-five minutes and it just takes too long to get the ball rolling.  Also, I admittedly found myself pondering more than once about how dumb the majority of these characters were.  (That said, their idiocy as characters is mirrored in the plot as the film progresses and feels inherently believable -- I just couldn't get over their stupidity at times.)  However, if you stick it out, you're in for a fun thriller with a great performance at its center.  Plus, you'll get to see an impressive cinematic feat unfold in real time.  (As an added note, most of the film is in English!  Although there are some subtitles throughout, the film was actually unable to compete at the Oscars in the foreign film category because English is its dominant language.  So don't let the fear of subtitles scare you away.)

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Concussion

Concussion (2015)

Starring Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mike O'Malley, Eddie Marsan, Hill Harper, Luke Wilson, and David Morse

Directed by Peter Landesman

In better directorial hands, Concussion would've been a great film.  As it stands with second-time director Peter Landesman at the helm, it's simply a good film that can't quite overcome some schlocky sentimental visuals that hamper the important and intriguing true story at its core.

Nigerian-born Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) is a forensic pathologist for the city of Pittsburgh's coroner's office.  When former Pittsburgh Steelers' football player Mike Webster (David Morse) is found dead in his pick-up truck after a prolonged mental break-down that left him in a disoriented, woeful, and suicidal state, Omalu happens to be the coroner on hand to do the autopsy.  During his work, Omalu discovers that Webster had severe brain damage consistent with repeated blows to the head.  In subsequent years, additional football players follow a similar mental break-down to Webster and Omalu is able to perform the autopsies on these individuals as well, discovering a consistent pattern of brain damage.  Certain of his findings, Omalu decides to write an article in a medical journal, but this sets up a war between the doctor and one of the most profitable organizations on the planet -- the National Football League -- a group that, as Omalu's boss Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) says, "owns a day of the week."

Dr. Omalu is a fascinating figure, tremendously smart, well-mannered, and strong, and Will Smith portrays him with much dignity.  While I'm not quite sure he deserved that Oscar nomination that his wife deemed appropriate, Smith is a captivating presence here alongside Gugu Mbatha-Raw who portrays his friend-turned girlfriend-turned wife.  Their scenes together are poignant, albeit a little treacly at times.  That sentimental mushiness comes on too strong accompanied by some generically obvious visual cues from the director that mar the film particularly in its latter half when the tension between Omalu and the higher-ups in the NFL should be at its most enervating.  It's the second half that disappoints the most with the film sometimes shifting to an odd thriller aspect (unknown men following Omalu's wife, threatening phone calls, etc) that simply doesn't fit well with the heavier (and better executed) dramatics of the film's first half.  Still, Concussion works as a film and is worth seeing as it exposes a side of the NFL that they wished to stay hidden for years.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - No Escape

No Escape (2015)

Starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Sterling Jerins, Claire Geare, and Pierce Brosnan

Directed by John Erick Dowdle

No Escape landed on several Worst of 2015 lists when normal reviewers (unlike myself) rolled them out earlier this year and while it's certainly not great, it manages to have enough excitement that I was able to look past some story flaws and ludicrously silly direction (slow mo action is never a good thing).  Sure, it may not be good, but I was at least interested in its (obvious) outcome so that keeps it out of the lowest reaches of my 2015 movie list.

Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) realizes the difficulties involved in moving his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and his daughters Lucy (Sterling Jerins) and Beeze (Claire Geare) to a foreign (unnamed) Asian nation near Vietnam, but when his new job for Cardiff Industries wants him to oversee the installation of water systems, he totes his family along for the ride.  Upon their arrival, the Dwyers face a bit of a culture shock with tv's, telephones, and electrical outlets not working in their hotel, but they're seemingly willing to face the difficulties seeing as how Jack had been out of work for quite a while.  Rather unfortunate, however, the night of the Dwyers' arrival, the Prime Minister of this unnamed country is murdered by a large group of rebels upset that their water systems are being sold out to an American company.  The assassination of the head of the government sets off a massive riot in which huge portions of the population set out to kill all the Americans in their country as well as anyone trying to help them.  The Dwyers are forced to run for their lives, attempting to find a safe haven in the midst of the violent chaos.

Director John Erick Dowdle (who co-wrote the film with his brother Drew) is best known for horror flicks (some good, some not so good) and No Escape is really his first mainstream venture outside of that genre.  While I actually thought he did a decent job of capturing the familial aspects of the script -- I found Wilson and Bell to be believable as parents desperate to do what it takes to keep their daughters alive -- the action aspects of the plot and the motivations of the rioters oftentimes seem silly or ludicrous.  This is one of those films where the bad guys capture the good guys and then stand around pointing their guns at them as opposed to simply shooting them quickly.  The bad guys have a little conversation (here, in an unsubtitled foreign language so it makes even less sense) while the good guys can formulate a plan for escape.  Dowdle also peppers his direction with some really silly tricks - the aforementioned slow motion, as an example - that don't do anything except invoke laughter.

No Escape also runs on a little too long and grows a bit repetitive which is why, in the end, I had to rank this just below a RyMickey recommendation.  While I don't think it's quite as bad as other critics made it out to be, there's just one too many faults to really make it worthwhile.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - 99 Homes

99 Homes (2015)

Starring Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Tim Guinee, and Noah Lomax

Directed by Ramin Bahrani

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

Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) is a construction worker finding it difficult to find a job in Orlando, Florida.  A single father to his son Conner (Noah Lomax), Dennis' mother Lynn (Laura Dern) also lives with him and runs her hair salon out of his house.  Unfortunately, tough times befall upon Dennis and his house is foreclosed.  Real estate mogul Rick Carver (Michael Shannon) takes charge of the eviction, just as he has for so many other homes in the Orlando area.  Obviously not well liked by those he's evicted, Rick sees something special in Dennis and offers him a job helping him clear out and repair foreclosed homes.  Initially against the concept of helping the man who forced him out of his home, Dennis reluctantly accepts the job out of desperation and discovers the difficulty of working for a man whom he vehemently despises.

99 Homes is a well-acted, well-told tale about the real estate boom and its subsequent collapse, but I wanted to be moved more than I was.  Director and co-writer Ramin Bahrani proves he's capable of delivering a solid piece of cinema, but the emotional connection never quite surfaced for me.  It doesn't help that the film, while fast-paced in its first hour, grows repetitive and a bit tiresome during its second half with character development that feels too obvious to sustain its run time.

Don't mistake my criticism as disavowal of the film.  99 Homes has enough going for it to certainly be recommendable.  Michael Shannon embodies the rather intimidating, offensive, crude, and unsympathetic Rick Carver with a vigor that had me wishing this rather malevolent guy was in every scene.  Laura Dern is also quite good in her small role as a mother and grandmother faced with the notion that she's losing the house where her son grew up.  Andrew Garfield is the weakest link in that I think he's slightly miscast here, seeming a bit too young to be Conner's father and lacking a bit of the emotional gravitas needed to showcase his character's struggle.  Perhaps in five years' time, Garfield will become a bit more grizzled, but now he doesn't quite match the soul needed for this particular type of character.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Our Brand Is Crisis

Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)

Starring Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Joaquim de Almeida, Ann Dowd, Scoot McNairy, and Zoe Kazan

Directed by David Gordon Green

***This movie is currently available on HBO Now***

Savaged by critics and completely ignored by moviegoers, Our Brand Is Crisis was one of the biggest bombs of Sandra Bullock's career when it was released last October.  Quite frankly, I'm a bit surprised because I found the film to be an amusingly lighthearted political comedy with an engaging cast who create an atmosphere that's a lot more fun than I expected.  Bullock is Jane Bodine, an American campaign manager who is hired by an American consulting who in turn was hired by Bolivian politician Pedro Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) to run his floundering campaign for the presidency.  The film rather simply covers a several-months period in which Jane and her crew (Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd, Scoot McNairy, and Zoe Kazan) try to create reasons to sway the public vote to Castillo.

The performances really make Our Brand Is Crisis click with Bullock in particular offering up a strong-willed, sarcastically biting role that lifts the piece higher than I'd imagine.  Unfortunately, the film falls apart a bit towards the end with its political election proving to be highly anticlimactic and its subsequent repercussions off-putting and too dramatically out-of-place with the rest of the feature.  Still this film (a fictionalized account of a documentary of the same name) isn't nearly as bad as its lukewarm reception would have you believe.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Anomalisa

Anomalisa (2015)

Featuring the vocal talents of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tom Noonan

Directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman

Pretentiousness usually doesn't bode well for me when it comes to movies.  Flicks that wear their importance or deeply philosophical spoutings on their sleeve typically are a bit of a turn off...which is why it's all the more surprising that I enjoyed the Charlie Kaufman-penned and co-directed stop-motion animated film Anomalisa because it's ALL about pretentiously philosophical notions.  Somehow, though, the animation both lessens the heftiness yet strengthens the concepts in an admittedly oddly oxymoronic way.

On a business trip to Cincinnati, married customer service specialist Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) finds himself in a bit of a rut.  He's bored with the cacophonous drone of life where everyday feels the same, everyone looks the same, and everyone talks the same.  After a meeting with an ex at the hotel bar goes sour, Michael slumps back to his room only to hear the unique voice of a woman named Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) that sounds different than everyone else he's encountered thus far on the trip.  (You see, everyone other than Michael and Lisa is voiced by Tom Noonan in order to convey the drone of life.)  Lisa invigorates Michael as they spend an evening together getting to know one another with Michael beginning to see life in a completely different light.

Story-wise, I must admit that I was taken aback at first.  I was befuddled as the movie began as to why every character other than Michael looked and sounded the same.  However, as the film progressed, I began to understand and appreciate Charlie Kaufman's purpose and I found that it was conveyed shockingly well.  There's no way possible that Kaufman could've made this film in a live action format, but animation allows his intriguing premise about monotony and lack of individualization to really shine.

And as for the animation, it's gorgeous.  The figures of Michael and Lisa are so vividly and realistically designed that I found myself watching the dvd extras to see how they were created -- something I don't often do.  Their movement is fluid and their heavy emotions are beautifully depicted.  Thewlis and Leigh also do a nice job of conveying their characters' dour and ebullient emotions, respectively.  Technically, you couldn't really ask for a more thoughtfully animated stop-motion film.

Anomalisa falters just a bit in that its slow pace sometimes grows a bit tedious.  By the film's end, I was wanting its short ninety-minute runtime to be about fifteen minutes shorter.  The oppressive monotony that Michael feels is mirrored in the way the film is presented which may be purposeful, but unfortunately ends things on a bit of a down note.  That said, I was captivated for most of the film, and while I will readily admit that this one will not suit everyone's tastes (which is de rigueur for Charlie Kaufman anyway) animation fans should check this one out solely for the wonderful work done by the talented artists.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Bone Tomahawk

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, and David Arquette

Directed by S. Craig Zahler

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

There aren't many western/horror/comedy mash-ups floating around, but Bone Tomahawk would probably fall into that amalgamated category.  When his wife (Lili Simmons), a young deputy sheriff, and a prisoner are kidnapped by a mysterious Native American tribe, Arthur (Patrick Wilson), the town sheriff (Kurt Russell), another deputy (Richard Jenkins), and a rich cowboy (Matthew Fox) set out to find them and bring them back to their small Western town safely.  Little does the quartet realize that they're about to meet face to face with a group of gruesome cannibals with no respect for Americanized society.

Although the film runs a bit too long and falls into the typical trap of the western genre with a whole lot of nothing happening for long periods of time, debut director S. Craig Zahler (who also wrote the flick) has crafted a quirky flick full of humorous dialog spouted by surprisingly detailed characters.  The cast gamely acts out the witty repartee with Kurt Russell, Richard Jenkins, Matthew Fox, and Patrick Wilson all playing nicely off one another as they trek across arid, barren landscapes.   Oftentimes, films that attempt to blend genres fail to adequately balance all aspects, but Zahler rather surprisingly is able to marry horror and western and comedy.  Quite frankly, it's a bit shocking that as the film veers into the horror category towards its finale, it feels like a natural fit and that's certainly a credit to Zahler.

Bone Tomahawk isn't a perfect film, but considering it's in the western genre which I typically detest, it's much more enjoyable than I could've ever anticipated.  Sure, it's a bit of a cult-type piece that isn't going to be for everyone's tastes, but it worked enough for me to recommend it.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - The Lady in the Van

The Lady in the Van (2015)

Starring Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Frances De La Tour, Roger Allam, Deborah Findlay, and Gwen Taylor

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Marketed as a lighthearted comedy, The Lady in the Van is the victim of ill-conceived expectations because while it contains some humorous moments, director Nicholas Hytner's film is much heavier than I expected.  Elder stateswoman Maggie Smith is engagingly crotchety as the title character, but the film is a slog to get through, disappointingly boring as it tells the (mostly true) story of Mary Shepherd who lives in a run-down van on the streets of London.  Moving from street to street, Ms. Shepherd has parked her vehicle on a lovely city road in Camden, but when the government institutes a no street parking edict, young playwright Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) reluctantly agrees to allow Shepherd to move her van into his driveway.  Little did he realize that his temporary good deed would turn into a fifteen-year squatting by the elderly woman.

Based off Alan Bennett's play, The Lady in the Van vacillates between whimsy (accentuated by a lyrical score) and slight dreariness (highlighted by classical music), but never finds an appropriate balance between the two.  The story also feels repetitive, spanning fifteen years but failing to give the characters a whole lot of growth in that time.  It's a shame, really, because Maggie Smith is enjoyable to watch (albeit in a very similar role to much that she's played over the past decade), but the character of writer Alan Bennett is irritatingly bland (to no fault, really, of the actor portraying him).  The film tries to give Bennett a bit of a creative punch by having two Bennetts onscreen at once -- one being Bennett as a writer and one being Bennett talking to his writer-self -- but this interaction comes off as too much of a creative crutch rather than inherently necessary to the story.  In the end, The Lady in the Van proves to be a disappointment and, even worse, a bore.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Joy

Joy (2015)

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Edgar Ramírez, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rosselini, Dascha Polanco, Elisabeth Rohn, and Bradley Cooper

Directed by David O. Russell

While I enjoyed The Fighter, David O. Russell's two subsequent well-received films --  Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle -- didn't register as successful to me as they did to others.  Considering the less-than-enthusiastic reviews for the writer-director's latest, Joy, my expectations were quite low.  However, I found myself pleasantly surprised with the tale which isn't without a few faults in its story, but manages to be Russell's most entertaining film to date.

Joy is the semi-biographical story of Joy Mangano (played here by Jennifer Lawrence), a divorced mother of two who invents an ingenious new mop in an effort to better her life.  Obstacles are certainly placed in Joy's way -- her live-in divorced mother (Virginia Madsen) refuses to leave her bedroom where she watches soap operas all day, her father (Robert De Niro) has just moved back in causing trouble, her ex-husband (Edgar Ramírez) lives in her basement -- but she's motivated by her grandmother (Diane Ladd) who has always believed that the high school valedictorian isn't living up to her potential.  With the monetary assistance of her father's new widowed girlfriend (Isabella Rosselini), Joy creates her mop and finds herself shilling the device on the shopping network QVC after convincing an executive (Bradley Cooper) of her wares.  

While I mentioned earlier that Joy is Russell's most entertaining film, that doesn't necessarily make it his best.  There are moments in Russell's story and in his direction of his actors where he loses some focus, opting for quirkiness rather than fluidity.  While this proves to be amusing at first, it does grow a little wearisome when we in the audience want the film to focus on Joy's passion, perseverance, and fortitude as opposed to her odd family.  De Niro, Madsen, and Rossellini are all good, but I sometimes felt they were in a different film as their characters felt more like "Characters" than actual people.  Also, although Jennifer Lawrence is totally engaging as the strong-willed title character, she has an accent problem here in that whatever she was trying to attempt vocally fades in and out throughout the film enough that it proves noticeable.

Russell's an intriguing director to me in that I appreciate his stylization -- his use of music is always unique, even if sometimes a bit pretentious -- but when he lenses his own screenplays, he lacks the focus needed to reel in some of his odd excesses.  His best film -- The Fighter -- wasn't penned by him and I can't help but think that the guy should open up to filming other peoples' stuff again.  Joy gets him headed in the right direction, though, and I hope he'll continue the upward trajectory.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-