Movie Review - October Gale

October Gale (2015)

Starring Patricia Clarkson, Scott Speedman, and Tim Roth

Directed by Ruba Nadda

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

Despite a nice performance from Patricia Clarkson as Helen, a recent widow returning to her family's Canadian cabin following her husband's death there a year ago, October Gale is a film that doesn't achieve what it sets out to do.  Director and writer Ruba Nadda previously paired with Clarkson on 2010's Cairo Time, a film I admired and placed in my Top Fifteen of 2010 in addition to giving Clarkson a Top Five berth in my Lead Actress category that year.  Nadda definitely has an eye for lensing and creating well-rounded female characters, but in October Gale she attempts to tack on a "thriller" aspect that disappoints immensely which is a shame because there's certainly promise in this filmmaker's work.

Upon arrival at her lakeside cabin, Helen begins to clear out many of the things left there by her husband after he was killed in a boating accident the prior October.  Now, almost exactly a year later, during the middle of another brewing thunderstorm, a young man named Will (Scott Speedman) arrives on her doorstep, barely able to walk and with a bullet in his shoulder.  After taking care of him, Will reveals that he has been in jail for killing a man whom he had known for decades and considered to be his brother during a bar fight that got out of hand.  That man's father (Tim Roth) whom he considered to be his father as well is now hunting Will down, displeased with the prison sentence Will received and hungry for revenge.

During the film's first act, I appreciated Nadda's display of simplicity, taking her time developing the character of Helen, but as soon as Scott Speedman's Will shows up, things start to take a turn for the worse.  Through no fault of Speedman or Clarkson -- who pair nicely together in their scenes -- October Gale simply fails to create tension or suspense.  By the time Will's secrets are revealed and Tim Roth comes into the picture, I'd already lost interest.  This is an unfortunate misfire, but Ruba Nadda still has goodwill built from her previous effort so I'm willing to give her another shot when her next feature rolls around.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)

Starring Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, Aiden Gillen, Lili Taylor, Barry Pepper, and Patricia Clarkson

Directed by Wes Ball

I still stand by original notion that the overarching plot of the Maze Runner series is perhaps the most interesting of all the dystopian teen epics that we've seen over the past several years.  In the original film, a group of teens was thrown into a deadly labyrinth which, upon their escape, they discover was run by a group called W.C.K.D. in order to experiment on the young.  At the end of the first film, the surviving teens are helicoptered out of the maze facility presumably being taken to safety, however, as The Scorch Trials begins, we see that Earth as we know it is in shambles -- a desolate dust storm where the only survivors seem to live in a facility run by those who saved the kids from the maze.  The teens soon begin to realize that those who saved them may not be their saviors, but may in fact want to harm them.  Led by Thomas (Dylan O'Brien), the group manages to escape the facility, only to find a world overrun by zombies (yeah...) as they try to find safety.

The Scorch Trials starts out incredibly promising as, much like the teens, we in the audience try and determine who's good and bad.  Unfortunately, once the teens escape, the premise of the sequel begins to fall apart.  I mean, zombies?  Really?  Sure, the plot was already ludicrous with the whole maze and then a burgeoning conspiracy, but I had bought into the proceedings...and then you add zombies to the mix?  Ugh.  That said, if I were to remove the zombies from the equation, The Scorch Trials would've been equal to its predecessor.  Yes, it's the middle film of a trilogy so it's really just a stepping stone to the inevitable finale, but there was potential that was squandered with those damn zombies.  I'll still be there for the final movie as I still think the premise is unique enough to warrant its existence -- I haven't given up on the series like I did with Divergent -- but I must say I'm a little disappointed with this one.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner (2014)

Starring Dylan O'Brien, Aml Ameen, Ki Hong Lee, Blake Cooper, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter, Kaya Scodelario, and Patricia Clarson

Directed by Wes Ball

At a certain point, all of these teen-centered dystopian fantasies start to blend together what with The Hunger Games, Divergent, and now The Maze Runner all of which take place in a future where teens are placed in perilous situations the likes of which seem too outrageous to really be believed thanks to some overriding governmental entity.  Here, Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) wakes up to find himself in the middle of a giant maze inhabited by a group of teen guys -- none of whom know how they got there or have any memory of who they were prior to being placed into the maze.  Every night, the maze shifts and while many have tried to find a way out, most who attempt wind up dead thanks to spider-like bio-mechanical creatures known as Grievers that inhabit the labyrinth.  Someone put these kids here for some reason and Thomas and his fellow runners of the maze will stop at nothing to find out who is behind their captivity.

Although the film finds itself getting a bit repetitive as it progresses, the overall concept of this dark tale is quite intriguing -- perhaps the most interesting of all the aforementioned similarly themed teen flicks.  With a game cast of actors (most of whom I'd never seen before) who all do a solid job of making us believe their plight, The Maze Runner has the makings of something promising as it continues on its way in future films.  Once again, though, similar to the Divergent series, I have serious doubts as to whether it can maintain its "reason for existence" past Movie #1.  All of these teen series feel drawn out as they progress and I worry that The Maze Runner will fall into the same trap.  For now, however, it's unique enough to warrant a look.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - The East

The East (2013)

Starring Brit Marling, Alexander Scarsgård, Ellen Page, Patricia Clarkson, Jason Ritter, and Julia Ormand

Directed by Zal Batmanglij

My conservative mindset certainly doesn't necessarily sympathize with the ecological terror group known as The East who take it upon themselves to secretly invade the homes and offices of big businesses and cause great harm to those whom they believe are corrupting the American people and the US soil on which they live.  However, director Zal Batmanglij and his co-writer Brit Marling give us a lead character in Sarah (also played by Marling) who, upon infiltrating the group as part of her job, questions The East's integrity particularly as the anarchist collective revs up their attacks, elevating them to more serious and possibly deadly retribution events.  Through the character of Sarah, a former FBI agent now working for an elite private intelligence firm, the audience at least gets a modicum of moral questioning of the group who aren't quite given a free pass.

Admittedly (and anyone who disagrees with this just doesn't want to face the facts), The East certainly portrays its titular group as the more morally correct figures here.  The group's leader Benji (Alexander Scarsgård) is romanticized by both the lens and the character of Sarah herself.  However, the film doesn't necessarily let the members of The East get off scott free -- and they absolutely shouldn't considering some of the truly terroristic acts they inflict on others.

Brit Marling has been on my list of impressive up-and-coming actresses ever since her turn in 2011's Another Earth and she continued to showcase her talents in the fantastic and underseen Arbitrage (which is streaming on Netflix...so watch it).  It's obvious Marling is a smart cookie -- she co-wrote both Another Earth and this film, both movies that don't dumb down anything for their viewers -- and I love that she imbues her characters with the same intelligence she must carry with herself in real life.

However, once you move behind Marling's Sarah, the film doesn't give its other characters as much depth as they probably should have.  It also doesn't help that the film flounders a bit in its epilogue-like final fifteen minutes.  There's part of me that feels the film cops out a little bit and then there's another part of me that realizes it was really the only way the writers could've ended it without alienating one side or another of the political spectrum.  But then I ask myself, when has alienating one side of the political spectrum stopped Hollywood before?

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - One Day

One Day (2011)

Starring Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, and Patricia Clarkson 

Directed by Lone Scherfig

One Day has such a promising premise that it's a shame its story is so bland and the actors who inhabit it bring no chemistry to their lovelorn characters.  In the film, we meet Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) on July 15, 1988, as they graduate from some British college.  Although they only happen to be in the same place because of mutual friends, despite having never met before, they spend the night together in Emma's apartment.  What initially was a sexually charged meeting ends up being rather innocent and the two decide not to sleep together, instead simply beginning a friendship that will last for many years.  The film then jumps to July 15 in each successive year and we see where Emma and Dexter are in their lives and in their relationship with one another.

I actually love the idea behind this movie and I think that the concept as a whole is going to account for a slightly higher grade than the film probably deserves.  Unfortunately, Emma and Dexter aren't characters that have a whole lot going for them.  Emma readily admits that she's a bore...and she is.  Dexter's an obnoxious man-whore who turns into a rather nasty guy as the years progress, but Emma still holds his friendship near and dear for some reason.  The two always had a thing for one another despite trying their best to keep things in the "friend zone," but it's obvious that we're supposed to feel some sexual chemistry between Hathaway and Sturgess when they're onscreen together...and it just never comes to fruition until close to the end of the movie.  Granted, in the last act, I slowly began to believe that these two characters had some sparks between them, but I can't help but think I should've been experiencing that emotion all the way through the film.

Still, even with this rather large problem -- let's face it, a lack of chemistry in a romantic film is a big issue -- the intriguing premise manages to trump some of the faults.  Yes, the story between these two characters isn't always interesting (it oftentimes feels very repetitive since the characters aren't that interesting or deep) and the actors, as I mentioned, aren't exactly right for their roles, but yet I didn't get as annoyed with it as I probably should have and probably would have had the rather original "one day in the life" conceit not been part of the movie.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Cairo Time

Cairo Time (2010)

Starring Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig 

Directed by Ruba Nadda

Just right off the bat, I have to say that Cairo Time is a lovely film.  It's a film I'm sure no one's heard of, but it did get a limited theatrical release in 2010.  Still, I can understand why it didn't shine even on the limited landscape -- it's incredibly simplistic and, for a love story, shockingly and admirably romantic (that's romantic and not raunchy as so often is the case nowadays).  This PG-rated flick contains grown-up characters who keep their clothes on throughout, but manage to show how sexy a simple flirtation can be.

After arriving in Cairo to see her husband, Juliette (Patricia Clarkson) discovers that her betrothed has been held up in Gaza on UN business.  In order to help show her around the city, her husband sets her up with his former co-worker, Tareq (Alexander Siddig).  What starts as an awkward uncomfortableness between strangers soon develops into a subdued, though palpable flirtation.  As they tour the old city of Cairo, Juliette and Tareq slowly begin to realize that they have a longing for love and connection, whether that be with each other or not is a big step that neither may be willing to take.

Cairo Time is all about connection.  It's not about the consummating of love, but about the simple gestures, facial expressions, and words that provide the impetus of a burgeoning relationship.  While some will certainly watch this film and think that nothing happens, to this blogger there is a ton occurring up on the screen.  The subtleties of Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig's performances are what make this film a success.  Clarkson, in particular, is wonderful in a graceful, though tricky, performance as a woman who genuinely loves her husband, but also misses the loving bond she has with him.  Her Juliette is not a woman who was looking for love with another man, nor do I believe that she is a woman who would have taken a flirtatious relationship to the next level, but Clarkson portrays Juliette as always thinking...you get the sense that the character is constantly pondering, "This is what could have been, but this could never happen now."

Along with beautiful cinematography and a lovely (though a bit repetitive) piano-driven score, Cairo Time is a lovely way to spend 85 minutes.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Easy A

Easy A (2010)

Starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgely, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Alyson Michalka, Malcolm McDowell, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Will Gluck

A case of raised expectations seems to have ruined Easy A for me.  The heaping praise from nearly all the critics upon its release had me thinking this was going to be much better than it actually was.  Sure, there were great performances all around and some wit was on display, but in the end, it felt like a story that never really went anywhere and never really caught my attention despite the presence of the cute and charming Emma Stone.

Like a modern-day Scarlet Letter, Emma Stone is Olive (the Hester Prynne of the film), a high schooler who is pressured into saying she had sex in order to make herself "look" better to her best friend (Alyson Michalka).  Rumors spread quickly in high school and soon the clean cut (though witty and wry) Olive is finding herself enjoying the attention she's receiving.  Instead of trying to squash the rumor, she begins to make the lie even bigger, pretending to become the school slut because at least "the slut" has a place at the school rather than her old role as "just another face in the crowd."  Needless to say, things get out of hand and start getting hurtful to the good-hearted Olive and she must attempt to climb her way out of the hole she dug for herself.

The problem with the film doesn't lie with Ms. Stone who, in her first major starring role, is certainly an amusing and funny presence onscreen.  Perhaps my biggest issue with the film is with the characters surrounding Olive.  While it's true that none of the actors playing the caricaturish supporting players are bad, their roles are laughably one-note.  Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson bring great humor to the roles of Olive's parents, but their characters seemed so incredibly fake.  Similarly, all of the students at Olive's school -- from the Christian goody-goody (Amanda Bynes) to Olive's gay friend -- are characters we've seen before (and written better) in other films.  Once again, great acting from everyone all around, but the characters they had to inhabit were simply disappointing.

The film flounders and wanders aimlessly and its short 90-minute runtime feels about 30 minutes longer than it actually is.  Overall, Easy A was a disappointment that doesn't deserve the praises that were bestowed on it earlier in the year.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Shutter Island

Shutter Island (2010)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Williams, and Patricia Clarkson

Directed by Martin Scorsese

It's the mid 1950s and patient Rachel Solando has disappeared from a psychiatric hospital located on Shutter Island. Two U.S. Marshals are called in to investigate the case. Little do the two marshals know that the island is home to some interesting and perhaps unethical treatments and they may be the hospital's next "experiments."

That summary is pulled directly from my book review of Shutter Island that I posted last year.  The novel was an enjoyable read, but didn't really work as a whole for me.  There were dream sequences that seemed oddly written and characters seemed to simply appear in order to give a clue to the main character, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (here played by Mr. DiCaprio).

Fortunately, my qualms with the book worked extremely well onscreen thanks, in large part, to some beautiful direction by Martin Scorsese.  Feeling quite old school, Scorsese has crafted big budget "pulp" film.  While those cheaply made film noirs of the 40s and 50s certainly appeared to be made on a miniscule budget (see this as an example), no expense was spared here.  Thanks to some fantastic scenic design by Dante Ferretti, Scorsese proves to be a master behind the camera, crafting some beautiful and ingenious shots that lifted this film way above the average cinematic experience.

While Act Two of the film drags a bit, Act Three proves to be quite engaging...much moreso than the book.  I remember the book feeling like it ended much too quickly, but in the film, I was actually astounded by how Scorsese and screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis allowed the film to play out at a relatively slow pace.  They weren't afraid to explain things, unlike the book which seemed to have a need to bring the tale to an end as quickly as possible.

However, the film isn't perfect.  Leo has an accent that fades in and out which irked me a little bit.  It also seems that Scorsese wanted his actors to "overact" similar to those film noirs of yore, but it seemed a little jarring at times.  My biggest issue -- which would certainly nary be a quibble to most -- is that there were some very poorly edited scenes.  Thelma Schoonmaker is Scorsese's go-to editor, but here there were multiple scenes with inconsistencies.  A raised hand in this shot turns into a lowered hand in the next would be an example.  True, none of these errors affected the story, but they were glaring to me...enough that I'm posting about it here.

Still, overall, this is quite a good film.  A nice homage to cinema of the past.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Phoebe in Wonderland (2009)

Starring Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, and Bill Pullman
Written and Directed by Daniel Barnz

This is another one of those indie movies with characters that are too smart for their own good. However, what saves this movie from the downfall of recent flicks I've watched like Gigantic and Sherman's Way is that the story is interesting and nearly every actor is strong, particularly a winning performance by Elle Fanning.

Phoebe (Elle Fanning) is a nine year-old girl who lands the lead role in the school play Alice in Wonderland. Phoebe has some psychological issues, the biggest being obsessive-compulsive disorder (and a moderate case of Touette's, too). Phoebe loves the play and excels at it, but her imagination oftentimes gets the better of her and she envisions the play literally coming alive all around her which oftentimes causes problems with her fellow classmates. Her parents (Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman) seem to be in denial about their daughter's issues and it certainly seems to be putting a strain on their marriage.

The film belongs to the young Elle Fanning and there is something so beautiful and simplistic about how she plays the difficult role of Phoebe. The role could easily have veered towards over-the-top and showy, but Fanning is something special. From the opening scenes, she conveys so much with a simple raise of a lip or eyebrow. There must have been something in the water that those Fanning girls drank as babies (Dakota is her sister), because they both have amazing talent. There's one scene, in particular, where Phoebe breaks down completely in her mother's arms that was amazingly powerful. Speaking of Phoebe's mother, Felicity Huffman is touching and I was quite surprised by how well-written and thought-out her role was (kudos to the screenwriter).

In addition to Fanning and Huffman, Patricia Clarkson takes the clichéd role of the over-the-top drama teacher and makes it her own. Although her role wasn't without its faults (she falls into that "too quirky" indie character category and is forced to play that inspirational teacher role), Clarkson brings something special to the table. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie belongs to Clarkson -- when the word "fagot" [spelling is correct] is found written on a young male member of the play's costume, her anger is real and visceral. After criticizing the culprit for not spelling the word correctly, she makes them read the definition of the word -- "a bundle of sticks" -- and then says one of the best lines I've heard this year -- "Does anyone want to own up to idiocy as well as cruelty?" Although I had slight problems with her eccentric character, Clarkson can deliver a well-written line with gusto and meaning.

In addition to my slight problem with Clarkson's character, the school's principal (played by Campbell Scott) was a guy that was so inadequately able to run a school that the character took me out of any type of reality that the film was trying to create. The same could also be said for Phoebe's wiser-beyond-her-years sister. Once again, it's that pet peeve of kids being too smart for their own good...why not just make the kid normal? It's disappointing that the screenwriter who created two stellar characters in Phoebe and her mother wasn't able to continue the quality with the other folks in the movie.

Despite its faults, Phoebe in Wonderland is a perfectly "nice" movie filled with some winning performances. Fanning, Huffman, and Clarkson alone are worth the price of the rental (or the current streaming via Netflix). Sure, it's warm, sentimental, and a bit treacly, but sometimes, you're in the mood for that sort of thing and this movie's good at it.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Whatever Works (2009)

Starring Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley, Jr., and Conleth Hill

Written and directed by Woody Allen

I can live with or without Woody Allen movies. I can also live with or without Seinfeld (of which star Larry David played a big role in its creation). I went into Whatever Works with both those possible issues in mind, so I wasn't expecting much.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

Larry David is Boris Yellnikoff, a crotchety curmudgeon who really doesn't like anyone or anything. In some ways, he's the stereotypical middle age-to-elderly Jewish guy that we've seen in many flicks. Somehow, though, David makes this thing work. It helps that Woody has him talk directly to the camera at points. That connection with the audience, to me, was the reason I immediately connected with the flick. But, it's also proved to be a detriment in that I longed for David to always be onscreen. When he wasn't I just wasn't laughing all that much.

Anyway, the story is pretty simple, and, once again, it's another May-December romance from Woody Allen. The December of the equation is David, and the May is Evan Rachel Wood's Melodie St. Ann Celestine, a southern girl who has run away from her home to try and make it in New York City. When Boris sees Melodie on the street, he reluctantly allows her to spend the night in his home to get off the street. One night turns into two, two nights turn into two weeks, and as his distrust and distaste for all mankind begins to rub off on the formerly sweet and naive Melodie, the two end becoming two peas in a pod and end up getting married.

Like I said above, when the film focused on Boris, I loved it. The humor here was super-intelligent...I will readily admit that I didn't understand some of it, but it never made me angry that I didn't get it, because there was always another joke coming right on its tail. The problem begins when Melody's ultra-Christian mother (Clarkson) shows up and the story shifts from nonstop Boris humor to supporting cast humor. Clarkson was great, too, don't get me wrong, and her character was quite funny...but I longed to get back to Boris.

It also didn't help that Melodie, realizing that Boris may not be "the one," begins to fall in love with, it seems, the most boring guy on the planet (Conleth Hill) who happens to be much closer to her age. This romance felt shockingly more forced than the love between Melodie and Boris -- obviously, Woody didn't feel like writing anything good for the young guy trying to steal away his (I mean, Boris's) girl. The only other minor fault is that I was wishy-washy on Evan Rachel Wood's character. When she first appeared onscreen I literally said to myself, "This is gonna be a long movie if I don't get used to that corny Southern accent." Well, I did get used to the accent, but I also never really fully felt like Wood wasn't acting...it's surprising to me because, really, all Larry David is doing here is playing himself, but I felt like he embodied Boris more than Wood embodied Melodie.

Still, definitely the funniest movie I've seen this year. It was oh-so-close to a B+, but the problems I mentioned in the last paragraph brought it down a notch.

The RyMickey Rating: B+
(EDIT: Slight change...this movie was just too funny to merit a 'B'. Despite its faults, I laughed a whole heck of a lot...and isn't that the point in a comedy?)