Tully

Tully (2018)

Starring Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, and Ron Livingston 

Directed by Jason Reitman

Written by Diablo Cody

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - James White

James White (2015)

Starring Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, and Ron Livingston

Directed by Josh Mond

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

Grippingly acted, James White is a beautifully heartbreaking look at the relationship between the self-destructive twenty-something title character (played by Christopher Abbott) and his ailing, cancer-stricken mother Gail (Cynthia Nixon) who hopes to change her sons hard-drinking and drugging days before her days may possibly end.  Simplicity rules the day here in debut director/screenwriter Josh Mond's first film and while it takes a little while to find its footing, James White ends with a final act that is one of the more grippingly emotional pieces of film from 2015.

The key to the success of James White which is a hugely character-driven piece is in the wonderful performances of Christopher Abbott and Cynthia Nixon whose interplay with one another is top notch.  Nixon captivates as a grieving mother (her ex-husband, James' father, has just died as the film opens) who is then forced to deal with a reoccurrence of cancer that had stricken her in times past.  Heartbreaking in her realistic portrayal, Nixon's deterioration highlights the toll cancer has on its victims.  Christopher Abbott comes out of nowhere (he's been in a few flicks I've seen, but has hardly stood out) and delivers one heck of a powerhouse performance as a New Yorker who uses alcohol (and some drugs) to mask his pain -- pain caused by the lack of a job, his father's death, his mother's illness -- a seemingly never-ending list.  The intensity James bottles up (and Abbott skillfully depicts) bursts out sometimes in painfully unfortunate ways, but his character's journey from his mother's son to his mother's caretaker and the emotional toll that takes is exquisitely portrayed by actor.

James White takes a little while to get started.  In fact, there was a moment where I thought I might turn this one off.  However, in the end, the film pays off big time as the relationship between James and Gail is one of the most realistic and touching interactions I saw captured for the screen in 2015.  Stick this one out and you'll be treated to one of the more emotional flicks of the past year.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Vacation

Vacation (2015)

Starring Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Leslie Mann, Chris Hemsworth, Beverly D'Angelo, Ron Livingston,  and Chevy Chase

Directed by Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley

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

Although I can't remember for sure, my first foray into cinematic "almost nudity" may very well have been the original 1983 version of National Lampoon's Vacation.  I probably saw it for the first time several years after its release as an eight, nine, or ten year-old and that image of Christie Brinkley cruising down the highway -- and then later in the hotel pool -- never quite left my cinematic memory.  (Somehow, the possibility of potentially glimpsing Brinkley's breasts was inherently more invigorating to the young me than actually seeing those of Beverly D'Angelo in the film.)  Granted, I haven't seen the original Chevy Chase-starring film in probably close to a decade, but it held up alright upon my last viewing.  So when the 2015 "reboot"/sequel starts up with Lindsey Buckingham singing the iconic-to-me "Holiday Road," nostalgia immediately set in, and while Vacation can't really hold a candle to the original, there are plenty of laughs that make this one a better flick than I was expecting.

Teenage Rusty Griswold is now all grown up (and played by Ed Helms) living with a family of his own in the Midwest.  Rather than head to their typical cabin in Michigan for a summer vacation, Rusty decides to shake things up by taking his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and two kids James and Kevin (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins) to the California amusement park staple Wally World -- the very destination coveted by Rusty's father Clark (Chevy Chase) in the 1983 original.  Along the way, chaos ensues -- multiple times -- as seems fitting for the Griswold clan.

I understand that many of the comedy sequences in Vacation overstay their welcome, but a lot of the jokes within those extended moments land successfully.  The success is due in part to the Griswold family quartet at the center of the action.  Helms, Applegate, Gisondo, and Stebbins all succeed at capturing the Griswold humor and heart that made the original so successful.  They hit the jokes they need to hit with gusto and provide a nice center for the action going on around them.

While writer-director duo Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley don't quite capture the same heart that Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo (who also make cameo appearances here) achieve in the first film, they at least provide Helms and Applegate a solid base.  I realize that my enjoyment of this isn't shared by the majority of critics, but even through its faults, Vacation proves to be decent, funny, and well acted.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Fort Bliss

Fort Bliss (2014)

Starring Michelle Monaghan, Pablo Schreiber, Ron Livingston, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Oakes Fegley

Directed by Claudia Myers

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

A character study of a female US medic soldier dealing with her return home to her young son after over a year fighting in Afghanistan, Fort Bliss brings a slightly different spin to the typical post traumatic stress aspect we've seen in movies over the past several years.  Here, Maggie Swann (Michelle Monaghan) comes back to the States to Fort Bliss in Texas to find that her young son Paul (Oakes Fegley) has seemingly forgot about their relationship.  Having lived with his Maggie's ex -- his dad Richard (Ron Livingston) -- along with Richard's fiancée Alma (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Paul has a very negative reaction to Maggie's return.  Obviously upset, Maggie finds herself desperately trying to reconnect with Paul while also dealing with the fact that she feels a strong commitment to her job and country as she ponders whether to reenlist again and head back to war leaving her son behind.

While director/screenwriter Claudia Myers' film doesn't particularly reinvent the wheel when it comes to post-war films (and a rather pointless "meaningful" quickie relationship between Maggie and a repairman [Pablo Schreiber] doesn't really add anything to the overall tone/plot), Fort Bliss does uniquely detail the emotions of a woman attempting to overcome the struggles we hear about soldiers facing their return home.  While her character feels slightly stereotypical at the beginning, Michelle Monaghan does a really nice job of rounding out Maggie as the film progresses, allowing us to fully understand the reasons behind her difficult decision of determining whether family or country comes first.  There's a beautiful (though uncomfortable to witness) scene in a diner in which Maggie tells a fellow soldier that she feels like an awful mother for even contemplating heading back to Afghanistan that is difficult to watch, but ultimately fitting like a glove with Monaghan's portrayal.

Fort Bliss lacks the editing eye of a more experienced filmmaker, but in only her second feature film as a director, Myers shows a deft hand at giving us a glimpse of a much needed though very underseen type of character -- a mom who loves her family dearly, but questions whether her loyalty needs to be placed elsewhere for the better good of all.  This is an interesting film and one that I'm quite glad I watched.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Parkland

Parkland (2013)

Starring James Badge Dale, Zac Efron, Colin Hanks, David Harbour, Marcia Gay Harden, Ron Livingston, Jeremy Strong, Billy Bob Thornton, Jacki Weaver, and Paul Giamatti

Directed by Peter Landesman

Parkland looks at the immediate aftermath of the John F. Kennedy assassination not through the eyes of the Kennedys or the conspiracy theorists, but through the lens of "normal" folks on the ground in Dallas, Texas, that fateful day in November 1963.  While an interesting concept, the film lacks an emotional undercurrent throughout, forcing the audience to feel distanced from everything despite first-time director-screenwriter Peter Landesman's attempts to pull us in visually with his camerawork.

Landesman's film certainly is a good debut for the director, but considering the heft of the subject matter, the piece lacks that emotional connection you long to feel.  Part of the reasoning behind this is likely due to the fact that Parkland is truly an ensemble piece.  We see the doctors and nurses at the Parkland Hospital (played by Zac Efron, Colin Hanks, and Marcia Gay Harden) trying to save Kennedy at the beginning, but then we're whisked away to meet with Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti) to see how he dealt with doling out his famous film to the media and the government.  We also get glimpses into the world of the various FBI and Secret Service agents (David Harbour, Ron Livingston, and Billy Bob Thornton) and their reactions to that day before we're welcomed into the world of Lee Harvey Oswald's brother Robert (James Badge Dale) and crazed mother (Jacki Weaver) and their varied reactions to the horrific events that his brother/son (Jeremy Strong) caused.

Quite honestly, all of these four story threads are quite intriguing and they're all buoyed by strong performances by the cast.  Unfortunately, with the ensemble nature of the piece, we're never with any one of them for any long period of time.  Just when we're starting to feel compassion for the medical workers and their unenviable task that November day, we shift to another storyline.  While I appreciate the different angles Landesman brings to the table, it does keep the audience at an emotional distance from the goings-on.  Nevertheless, Parkland is an intriguing piece that certainly gives a different perspective of the Kennedy assassination and if you're a history buff it's well worth watching.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Drinking Buddies

Drinking Buddies (2013)

Starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston

Directed by Joe Swanberg

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

Kate and Luke (Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson) work at a brewery together.  They're good buddies who constantly flirt with one another, yet remain only friends because they each have a significant other -- Kate's been dating Chris (Ron Livingston) for eight months, and Luke's been with Jill (Anna Kendrick) for years.  While each couple seems happy together, it's obvious that Kate and Luke have an attraction to one another and a friendship that seems destined for romance.  This connection is further explored when the two couples take a trip to Chris's cabin in the woods for a "couples weekend" and Chris and Jill also find themselves compatible with one another, leading to a quartet that is ripe for break-ups.

The problem with Drinking Buddies is that the relationships between all four of the central characters are much too obvious.  There's no subtlety present -- we know right off the bat Kate and Luke are more compatible than Kate and Chris, and it's obvious that Chris's book-smartish nature fits more with Jill's demeanor.  Since the unraveling discord of the relationships never comes as a surprise, the suspense of the story is who will take the plunge and kiss off their significant other first...and that's just not a gripping enough story as presented here, effectively making the ninety-minute runtime feel longer than it should.  While the cast tries to sell the story (with dialog that seems improvised...and that's not necessarily a good thing), the supposed comedy that is Drinking Buddies  didn't cause me to laugh much at all.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - The Conjuring

The Conjuring (2013)

Starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, and Ron Livingston

Directed by James Wan

When Carolyn and Roger Perron (Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston) and their daughters move into a secluded farmhouse in the Northeast US, their hope is for a fresh start.  Little do they know that their house is haunted and the ghosts inside aren't exactly known for simply lurking.  No...these otherworldly beings are nasty creatures causing much havoc for the Perron family.  Desperate for help, Carolyn seeks out paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) who, upon entering the Perron home, realize that they've got quite a task ahead of them trying to exorcise these demons from the house.

Based on a true story (which you can believe or not depending on your predilections towards ghostly spirits), The Conjuring is a rather fantastic horror film.  Although rated R, I'm not sure there's a single curse word uttered throughout the movie and there's hardly any blood spewed either.  Instead, that "R" rating was garnered simply because of the mounting tension created by director James Wan.  Aided by a nice script from Chad and Carey Hayes, Wan keeps the film moving at a great pace, although he does allow the story to unfold naturally -- which some could read as meaning "slowly," but I felt was deliberately paced to increase the eerie mood of the piece as a whole.  Granted, there are moments towards the film's end when I felt the writers were getting a little "kitchen sink-y" in that they were seemingly throwing in quite a few classic horror clichés, but I still found myself on the edge of my seat for nearly the entirety of the final 45 minutes.

I've been a fan of Vera Farmiga for a while and she didn't disappoint here.  Farmiga along with her co-stars Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, and Ron Livingston all are much better than your typical "horror movie acting."  They're not acting in a horror movie -- they're acting in a movie.  There's a difference and their nuanced portrayals of admittedly not very complex roles is much appreciated.

Taking place in the early 1970s, The Conjuring certainly feels like an homage of sorts to some classic horror films of that era and I appreciated that it never oversold its somewhat simple story with bombastic special effects or outrageous gore.  Kudos to James Wan -- whose direction of the original Saw made me a little wary about checking this film out -- who's crafted a nice ghost story here that is well worth seeing.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+