A Boy Called Christmas

 A Boy Called Christmas (2021)

Starring Henry Lawfull, Michiel Huisman, Kristen Wiig, Toby Jones, Sally Hawkins, Joel Fry, Maggie Smith, and the vocal talent of Stephen Merchant

Directed by Gil Kenan

Written by Ol Parker and Gil Kenan

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water (2017)

Starring Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor

Summary (in 500 words or less): Mute janitor Elisa (Sally Hawkins) at a top secret government facility befriends a violent sea creature (Doug Jones) that was captured and is being held captive.  Elisa soon realizes that the sea creature doesn't see her for her faults, but instead enjoys her company and appreciates her for who she is.  This creates an idea in the lonely Elisa's mind to break the sea creature out of the facility with the help of her friends (Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer) while steering clear of the malevolent and watchful Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) whose torture of the creature is supposedly for the good of mankind.

• Much like Three Billboards, The Shape of Water feels a little kitchen-sinky with director-cowriter Guillermo del Toro tossing a bunch of plot points or character traits into the mix, jumbling them around, and hoping they make a cohesive movie together.  While Shape of Water fares better than Three Billboards, it's not a runaway success by any means.
• Sally Hawkins is always good and her performance here is no exception.  Without speaking a single word (well, for the most part), we in the audience know everything she is feeling and trying to convey.  A nice job.
• The film itself, though, is a bit odd -- although I'm sure that was the intention -- and I have a tough time trying to critique what I didn't really like about it because the whole thing -- the tone, the story -- just landed with a bit of a "nothing burger" for me.  del Toro wavers between quirky comedy and (sometimes over-the-top) melodrama and the balance never finds itself.  
• While the aforementioned Hawkins is in top form, Michael Shannon gives a blatantly one-note and extremely "caricaturish" performance as the egotistical man in charge at the secret government facility.  Granted, I'm sure Shannon was directed to act over-the-top by del Toro, but amidst the "normalcy" of Hawkins character (and even Doug Jones's sea creature character, to be honest), Shannon sticks out like a sore thumb.
• The film goes on too long as well with some silly subplot about the Russians attempting to steal the sea creature which goes absolutely nowhere.  In the end, The Shape of Water was just ho-hum.  I realize I'm kind of alone on the island with this one as it's shaping up to be the frontrunner of the Oscars Best Picture line-up (well, either this or the godawful Three Billboards), but this one just didn't work for me.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - A Brilliant Young Mind

A Brilliant Young Mind (2015)

Starring Asa Butterfield, Rafe Spall, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Jo Yang, Martin McCann, and Alex Lawther

Directed by Morgan Matthews

Up front, I think I must say that the film A Brilliant Young Mind found itself at a disadvantage for this reviewer seeing as how I recently saw the Broadway production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  Both tackle an incredibly similar premise - a young boy on the autism spectrum loses a parent, fails to connect with his remaining parent, and, thanks to the help of a teacher, turns to the patterns in math to become more communicative with society - but seeing something unfold live (and unfold live in a rather ingeniously staged way) will always hold the upper hand and that's certainly the case here.  A Brilliant Young Mind is very well acted by the entire cast, but it lacks the emotional gravitas that I wanted and it obviously desired to achieve.

Asa Butterfield is Nathan Ellis, an autistic teen who had a strong connection with his father Michael (Martin McCann) only to have the relationship shattered by a horrible car accident when Nathan was younger.  With his father dead, Nathan's mom Julie (Sally Hawkins) finds her son distant and unwilling to emotionally interact with her, but she also recognizes his innate ability with mathematics.  Sensing this strength, she enrolls Nathan (played at this age by Edward Baker-Close) in a few specialized math classes under the tutelage of Martin Humphreys (Rafe Spall), a bit of a curmudgeonly teacher who is dealing with his own medical problem of an onset of multiple sclerosis.  Under Martin's teachings, Nathan blossoms intellectually (though not particularly socially) and Martin pushes Nathan to try out for a prestigious worldwide mathematics olympiad which forces Nathan to step out of his comfort zone and work with teens his own age.

As mentioned, A Brilliant Young Mind is well-acted and that's undoubtedly one of the reasons I found myself interested in the story.  Young Butterfield is compelling, Rafe Spall gives the film a nice comedic touch, and Sally Hawkins continues to be one of the more underrated actresses of this era.  However, their performances aren't enough to boost the desired emotional impact I wanted and didn't get from the film.  I wanted the chasm between mother and son to really hit home, but this key aspect of the story didn't make it there for me.  Once again, I do think the film was at a disadvantage as I simply saw a better telling of a similar story a short time ago.  That said, had the film achieved the pivotal and necessary dramatic moments, it still would've felt like a successful cinematic experience.  As it stands now, A Brilliant Young Mind is just a little better than fair.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Paddington

Paddington (2015)

Starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Samuel Joslin, Madeleine Harris, Jim Broadbent, and Nicole Kidman

Featuring the vocal talent of Ben Whishaw, Michael Gambon, and Imelda Staunton

Directed by Paul King

Those who read this blog know that I am not afraid to give adequate credit to a kid pic that does its job well.  (The Top Twenty placement of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in the 2014 RyMickey Awards is evidence of that.)  Because of this, it's a bit disappointing to say that I wasn't completely captivated by Paddington, an admittedly charming film that feels a bit too choppy and episodic to make a big impression.

Through a rather odd and off-putting prologue, we learn that British explorer Montgomery Clyde discovered a new species of bear upon his travels to Peru.  While he had to leave South America, Clyde befriended the bears who learned English and he told the ursine creatures to visit him someday when they were able.  Cut to years (decades?) later and a terrible earthquake ruins the bear's Peruvian home and young Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is sent to Britain by his Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton) in order to live a better life.

Upon his arrival in London, Paddington finds himself adrift in the Paddington subway station only to be discovered by the Brown family headed by dad Henry and mom Mary (Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins).  With it difficult to acclimate to suburban life, Paddington finds himself at odds with Henry who wants the bear out of his house.  With this apparently not enough of a story, Paddington also must avoid being captured by a rather sadistic taxidermist named Millicent (Nicole Kidman) who wants to stuff the rare bear for her collection.

If the summary seems rather at odds with itself and a conglomerative mess, that's because it kind of is.  There are too many "episodes" without a really singular captivating storyline to carry the film.  That isn't to say that the film disappoints entirely.  Director and co-screenwriter Paul King has made an innately "British" picture with much of the film's charm and laughs coming from Paddington's experiences with this new culture with which he's attempting to assimilate.  Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins are both delightful in their roles and Nicole Kidman succeeds with her rather underwritten and seemingly unnecessary character.  Additionally, the special effects that create Paddington himself are quite good and meld rather seamlessly with the bear's human counterparts.  However, overall, Paddington just doesn't quite cut it.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Godzilla

Godzilla (2014)

Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olson, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Juliette Binoche

Directed by Gareth Edwards

Perhaps being my most eagerly anticipated film of the summer (which looks incredibly weak overall movie-wise) did Godzilla in, but I found this reinvention of the classic Japanese monster movie a pretty big disappointment.  Part of me respects the fact that director Gareth Edwards and screenwriter Max Borenstein were ballsy enough to keep the title figure off the screen for all but (seemingly) ten minutes of the film, but the other part of me can't help but think they squandered away their money shots with the creature.

However, let's just say that I'm fine with Godzilla not being the film's focal point.  That notion would be totally true if the film's centerpiece -- the humans who are facing an epic battle between Godzilla and to Mothra-esque creatures -- had any modicum of interesting storyline to latch onto.  There's actually been much talk about Aaron Taylor-Johnson (whose US solider character is the lead) and his inability to emote properly, but I found that the script didn't give him a damn thing to do.  For a film that follows this guy around and tries to make us connect with him by giving him a plotline about returning home to his wife (Elizabeth Olsen) after visiting his crazy father (Bryan Cranston) in Japan, Taylor-Johnson is in this movie solely to react to the CGI-ness of the monsters rampaging around him.  Without being the impetus of a single plot point, I found myself detached too much from his character and the story.

In the film's opening act, we are given a bit of background which admittedly does a decent job about setting up how Godzilla and these two gigantic winged creatures he fights manifested themselves thanks to radiation in the 1950s.  This is essentially where the rest of the film's cast -- Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, and Juliette Binoche -- come into play.  Watanabe and Hawkins are here simply to elucidate the scientific goings-on, Binoche is essentially a walk-on cameo, and Cranston -- well, I'm warning you that I'm about to say something that Breaking Bad fans (myself being one of them) may find utterly sacrilegious -- overacts to a point of oddness.  Cranston's character is the first major player we meet in the film and at first, I actually thought Cranston was paying homage to the 1960s Godzilla films of yore.  However, as the film progressed, I realized that no one else was playing up the "corny factor" and that Cranston was just doing some schticky overly dramatic thing on his own accord.

If the fact that I've not talked about Godzilla much in this review seems a little odd that's because, as I already mentioned, Godzilla isn't in the flick all that much.  Once again, for me, this would've been a perfectly acceptable conceit had the humans in this story been given any type of emotional arc I could've looked to for some meatiness in terms of plot.  With that not being given to me, Godzilla ends up falling flat.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine (2013)

Starring Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Canavale, Michael Stuhlbarg, Louis C.K., Tammy Blanchard, and Peter Sarsgaard

Directed by Woody Allen

Yesterday on the blog, I wrote a review of the cinematic version of A Streetcar Named Desire and I didn't speak too kindly of it.  The overly dramatic nature of the story and the acting didn't sit well with me in the 21st century.  Fortunately, Woody Allen must've agreed with me (at least I like to think that) as his latest film Blue Jasmine is a definite homage to that Tennessee Williams (screen)play.  Mr. Allen is definitely hit or miss with me, but I found his 2013 entry to his canon of work a definite success with a fantastic performance from Cate Blanchett who proves that a character similar to Streetcar's Blanche Dubois can work onscreen.

Blanchett is Jasmine, a woman who lived for over a decade in New York City with her incredibly rich Bernie Madoff-esque husband Hal (perfectly embodied by Alec Baldwin).  Never wanting for anything, Jasmine had everything she could have ever needed and hung out with anyone she could have ever desired.  However, when we first meet her, Jasmine is heading to California to move in with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) thanks to her husband losing all of his fortune and Jasmine losing all the superficial things she held so close for so many years.  Not quite grasping the fact that she's penniless, Jasmine finds herself constantly reminiscing about the past, failing to face her unfortunate current situation.  She left behind her old life (and her birth name of "Jeanette") in order to find what she believed was happiness with Hal, but now that the fairybook life has been shattered, she's unable to face reality.

Blue Jasmine isn't a scene-for-scene re-creation of A Streetcar Named Desire nor are characters carbon copies.  However, the essence of Williams' work is all around Blue Jasmine, but made more believable and relatable...at least to this reviewer.  Perhaps the greatest advance Woody Allen makes is with the character of Jasmine.  In Streetcar, I never felt the crazed Blanche Dubois was a well-rounded character.  (Yes, I realize many think Blanche is one of the best written females in modern playwrighting, but I'm odd.)  I never understood what made her cuckoo and what kept her constantly on edge and scattered.  In Blue Jasmine, I completely comprehended what Allen and Cate Blanchett brought to the screen for Jasmine. By granting the viewers access to Jamsine's life pre-downfall (via Allen's rather engaging way of bouncing back and forth between Jasmine's past and present), there's an understanding as to why Jasmine talks to herself or rambles incessantly.

Blanchett is a powerhouse here.  It's early in the season and I'm well aware I haven't seen many movies this year at this point, but she should absolutely be remembered come awards season.  This is her film and she magnetically carries it from the opening scene.  I found myself almost entranced at certain moments by the way a simple change in the timbre of her voice can carry so much meaning and emotional emphasis for her character or the way a seemingly nonchalant motion of her hand can relay the pain her character feels.  Vivien Leigh did a lot with her hands in Streetcar, but in that film it really felt like someone "acting" as opposed to feeling intrinsically necessary like when Blanchett does the same movements.

The film falters a bit when it places its focus on Jasmine's sister Ginger and a relationship she forms with a stereo salesman (Louis C.K.) she meets at a party.  It's not that Sally Hawkins or Louis C.K. fail to deliver in anyway, but their characters' story fails to materialize into something substantial enough to warrant its presence.  In addition, Michael Stuhlbarg is given a rather hilarious role to sink his teeth into as a dentist who falls hard for Jasmine, but his character is the one person in Allen's screenplay that didn't feel based in reality to me.

Still, Woody Allen definitely has it in him after all these years to craft good work.  Granted, last year's To Rome with Love was a complete bust and I didn't fawn over Midnight in Paris nearly as much as everyone else, but as I've "grown up" I've come to look forward to whatever he brings to the summer moviegoing season.  It may be time to look at his earlier work with which I'm not entirely familiar.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre (2011)

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, and Jamie Bell

Directed by Cary Fukunaga

Jane Eyre is a rather lovely film with beautiful cinematography, skillful direction, wonderful acting, and a melodic violin-heavy score.  It's also a period piece with a story that's so utterly depressing at times that it's a struggle to trudge through it.  In the movie's defense, I attempted to read the Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel over the summer and had to stop at its midpoint because I just couldn't get into the thing.  Despite everything being well-above-average in terms of a "film," the story unfortunately drags a bit despite the fact that at the film's end I couldn't help but be somewhat moved by the romanticism on display.

After her parents die, young Jane is sent to live with her aunt (Sally Hawkins) who is angered by the ward left to her by her relatives.  Rather than deal with the child whom she despises, she sends Jane off to an all-girl's boarding school where she remains until her late teens at which point she accepts the position of a governess.  While working at Thornfield Hall, Jane (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself oddly drawn to the master of the house, Mr. Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender) and he likewise to her.  The two are certainly from different social strata and it seemingly hinders Jane's ability to comprehend that Mr. Rochester could ever be in love with her, causing the young lady to suffer quite a bit under the emotional stress she begins to feel.

The brooding, heavy nature of the tale does cause Jane Eyre to be slow moving, but I certainly appreciate the Gothic tones on display (including a detour into "ghost" territory that provides an interesting twist to the whole story).  Still, I couldn't help but find the whole movie falling into that stereotypical "boringness" that so often permeates British period pieces (despite admirable attempts by director Cary Fukunaga to shake things up including some jumping around in time not present in the novel).

All that said, the film is full of wonderful things.  Its dark shadowy aesthetics are appropriately ominous and are always interesting to watch.  Coupled with a beautiful and haunting musical score, Jane Eyre is a feast for the eyes and the ears.  There are also some great performances from the two leads in an emotionally restrained Mia Wasikowska (in certainly her best role yet) and the somewhat sinister man with a heart of gold Michael Fassbender (who is one of 2011's "People to Watch" apparently based on buzz from his roles in this, the new X-Men film, and the upcoming Shame).

Ultimately, although the film lacks some fire in its story, Jane Eyre has much to admire even though it may not be suited for all tastes.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go (2010)

Starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, and Andrea Riseborough

Directed by Mark Romanek

There's a moment towards the end of Never Let Me Go where Andrew Garfield's character Tommy lets out a guttural, primal scream of anguish, pain, and bewilderment after learning some devastating news.  In that moment, I admittedly got chills.  It's a real shame that the remainder of the film couldn't elicit a single emotion from me one way or the other.  What could have been a powerful story about friendship (and in a broader sense, the implications of science and government impeding upon personal freedoms and choices) turns out to be simply a very well-acted flick that carries little emotional resonance.

In order to not spoil anything in the film, I'm simply going to copy and paste my summary from my book review with a few minor changes.

Never Let Me Go is a science fiction film in the loosest sense of the word.  There's not a hint of apocalyptic tones, nor does it take place in a future overrun by new technologies.  It actually takes place in Britain from the late 1970s-1990s and it's really a world similar to what we live in today.

The only real difference revolves around the young students at Hailsham, a private school that keeps its students far away from the outside world.  The students, including our narrator, Kathy (Carey Mulligan), and her friends Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield), are told right from the start of their schooling that they are "special" and will hold an important place in society as they grow older.  While they live a seemingly happy existence, as they head into their teen years and early twenties, they begin to realize their true purpose in life which leads to some students longing for a little something more.

In a nutshell, that's the tale.  The reason why these Hailsham children are "special" is where the emotional impact of the film should arise, but the film never really gets off the ground in that department.  I can't help but think that since nearly the entirety of the book was told in the mind of young Kathy that it was difficult to transfer to the screen all those inner emotions that were so easy to connect with while reading the novel.

The flick isn't a failure by any means and that is thanks to the great work of nearly all the actors that grace the screen.  Carey Mulligan is proving to be a force to be reckoned with.  Despite her melancholic tone throughout the whole film, she is a commanding presence.  Andrew Garfield (who I need to see in The Social Network still) was also quite good and, as I mentioned above, has the one moment in the film that actually hit me at an emotional level.  Supporting turns from Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, and Andrea Riseborough (who I saw and greatly admired in an Off-Broadway play last year) also added to the caliber of talent onscreen.

Keira Knightley, however, was a bit unimpressive.  In seemingly every single one of her movies, she does this incredibly odd thing with her chin and lower jaw when she talks. I think it's her way of trying to make her voice sound tougher and grittier, but all it does is tick me off.  [It's shades of good ole Kristen Stewart biting her lip in those damn Twilight movies.]  Admittedly, in Knightley's defense,  I think the character of Ruth in both the novel and the film is certainly the toughest for the audience to connect with, but in the film, the character's motivations are never quite clear.  [They were a little clearer in the book because we at least had an idea of Ruth's motivations thanks to Kathy's narration.]

The film was adequately shot, but director Mark Romanek doesn't really do anything special with his camera.  I think there were certain shots that were supposed to resonate with me on a visual and visceral level, but they didn't succeed.  Still, this is only his second film and I thought the direction was serviceable.

Needless to say, I was disappointed with Never Let Me Go.  It isn't a bad film, by any means, but it's a story that simply didn't translate well from the book to the screen.  The poignancy that made the book special wasn't present in the film at all.

The RyMickey Rating:  C