Four Christmases

 Four Christmases (2008)

Starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakum, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Voight, and Sissy Spacek

Directed by Seth Gordon

Written by Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, Jon Lucas, and Scott Moore

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

The Old Man & the Gun

The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

Starring Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, and Tom Waits

Written by David Lowery

Directed by David Lowery

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - The Help

The Help (2011)

Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Cecily Tyson, Mary Steenburgen, and Sissy Spacek

Directed by Tate Taylor

While no one will mistake The Help for a great piece of cinematic art, there's something endearing and all-together crowd-pleasing about Tate Taylor's second stab at directorial work.  Thanks to one of the best casts assembled for a film in 2011, the ladies of The Help raise what may have been a rather fluffy piece about the civil rights movement in 1960s Mississippi into something much more compelling.

Twenty-three year old Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) is an aspiring author who, in an attempt to win over a well-to-do big city publisher (Mary Steenburgen), decides to write a book filled with the musings and daily routines of the African American maids in her town in Mississippi.  Naturally, because of racial tensions a half century ago, Skeeter has to keep her meetings with Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) -- a maid and nanny to her employers with a strong, yet seemingly silent personality -- and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) -- a sassy gal who after being fired by the uppity Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) finds herself working for the eccentric Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) -- a secret.  Yes, I've thrown out a lot of names there, but the crux of the story remains the same -- we're looking at race relations between whites and blacks in 1960s Mississippi and for most those relationships still weren't ideal.

This is territory we've seen explored before in movies and it's not that The Help does anything particularly unique.  It uses stock characters (Bryce Dallas Howard's bitchy Hilly is particularly one-note despite attempts to add depth thanks to an enjoyable performance by Howard), a grooving 60s soundtrack, and feels like something right out of the Steel Magnolias or Fried Green Tomatoes early '90s era in looks and tone.

However, the film succeeds thanks to a cast devoid of one bad egg.  Even when the story falters -- let's just leave the attempts at Skeeter trying to find love on the cutting room floor in the director's cut, shall we? -- the ladies simply compel you to keep your eyes fixated on the screen.  Emma Stone is charming in what is one of the lesser developed characters in the script.  Jessica Chastain (Hollywood's It Girl in 2011) was a hoot as Celia, getting opportunities to showcase her comedic and dramatic talents.  The movie kicked into high gear once Chastain's character was introduced and she lit up the screen whenever she appeared.  Similarly, Octavia Spencer provides some light moments, too, and once Chastain's Celia comes in to the picture, the character of Minnie is given a much greater depth than the rather one-notedness she had the beginning of the film.

Still, when one remembers The Help, their mind will immediately shift to Viola Davis who gives a moving, quiet, and powerful performance.  There's a fierceness in her eyes throughout much of the film -- a pain and anguish that she doesn't really express vocally, but is intensely felt nonetheless.  This type of understated performance is the opposite of showy, but demonstrates why Davis is worthy of all the Oscar buzz she's been receiving.

I really don't have a whole lot bad to say about The Help which I must admit surprises me.  Even if the film was a bit flawed here and there, it's still overwhelmingly enjoyable to watch.  Sure, writer-director Tate Taylor doesn't take too many risks, but he culls some amazing performances from a talented group of ladies.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Carrie

Carrie (1976)

Starring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, and John Travolta

Directed by Brian De Palma

***This ilm is currently streaming on Netflix***

There are moments when I watch Brian De Palma movies where I can't help but think he's a big hack.  For example, the softcore porn-esque opening of Carrie in which naked high school girls frolic around a school gym locker room evokes laughs as opposed to lust.  However, there are also moments in this flick adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name that are brilliantly staged and executed and Mr. De Palma's admitted appreciation for the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock shines through.  So, De Palma remains a conundrum for me -- a director I sometimes despise, but oftentimes admire as well.

It certainly helps De Palma that he's got an interesting script to work with here that truly develops its main characters and only slowly builds to being what could be classified as a "horror" movie.  Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is shy, reserved, and the butt of many jokes at school.  Thanks to her frighteningly religious mother (Piper Laurie) who has kept Carrie closely guarded her entire life, Carrie fails at being adept socially and instead finds herself outcast and friendless.  Carrie soon realizes, however, that she has been blessed (or cursed) with telekinetic powers that, while she is able to control, really only show themselves when her anger builds up.  

The ending of Carrie which takes place at the high school prom is fairly well known, but the path to get there was rather surprising to me.  Carrie's invitation to the prom comes from jock Tommy Ross (William Katt) who reluctantly takes on the "job" at the urging of his girlfriend Sue (Amy Irving).  Sue feels incredibly guilty about poking fun at Carrie in a pivotal scene early in the flick which shapes a huge chunk of what is to follow, so in order to try and make herself feel better, she asks Tommy to take Carrie to the prom to show her a pleasant night.  Much to Tommy's surprise, he realizes that Carrie is actually rather sweet and, once outside the rigid confines of her mother's fanaticism, she's a lovely girl.  Needless to say, prom doesn't quite go smoothly and when things go awry, they do so in a huge way.

As I mentioned, the movie works so well because both Carrie and her mother (and to a certain extent, Sue and Tommy) are such well-developed characters.  The film is much more of a character piece than a horror story as we discover what makes Carrie and her crazed mother tick.  While Piper Laurie's performance might seem a bit over the top in today's day and age, Sissy Spacek is spot-on and wholly believable as the tortured teen.  The script does falter quite a bit in its portrayal of the school's biggest bullies -- played by Nancy Allen and John Travolta -- whose characters are so maliciously one-note that their scenes prove to be laughable, but that's the only aspect of the plot that threw a kink into this otherwise solid flick.

With bullying being a hot topic in the news, Carrie is perhaps more relevant than ever before.  For those that don't like their horror movies "scary," this may be a good first look at the horror genre with the scares coming from character development rather than cheap thrills.  You won't be jumping out of your seat necessarily, but the final scenes are tense and chilling nevertheless.

The RyMickey Rating:  B