A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

Starring Matthew Rhys, Tom Hanks, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Cooper, Maryann Plunkett, Enrico Colantoni, Wendy Makkenna, Tammy Blanchard, and Christine Lahti

Directed by Marielle Heller

Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: A-

Movie Review - The Invitation

The Invitation (2016)

Starring Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Tammy Blanchard, Michael Huisman, Michelle Krusiec, Mike Doyle, Jordi Vilasuso, Jay Larson, Marieh Delfino, Lindsay Burdge, and John Carroll Lynch

Directed by Karyn Kusama

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

The Invitation is one of those movies where the less said, the better.  Nevertheless, the overall plot revolves around bohemian California couple Eden and David (Tammy Blanchard and Michael Huisman) holding a dinner party for a large group of friends including Eden's ex-husband Will and his new girlfriend Kira (Logan Marshall-Green and Emayatzy Corinealdi).  Needless to say, things start to get weird and the partygoers may not be placing all their cards on the table, harboring secrets that may hold some nefarious intent.

 Dialog heavy, The Invitation does feel the tiniest bit drawn out -- mainly because, as mentioned, the viewers are tipped into the nefarious intentions much sooner than the party guests.  However, it doesn't hinder the fact that director Karyn Kusama has crafted a tense, claustrophobic environment that allows this piece to really enervate the viewer.  We're stuck in this house with the group and just like them, we're unable to really escape and pull our eyes away from the actions that are unfolding in front of us.  This all culminates in a final act that is one of the more exciting finales I've seen from a 2016 film thus far.

Yes, this review is a short one, but The Invitation is a film that shouldn't be spoiled.  This low budget thriller is a fun ride that you should certainly give a go.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

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 - Union Square

Union Square (2012)

Starring Mira Sorvino, Tammy Blanchard, and Mike Doyle

Directed by Nancy Savoca

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

The problem with a very small, independent, and presumably low budgeted movie like Union Square -- which delves into three days in the lives of two estranged sisters who come together around Thanksgiving -- is that if your movie is incredibly talky (which this is) there needs to be some kick at the end that gives reason for the film to exist.  Yes, the characters will inevitably change or see where they've gone wrong, but you need more than the obvious or, at the very least, something outstanding -- direction, acting -- that makes it worthy of the celluloid it is filmed on (or digital space in this day and age).  Union Square never reaches beyond the middle of the road and despite being a movie with average direction, average acting, and an average story, I can't help but come away from it with a shrug of my shoulders and a "Who cares?"muttered from my lips.

Mira Sorvino is the crazy sister and Tammy Blanchard is the quiet one.  When Crazy knocks on Quiet's door after three years of separation, you know right away that the story is going to make Crazy be a little more reserved in the end and make Quiet be a bit more loose.  Some family secrets are revealed that help these character changes occur -- and those secrets are likely supposed to be the big surprise, but are presented so awkwardly that I had to rewind a pivotal scene in order to make sure I understood what had just happened -- but in the end, it's just all a bit too blah to really make any difference.

Union Square isn't awful, but there's a reason you've probably never heard of it until reading this review.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole (2010)

Starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Weist, Miles Teller, Tammy Blanchard, and Sandra Oh

Directed by John Cameron Mitchell

On the "want to see" list for months now, I was worried that the build-up to Rabbit Hole would lead to disappointment.  Fortunately, that wasn't the case.  Although I expected the film to be a bit more emotionally draining and difficult to watch, this tale of a couple who loses their four year-old son in a tragic accident is quite powerful and bolstered by some great performances all around.

Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are Becca and Howie who, as the film opens, are still reeling from the death of their young child eight months before.  While there may have been attempts to move on, nothing has really helped their grief and their relationship is suffering at this point.  Howie finds some modicum of solace in group therapy with other parents who have lost their kids, but Becca finds the process unbearable.  Instead, she follows around the eighteen year-old teenager who accidentally hit their son with his car, but even she is unsure what relief that will provide her.  Regardless, neither of the two are emotionally healthy.

The performances of Kidman and Eckhart carry this film and without their strength, Rabbit Hole would not have been as solid as it is.  Suprisingly (to me at least), Kidman's Becca is the more subdued of the two characters.  Not without her emotional moments, Becca is a character who has internalized her pain and grief, only releasing it when pushed to the limit by others.  Instead, it's Aaron Eckhart's Howie who is the more vocal of the couple.  Played rather perfectly, Eckhart's Howie is the character that really hit me.  I don't know if it's just because we're not used to males wearing their emotions on their sleeves, but Eckhart's performance is still marinating in my mind several hours after I watched the film.  I'm quite surprised Mr. Eckhart didn't gain any awards traction this past year with this role.

Admittedly, probably because I was so looking forward to this one, I felt a tiny bit let down.  I was expecting the film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name (and adapted for the screen by its playwright David Lindsay-Abaire), to be a bit more "loud," but instead was treated to a much more subdued emotional display.  It's a case of wrongly placed expectations.  That being said, I really want to see this story played out on a stage.  Credit goes to screenwriter/playwright Lindsay-Abaire who expanded his five-person stage play into a well-rounded film that never once felt boxed in (of course, credit must also go to director John Cameron Mitchell for making this feel like a movie rather than a filmed play).

Overall, this is a solid film with some great performances (that you'll very likely see pop up in my 2010 RyMickey Awards...whenever I get around to finishing them).

The RyMickey Rating:  B