Respect

 Respect (2021)

Starring Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Tate Donovan, and Mary J. Blige

Directed by Leisl Thomas

Written by Tracey Scott Wilson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

The Upside

The Upside (2019)

Starring Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, Tate Donovan, and Julianna Marguilies

Directed by Neil Burger

Written by Jon Hartmere

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - Elvis & Nixon

Elvis & Nixon (2016)

Starring Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville, Colin Hanks, Evan Peters, Sky Ferreira, Tracy Letts, Tate Donovan, and Ashley Benson

Directed by Liza Johnson

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

Unbeknown to me, there is apparently some famous picture of Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon shaking hands in the Oval Office.  Elvis & Nixon is a cleverly retro-stylized film by Liza Johnson that depicts the late December 1970 day when the King (Michael Shannon) demanded a meeting with the President (Kevin Spacey) in order to detail his concerns with the rising drug and hippie culture in the United States.  The stodgy President wants nothing to do with the hip-shaking singer, but he eventually obliges in part due to the urging of his aides (Colin Hanks and Evan Peters) and he ends up discovering that he may have an affinity for the pop star.

The briskly paced flick humorously depicts the obviously quirky "Odd Couple" dichotomy between Presley and Nixon with director Liza Johnson keenly mining the absurdity of the situation for all its worth.  Yet, at the same time, Johnson respects the positions of both famous men, never playing them for fools or suckers, mining laughs from the situation as opposed to at their expense.  Michael Shannon's Elvis gets the majority of the focus and he does a nice job of creating a well-rounded character as opposed to simply an impression of the famous singer.  While Spacey's Nixon is perhaps the opposite -- more of an impression than a fully-realized character -- I found his Nixon spot-on and amusingly engaging.  

I will admit that I wasn't particularly expecting much from Elvis & Nixon and perhaps that's why I enjoyed it so much.  While the trailers certainly depicted humor, I was expecting this to be some sort of history lesson (albeit an odd one) and it's nothing like that at all.  Instead, it's a pleasantly eccentric light-hearted flick that is worthy of a watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Manchester by the Sea

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol, C.J. Wilson, Tate Donovan, and Matthew Broderick

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Having high expectations doesn't always hinder one's cinematic experience (see La La Land as a case in point), but Manchester by the Sea is the unfortunate victim of this odious psychological conundrum.  It's not that writer-director Kenneth Lonergan's film is bad in any way, it's just that after months of talk about fantastic performances and gripping drama and depressingly tragic moments, I found myself the slightest bit let down by what I saw onscreen.  While a nice "slice of life"-style film (albeit with some severely sad scenes), Manchester by the Sea rarely grabbed me on an emotional level in the way that I feel it should have particularly given the subject matter.

Casey Affleck is the anchor here as Lee Chandler, a young thirtysomething janitor living in Boston.  His mundane life is interrupted one snowy afternoon when he receives a phone call that his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has suffered a fatal heart attack.  Lee makes the two-hour journey to Manchester - his hometown - where he finds himself forced to relive his past and the reasons he left the town to begin with, all the while becoming the new father figure to his sixteen year-old teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) whose mother (Gretchen Mol) abandoned him and his father nearly a decade prior.

There is a heartbreaking backstory that oppresses Lee in his present life and it has weighed heavily on him for years.  Lee's past is revealed to us in spurts by Lonergan in a way that feels natural -- sometimes flashbacks can take away from the current tale, but Lonergan's spacing out of Lee's past adds to the sullen man's characterization.  Casey Affleck nicely balances Lee's past and present, creating two distinct personalities that evolve into one another believably.  His Lee is wrought with pain and desires nothing more than to essentially be punished for his sins, but he also realizes, upon his brother's death, that he is needed to step up to the plate and become a reliable figure in young Patrick's life.

Newcomer Lucas Hedges is a nice counter to the depressed Lee as his Patrick deals with his father's death in a different manner, deciding to act strong as if it doesn't affect him which ultimately leads to one of the better scenes in the film as the gravity of his situation begins to manifest itself.  Michelle Williams has a small, but critical role in the piece and she's given two heartbreaking scenes that give us not only an understanding of her character's plight, but also add a great deal of depth to the character of Lee as well.

Ultimately, though, I wanted to be moved more than I was with Manchester by the Sea.  Given the subject matter -- which you must understand I'm not fully detailing here -- I wanted to be grabbed by Lee's plight and I never quite got there.  Technically, Kenneth Lonergan delivers a somber, intimate film that looks pretty, but the film lingers too long -- at 137 minutes, it's got about forty minutes of lifelessness that could've been left on the editing room floor. While I can't say I was bored per se, the length of the film did affect its dramatic effectiveness.  Sure, Manchester by the Sea has a lot of things going for it -- it's well shot, well acted -- but in the end, it didn't get that guttural emotional response from me that I can't help but think it wanted.  At times, I was moderately moved, but I wanted more.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Argo

Argo (2012)

Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea Duvall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, and Kerry Bishé

Directed by Ben Affleck

Having been born in 1980 and having taken very few (if any) "modern" history courses, I'm feeling moderately okay with the fact that I know very little about the Iran Hostage Crisis beyond the fact that "it happened."  I realize this is an irrational justification...I should know about this...but I don't.  Having said that, the story behind Argo wasn't even fully known until 1997 when President Bill Clinton declassified the information behind the release of six Americans from Iran who were previously thought to have been freed solely due to Canadian ingenuity.  The truth is that the release of the hostages was formulated much more thanks to US creativity, but the joint effort between the two countries was nothing short of amazing...and also kind of crazy.  Were this a fictional movie, you'd never believe it possible, but considering this actually happened, it's fascinatingly riveting.

Without going into the brief history lesson at the beginning of the film, let's just jump into the fact that in 1979, the US Embassy in Iran was overtaken and fifty-two Americans were taken hostage for over 444 days.  Argo is not their story, however.  Instead, Ben Affleck's film focuses upon six Americans who escaped the embassy and found a safe haven at the Canadian consulate.  Finding themselves forced to stay hidden, they quickly come down with a case of cabin fever with nowhere to turn.

Back in the States, our government is under pressure from Canada to get the Americans out of their embassy as Ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber) is finding it increasingly difficult to keep his "houseguests" out of Iranian sight.  CIA exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) is called in by his boss Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston) to try and figure out how to safely remove the hostages when every other CIA plan proves inadequate.  Mendez concocts a crazy notion to create a fake movie with the help of a Hollywood producer (Alan Arkin) and a make-up artist (John Goodman) that plans on shooting in Iran.  With a background story in place, Mendez heads into Iran posing as a Canadian film producer with the intent of getting the six hostages safely back home.

I think first and foremost praise for Argo's success needs to be heaped upon director Ben Affleck.  Affleck proved himself competent in the overrated though good Gone Baby Gone in 2007 and further showed his talent in the tense and taut The Town in 2010.  Neither of those films showed the deft hand he puts in place in Argo, though.  The last hour of this film flies by like no other movie I've seen this year (which is certainly, in part, due to the excellent script by Chris Terrio [in his debut!] which balances the severity of the rescue attempt with the sheer ridiculousness of the real life plot).  Amazingly crafted, Affleck is a talent behind the camera and this film shows it.  This is a smart thriller that had me biting my nails for the final thirty minutes.

Still, where Affleck proves his worth (as he has in all his films thus far) is in his way of pulling together incredibly talented actors and getting them to give great performances.  Argo continues this trend without a doubt.  A veritable "Who's Who" of "I've Seen That Guy Before," everyone here is working together as an ensemble.  No single person towers over another including Affleck who certainly has the lead role.  Ultimately, this may work to the film's disadvantage come Oscar time because I'm not really sure any one person stands out enough to warrant awards attention, but as an ensemble they are simply amazing.  Kudos certainly need to go to the six hostages -- Tate Donovan, Clea Duvall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, and Kerry Bishé -- who find the perfect balance between relief that they found a safe home at the Canadian embassy to neurosis that they may never get back home alive.

Argo is a thrilling drama aimed at smart adults and the director at its helm deserves credit for its success.  I am well-known for looking at my watch during movies, but as I mentioned above, Argo flew by and that is always a success in my book...and it's also my first "A" rating of the year.

The RyMickey Rating: A