The French Dispatch

 The French Dispatch (2021)

Starring Bill Murray, Elizabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Tony Revolori, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Lois Smith, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Liev Schreiber, Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Mathieu Amalric, Edward Norton, Winston Ait Hellal, and Saoirse Ronan

Directed by Wes Anderson

Written by Wes Anderson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

Don't Look Up

Don't Look Up (2021)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Melanie Lynsky, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep

Directed by Adam McKay

Written by Adam McKay

Click here for my Letterboxd rating

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

A Rainy Day in New York

 A Rainy Day in New York (2020)

Starring Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jude Law, Diego Luna, Rebecca Hall, Cherry Jones, and Liev Schreiber

Directed by Woody Allen

Written by Woody Allen

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Little Women

Little Women (2019)

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep

Directed by Greta Gerwig

Written by Greta Gerwig

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy (2018)

Starring Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, LisaGay Hamilton, Kaitlyn Dever, and Amy Ryan

Directed by Felix Van Groeningen

Written by Luke Davies and Felix Van Groeningen

Summary (in 500 words or less):  The college-aged son (Timothée Chalamet) of a concerned father (Steve Carell) deals with a debilitating addiction to crystal meth.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Call Me by Your Name

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Starring Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, and Esther Garrel

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Written by James Ivory

Summary (in 500 words or less):  In the summer of 1983, seventeen year-old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) living in Italy with his parents (Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar) forms a friendship with a twentysomething graduate student (Armie Hammer) of his professor father who visits them for the summer.  The friendship begins to blossom into something more with Elio coming into his own in terms of his sexuality.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Lady Bird

Lady Bird (2017)

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Lois Smith

Directed by Greta Gerwig

Written by Greta Gerwig

Summary (in 500 words or less): High school senior Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson is navigating the difficult landscape of going to Catholic school, dealing with an overprotective mother (Laurie Metcalf) whom she can never seem to please, trying to make her out-of-work father (Tracy Letts) a bit less depressed, and contemplating whether she's ready to lose her virginity to either the good Catholic boy (Lucas Hedges) or the dark edgy musician (Timothée Chalamet).  With her best friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein) by her side, Lady Bird faces the typical existential struggle of any high school senior -- what to do with the rest of her life.

• Lady Bird is a lovely, charming film.  Director Greta Gerwig takes her script and deftly balances the comedic and dramatic aspects of it.  Several laugh-out-loud moments punctuate the piece and Gerwig keeps the movie moving at a quick pace, making the most out of the film's ninety minute runtime...it doesn't overstay its welcome in the slightest.
• Saoirse Ronan has given us some fantastic performances -- her role in Brooklyn was my favorite in 2015 -- and her take on a typical high school student is no exception.  She's just a joy to watch -- so incredibly natural and easygoing, yet easily holding the audience's attention.  Saoirse isn't alone in being fantastic, however.  
• Laurie Metcalf is lovely as the prickly mom who wants the best for her daughter, but never feels as if she's living up to her potential.  
• Lucas Hedges, who I admittedly thought was slightly overpraised in 2016's Manchester on the Sea, proves that he has the acting chops to make it in the industry.  
• Stealing the show is Beanie Feldstein who has very few credits to her name, but proves capable of delivering humor and heartache.  I hope she has a future in the industry.
• Lady Bird is by no means reinventing any type of wheel.  It's a simplistic story, but it's told so exceptionally well that it doesn't really matter.  Many of Gerwig's films as an actress feel filled with a bit too much eccentricity to feel relatable.  That's not the case here as she has crafted a script that feels lived in and natural.
• Side Note:  I much appreciate the fact that film lovingly pokes fun at, yet appreciates the Catholic religion.  In fact, the concept of "faith" plays a key role in the film's final scenes and its kindness towards certain peoples' beliefs was a bit shocking frankly.  That's not to say that the film doesn't have moments where characters question things -- or even try and debunk the concept -- but it plays a nice balance.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Miss Stevens

Miss Stevens (2016)

Starring Lily Rabe, Timothée Chalamet, Lili Reinhart, Anthony Quintal, and Rob Huebel

Directed by Julia Hart

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

An incredibly pleasant, well-written, and well-acted slice of life dramedy, Miss Stevens details the ale of titular Rachel Stevens (Lily Rabe), a high school English teacher, who takes three of her students - Billy, Margot, and Sam (Timothée Chalamet, Lili Reinhart, Anthony Quintal) - to a weekend drama competition at a hotel a few hours away from their school.  Plot-wise, that's about it, but co-writer Julia Hart's debut directorial effort explores the relationship between a teacher and some of her best students not in any sketchy or ripped-from-the-headlines teacher/student affair-type way, but in the way that a good teacher emotionally connects with her somewhat less mature students.

Rabe gives an absolutely lovely performance as Miss Stevens who longs for an adult relationship, but recognizes the important role she plays in the lives of her young students.  The natural way Rabe interacts with the young actors playing her students adds a realism to the proceedings that elevates this simple film beyond the norm.  Kudos also must go to Timothée Chalamet who plays a slightly troubled youth who has a powerful moment as he presents a dramatically potent soliloquy in the drama competition that exemplifies the difficulties of his life.

I realize this review's brevity may signify a lack of enthusiasm for Miss Stevens, but that couldn't be further from the truth.  It's charming little indie film that is well worth ninety minutes of your time.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Interstellar

Interstellar (2014)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley Mackenzie Foy, John Lithgow, Timothée Chalamet, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine

Directed by Christopher Nolan

I was extremely wary about Interstellar.  During its theatrical run, I found myself avoiding it due to its nearly three-hour running time and the much-gossiped about notion that its story was too talky and too befuddling.  So, with trepidation I sat down to watch director and co-screenwriter Christopher Nolan's Interstellar in one sitting not expecting to enjoy myself.  Obviously, this lede is insinuating that I liked the film and that intimation would be true.  While not without its faults, Interstellar is a surprisingly action-filled drama that, while certainly "deep" and a bit convoluted, is much easier to comprehend than I expected.

To make a (very) long story short, Earth is dying and within several years, it will be uninhabitable.  While driving around with his daughter one evening, former astronaut Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) stumbles upon a secret NASA facility wherein scientists are building a spaceship that can send a crew to explore the far regions of space to look for another planet that can sustain human life.  Much to his daughter Murph's (Mackenze Foy) chagrin, Cooper agrees to take part in the mission which will likely take him away from home for several years.  This connection between father and daughter continues to take shape as the film progresses with Murph aging into a young woman (played by Jessica Chastain) and Cooper still out in space.

Interstellar works best when it finds itself in space.  There's a harrowing sense of anticipation and excitement in nearly every story element as Cooper and his fellow astronauts (Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentlely, and David Gyasi) desperately struggle to find a place where the human race can survive for eons to come.  As they journey from planet to planet, they're forced to make some tough decisions which are intellectually complex, though at the same time fathomable to the general movie-going public.

Unfortunately, Insterstellar takes a long time to actually get Cooper up into space.  For nearly an hour, we find Cooper and his family bemoaning the state of the Earth and then debating whether Cooper should take on the space mission.  I remember about forty minutes in looking at how much time was left and getting antsy that there was still nearly two hours to go.  I recognize the need to set up a father/daughter relationship in the first act, but Nolan and his co-screenwriter brother Jonathan fail to keep things moving and the languid pace weighs down the entire film.

As mentioned, though, once we're in space, Interstellar becomes an intriguing film.  The special effects are top notch and the sound design (which got dinged a bit by critics who watched the film in theaters) works fine on a small screen sound system.  The acting is solid, but I had a few qualms with Matthew McConaughey's lead performance as Cooper.  First, I wanted him to open his damn mouth when he talked because multiple times it sounded as if he was talking with a handful of marbles in his mouth.  Perhaps more importantly, though, I felt that he looked bored for most of the flick.  Unlike other characters who were desperately trying to save their planet and complete a successful mission, McConaughey's Cooper didn't convey that sense of urgency.  While there are certainly moments in space during which McConaughey successfully showcases his emotions as a father longing to be reunited with his children, overall I felt that Cooper left me longing to connect with him seeing as how he was the crux of the whole film.

Despite some qualms, Interstellar actually provides a rather enjoyable experience.  Did I understand everything that happens at the end as the film veers into some weird metaphysical stuff?  Nope.  But I at least didn't feel like I was completely oblivious to the proceedings.  If you were wary like me to see this because of these fears of confusion (or simply because of the film's length), let me brush those aside for you and beckon you to give Interstellar a chance.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Men, Women & Children

Men, Women & Children (2014)

Starring Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner, Rosemarie Dewitt, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, Kaitlyn Dever, Ansel Elgort, Timothée Chalamet, Olivia Crocicchia, Elena Kampouris, Dennis Haysbert, J.K. Simmons, and Emma Thompson

Directed by Jason Reitman

Are you aware that the internet can pose a dangerous threat to our youth?

Are you aware that the pressures of being a teen nowadays are amplified exponentially by the power of social media and texting?

Are you aware that some people get so lost in the internet worlds of role-playing games and pornography that they lose touch with their actual reality?

If you've been living under a rock for the past ten years, then writer-director Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children is the movie for you!  However, if you're anything like me and pretty much everyone else, I'm sure that none of the above questions are altogether surprising.  Reitman seemingly thinks that these notions are somewhat new as he tries to present all of them to riveting, shocking, and dramatic effect.  Unfortunately, we've seen this story before in both movies and television -- and we've seen it done much better.

This is one of those movies where you simply try to guess at the beginning which teenager is going to commit suicide and which one is going to get pregnant because you know it's going to happen -- and, sure enough, Reitman doesn't do anything to reinvent the wheel because halfway through the flick someone gets knocked up and three-quarters of the way through we witness the suicide.  Neither of which surprise us in the slightest as we could see them telegraphed from the film's opening five minutes.  Reitman hasn't crafted characters here, he's simply created stereotypical avatars of what he must think sex-crazed teens (Olivia Crocicchia, Timothée Chalamet) or loner teens (Kaitlyn Dever) or jock teens (Ansel Elgort) or overprotective parents (Jennifer Garner) or cool parents (Judy Greer) or emotionally detached spouses (Adam Sandler, Rosemarie Dewitt) are really like.  He then tosses in a tongue-in-cheek British narrator (Emma Thompson) to spout pithy remarks about the goings-on which confused the heck out of me as I couldn't tell whether Reitman was trying to craft something serious or whether this whole film was just an awful attempt at satire.

Across the board, some typically solid actors are left wallowing.  Kaitlyn Dever (so good in Short Term 12) and Ansel Elgort (quite a charming surprise in The Fault in Our Stars) fare the best, but maybe it's simply because their roles felt the least cookie cutter.  Also, would it be too hard for Judy Greer to land some more gigs?  She makes the best of her part as a mom who posts risqué pictures of her daughter on the internet by imbuing a bit of heart and personality into the film -- something that Men, Women & Children is missing in spades.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+