Deep Water

 Deep Water (2022)

Starring Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Tracy Letts, Dash Mihok, Lil Rey Howard, Kristen Connelly, Grace Jenkins, and Finn Wittrock

Directed by Adrian Lyne

Written by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C-

The Woman in the Window

 The Woman in the Window (2021)

Starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tracy Letts, and Julianne Moore

Directed by Joe Wright

Written by Tracy Letts

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

Ford v Ferrari

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

Starring Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Ray McKinnon, and Noah Jupe

Directed by James Mangold

Written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

The Lovers

The Lovers (2017)

Starring Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Aiden Gillen, Melora Walters, Tyler Ross, and Jessica Sula 

Directed by Azazel Jacobs

Written by Azazel Jacobs

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

Summary (in 500 words or less):  An unhappily married couple, Mary and Michael (Debra Winger and Tracy Letts), is ready to separate and go off with their respective lovers (Aiden Gillen, Melora Walters) since their badly kept secret affairs are ruining their home life.  However, as they're about to take the plunge and end their marriage, Mary and Michael begin to fall for one another again leading both of them to question what they really want in their lives.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

The Post

The Post (2017)

Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Rhys, and Bruce Greenwood

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer

Summary (in 500 words or less): Washington Post owner Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep) -- the first female owner of a major newspaper -- and editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) are struggling to keep their paper afloat in the early 1970s.  The New York Times -- one of their major competitors -- breaks a huge story about multiple presidential administrations hiding information about the Vietnam War from the American public.  This classified info was admittedly stolen from the US government and the Nixon administration sues them to stop the release of any more info. Fortunately for the Washington Post, a secret informant drops that same information off to them and Graham and Bradlee are faced with the challenge of whether to publish the information or not.

• A true story, Spielberg's The Post feels a bit languid, slow, and plodding.  
• A good performance from Meryl Streep -- seriously, I keep wanting to not like her in things, but I can't -- balances out a less successful turn from Tom Hanks who, despite having some backstory given to his character, never really connected with me.
• Much like Hanks not connecting with me, the film itself didn't either.  Spielberg's direction felt a bit stiff and stolid, and while I liked the way the film looked and some camera angles here and there, it's just bland and unexciting.
• The script by Liz Hannah and John Singer thinks it cleverly is inserting subtle jabs at the current administration and praise of the #MeToo movement, but they're so blatantly displayed by Spielberg that it often proves to be laughable.  Particularly towards the end, the feminism angle is ridiculously displayed -- Streep's Graham leaves a Supreme Court hearing to find herself surrounded by cheering throngs of women as the music swells around her.  Ridiculous.  The film didn't need that -- we already saw what a strong and committed woman Graham was...we didn't need the silly visual.
• This may be a film that generationally simply doesn't work.  Perhaps the older crowd -- re: those around in the Vietnam War era -- may feel more connection and excitement with the unfolding story.  To me, however, I was left disappointed.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

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 - Christine

Christine (2016)

Starring Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia, J. Smith-Cameron, and John Cullum

Directed by Antonio Campos

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

Based on a true story, director Antonio Campos' film Christine is an intense character study of its titular female, television news reporter Christine Chubbuck who worked for a small-town Sarasota, Florida, news station in the early 1970s.  Although initially lacking in personality and seemingly way too serious to be considered even remotely engaging, we soon discover that the headstrong and desperate-for-success Christine (Rebecca Hall) has more than a few emotional problems with which she's failed to come to grips.  These issues eventually rear their ugly head in a way that will likely be a huge surprise for those unfamiliar with this film's conclusion prior to watching it.

Rebecca Hall is impressive as Christine, carrying the entire film on her shoulders.  Christine isn't a warm person in the slightest and that admittedly puts up a barrier between the audience and Hall's portrayal, but it's still an admirable turn that captivates.  The film slogs a bit to its conclusion -- especially if you know the way it's going to end -- but it still is successful enough to warrant a watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Indignation

Indignation (2016)

Starring Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, Tracy Letts, Danny Burstein, and Linda Emond

Directed by James Schamus

In the fall of 1951, Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman) embarks on a new adventure, traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to Winesburg College in Ohio.  The Christian ideology promoted by the school is a big change for the Jewish youngster, but he heartily starts right in on his studies.  Soon, however, Marcus becomes distracted by the lovely and sexually promiscuous Olivia (Sarah Gadon) who he soon discovers may be a bit more than he can handle.  Then again, Marcus is very headstrong in his own way, butting heads with the college's Dead Caudwell (Tracy Letts) as the young man tries to find his way in the tumultuous era of the Korean War.

Thus is the story of Indignation, a very straightforward, yet well-acted and simplistically compelling film directed and written by James Schamus who has crafted a film that, with a few exceptions, feels like it could've been made in the decade in which it is set.  The old school aesthetic of the film is matched by its lack of showiness behind the lens.  That's not a bad thing, either.  Keeping Indignation fully focused on its story is a positive, drawing the audience in to the blossoming life of Marcus.  Nice performances from Logan Lerman and Tracy Letts (who together have a rather fascinating, long verbal tete-a-tete that proves to be a centerpiece of the film) help anchor Indignation as a film that deserves to be seen.

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+