Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts

Directed by George C. Wolfe

Written by Colman Santiago-Hudson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Troop Zero

Troop Zero (2020)

Starring Viola Davis, McKenna Grace, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Epps, Charlie Shotwell, Johanna Colón, Milan Ray, Bella Higginbotham, and Allison Janney

Directed by Bert & Bertie

Written by Lucy Alibar

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Widows

Widows (2018)

Starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Garret Dillahunt, Carrie Coon, Lukas Haas, Jacki Weaver, Robert Duvall, and Liam Neeson

Directed by Steve McQueen

Written by Gillian Flynn and Steve McQueen

Summary (in 500 words or less):  After their criminal husbands are killed while attempting to complete a robbery, their widowed wives are forced to contemplate committing a crime of their own when a shady man demands money their husbands owed him.

 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad (2016)

Starring Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne, Jai Courtney, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Ben Affleck, and Viola Davis

Directed by David Ayer

***This film is currently streaming on HBO Now/GO***

After the disaster that was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, there was an inevitable sense of dread as I began to watch Suicide Squad, the next film to unfold in the DC Universe.  Yet somehow, despite the horrid reviews (or perhaps because of them lowering expectations), I found this irreverent comedy-action piece a tiny bit better than the film that preceded it.

***SPOILERS from Batman v Superman below***

Notice that I just said "a tiny bit better" because in the end Suicide Squad is pretty bad as well.  However, at least writer-director David Ayer tries to inject a little bit of fun into the proceedings as it introduces a motley crew of imprisoned criminals brought together by government intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) in an attempt to help America fight big-time criminals following the death of Superman.  Unfortunately, bringing this whole group together in a single film gives little time to develop backstories beyond those of ace sniper Deadshot (Will Smith) and psycho criminal Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) who happened to be the love interest of the criminal mastermind Joker (Jared Leto) prior to her incarceration.  There are other folks that make up the squad including an alligator guy, an Australian bloke, and some Asian girl, but they are so disturbingly pushed to the sidelines that their existence in the film ends up being laughable by the time the credits roll.  And let's not even discuss the villain -- an evil spiritual entity that enters the body of archeologist June Moore (Cara Delevingne) and then proceeds to create zombie-like creatures that run rampant.

Despite the music video-esque series of introductions we get to each member of the Suicide Squad (which became immediately ridiculous by the time Ayer introduces his second or third character), I was onboard during the film's opening act.  As Amanda Waller rounds up the criminals, something was working for me and then it all devolves into the horrible dark and dreary DC Universe aesthetic with an hour-long finale that isn't the least bit compelling.  Unlike many I've spoken to about this disappointing flick, I didn't dislike Jared Leto as the Joker (although I'm obviously not attached to these characters in any shape or form) or Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn (who at least injected some light humor into the darkness that surrounds her), and I actually think Will Smith plays a nicely grounded character in Deadshot.  Still, Suicide Squad isn't good and it continues the rather abysmal track record for DC.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Fences

Fences (2016)

Starring Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, and Mykelti Williamson

Directed by Denzel Washington

I will readily admit that I walked into Fences expecting to be bored.  Its length of 140 minutes coupled with the boxed-in nature of filming an adaptation of a melancholy play that takes place essentially in a single house was a bit of a turn off.  Oddly enough, all of my fears came true in certain ways, but I managed to still enjoy director Denzel Washington's take on August Wilson's popular play thanks to some fantastic performances and a storyline that really kicks into gear in its second half.

Washington is Troy Maxon, a trash collector and former baseball player who never made it into the Major Leagues and admittedly holds a bit of a grudge because of it.  He lives in a sizable home with his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and his teenage son Cory (Jovan Adepo) who is finding great success with high school football, landing on the prospect list of several colleges.  Troy, who was shafted by sports in the past, refuses to allow Cory to dream his life away with the promise of a future in sports and demands that the teen earn a living through hard work like himself.  Needless to say, this causes a rift in the house not just between Troy and Cory, but also between Troy and his wife and leads to a second act turn of events that changes the course of the Maxon household forever.

Fences takes a while to really get going.  The whole piece is a talky affair, but the first forty minutes or so are filled with some lengthy diatribes by Troy or his best buddy Jim Bono (Stephen Henderson) that do little to advance the plot despite admittedly adding to the overall character of Troy himself.  However, once the actual conflict takes shape, the film starts to roll with Denzel certainly taking the lead reins and driving the ship as both its star and director.  Some have said Washington is too "actorly" or "stagy" in this flick, but I found him utterly captivating as a grizzled man who's done his share of wrong things, but wants nothing more than to create a life for his son better than the life he himself had.  This desire is palpable, showing itself in Washington's intense portrayal which is matched with equal ferocity by Viola Davis whose mild-mannered and somewhat subservient Rose turns from a typical 1950s housewife at the beck and call of her husband to a take-no-prisoners head-of-household when Troy's actions lead the Maxon family down a path they never could've expected.  Washington and Davis play exquisitely off one another in their tender moments, but simply excel when the late August Wilson's script requires them to really explore their truest, basest, and fiercest emotions in the film's second half.

This is a tough play to expand beyond the walls of the Maxon house and director Washington rarely explores another venue.  Yes, this leads the film to be a bit static at times and come off feeling rather simplistic particularly in the film's first hour.  However, Washington really manages to create an ever-building sense of emotional tension as the film progresses and its release in the final scenes is the payoff for which we'd waited.  Still, Fences can't quite escape the "boring" moniker even from someone who enjoyed it like myself.  It's not a film I'd particularly ever want to watch again, but it's a film that I appreciate and feel is ultimately worth seeing at least once since Washington and Davis give two of the best performances of the year.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Blackhat

Blackhat (2015)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Leehom Wang, Wei Tang, and Viola Davis

Directed by Michael Mann

I'm not sure movies can get more boring than Blackhat.  There's only so much typing and clicking and looking at words and numbers on computer screens that one can take in a movie and Blackhat crosses that threshold at about the twenty minute mark.  By the end, it attempts to turn into a bit of an action movie, but it's too late to garner the interest of the audience who has all but abandoned the proceedings at that point.

Chris Hemsworth is Nick Hathaway, a convict who is released from prison under the condition that he help the US and Chinese government track down a cyber-terrorist who has somehow managed to cripple both a Chinese nuclear power plant and a portion of the US stock trade.  As military officer Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang) of the Chinese cyber-terror unit and Carol Barrett (Viola Davis) of the FBI butt heads, Nick attempts to figure out both the location of the terrorist and his next area of attack.

Unfortunately, the film really does just wallow in blandness for about ninety minutes.  Hemsworth's Nick mumbles a great deal of his lines and isn't the least bit captivating as a character that lacks any gravitas -- either good or bad -- for the audience to care about joining for the ride.  Much of Viola Davis's screen time is spent staring at a computer screen or chastising Nick for thinking too much outside of the box which, of course, is what's needed to catch the bad guy.  An ill-conceived romance between Nick and Dawai's sister Lien (Wei Tang) -- who, quite honestly, I'm not sure as to why she is permitted to tag along in the secretive governmental investigation -- is just plain silly and hurts the film more than anything else.

As mentioned, during the final act, the film attempts to morph into an action piece and while several of these scenes are shot with a keen eye showing that director Michael Mann hasn't lost all of his mojo, it's too little too late.  Blackhat is unfortunately one of the most blandest films I've seen in a long time.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Get on Up

Get on Up (2014)

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis, Craig Robinson, Jill Scott, and Octavia Spencer

Directed by Tate Taylor

Unfortunately, I can't say much good about director Tate Taylor's James Brown biopic Get On Up and that's mainly because I found his direction of the piece to prove laughable at times and the time jumping of the script to be more annoying than emotionally impacting.  While Chadwick Boseman does a pretty good impression of the famous singer (his dancing and lip synching are really top notch), he fails to bring any resonance to Brown's numerous plights.  In the end, that's really not the fault of Boseman and more on the script and director, both of which aid in devolving the movie to sitcom-like scenes and atmosphere at times.

Rather than follow a linear path, Get On Up jumps back and forth in time in an attempt to prove Brown's adult life was shaped by his childhood, but never once does the early life of Brown create any impact on the grown man and his story.  Taylor attempts this technique multiple times, but it never works and instead reeks of desperation in terms of the writers and director.  In addition,  decisions have been made to have Brown speak and look directly to the camera at times, breaking the fourth wall.  This endeavor to be cool falls flat on its face and feels cheap rather than clever.

James Brown certainly came from nothing to achieve admirable success, but Get On Up doesn't really give the man the proper send-off he deserves.  I give the flick credit for deciding to show the later years in which Brown went off the deep end into a bit of a crazed life, but it's too little too late (and the make-up on Boseman at this stage in the film is horribly rendered).  As mentioned, the sole reason to watch is for Chadwick Boseman who really does nail the performance aspect of the piece with Brown's gyrating and iconic dance moves really coming to life during the reenactments of his stage performances.  Unfortunately, the movie crafted around these moments is pretty abysmal and full of the typical biopic movie clichés.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)

Starring Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Nina Arianda, Viola Davis, Bill Hader, Ciarán Hinds, Isabelle Huppert, and William Hurt

Directed by Ned Benson

I can't deny that The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them teeters on slow-paced boredom at many times throughout its run time.  However, at its heart is an interesting glimpse at how one married couple deals with a horrible tragedy.  After being ripped apart as they find the need to deal with the aftermath in different ways, can they ever be reunited in love?  However, rather than place a large amount of emphasis on the tragedy (which is admittedly mentioned only in passing a few times and only takes center stage in one quiet, yet power-packed scene), first-time director and screenwriter Ned Benson instead pushes his lens into the depth of what pulls apart and pushes together a couple that cares deeply for one another.

Interestingly enough, the entire summary of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them is pretty much encapsulated in that opening paragraph.  As we get to know Eleanor and Conor (Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy), we realize that the couple who seemed so lovingly enraptured with one another in the film's opening scene have suddenly been torn apart by the time scene #2 rolls around.  There's a lot of quiet contemplation and friends and family try to help both deal with the estrangement, but the film is really about time for reflection -- for determining what is really wanted from life.  Chastain and McAvoy are both quite good in a film that's all about their relationship but features less than five scenes with them actually together.  It's an interesting concept that doesn't quite come together, but it certainly isn't for lack of trying on the actors' part.

It's the slow burn of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them that brings the thing down a bit.  I'm all for a slower pace in romantic films as it allows us to further get to know the characters, but here the heaviness of the proceedings start to wear on the process about halfway through.  Ned Benson's concept behind The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is actually quite an interesting one.  He actually made two films -- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her.  Both were released in theaters in sort of a double feature, with Him obviously focusing on Conor's reactions to their relationship and Her concerning itself with Eleanor.  To be somewhat commercially viable, Benson created Them which clocks in at two hours -- about an hour and ten minutes less than Him and Her combined.  With the pacing of Them being what it is, I'll admit that I'm not quite sure I'd have been able to handle a viewing of Him and Her.  Once again, this isn't a bad film by any means, but it's just a bit too heavy to be enjoyable.  

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Ender's Game

Ender's Game (2013)

Starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, and Viola Davis

Directed by Gavin Hood

Fifty years prior to the events that start unfolding in Ender's Game (which, in turn, takes place many years in the future), an alien race of bug-like creatures known as the Formics attacked Earth, killing millions.  During that attack, the mysterious and elusive fighter pilot Mazer Rackham seemingly sacrificed himself by ramming into one of the alien spacecrafts which caused the attack to stop and the Formics to retreat for some unknown reason.

For the subsequent fifty years, the Formics have remained quiet on their home planet, but they appear to be building their army for another attack.  The US military has started a program recruiting intelligent young folks to become commanders of their aviation fleet.  In the program, the young recruits study the work of Mazer Rackham as well as taking part in virtual reality simulations that prepare them to work as a team as well as become cognizant of the mind of the enemy.  One of these recruits is Andrew "Ender" Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) and director/screenwriter Gavin Hood's film tells his tale.

Although Ender's Game does a decent job placing us into the mindset of a young teen being forced to deal with the heaviness of "saving his home planet," there's surprisingly very little tension created.  The biggest reason for this is because we really aren't witness to any battles between the Formics and humans.  Everything is set up as a virtual "game" of sorts and after seeing the umpteenth practice by Ender and his fellow recruits, you find yourself getting antsy from boredom.  While the special effects are okay, they aren't enough to keep your mind off the fact that we're just watching kids train and not seeing anything that really holds any significant merit.

In addition, I'm not quite sure Asa Butterfield was properly cast as the title character -- one who needs  to convey strength and hutzpah in order succeed in the way his character does.  I liked Butterfield very much in Hugo where his wide-eyed wonderment perfectly fit in that film's aesthetic.  Here, he's just a bit too timid-looking to convince me that he could rally the troops (so to speak).  Admittedly, that's kind of the point -- here's a non-muscular, kinda brainy kid who takes these more fit and stereotypically more appropriate recruits and molds them into spectacular soldiers -- but something just never quite clicked for me with Butterfield's performance and character.

Ender's Game probably has quite a bit it wants to convey in terms of promoting peace instead of war -- Ender finds himself emotionally conflicted with this notion throughout the entire film -- but it doesn't succeed all that well on that front.  Instead, any grand intentions of created something deep and meaningful fall flat.  That isn't to say that Ender's Game lands with a thud, but I can't say that I'd look forward to seeing any sequels made.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Prisoners

Prisoners (2013)

Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano, and Melissa Leo

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

I'm not sure there's something more horrific than being a parent and having something devastating happen to your children.  In Prisoners, when two young girls are kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day from their Pennsylvania neighborhood, I can only imagine the horror going through the heads of parents Keller and Grace Dover (Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello) and Franklin and Nancy Birch (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis).  The pain, anguish, and anger is all on display in Denis Villeneuve's direction of Aaron Guzikowski's script, but the emotional connection with the characters wasn't there for me and it's something that I really long for in a movie like this.

Take my favorite film of last year -- The Impossible -- or one of the best films of the past few years that you've never heard of -- Trust (seriously, check it out) -- and you'll find yourself becoming completely invested in all the characters -- the kids and the adults alike.  In Prisoners, I never felt that emotional tug I desired.  Maybe it's because the two girls go missing so early and we never get an opportunity to really get to know them.  Or maybe it's because Jackman's Keller takes a rather unique approach to enacting revenge on Alex Jones (Paul Dano), the young man initially accused and then cleared of kidnapping the girls, thus maybe subliminally making me not feel so bad for the tortured father.  Regardless, I kept waiting to have some type of guttural response to the story, but that never really happened.

Performances are good, but oftentimes in movies similar to this, they'll be a character(s) that you immediately find yourself connecting with and rallying behind.  Hugh Jackman is certainly supposed to be that guy and I'm sure I was supposed to be affected by Maria Bello's debilitating anguish, but the film never took me there.  Once again, this isn't to say that Jackman and Bello are disappointing.  In fact, this is probably Jackman's best role yet (and I quite liked his role in Les Miserables), taking a very tricky character and making his motivations understandable.

Perhaps it is, in fact, his interactions with Paul Dano that make this movie so difficult to create an emotional resonance for me.  <<MODERATE SPOILERS FOLLOW, ALTHOUGH THE TRAILER ESSENTIALLY REVEALS WHAT I'M ABOUT TO DISCUSS.>>  Dano's Alex Jones is obviously emotionally stunted and psychologically marred.  When Jackman's Keller essentially kidnaps him, we understand Keller's response, but we can't condone it.  And it's maybe this reason why we in the audience can't exactly become as invested in these parents' horror as we'd like.  <<SPOILERS DONE.>>  Dano is creepily fantastic here, though, excelling in a tricky role that somehow manages to walk the line between having the audience both despise and sympathize with him.  Nice turns from Melissa Leo, Viola Davis (who's just great in everything I've seen her in recently) and Jake Gyllenhaal (who, even in this, is a bit overrated in my opinion) round out the cast, but can't fulfill that dramatic oomph I desired.

Listen, it may seem like I'm being overly critical of Prisoners by harping on one particular issue and, quite honestly, I am.  However, Prisoners is good.  It's a smart adult drama with enough twists and turns that make its lengthy running time seem to fly by rather quickly.  Overall, it's the kind of movie that I wish Hollywood created more often.  Admittedly, I think the thing the film prides itself upon -- playing with morality and questioning who's right and who's wrong in certain situations -- hurt its overall resonance with me, yet made it intriguing at the same time.  And, it's for that reason that despite my qualms, it still gets the decidedly good rating I've given it below.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Starring Aldren Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, and Emma Thompson

Directed by Richard LaGravenese

Ever since the inception of the Twilight series and its surprising success, the movie industry has been hoping to find the next teen sensation.  Beautifiul Creatures is not that, despite their efforts to clone the success of that aforementioned horridly acted vampire/werewolf saga.  Not wanting to delve too far away from the supernatural nature of the Kristen Stewart/Robert Pattinson-starring dreck, Beautiful Creatures shifts its attention to witches,  but failing to create any semblance of story for the audience to actually give a damn.

Most of the actors here are better than expected, but they can't help imbue any sense of urgency or heightened sense of emotion into the languid plot which is, if this can be believed, worse than the good vampire vs. bad vampire (vs. werewolf) malarkey that Twilight heaped upon us.  Beautiful Creatures deals with Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) who, on her sixteenth birthday, will discover her true nature when it's determined if she will be a good witch or a bad witch all the while trying to make things work with her boyfriend Ethan (Aldren Ehrenreich) who, despite her supernatural powers, still loves her.  The problem with the film is that beyond that sentence, nothing else happens in its two hours.  Sure, Emma Thompson and Emmy Rossum come on the scene and try to wreak havoc while Jeremy Irons and Viola Davis try and fight for good, but they're all infinitely better than the material with which they're given to work.  Similarly, Aldren Ehrenreich is much more engaging that Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner ever hoped they could be, but his character's plight of wanting to get out of the Deep South in order to better himself is much too simplistic.

Ultimately, despite the fact that I really wanted to like Beautiful Creatures at least moderately more than the Twilight saga and despite the fact that every actor here (even Alice Englert who isn't all that engaging in the slightest) is better than anyone in the Twilight films (with the exception of Anna Kendrick), this flick was utterly boring.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

Starring Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Max von Sydow, John Goodman, Jeffrey Wright, and Tom Hanks

Directed by Stephen Daldry

The last Best Picture nominee I needed to watch, I was dreading seeing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as it seems to be the most reviled of the nine films up for the top prize.  I had read the book and enjoyed it, but the reviews calling Stephen Daldry's flick emotionally manipulative and heavy-handed made me wait until the very last minute to see this.  Well, in the end, I can't help but feel that I've certainly saved one of the best flicks of 2011 for last because Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is powerful, heartbreaking, and inspiring -- a lovely film that has been unfairly maligned throughout this awards season.

Oskar Schell (newcomer Thomas Horn), an eleven year-old kid with symptoms of Asperger Syndrome (despite having an inconclusive diagnosis for the disorder), was having a perfectly normal day on September 11, 2001 -- but that was the day his life was personally changed forever.  His father (Tom Hanks), a jewelry store owner, had a meeting in the World Trade Center that morning and like thousands of others, he did not make it out alive.  Finding it incredibly difficult to cope with the loss, Oskar comes across a small manilla envelope holding a key in his father's closet.  On the envelope is written the word "Black" and, as a way to keep his father's presence alive in his mind, Oskar sets out on a mission across all of New York City to meet every single person with the last name of "Black" to find out if they know what the key will open in hopes that it will somehow tell him more about his father.

Perhaps the film could be labeled sappy, but I found it incredibly moving and touching.  Yes, it could be deemed heavy handed, but we're dealing with subject matter here that is incredibly intense and the film doesn't tiptoe around it.  In what is perhaps the best film I've seen that deals with the 9/11 tragedies (that isn't a "documentary-type" film a la the spectacular United 93), I'm not ashamed to admit that my eyes welled up multiple times here.  Yes, I know no one that was harmed on 9/11, but this film speaks to anyone who has experienced any type of loss, grief, and pain, and speaks to the courage and drive necessary to move on and continue living your life to its full potential.

A film which places a young fourteen year-old kid who has never acted before front and center in every single scene of the movie is asking for trouble if the kid doesn't connect with the audience.  That certainly isn't the case here -- I found Thomas Horn a revelation.  I realize that's not a word to throw around lightly, but I was really moved by this kid in an incredibly difficult role.  I wrote in my original review of the novel that I was so irritated by the character of Oskar that I almost put down the book 100 pages in.  The cinematic Oskar worked much better for me.  Perhaps I was simply prepared for the quirkiness of the character -- his carrying around of a tambourine to calm himself is just one of his eccentricities -- or perhaps Horn just embodied the character in such a way that made his idiosyncrasies more believable to me.  Regardless, despite having a completely different personality than me, I somehow felt incredibly connected to this young kid -- Horn is really playing an "everyman" trying to cope with grief and that portrayal deeply moved me.

Horn isn't alone in excelling in the acting department.  Hanks is rather charming in his small role as Oskar's father.  In his limited screen time, it's obvious why Oskar loved his father as much as he did and it was his father's joie de vivre that sends Oskar on his mission.  Similarly, Sandra Bullock is surprisingly powerful in her limited role as Oskar's mother.  Her scenes with the young Horn are gripping and oftentimes heartbreaking.

However, it's Horn's scenes with Max von Sydow that I'll remember the most.  Von Sydow plays a man simply known as The Renter, an elderly gentleman who has moved in with Max's grandmother who lives in an apartment across the street from his home.  The Renter doesn't speak and instead writes all his thoughts in a little notebook, but Oskar finds himself able to communicate with The Renter more than anyone else in his life.  With nary a word spoken, von Sydow is wonderful and positively moving, able to express everything we need to know with the raise of an eyebrow or a shrug of the shoulders.

[There is also a beautiful scene that occurs near the film's conclusion with a man played by Jeffrey Wright whom Oskar meets on his quest to discover the purpose of the key that nearly gave me chills. (Too much discussion of this scene would be a bit of a spoiler so I'll stop here, but I'll likely be discussing it more in my Best Scenes of the Year category in the RyMickey Awards.)]

What is a movie if it's not "manipulative."  Film is one of the most "manipulative" art genres around.  All movies have an agenda/story to tell and they all try to take their audience on whatever journey the director and screenwriter want us to see.  To toss the claim around that director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter Eric Roth are simply playing on our emotional connection to 9/11 isn't a fair critique.  They take a horribly tragic moment in our American history, narrow it down to a specific person's take on that painful day, but somehow manage to make it contain themes that speak to us all.  Kudos all around on this one.  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is, by far, one of the best films of 2011.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

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 - Trust

Trust (2011)

Starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Chris Henry Coffey, Viola Davis, and Liana Liberato

Directed by David Schwimmer

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

There is no denying that David Schwimmer's (yes, the same Schwimmer of Friends fame) 2nd directorial effort, Trust, is a difficult film to sit through.  But this intense look at the aftereffects of a fourteen year-old girl's rape by a pedophile she meets in a chat room is simply riveting in that Schwimmer (and the screenwriters) focus not on the heinous crime itself (although that is uncomfortably witnessed in part as well) but on the repercussions the event causes both the victim and her family.  Certainly aiding in this portrayal is a riveting performance from newcomer Liana Liberato in her first feature film who, as the young victim Annie, manages to create an amazingly complex character whose emotions and actions never seem forced or faked.

There's a naive innocence (or perhaps, looking at it from another angle, an advanced maturity) to Annie when we first see her in the film.  She's well aware of other girls her age sleeping around (or at least saying that they do), but when confronted with situations that make her uncomfortable, she has the smarts to get out of them.  For that very reason, it hurts us to see her begin to walk down the path she does with her online buddy Charlie.  When she first begins chatting with the guy in a volleyball chatroom, Charlie tells her that he's fifteen, but then soon reveals he's a sophomore in college which then becomes a first year grad student.  Annie's angry that she's being lied to, but she appreciates the attention Charlie is giving her seeing as how her parents (Clive Owen and Catherine Keener) are somewhat preoccupied with getting her brother prepared for his first semester of college.  Eventually, Annie agrees to meet Charlie (at a mall - a conspicuous location which further shows Annie's got a decent head on her shoulders) which is when she discovers that Charlie (Chris Henry Coffey) is probably veering closer to thirty-five than twenty-five.  Uncomfortable with the situation, but somewhat charmed by his smooth talking and feeling that she can trust him, Annie heads with Charlie to a local hotel and the unthinkable happens.

But that's just the first act.  What follows is a complex look at a girl who feels as if she's been betrayed by everyone around her.  Not only do Annie's parents and friends begin acting differently around her after the crime is discovered, but the man who said he loved her refuses to return her texts and calls.  Seemingly alone in the world, young Liana Liberato gives a rather brilliant performance as Annie and that alone is worth the price of admission here.  Liberato is intelligent, sympathetic, tough, sarcastic, humorous, heartbroken, and a bunch of other adjectives, but she takes this kitchen sink of emotions thrown at her and excels at every single moment shifting through them with ease.  My heart broke for this character multiple times and ultimately that connection is what you hope for in a movie.  [There's one scene in particular towards the film's conclusion in which Annie realizes that she's fooled herself into thinking this was "love" rather than "rape" that is just gutwrenching and Liberato is simply remarkable in it.]

One can't help but feel for the parents in situations like this as well and Clive Owen and Catherine Keener give some of the best performances I've ever seen from them.  Keener's Lynn is devastated by the news, but is also angry that her husband Will seems hellbent on finding the rapist and punishing him himself.  Despite his best efforts at leaving the crime-solving to the FBI, Clive Owen's Will is just as tortured as his daughter in a certain respect.  This notion that he let down his family and failed to be the protector devastates him and proves to be harrowingly emotional in the film's final moments.  But, if the film falters a bit, it is in the character of Will whose vengeful father sometimes seems to take things a step too far.  Adding to this is the fact that Will is an advertising exec whose firm is finalizing a deal with a clothing company that sexualizes its young models and it feels like sometimes the character (via the screenwriters) is hitting us over the head with preachiness.  Still, to me, these issues prove to be moderately minor qualms in the midst of the other overwhelmingly positive aspects.

With additional help from screenwriters Andy Bellin and Robert Festinger and some nice supporting performances including one from the calming and understanding Viola Davis as a psychiatrist helping Annie, Trust never stoops to exploiting the crime itself but instead explores its aftermath and the incredibly complicated plethora of feelings that a young victim such as Annie goes through.  Congrats to director David Schwimmer.  One can only hope that people will discover this film as time goes on.  Not that the subject matter would have led to boffo box office, I can't help but think that it's a shame this one fell by the wayside completely as it would have been wonderful to have young Liana Liberato's name being mentioned as awards season rolled around in the upcoming months.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Knight and Day (2010)

Knight and Day (2010)

Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, and Paul Dano

Directed by James Mangold

There's no denying that Knight and Day is a ridiculous espionage comedy-thriller.  It's one of those movies where the bad guys can't make a shot, but the good guys always get their man.  And I doubt I'm ruining anything for anyone by saying that our two big name movie stars share some on-screen flirtation.  There's really nothing that you haven't seen before...and seen done better.

Yet, for some reason, Knight and Day kind of works.  And, honestly, it's because of Tom Cruise.  There's a smoothness and ease that he brings to his secret agent Roy Miller that pushes the movie to just a little above average.  June thinks Roy is winning from the get-go when they meet on flight to Boston, but June soon discovers that Roy's not your run-of-the-mill guy and is (rightly so) frightened by his career.   After the plane that they're on crashes in a wheat field, Roy (with the requisite Tom Cruisian charm) warns June that she unfortunately is now a part of this spy life whether she likes it or not.  June refuses to believe that Roy's correct, but she soon discovers that she may need him to survive.

Despite the fact that I can list many things that aren't great in the film (a lack of sexual chemistry between Diaz and Cruise, some awful special effects, a very disappointing and mildly "cop-outtish" ending), I still enjoyed the sheer fun of the film.  Cruise is funny and his star wattage is in full force here.  Diaz is perfectly fine, and while there's nothing exciting or special that she brings to the table, she certainly holds her own in this flick.  Co-stars Peter Sarsgaard and Viola Davis bring their considerable acting chops to the film as well.

Listen, if you come out of this saying that the film is awful, I couldn't really fight you on it.   There are infinitely better adventure-romance films -- seriously, everyone should check out Romancing the Stone which is the epitome of the genre, to me.  Nonetheless, if you're looking for some mildly diverting fun, you could do much worse than Knight and Day.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Starring Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Regina Hall, and Viola Davis
Directed by F. Gary Gray

Nicely directed, but absolutely ludicrous is the way I'd describe Law Abiding Citizen. F. Gary Gray (who directed the underrated The Negotiator in the 90s and the moderately amusing The Italian Job in the aughts) keeps this flick moving along at a very brisk pace, but he is forced to work with a ridiculous script, silly dialogue, and he's unfortunately unable to get a good performance out of Jamie Foxx (then again, is anyone able to get a really good performance out of the overrated actor?).

Gerard Butler is Clyde Shelton and, at the start of the film, his wife and child have been brutally murdered. Two men are charged with their murder, but Philadelphia district attorney Nick Rice (Foxx) seals both of their convictions by using one of the men to testify against the other, thereby giving one of the murderers a death sentence and the other only a five-year prison term. Cut to ten years later and the prisoner on death row's lethal injection goes awry, causing him an incredibly painful death, and the murderer released from jail gets butchered in a ghastly manner. Who committed the crimes? Clyde, the emotionally shattered widow. Clyde's sent to prison, but he's not done his murderous spree. Even from behind bars, he's exacting revenge on those he feels let the one murderer walk free after five years.

First off, let's just say that the way Clyde manages to kill people is pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, all of these elaborate traps seem to rely on people being in the right place at the right time...it's as if he knew where people were conveniently going to be at 'x' hour and was able to plan his crimes around their time table. It's honestly a little too difficult to describe my issues with this issue without revealing too much of the plot, but everything felt a little Saw-esque in terms of the crimes he was committing (granted, I've only seen bits and pieces of Saw movies -- the final 20 minutes of nearly every one while waiting for them to end at the theater and I've seen the first one edited on tv)...elaborate killings that rely on people being right where the killer wants them to be. And the way that Clyde manages to do these things that's revealed in the final act of the film was just silly -- completely unbelievable that he would be able to get away with what he was doing. I guess there's only one solitary confinement cell in prisons...

Second, the dialog here is ridiculous. Everything seemed forced. Jamie Foxx's character was given some ludicrous things to say simply to advance the plot. Despite the fact that the film moved at a brisk pace, it felt like there were several scenes that simply could've been excised and it would've made no difference to the overall film.

As far as the acting goes, Foxx is lukewarm at best. I didn't believe him as a D.A. for a second. Butler is decent, although his American accent is incredibly weak (at least, I think he was playing an American...the accent went back and forth so many times, I'm unsure). Other than that, Butler is actually quite engaging onscreen. With this, The Ugly Truth, and Gamer this year, I find that he's able to rise above an average script and come out looking better than the overall movie itself. And I loved every second Viola Davis was in the flick as the mayor of Philadelphia. She brings a strength to the screen that's not too overpowering to be unbelievable. (That being said, the ridiculous cameo by the real mayor of Philly, Michael Nutter, made people laugh at a time when the audience really shouldn't have been laughing. Stupid move on the director's part there).

So, unfortunately, despite the fact that the story overall never bored me and the director kept the flick moving, the silliness of the plot, the corny dialogue ("He's got police costumes...and other things..."), and a less-than-average performance by one of the film's leads make this one that I can't recommend.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (2009)

Starring Tyler Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Viola Davis
Written and Directed by Tyler Perry

I've never seen a Tyler Perry movie before and had I not taken on this "every movie quest," I don't think I ever would. The trailers for his flicks all seem so stereotypical and the humor seems way too over-the-top for me. Well, having seen my first Tyler Perry flick, I can wholeheartedly say that the trailer presents things correctly -- I did find it incredibly stereotypical and filled with over-the-top humor. However, the movie was actually okay, filled with some decent performances, despite the hokey story.

Unfortunately, the flick is two different movies in one. One side is the drama -- Josh (Derek Luke) is a young district attorney who, while in court one day, meets up with Candy (Keshia Knight Pulliam...Rudy from The Cosby Show!) a former childhood friend who is on trial for prostitution. He feels guilt over an incident in the past and takes Candy under his wing. This doesn't make his fiancé too happy and tension ensues.

The other side of the movie is the comedy -- It involves Madea (Tyler Perry in drag) who apparently gets into crazy, law-breaking situations all the time. She has some anger issues, wrecks some lady's car, and heads to jail (hence the title).

Both sides end up combining once Madea gets to jail and meets up with Candy, but for the most part, it really plays like two separate movies. My problem with the storylines is this: Neither is strong enough to be its own movie, but it just seems silly for these two movies to be smashed together into one. In addition to the lackluster stories, the dialogue (particularly on the comedy side) was weak and I rarely laughed. The drama side fares better, although it was holier-than-thou at times, in part because of Viola Davis's preacher character. Davis was quite strong, but she is forced to spout some "better yourself" motivational junk.

In addition to Viola Davis, Derek Luke (who was also fine in Notorious) is pretty good here, too. Little Rudy -- I mean Keshia Knight Pulliam -- gets better as the movie goes on as she's able to move on from the stereotypical prostitute to a changed woman. I'm trying to avoid talking about Tyler Perry as Madea because Madea is the stereotype that brings this movie down to a base level (that and the fact that Perry also paints all non-African Americans in broad brushstrokes as well...Note, Perry's not alone in this depiction -- see Obsessed or Not Easily Broken...better yet, don't see them).

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review -- Doubt (2008)

starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis

written and directed by John Patrick Shanley

Having read the play this movie is based on a few years ago and greatly enjoying it, this was my most anticipated movie of the holiday season. Unfortunately (as seen previously in my Slumdog Millionaire review), high expectations don't always yield the best results. And Doubt was no exception.

It's the 1960s and Father Flynn (Hoffman) is trying all he can to keep his parish (which is adjacent to a Catholic school) "with the times," so to speak, providing intriguing sermons for the adults and being down to earth with the students. This doesn't necessarily sit well with Sister Aloysius (Streep) who is none too fond of Flynn. When young Sister James (Adams) has a tiny suspicion of Flynn sexually abusing the school's only black student, Aloysius takes the chance and runs with it in order to get Flynn out of the parish...whether or not the allegations are true doesn't seem to matter.

It's an incredibly simple story. That's it. As a play, there were only four characters (the supposed victim's mother played by Davis appears in only one critical scene). As a play, I would've imagined this thing would've worked.

As a movie, not so much, and I think that mostly has to do with Shanley's direction and additions to his script (he also wrote the original play). There were incredibly odd shots -- at crooked angles, looking upwards or downwards onto the actors...really just stupid shots. I found myself laughing at some of them. As for the script add-ons, they really just made Streep's character almost a joke...at the beginning of the film, her character almost seemed like she was in a comedy when she was interacting with the children in her school.

That being said, the acting in this thing was mostly top-notch, my favorite being Amy Adams. Adams has the "innocent" role down pat, after a star-making turn in Enchanted, but she was great here. Viola Davis was also excellent in her one powerful scene. Hoffman was serviceable, but he was nothing to write home about. And as for Streep...it was a hoot to watch her, but I couldn't help but think that her portrayal was all over the place. It ran the gamut from humorous to downright nasty and she never really found the right balance to me.

No doubt (no pun intended there) that my experience was slightly hampered due to some poor sound issues throughout the movie (making it seem as if I was hearing things from behind a closed door), but I think I'd much rather see this as a play rather than as a movie. However, despite the grade I'm giving it below, it was an interesting movie...one that I would definitely recommend seeing (on dvd).

The RyMickey Rating: C