Movie Review - The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans (2016)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, and Florence Clery

Directed by Derek Cianfrance

If someone were to come out of The Light Between Oceans and say they were bored senseless, I wouldn't be able to necessarily argue with them.  Writer-director Derek Cianfrance's film is indeed deliberately slow-paced, but to this reviewer it adds much nuance to the film's plot which details the lives of recently married lighthouse keeper Tom and his wife Isabel who live a secluded life on an island, unable to contact anyone on the mainland without the help of a several hour boat ride.  The detachment Tom and Isabel experience is palpably felt thanks to Cianfrance's methodical direction which in addition to looking cinematographically beautiful also gets some emotionally riveting performances from its cast.

Taking place in the early 1920s, Tom Sherbourne (Michael Fassbender) is a WWII vet who recently moved to the western Australia coast.  Upon arrival, he is offered a job as a lighthouse keeper on the secluded island of Janus Rock which Tom accepts without hesitation, seeking an opportunity to live alone and reflect upon the horrors of the war.  Tom's seclusion, however, is short-lived as he soon falls for a young woman named Isabel (Alicia Vikander) on one of his visits to the mainland for supplies.  Isabel agrees to marry him and the newly betrothed couple begin their life together on Janus Rock, soon discovering that Isabel is pregnant with their first child.  Ecstatic, the couple prepare for their upcoming arrival, but unfortunately Isabel miscarries which spirals her into a great depression from which she only recovers when the couple discovers that they are pregnant again.  However, this pregnancy is met with the same hurtful result as Isabel loses this child as well.  The confinement of the island coupled with the loss of the two children devastate Isabel, but one afternoon, Isabel and Tom discover a boat floating near the coast of Janus Rock and, upon pulling the craft to shore, they find a weeks-old baby girl inside along with a deceased man.  Because of their seclusion, no one was yet aware of Isabel's latest miscarriage and, after Isabel's insistent pressing of Tom, the couple decide to act as if the baby is theirs.  To say this won't end well shouldn't come as a surprise as upon a visit to shore several years later, Tom discovers a disparate Hannah (Rachel Weisz), devastated that her husband and child seem to have been lost at sea.

The Light Between Oceans is certainly a film in which the human emotional psyche is placed front and center which can lead to an overly melodramatic piece if the director and actors aren't careful.  I'm pleased to report that isn't the case here in the slightest thanks in large part to the performances of the three aforementioned cast members.  Rachel Weisz nicely captures the mournful essence of a recently widowed woman dealing with not only the loss of her husband, but her child as well.  Michael Fassbender's imbues Tom with an icy exterior that melts away when he meets Isabel, only to return when he realizes the gravity of the crime they've committed despite the fact that it has brought the couple much-needed happiness.

The film, however, belongs to Alicia Vikander.  As the film opens, Isabel's youthful sassiness is an attractive asset to the stern Tom and her zest for life doesn't exactly echo the more subdued surroundings of her quiet coastal Australian town.  Capturing the joy of impending motherhood, Vikander also completely embodies the devastation of a woman who loses two children via miscarriage and her brooding pain is palpably felt.  The epicness and freedom their secluded island once gave Isabel now feels lonely, restricting, and painful.  Vikander perfectly captures these varied emotions which take her character on a bit of a roller coaster ride, but never feel out of place.  Together, Vikander and Fassbender (a couple in real life) create a beautiful romance that is dealt many an ill-fated blow.

To me, the film works best in the first two-thirds where the brooding nature and the deliberate slow pace add to Tom and Isabel's plight.  (I will readily admit that this sentiment will not be shared by all.)  The final third is where things begin to derail a little bit and, oddly enough, it's the point when there's the most plot.  Machinations in the story lead the characters of Isabel and Tom to begin to question one another and there's one too many changes in heart as the story progresses.  However, Derek Cianfrance had built up such goodwill in the prior acts that I was willing to overlook it somewhat.  Thanks to some nuanced direction and terrific performances (including the not-yet-mentioned wonderful work from young Florence Clery as Tom and Isabel's child whose acting feels incredibly innocent and natural), The Light Between Oceans is a great start to the awards season.  Unfortunately, I doubt it will be remembered in any capacity come Oscar time.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Jason Bourne

***Movie #5 of BOURNE Week***

Jason Bourne (2016)

Starring Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Riz Ahmed, and Julia Stiles

Directed by Paul Greengrass

Director Paul Greengrass and actor Matt Damon make their return to the action series that really made both of them famous with Jason Bourne which tosses Bourne Legacy star Jeremy Renner to the curb as we delve back into the story of the title character.  Unfortunately, in the first film in the series not to be co-written by Tony Gilroy, the flick flounders a bit, feeling more like a rehash rather than something original.

By now, we all get that the CIA is trying to shut down many of their special ops units -- they've been doing so for the past four movies -- so when former agent Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) finds and downloads a ton of info on the specialized programs, she quickly becomes a target of the CIA.  After Nicky enlists his help, Bourne discovers via the documents that his father helped to create the very same secret program that enlisted his son.  However, via flashbacks that begin to haunt Bourne, we discover that Bourne's father was killed in a violent terrorist attack in the Middle East.  Bourne soon begins to realize, however, that this father's death may not have been at the hands of a terrorist, but rather from his employers in the CIA, giving Bourne this film's vendetta to find the men responsible for his father's death.

Unfortunately, Bourne's vendetta is much too similar to everything we saw in the first three films of the series.  Rather than feel fresh, Jason Bourne ends up seeming like a repeat of everything we've seen.  The film certainly isn't awful -- Damon is good and the cast surrounding him works well together -- but it's too much of the same thing.  Tommy Lee Jones as the CIA head takes the place of David Strathairn and Chris Cooper's characters.  Alicia Vikander as the understanding, friendly CIA agent is Joan Allen's Pamela Landy.  Vincent Cassel as a hit man is like Clive Owen in the first film.  The script by Paul Greengrass and Christopher Rouse fails to do anything other than hit the notes that worked in the first three films.  Sure, the action sequences upped the ante -- including a decidedly un-Bourne-like Las Vegas chase scene that is so catastrophically damaging to the city that it feels like it was picked out from a Transformers movie -- but they're not enough to push the story to a fresh place.  You could certainly do worse when it comes to summer action flicks than Jason Bourne, but this final movie (thus far) in the Bourne series is unfortunately the worst.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Burnt

Burnt (2015)

Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Daniel Brühl, Matthew Rhys, Alicia Vikander,  Uma Thurman, and Emma Thompson

Directed by John Wells

Burnt is a well-acted film about a once great Michelin Star-earning chef named Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) who lost it all when drugs and horrible behavior upended his career at an early age.  After taking time to reflect on his wrongs back home in the United States, Adam returns to London to start his career again, opening a new restaurant and trying to right the wrongs of his past.

Despite the aforementioned notion that Burnt is well-acted, it's a film that just kind of sits there and doesn't excite the audience in any way.  Director John Wells paces the already short film in such a way that it doesn't engage us and pull us in to Adam's life.  Sure, the glossy and well-lit scenes of kitchen work are pretty, but once we move beyond the boiling pots, buttered-up pans, and fancy sous vide machines, there's no dramatic tension in this otherwise typical film about a formerly unpleasant guy becoming pleasant.

Bradley Cooper is quite good and his character is at least a little bit captivating.  His relationships with his sous chefs (Sienna Miller, Omar Sy), his front-of-house staff (Daniel Brühl), and rival (Matthew Rhys) are all pleasant enough and all well-performed by the cast.  Unfortunately, there's very little for the actors to sink their teeth into which goes hand-in-hand with the lack of any tension and significant plot.  Burnt isn't a particularly bad movie, but by the end I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hamer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Sylvester Groth, Luca Calvani, and Hugh Grant 

Directed by Guy Ritchie

More style over substance, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. unfortunately doesn't come together as a full motion picture despite rather charming and winning performances from its key quartet.  When your film's climax feels unimportant, you know you've got a bit of a problem and that's the case here.  By the time the last twenty minutes rolls around, you may be in danger of having checked out even though you were somewhat intrigued by everything that came before.

Based on the tv show of the same name, The Man from Uncle is a spy flick that's firmly planted in the 1960s.  With WWII over, tensions are still high thanks to nuclear fears and the US, led by thief turned CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), finds itself teaming up with Russia in the form of KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) to track down the villainous Alexander and Victoria Vinciguerra (Luca Calvani and Elizabeth Debicki).  The wealthy couple may have kidnapped the physicist father of auto mechanic Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) in order to help formulate a nuke that they can sell to the highest bidder and the US and Russia see Gaby as the way to get into the Vinciguerra compounds.

Director and co-screenwriter Guy Ritchie certainly creates a stylish, classy, and mod-looking film.  Visually, there are absolutely appealing aspects to The Man from Uncle.  Ritchie also does a really nice job of bringing elements of comedy to the mix, cleverly mixing witty wordplay with some rather ingenious visual set-ups.  Unfortunately, there's something about the espionage aspect of the script that never quite lands.  After a rather fun opening chase sequence, Ritchie can't quite craft his action sequences in ways that feel as if they're enhancing the plot and they bog things down rather than rile things up.

The cast is all around charming (albeit a little wooden in that James Bond "suave" sense -- not a bad thing) and fits perfectly in the 1960s era the film depicts with particular kudos to Elizabeth Debicki who snidely plays the dastardly villainess.  Ritchie just can't bring the varying genres of his film together to create a fully realized flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Danish Girl

The Danish Girl (2015)

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw, and Matthias Schoenaerts

Directed by Tom Hooper

Talk about Oscar bait -- every single solitary thing about The Danish Girl just screams "GIVE ME AN OSCAR IN ANY AND EVERY IMAGINABLE CATEGORY!"  From the cinematography's soft lighting to the musical score's dramatics to the direction that is sometimes laughably mannered to a leading actor who seems to be trying so desperately hard to "inhabit" a role, all aspects of The Danish Girl seem to have been made with the hope of claiming film's most coveted prize.  Needless to say, director Tom Hooper's film is so utterly disappointing and bland in nearly every aspect -- save one -- that I hope the Oscar voters don't take the obvious bait.

Based on a true story, The Danish Girl tells the tale of Dutch artist Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne) who was born and lived life as a man, but feels that he is truly meant to be a woman.  Back in the 1920s, terms like "transgender" weren't known and Wegener certainly didn't know what was "wrong" with him in terms of his inability to truly feel his natural self.  His wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander), who is also an artist, has seemingly always known of Einar's proclivities to femininity and she embraces it, thinking that it will make their relationship better also presumably completely unaware of Einar's true feelings.  One evening, Gerda convinces Einar to attend an art gathering dressed as a woman whom they name Lili and Einar's world is turned upside down as he realizes that being a woman is who he truly longs to be.

In the grand scheme of things, buying into the story of The Danish Girl isn't particularly difficult, but the film makes it impossible to give a damn about nearly everything we see unfold.  Director Tom Hooper takes Lucinda Coxon's bland and watered-down screenplay and drags things out interminably.  There's really not much that happens here plot-wise and yet somehow I feel like Hooper and Coxon failed miserably at creating soul and dramatics around this life-changing moment in Einar's world.

Of course, Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne (who was so fantastic in The Theory of Everything) is also a huge reason as to why the film lacks emotional connection as well.  Rather than really dig into the role, Redmayne's mannered performance feels paint-by-numbers and studied rather than natural.  Granted, some would say that Einar is learning how to be a woman so of course he would feel uncomfortable, nervous, and mannered at first.  I'd certainly agree with that which is why it may seem unfair to say that every moment of Redmayne's performance felt as if he was "acting" rather than "inhabiting" (since Einar is kind of, sort of "acting" at first, too), but there wasn't a single moment here where Redmayne breathes life into Einar/Lili.  Even towards the end when Lili is finally coming into her own, it's as if we're watching a soft-spoken, one-note audio-animatronic rather than a real person onscreen.  To say Redmayne is a disappointment here is an understatement.

It certainly doesn't help that for every lack of insight in Redmayne's eyes, we see the exact opposite of that from Alicia Vikander who is the only good thing going for this film.  Vikander is compelling as Gerda and she does her best to make things as compelling as possible.  There are scenes where you get a sense of desperation, sadness, and yet understanding of her husband's plight (which becomes her plight as well seeing as how her world will drastically change), but none of that emotion is reciprocated to her by anyone else onscreen.

The Danish Girl is truly a disappointment.  With the pedigree behind it -- I truly enjoyed Hooper's The King's Speech -- I can't help but say I was hoping for something more than softly-lit scenes of softly spoken words being whispered to one another by characters as they run their fingers over pieces of clothing or make brushstrokes on a canvas.  Rather than artfully tell a story, this film reeks of desperation to win awards moreso than any other film I've seen in a long time which in part would be acceptable if it was any good which The Danish Girl is certainly not.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Ex Machina

Ex Machina (2015)

Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac

Directed by Alex Garland

It's always special when a movie really makes you ponder things while watching and Ex Machina does just that as I found myself questioning whether technology is advancing too rapidly for humans to really comprehend its effects on our culture.  Here, young computer whiz Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is chosen by his reclusive boss Nathan (Oscar Isaac) to come to his remote home to meet with him.  Unsure of the reason for the visit, Caleb soon discovers that Nathan would like him to test the effectiveness of a female A.I. he has created to see if it would be possible for her to pass as a human.  Through a series of tests over the course of a week, Caleb gets to know Ava (Alicia Vikander) who, despite a lack of skin over most of her body, seems to be reacting to his questions in incredibly humanistic ways.

The issue then raised -- and which is certainly the basis for much conflict within the film -- is whether or not Ava is too human in that she has the ability to manipulate real humans into believing everything she says.  Caleb finds himself confused by Ava's responses at times, and although Nathan feels fairly confident that he knows Ava's true being since he programmed her, Caleb begins to question his boss's motives and sanity as the days progress.

There's an overarching sense of uncomfortableness that pervades the atmosphere of Ex Machina, a film that isn't so much a thriller as it is a thinking man's horror film.  As I write this review right now, there is a legitimate news item circulating the web about the fear of man-created robots utilizing their artificial intelligence to wreak havoc on their creators.  Of course, the Terminator franchise treaded this water long ago, but Ex Machina ponders these same questions with a more science-minded thought process that I found absolutely intriguing.

The film is anchored by three fantastic performances by Gleeson, Isaac, and Vikander who essentially have the only three speaking roles in the piece.  Each character has its own distinct personality that the actors vividly capture with all three really grabbing hold of the hefty parts they've been written.  I found each member of the trio compelling in their own ways and as the film progresses I found their character arcs and changing mindsets to be believably portrayed.

In his debut film as a director, Alex Garland is exceedingly successful, crafting a film that while slow paced never feels plodding or as if it's overstaying its welcome.  Having also scripted the film, Garland doesn't shy away from the "talky" moments of exposition which admittedly on first glance seem a tiny bit tedious as the story unfolds.  However, I imagine on a repeat viewing (which I will likely give before next year's RyMickey Awards), the detailed dialog will come together with a little more purpose.  Garland also excels at making the film feels expensive despite a relatively low budget in its luxurious production design and nice special effects.

Overall, Ex Machina is a winner - a science fiction film that makes us question the lengths to which machine is helping man.  Are we overstepping our bounds and will technology do us more harm than good?

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

(Although I must admit that I'm awfully close to an A- on this one...it just felt a little too "talky" on the first watch.  I'm sure on repeat viewings this feeling dissipates, but I will have to wait until then to up the grade.)

Movie Review - A Royal Affair

A Royal Affair (2012)

Starring Alicia Vikander, Mads Mikkelson, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, and Trine Dyrholm

Directed by Nikolaj Arcel

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

Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards, Denmark's A Royal Affair depicts the true story of Caroline Matilda (played here by Alicia Vikander), a princess in Great Britain, who in 1766 at the age of fifteen leaves behind her family to travel to Denmark to marry Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard).  Immediately, Christian's odd mannerisms and likely mental illness cause Caroline to immediately dislike Christian and he certainly feels no affection for her.  Christian is essentially a lame duck, sitting on the throne, but the puppet of his royal court and his demanding mother (Trine Dyrholm).  Some of the king's advisors see potential for imparting their own beliefs into the Danish monarchy and German philosopher and physician Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelson) is seen as an ideal candidate to help start this "revolution" of sorts because he can act as Christian's doctor while also trying to espouse his at-the-time unimaginable tenets of free speech and rights for all people.

A perfectly acceptable film, A Royal Affair is adequately directed, acted, and written, and while it never really falls flat, it doesn't ever soar.  As the film proceeds, Struensee begins to fall for Caroline and she soon begins to return the affection, earning the film its name and causing the flick to veer slightly into melodramatic territory.  It's understandable why the two begin to fall in love -- Caroline was a very literate woman who was forced to leave that behind upon marrying Christian and Struensee is a very enlightened man with ideas and theories that fascinate her -- but it does become a bit drawn out in its romance.  Scenes where they sneak or kiss or just barely miss being seen by Christian feel like they're coming straight from a dime store romance novel.

Still, A Royal Affair is an intriguing piece of history that proves enjoyable to watch.  A little (or a lot of) trimming in the editing room would have helped, but if an historical drama is what you're in the mood for, you could certainly do worse.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+