Jesus of Nazareth

 Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

Starring Robert Powell, Olivia Hussey, Yorgo Voyagis, Anne Bancroft, Ernest Borgnine, Claudia Cardinale, Valentina Cortese, James Farentino, James Earl Jones, Stacy Keach, Tony Lo Bianco, James Mason, Ian McShane, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasance, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn, Fernando Rey, Ralph Richardson, Rod Steiger, Peter Ustinov, and Michael York

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Written by Anthony Burgess, Suso Cecchi d'Amico, and Franco Zeffirelli

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

The Last Full Measure

 The Last Full Measure (2020)

Starring Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, LisaGay Hamilton, Jeremy Irvine, Diane Ladd, Amy Madigan, and Bradley Whitford

Directed by Todd Robinson

Written by Todd Robinson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Knives Out

Knives Out (2019)

Starring Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer

Directed by Rian Johnson

Written by Rian Johnson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

The Man Who Invented Christmas

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

Starring Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, and Jonathan Pryce

Directed by Bharat Nalluri

Written by Susan Coyne

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

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

The Star

The Star (2017)

Featuring the vocal talents of Steven Yeun, Zachary Levi, Gina Rodriguez, Keegan-Michael Key, Aidy Bryant, Kelly Clarkson, Patricia Heaton, Anthony Anderson, Kristin Chenoweth, Tracy Morgan, Tyler Perry, Kris Kristofferson, Ving Rhames, Gabriel Iglesias, Christopher Plummer, and Oprah Winfrey

Directed by Timothy Reckart

Written by Carlos Kotkin

***This film is currently streaming via Netflix*** 

Summary (in 500 words or less):  An animated retelling of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ told through the eyes of a young donkey traveling to Bethlehem.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

All the Money in the World

All the Money in the World (2017)

Starring Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Charlie Plummer, and Romain Durais

Directed by Ridley Scott

Written by David Scarpa

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Sixteen year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) is the grandson of the richest man in the world.  When he is kidnapped by members of an Italian crime ring,  his captors demand a ransom of $17 million which his mother Gail (Michelle Williams) assumes will be paid by her former father-in-law (Christopher Plummer).  However, John Paul Getty refuses to part with any of his money, leading to a family face-off.

Undoubtedly an intriguing story anchored by a strong, emotional performance by Michelle Williams, <em>All the Money in the World</em> doesn't quite work in large part because of some pacing issues that hamper it.  

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+ 

Movie Review - Remember

Remember (2016)

Starring  Christopher Plummer, Bruno Ganz, Jürgen Prochnow, Heinz Lieven, Henry Czerny, Dean Norris, and Martin Landau

Directed by Atom Egoyen

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

A rather simplistic revenge drama steeped in historical intrigue anchored by an appropriately melancholy performance from Christopher Plummer, Remember proves intriguing.  While director Atom Egoyen's film is a bit episodic because of the nature of Benjamin August's screenplay, this unique tale is an interesting success.

From the moment they met each other in the nursing home, Zev Guttman (Plummer) and Max Rosenbaum (Martin Landau) recognized each other -- decades ago they had been in the same Jewish concentration camp together.  Having survived that ordeal, Zev and Max begin to formulate a plan to seek revenge on their block attendant Otto Wallisch who, after an extensive amount of research, they know emigrated to America under the alias Rudy Kurlander.  Following the death of his wife, Zev sets out to find Kurlander and kill him.  Unfortunately, Zev suffers from dementia and with his memory failing him, this proves to be a difficult task.  As he travels across the country meeting with a variety of Rudy Kurlanders in an attempt to find the man who wreaked havoc on the Guttman and Rosenbaum families (as well as innumerable others in the camp), Zev desperately tries to remember a past that is quickly fading from his mind.

The key to Remember is Christopher Plummer.  The 87 year-old actor is in nearly every scene of the film and Zev's deterioration is palpably sad to watch.  Story-wise, as mentioned, it's a bit of a stilted flick made of of chapter-like scenarios, but these similarly themed scenes build Zev's paranoia and emotional commitment to finding the man who harmed him long ago.  Interestingly, Remember is a Holocaust pic that is unlike any Holocaust pic I've ever seen.  The elderly vigilante angle in this serious drama is certainly unique and while the end cheapens the proceedings before it by a smidgen, Remember is one you should add to your queue and not forget to watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Forger

The Forger (2015)

Starring John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan, Abigail Spencer, Anson Mount, and Jennifer Ehle

Directed by Philip Martin

While I'd never find myself urging anyone to go rent The Forger, this little drama/heist flick isn't nearly as bad as its extremely minimal theatrical release indicates.  John Travolta is Raymond Cutter, a con man who strikes a deal with a criminal (Anson Mount) in order to get released early from prison so he can be with his son Will (Tye Sheridan) who has been diagnosed with an inoperable malignant brain tumor.  As a stipulation to his release, Raymond -- a talented artist -- must forge a painting by Monet and then take part in an operation to steal the original from a Boston library.

I will admit that as I typed out that summary, it almost seems a little laughable, formulaic, and overly melodramatic.  And perhaps The Forger is all those things, but I was surprised that I didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would.  (That's a ringing endorsement, huh?)  Travolta is fine throughout, but he comes alive in scenes involving the young Sheridan (also quite good) and the charismatic Christopher Plummer who plays Raymond's father.  The trio of actors make The Forger an enjoyable quick watch.  Now, is this little known film going to set the world on fire as a sleeper hit in years to come?  Not in the slightest, but should it perchance pop up on any streaming entity in the near future, believe me when I say you could do far worse.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Danny Collins

Danny Collins (2015)

Starring Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Jennifer Garner, Bobby Cannavale, and Christopher Plummer

Directed by Dan Fogelman
***This movie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime***

I hold absolutely no affinity towards Al Pacino, so I wasn't exactly jumping to see Danny Collins when it was released last spring.  Much to my surprise, this is one of those hidden gems that I love to uncover while making my way through a year's films.  Pacino is the title character, an aging rock star who still is living the wild lifestyle well into his golden years.  When his manager Frank (Christopher Plummer) surprises Danny with a personal letter from John Lennon that had been missing for decades, Danny suddenly has a change of heart thanks to Lennon's words.  He decides to clean himself up, stop his lucrative touring, and head to New Jersey to meet his estranged adult son Tom (Bobby Cannavale) for the first time.  Tom isn't exactly jumping at the chance to help Danny find peace with himself seeing as how he'd never met the man, but with the urging of his wife (Jennifer Garner) Tom begins to see that Danny may be a changed man.

Cliché?  You bet.  But writer-director Dan Fogelman (who also wrote the stellar Crazy Stupid Love and Tangled) has crafted such witty wordplay spouted by surprisingly well-rounded and gosh-darn likable characters that you can't help but have a smile on your face as you watch this.  Pacino is hugely entertaining bringing a cocky suaveness to Danny, but never taking him over the edge into prickishness.  Bobby Cannavale brings a surprising amount of heart to the film as his story gradually is revealed to be a bit more layered than initially believed.  Pacino and Cannavale share the film's final scene and it's so brilliantly and simplistically written by Fogelman that it will surely end up on my Top Scenes of the Year list.

Perhaps the best part of Danny Collins, though, is the witty repartee that occurs between Danny and the manager of the Hilton Hotel he's staying in while in New Jersey.  As Mary Sinclair, Annette Bening is irresistibly charming, yet resolute when standing her ground against Danny who has a slightly egotistical attitude in his air when he initially arrives.  As Mary and Danny banter back and forth, the chemistry between Pacino and Bening is palpable and extremely entertaining to watch.  While we viewers certainly have an idea of where this character duo may be heading, Fogelman doesn't necessarily take us down the expected path which was a pleasure to discover.  The cast is a huge key to the success of Danny Collins who take what may be a typical dramedy (with some admittedly clever dialog) and transform it into something more magical than could be expected.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Starring Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Robin Wright, and Stellan Skarsgård

Directed by David Fincher

Even though I watched the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo only a little over a year ago, I was rather surprised when I went back and looked at my original review because I don't remember liking it as much as I apparently did.  I think, unfortunately, the disappointments of the two subsequent Swedish flicks in the trilogy must have sullied my thoughts on the overall series because I certainly don't look back fondly on the saga as a whole.

That being said, David Fincher's remake falls into the category of "Completely Unnecessary."  It basically seems like a shot for shot retelling and although it's well acted and nice looking, I found myself bored since I'd seen this exact same story before.  Also, watching this tale unfold a second time made me realize that the three distinct storylines that the movie attempts to tell fail to combine and gel in a proper manner causing me to wonder why in the world they were told in the same movie to begin with.

I'm not going to rehash the summary here -- that can be found in the original review linked above -- except to say that this is a movie in search of which plot matters the most.  We've got shamed journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) who has just lost a libel suit brought on by a Swedish corporate bigwig. He wants to go into hiding, but he's hired by an elderly retired man named Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to discover what happened to his niece Harriet who went missing over forty years ago.  Henrik suspects that someone in his family is to blame and he wants Blomkvist to get to the bottom of things.

Meanwhile, we're introduced to the incredibly rough-around-the-edges Lisbeth Salandar (Rooney Mara) whose jet black hair, pale skin, and multiple piercings help her to hide a horrible past.  Lacking in any type of people skills, Lisbeth spends her days as a hired hand hacking computers and unearthing personal information for big companies -- sort of a modern day private eye.  Lisbeth also finds herself having to deal with the fact that she's a ward of the state -- I mentioned that "horrible past" that is coming back to haunt her despite her efforts -- and she's forced to report to a new and nasty legal guardian who proves to be a handful for the young woman.

Alone, these stories may have worked fine as their own film, but combining these tales -- Mikael's libel suit, the mystery of Henrik's missing niece, and Lisbeth's life -- ultimately doesn't work.  The missing girl storyline is the heart of the story and when that ends (in a rather unsatisfying way, I might add) and the film still goes on for another 35 minutes, you've got a major problem.  

Fortunately, what this movie has going for it is a very nice performance from Rooney Mara.  Despite seemingly lacking any type of emotion and appearing almost Aspergers-like, Mara imbues a rawness into Lisbeth that is exciting to watch despite the character's seemingly outwardly monotonous dryness.  It also helps that Daniel Craig is much better than his counterpart in the Swedish version of this film and gives Mara something to play off of once their characers meet nearly 100-plus minutes into the movie.

The acting is the ultimate reason to watch this American version rather than the Swedish original because Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig really do elevate this to a higher level.  David Fincher does a fine job directing, but this film is rather straightforward in terms of visuals.  If anything, though, Fincher should have been able to find a way to better edit this thing down and get to the true crux of the tale instead of allowing it to meander as much as it does.

Admittedly, had I seen this remake first, I very well may have given it a higher rating, but having seen the original and seeing that this unnecessary redo does very little to fix the problems its predecessor, I can't help but give this the lower rating that I give it below.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Beginners

Beginners (2011)

Starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, and Mary Page Keller

Directed by Mike Mills

After forty-four years of marriage, recently widowed seventy-five year old Hal (Christopher Plummer) reveals to his son Oliver (Ewan McGregor) that he is gay in the opening scenes of Beginners, a lovely film that has a few faults, but in the end is a charming ode to the relationship between fathers and sons.  Much like the title suggests, the film is all about new starts as Hal explores his rediscovered homosexuality which he had been repressing for decades and Oliver embarks on a new relationship with the cute as a button French aspiring actress Anna (Mélanie Laurent).

The film, directed and written by Mike Mills, jumps around in time and the two new beginnings mentioned above don't happen along the same time line.  However, because of this juxtaposition between the two storylines, a certain poignancy is achieved because the newly single Hal is also diagnosed with an inoperable form of lung cancer in the film's opening moments (I promise I'm not spoiling anything with that reveal).  Oliver falls for Anna only after his father has passed away and it causes him to react much differently to relationships than he did when his father was alive.  Thanks to his father's final years, Oliver finds himself much more a "live in the moment" type of guy than he ever was before and he finds himself reawakened much like his father was.

Unfortunately, the film falters a bit when dealing with Oliver and Anna's relationship.  I was along for the ride until about two-thirds of the way through when things change for the lovely couple and cracks begin to surface between the two.  The "problems" that the duo faced never seemed the least bit "real" and I couldn't help but feel like the screenwriter just pigeonholed conflict in the story for the sake of conflict.  It ends up being a rather large detriment to the film as it makes the serious final act of their story seem rather out-of-place with the whimsical charm of the first two-thirds.

That said, the viewer is treated to three very solid performances here.  Ewan McGregor is at his best, playing a lonely bachelor who we can't help but root to find love.  Once he does in the equally engaging and somehow plainly gorgeous Mélanie Laurent, we never want the two to part.  McGregor and Laurent have a palpable chemistry that exudes precisely the right tones one wants to experience in a newfound relationship.  With the exception of the aforementioned troubling moments in the final act of the film, their scenes together are played to near perfection.

Christopher Plummer is seemingly the man to beat for the Supporting Actor Oscar this year and while I'm not sure I'd go that far at this point, he's at the top of his game here.  Simply charming, he conveys a sense of excitement as he embarks on his late-in-life change of heart, while at the same time continuing to provide a fatherly sounding board for his forlorn son, making sure that Oliver knew that he never regretted for one instance the choices that he made to be his father.  When he gets his rather ominous medical diagnosis, it's all that more heartbreaking seeing as how he hasn't really lived his life to its fullest potential yet.

While Beginners was advertised as a piece about an old man discovering his homosexuality, the film is much more than that and is certainly worth checking out in anticipation of this busy upcoming awards season.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Starring Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Heath Ledger, Lily Cole, Verne Troyer, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell
Directed by Terry Gilliam

Without a doubt, this is one of the weirdest flicks of the year. Sometimes weird works (see here). Sometimes weird doesn't (see here). Parnassus falls into the latter category and I can't get back the two hours I spent with it.

The huge problem with the movie is that absolutely nothing that matters happens during the first hour. We are welcomed into the world of Dr. Parnassus (Plummer), an old "shaman-esque" guy who travels around in a gypsy wagon with his fifteen year-old daughter Valentina (Cole), her friend Anton, and midget Percy (Troyer). Together, they put on shows and pull people off the streets to venture into the mystic mirror where, on the other side, everyone's imaginations can become a reality. When traveling one night, the group finds a man hanging from the underside of a London bridge. The man (Ledger) seems to have lost his memory, but they enlist him to help them in their little magical street shows.

Of course, none of that is the crux of the story...despite the fact that it takes up over sixty minutes. The real story comes in hour two where we discover that Dr. Parnassus has made a deal with the devil (a genuinely creepy Tom Waits), and unless Parnassus can capture five souls before the devil does, the devil will get to steal Parnassus' daughter for his own.

The devil scheme is the real story...everything else is superfluous and unnecessary. The whole storyline with Ledger is extraneous. And it starts off quite uncomfortably. I'm actually quite shocked that our first glimpse of Ledger is of him hanging himself. Unfortunately, once you get past the initial shock, you realize that it's a shame this will be known as Ledger's last role...because he's really not very good here. He must've known he was in a flop.

When Ledger steps into the mirror, his visage changes into that of fellow actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, all of whom do a much more entertaining job than Ledger. When that trio is onscreen, the film actually becomes a little more enjoyable. They're simply not there enough to make a dent in the boredom.

When Verne Troyer (of Austin Powers fame) is the most entertaining person onscreen for the majority of your film, your flick is in trouble (and, really, the only reason Troyer is a hoot is because they dress him in black-face and a wind-up monkey costume). This film is supposed to be fantastical and wondrous, but it's really just dreary and bleak.

The RyMickey Rating: D