Little Women

Little Women (2019)

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

Directed by Greta Gerwig

Written by Greta Gerwig

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Isle of Dogs

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Featuring the vocal talents of Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Liev Schreiber, Kunichi Nomura, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDorman, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Yoko Ono, Courtney B. Vance, and Tilda Swinton

Directed by Wes Anderson

Written by Wes Anderson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - 20th Century Women

20th Century Women (2016)

Starring Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Lucas Jade Zumann, and Billy Crudup 

Directed by Mike Mills

***This films currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

Santa Barbara.  1979.  Fifteen year-old Jamie Fields (Lucas Jade Zumann) is in that awkward stage of a teenage boy's life where he's becoming more sexually cognizant of his surroundings, but he lacks a male role model to go to with any questions he may have.  He lives with his well-meaning mother Dorothea (Annette Bening) who rents out two rooms in her house to a twentysomething cancer survivor/budding photographer named Abbie (Greta Gerwig) and a fortysomething hippie carpenter/mechanic William (Billy Crudup) whose spare time is spent practicing yoga and other Zen-like things.  While Dorothea is a liberal, open-minded woman, she finds William a bit of a kook, so she asks Jamie's best friend, the sexually free Julie (Elle Fanning), and her boarder Abbie to help her help Jamie through these difficult stages of his pubescent years.

On the surface, 20th Century Women doesn't seem like much, but thanks to a rather brilliant ensemble of actors and a quick-witted and sharp script that creates characters and situations that feel legitimate and fully realized, the film by writer-director Mike Mills is one of the best of 2016.  At its heart is Annette Bening whose Dorothea could so easily have been turned into the "flower power"-type stereotypical California liberal, but instead is a wonderful balance between that laid-back West Coast demeanor mixed with a headstrong mother who wants the best for her son.  Bening deftly balances the humor and pathos necessary for her character and shines.  The rest of the ensemble also makes the most of Mills' screenplay by crafting likable, though flawed, characters who never once feel like caricatures.

While this review may be on the shorter side, don't mistake its brevity for a lack of appreciation for this fine film.  Seek out 20th Century Women as I don't think you'll regret the decision.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Jackie

Jackie (2016)

Starring Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, John Hurt, and Billy Crudup

Directed by Pablo Larraín

There's something immensely compelling about Jackie as it details the days immediately following President John F. Kennedy's assassination and how Jackie Kennedy deals with her husband's death, and yet, there's also something oddly boring about Pablo Larraín's film which caused me to close my eyes and fall into one of those quick head-snapping doze-offs more than once during the flick's short 95-minute duration.  This juxtaposition has me at odds as to how to rate the film, but in the end, the pros (including an exquisitely mannered and emotional performance by Natalie Portman as the title character) outweigh the cons.

Told in a series of flashbacks as Jackie speaks to a journalist (Billy Crudup) in the weeks shortly following the assassination, screenwriter Noah Oppenheim's film jumps back and forth in time within those flashbacks as we witness the First Lady's immediate reactions to her husband's death, her preparation for her husband's funeral as she fights her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard) over the political ramifications of the optics of her husband's funeral, and her grappling with her religious faith with her priest (John Hurt) in the aftermath of the horrific event afflicted upon her, her children, and her country.

Through it all and at the center of everything is Natalie Portman's performance as Jackie.  Her steely demeanor as Jackie emotes a strength that is admirable and creates an all the more emotional experience when the rigid exterior cracks when the beleaguered widow is finally able to break down behind closed doors and fully mourn her husband's death.  Director Larraín rarely strays away from Portman's face for more than a minute or two and this almost-claustrophobic atmosphere pulls the viewer in to Jackie's plight, latching on to her strength and viscerally reacting to her private emotional moments.  Portman is fantastic here and not just in a mimicry way -- in fact, I won't judge her in that way at all as I'm admittedly not overly familiar with Jackie Kennedy's mannerisms and vocal inflections.  She is the reason this film works.

As I said initially, the film is a bit of a tough go story-wise.  There's not much plot here and that does cause some issues in terms of pacing and holding one's interest.  Still, the visually appealing film -- the costumes, set design, and cinematography are beautiful -- is worth a watch if the notion of the story appeals to you in the slightest.  Granted, we may not know how "true" this piece is, but it still paints a vividly sad portrayal of grief and death that never once feels exploitative.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Mistress America

Mistress America (2015)

Starring Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Matthew Shear, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Heather Lind, Michael Chernus, Cindy Cheung, and Kathryn Erbe

Directed by Noah Baumbach

***This film is currently available on HBO Now***

I simultaneously enjoyed and hated Mistress America as director/co-writer Noah Baumbach's film unfolded.  Something about the flick's two main characters -- a young college student named Tracy (Lola Kirke) and her thirty year-old soon-to-be stepsister Brooke (Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the film) -- had me both intrigued and appalled by their emotions, actions, and views on life.  This dichotomy was pretty consistent for me throughout the flick, but somehow, by the time the film ended, I was pleasantly amused by the proceedings in this odd screwball comedy.

Tracy is finding college difficult -- not so much in her studies, but in trying to relate with others.  On the urging of her mother (Kathryn Erbe), she calls up Brooke in an attempt to connect with the older gal who will be her stepsister.  Upon meeting her, Tracy becomes a bit entranced with Brooke's carefree, eclectic, adventurous lifestyle and it opens up the college student's eyes on how she can live her life more freely.

While the characters of Tracy and Brooke are well thought-out and fully realized, they're not exactly people with whom I really connected which is where that simultaneous enjoyment and irksomeness came into play.  Brooke, as an example, carries an aire of undeserved superiority that while appealing to the fresh-faced Tracy screams nothing but obnoxious to anyone else.  As the film progresses, however, I began to realize that this was sort of the point.  Whereas initially lauded, once Brooke's real life begins to show itself, we see that this character is more of a heartbreaking one as opposed to a vivacious being.  The film rather cleverly keeps things lighthearted throughout, but by the time the second and third acts roll around, we realize that there are deeper characterizations under the surface.

Lola Kirke is charming as the doe-eyed college student and her centered performance carries the movie.  Greta Gerwig is essentially playing nearly every other character I've seen her play before, but she admittedly has a presence about her that's undeniably watchable despite the fact that her roles are sometimes indiscernible from one another.  Here, she takes a screenplay co-written by her and creates a character that at times is grating (once again, hence the dislike of the flick at certain moments), but harbors much sorrow underneath the buoyant surface.  I'm not quite sure the character learns her lesson in the end or that she changes all that much, but I guess that's not the way life rolls sometimes. In the end Mistress America is an immensely watchable flick that while I can't say I loved was amusing enough to warrant a look.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Frances Ha

Frances Ha (2013)

Starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Michael Zegen, Adam Driver, and Charlotte D'Amboise

Directed by Noah Baumbach

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

Reviewers are certainly telling me I should like Frances Ha, a black-and-white modern-day female-focused New York City-set Annie Hall-ish (or Manhattan-ish) take on our title character, a dancer struggling to make ends meet who lackadaisically sits around and talks about absolutely nothing that matters to her obnoxiously arrogant and self-important friends.  As you can likely tell by the tone of that run-on sentence, I'm not going to be fawning over Frances Ha.  Despite attempts by Greta Gerwig -- who co-wrote this film with director Noah Baumbach -- to charm the audience, I ultimately felt annoyed by her character's self-absorbtion...and I think that's the opposite reaction they were attempting to achieve.

Ultimately, Frances Ha has no story and what little story it does have isn't all that interesting because we don't really give a damn about anyone in it.  Admittedly, I summed the proceedings up in my initial sentence.  Frances is a dancer who's barely making ends meet and moves from friend's apartment to friend's apartment while she tries to get her life in order.  It's all well and good, but her friends aren't all that interesting and their conversations are even more boring.

Ugh.  Greta Gerwig tries and she has moments where she's captivating, but I can't help but think she's not an actress I'm going to enjoy.  This is movie #6 of hers that I've watched and I've yet to rank any of them as any better than average.  Frances Ha won't be the one to break that lackluster streak.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Damsels in Distress

Damsels in Distress (2012)

Starring Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Carrie MacLemore, and Adam Brody

Directed by Whit Stillman

Perhaps I formulated my Worst of 2012 list prematurely.  Quite frankly, I'm a little lost as to what Damsels in Distress is and what it's trying to be and that confusion is the only thing that's actually saving it from a bottom of the rung grade because it's at least made me think a tiny bit.  Greta Gerwig is Violet, a college student at the fictional Seven Oaks University, who is the head of the Suicide Prevention Center along with her buddies and roommates Heather (Carrie MacLemore) and Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke).  Violet's suicide prevention method: dance.  Get the depressed kids together to dance and euphoria will spread into their psyches.  As the school year begins, they meet incoming sophomore Lily (Analeigh Tipton) who ends up becoming their roommate, but who also questions the odd nature of these three gals who are disliked around much of the campus for their quirkiness.

And it's the "quirkiness" that fails Damsels in Distress.  There's not a single frame of this movie that rings true.  Dialog (and there is tons and tons of dialog) is forced and grating, oftentimes trying to be super-cutesy while seconds later trying to be deep (or at least that "college deep" where young adults think they're saying something important but are really just full of hot air).  Any story is essentially nonexistent.  The film even sets itself up into mini-vignettes that don't amount to much of anything by the film's end.

The only thing remotely saving this is that the cast was at least attempting to make this watchable.  Analeigh Tipton who I liked in Crazy Stupid Love is fine here as is Adam Brody (as a love interest for Violet and Lily), Carrie MacLemore, and Megalyn Echikunwoke.  Greta Gerwig was unfortunately tasked with an impossible role.  Violet from the outset is obnoxious and tediously boring and as a lead character she has no charisma.  There was little that Gerwig could do to help things along.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Lola Versus

Lola Versus (2012)

Starring Greta Gerwig, Joel Kinnaman, Zoe Lister-Jones, Hamish Linklater, Bill Pullman, and Debra Winger

Directed by Daryl Wein

Greta Gerwig is a fairly new face on the movie scene, but there's been a big push lately to have her be labeled the "Indie Girl of the Moment."  Although I haven't seen that many of her films, I do think there's an ease and naturalness to her and she excels at the self-doubting, insecure "brand" of comedy that she's tackled thus far.  She's certainly the best part of Lola Versus which seems like a film tailor-made for her (and maybe it was crafted with her mind), but the movie itself feels a bit stale.

Gerwig is Lola, a 29 year-old doctoral student working on her dissertation in literature while living in New York City with her long-time boyfriend Henry (Hamish Linklater).  When Henry proposes, Lola happily accepts and begins to plan out the wedding.  However, by the time the opening credits roll around, Henry is having cold feet and leaves Lola behind.  Devastated, Lola consoles herself by binge eating rice cakes, moping around her tiny apartment, and hanging out with her best friends Luke and Alice (Joel Kinneman and Zoe Lister-Jones).  Desiring some form of male connection, Lola begins to find herself becoming involved with best bud Luke, but when Henry realizes the error of his ways and tries to woo his ex-fianceé back, Lola finds herself in quite the predicament.

If that whole summary doesn't sound too thrilling, you'd be correct in making that assumption.  Here's this seemingly smart girl who feels that she "needs a man" in order to feel empowered.  Thirty minutes in, you just want the film to fast forward to the inevitable ending where, fueled by this newfound sense of "Girl Power," Lola realizes she doesn't need a man to have a fulfilling life.  Perhaps that last line should have come with some sort of "Spoiler Alert" warning, but the fact of the matter is that this film telegraphs its ending from its very opening moments.

Greta Gerwig certainly tries to bring some life to her character and she truly is the reason the film doesn't feel like a chore to sit through.  Nothing about the way she plays Lola feels "put on" or "fake" -- there's a genuineness that's charming.  But try as she might, Lola is a character we've seen before in many different incarnations.  The same can be said for the best friends played by Joel Kinneman and Zoe Lister-Jones.  Lister-Jones in particular is the stereotypical "sassy girlfriend" and while she's given a much more brash and sarcastic attitude, it just feels like an echo of any number of films that came before it.  And that's unfortunately the way the whole film plays out as its lack of originality proves to be its downfall.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - To Rome with Love

To Rome with Love (2012)

Starring Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Begnini, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Allison Pill, and Ellen Page

Directed by Woody Allen

There's part of me that's happy that Woody Allen somehow manages to still make a film a year.  [Trivia tidbit:  1981 is the last year he hasn't had a film released...that's a shocking feat.]  Even if his previous one was a clunker, producers still shell out the money for the 77-year-old auteur to write and direct.  Coming fresh off the heels of his biggest financial success in decades Midnight in Paris (a film which I didn't fawn over nearly as much as everyone else), Allen sticks with the European travelogue motif he's explored as of late jetting off to Italy in To Rome with Love.  Admittedly, I was a bit surprised that this venture is comprised of four completely separate shorter films that Allen edits by intercutting them scene by scene.  I initially thought the storylines would come together, but they don't.  Instead, it's four incredibly simple plots that happen to take place in Rome, but never once glorify it or paint the city in the same adoring light in which Allen viewed Paris in his last film.  And, rather unfortunately, none of the stories prove to be engaging enough to make you want Allen to head back to them as soon as he switches to another tale.

The film opens with Hayley (Allison Pill), an American visiting Rome alone, soon after graduating college.  When she gets lost one day, she asks an Italian hunk named Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti) for directions and the two immediately hit it off, finding themselves engaged after a very short time.  Hayley's parents Jerry and Phyllis (Woody Allen and Judy Davis) make the trek over to Italy to meet Michaelangelo and his folks.  Jerry was a former music executive and happens to hear Michelangelo's father Giancarlo (Italian opera singer Fabio Armilato) singing in the shower causing the American to concoct a crazy idea to make this singing funeral home owner into an overnight operatic sensation.

We then meet Leopoldo (Roberto Begnini) in his ho-hum, boring desk job.  He's got a wife and kids whom he loves, but he lives a life of very little excitement until one day out of the blue, Leopoldo begins to be followed around by paparazzi.  They track his every move and he becomes an instant celebrity throughout Italy.

There's also a newly married Italian couple Antonio and Milly (Alessandro Tiberi and Alessandra Mastronardi) traveling to the big city so the husband can try his hand at filmmaking with his inside-the-industry relatives.  However, when Milly leaves their hotel room to get her hair done, the voluptuous Anna (Penelope Cruz) arrives -- a prostitute who has been sent to Antonio's room by accident. When Antonio's relatives (who had never met his new one) barge into the room while Anna is beginning to work her magic on Antonio, the young Italian is forced to pretend that Anna is his wife, much to his chagrin.

Finally, there's another love story, this one involving Americans Jack and Sally (Jesse Eisenberg and Greta Gerwig) who are living in Rome while Sally attends college.  When Sally's friend Monica (Ellen Page) comes to visit from the States, Jack begins to fall for her despite his best efforts.  The supposedly funny bit here is that Jack seemingly has a sometimes-visible self conscious in the room with him in the form of Alec Baldwin who tries to steer Jack in the right and moral direction.

On their own, the individual films may have been cute for about ten minutes a piece, but each is unfortunately drawn out to seemingly interminable lengths.  While the film only runs two hours, all of the stories felt like they could have wrapped up much quicker and the movie would've worked a lot better with much trimming.  It isn't exactly helpful that the acting is simply okay with much of the talent (Eisenberg, Baldwin, Allen, Begnini, Page) simply playing characters we've seen them play before...in better movies.

So, despite the fact that Woody Allen continues to get the dough to make his films, maybe that money could be better spent elsewhere so Allen could take a little bit of a breather to better organize his thoughts.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Arthur

Arthur (2011)

Starring Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Geraldine James, and Jennifer Garner

Directed by Jason Winer

Having never seen the original somewhat beloved and Oscar-winning 1981 Arthur with Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli, I came into this with no preconceived notions.  To be honest, the only thing I really associated with the film was the cheesefest of a song by one of my father's favorites shlockmeister songwriters Christopher Cross.  I did know (as the previews for this 2011 re-telling made clear) that the film focuses on the titular character, Arthur, a booze-swilling rich guy who, as the aforementioned song says, "does as he pleases...but deep in his heart he's just a boy...showing himself a really good time laughing about the way they want him to be."

And, sure enough, that premise is pretty much spot on in the remake.  Arthur (Russell Brand) is a rich man-child who proves to be quite a handful for his mother Vivienne (Geraldine James) who, while running the billion dollar Bach Corporation, finds her son's crazy antics across New York City to be quite detrimental to her company and its investors.  In order to curb his shenanigans, she presents her son with an ultimatum -- either marry the up-and-coming businesswoman Susan (Jennifer Garner) who can then be next in line to run the company or be completely cut off from mommy's pocketbook.  Afraid to give up his lavish and outrageous lifestyle, Arthur agrees to the plan, but soon finds himself falling in love with Naomi (Greta Gerwig), a "normal girl" whom he meets on the streets while gallivanting one day.  The quasi-love triangle puts Arthur in quite a predicament.

All of the above is a perfectly acceptable storyline.  As a matter of fact, I thought the first hour of Arthur flew by, provided me with enough guffaws, and proved to be pleasant enough thanks to a surprisingly charming performance from Russell Brand.  However, the second hour delves into trying to get Arthur to "change" from a drunken oaf to a regular Joe Schmo.  And the problem is I didn't give a damn about Arthur's reform.  This guy's much more fun as a lewd drunk than he is as a serious guy.  Apparently the original recognized this to a certain degree as they left the awkward Alcoholics Anonymous bit, but this remake just falters when it forces Brand to try and act sane.

It's a shame, really, because I did find myself somewhat admiring Brand's performance here.  He manages to be both debonair and repulsive at the same time and that's not exactly an easy task.  Similarly, although Jennifer Garner and Greta Gerwig don't have much to work with as stereotypical opposite ends of the dating spectrum, they do well with what they're given.  And Helen Mirren as Arthur's nanny, even with her hair up in bun and clad in muted grays, is still a pretty darn attractive 66-year old lady.  And all of those performances make it rather disappointing that the film is fundamentally flawed in its attempt to change the attitude and mindset of the title character.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached (2011)

Starring Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Greta Gerwig, Lake Bell, Mindy Kaling, Ludacris, Jake Johnson, and Kevin Kline

Directed by Ivan Reitman

Sometimes chick flicks surprise me (example) and sometimes they're simply failures (example).  When one just falls in the middle as No Strings Attached does, it doesn't really register with me at all.  Sure, some may take offense to the term "chick flick," but I'm classifying this as one for the sole reason that I saw Ashton Kutcher's ass but did not see Natalie Portman's.  If that doesn't shout "chick flick," I don't know what does.

Nonetheless, this tale of a guy and a girl who decide to have sex together without getting emotionally attached doesn't bring a single thing new to the genre.  Sometimes that's okay, but you've at least got to utilize the typical rom-com characteristics to the best of your ability.  Here, there's some moderately funny "best buddy" roles (played by Greta Gerwig, Mindy Kaling, Ludacris, and Jake Johnson), but they serve zero purpose in advancing any key points in the plot.  They're there simply to dole out a funny line or two, and while they were humorous at times, they could have been left on the chopping room floor and no one would have noticed.

There's the staple of the funny parent -- Kevin Kline plays Kutcher's former celebrity pop.  Unfortunately, his role contains one of my biggest movie pet peeves -- Old People Smoking Pot For Comedic Effect.  I've said it before and I'll say it again to filmmakers across the world -- a mid-fifties adult smoking pot is not funny.

And then there's the inevitable splitting up of the romantic couple only to find some way to bring them together again.  I know that this is pretty much a standard plot device and it actually works better in this flick than in some others I've seen, but it's just something that's wearing thin on me lately.  Once again, this is a rom-com standard that will never cease and I don't fault this film for it, but its charm (if it ever was charming) is waning.

Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher are fine here, but neither of them are able to elevate the mediocre material to anything above average.  For Valentine's Day this year, just stay home and throw in Sleepless in Seattle or Love, Actually.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-