Cyrano

Cyrano (2021) 

Starring Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., and Ben Mendelsohn

Directed by Joe Wright

Written by Erica Schmidt

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Hillbilly Elegy

 Hillbilly Elegy (2021 - Oscars 2020)

Starring Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Owen Asztalos, and Freida Pinto

Directed by Ron Howard

Written by Vanessa Taylor

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Thank You for Your Service

Thank You for Your Service (2017)

Starring Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale, Joe Cole, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Amy Schumer

Directed by Jason Hall

Written by Jason Hall

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Three soldiers return home after deployment in Iraq, all suffering different levels of PTSD, creating some problems in their home lives.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train (2016)

Starring Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramirez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Tate Taylor

When I first saw the trailer for The Girl on the Train, I felt a tinge of excitement.  Was this going to be another successful modern-day Hitchcockian thriller along the lines of the glorious Gone Girl?  I then proceeded to read the immensely successful book and realized that The Girl on the Train was unlikely to be a cinematic treat because the debut novel by Paula Hawkins was a bit of a bust.  Sure enough, the movie ends up being a bust as well, despite a solid performance from Emily Blunt as the titular character.

Blunt is Rachel Watson, an alcoholic divorcée who spends her days riding a train from the suburbs to New York City and back again.  The train passes by her old house which her husband Tom (Justin Theroux) now shares with his new wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson) and their baby.  Naturally, the train also passes by the house of Tom's neighbors, the Hipwells.  Scott and Megan (Luke Evans, Haley Bennett) seem like a happy, young couple, but one morning Rachel spots Megan on the porch in the embrace of another man.  Shortly thereafter, Rachel hears on the news that Megan has gone missing and, in her drunken haze, Rachel sets out to investigate.  Unfortunately for Rachel, she herself has no recollection of what she was doing the night Megan was last seen...and the police headed by Detective Riley (Allison Janney) seem to think Rachel may have something to do with Megan's disappearance.

The book was largely an internal piece with the story told through the inner monologues of both Rachel and Megan.  The film tries to tackle this with voiceovers, but voiceovers are always a tricky proposition in movies and having to base a large majority of your plot around them is a bit tiresome.  Emily Blunt is successful in creating the depressed Rachel and nicely embodies the character I envisioned whilst reading the book.  Unfortunately, the screenplay isn't any better than Paula Hawkins' novel with the culprit behind Megan's disappearance surprisingly obvious about halfway through in both iterations.  In the end, what good is a mystery if you can solve it at the midpoint?

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - The Hole

The Hole (2012)

Starring Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble, Bruce Dern, and Teri Polo

Directed by Joe Dante

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***
(There are currently two movies with this title streaming on Netflix.  Just be aware.)

While The Hole admittedly looks like something you'd see on ABC Family during it's 13 Days of Halloween festival (and it likely didn't have a whole lot bigger budget than those made-for-tv flicks), it's actually a rather enjoyable horror tale for the pre-teen set.  We're not dealing with blood and guts nor are we given substantial special effects to cause the scares.  Instead, we're dealing with noises and eerie music, but overall the film by Gremlins director Joe Dante succeeds at its goal of being an eerie film for the tween set.

When Dane (Chris Massoglia), his younger brother Lucas (Nathan Gamble), and their mom (Teri Polo) move to a rural town from NYC, the family hopes for a slower pace and a respite from big city life.  However, as Dane and Lucas explore their new home, they discover a giant hole in their basement locked up beneath a trap door.  With the help of their neighbor Julie (Haley Bennett), the three soon discover that by opening the hole, they've unleashed some type of evil and they must do whatever it takes to stop it from overtaking their lives.

Listen, The Hole isn't a movie that is going to be loved by everyone...and, in fact, it's not loved by me.  But I get that there is a very niche market of about ten to thirteen year-olds being its target and what is presented here is perfect for that age bracket.  Yes, I may have rolled my eyes at some of the dialog and I may have wished that Chris Massoglia was a better actor and I may have wished that the ending wasn't so hokey, but for this movie's target audience, I think it's ideal and that age group deserves to have a "horror" movie like this made for them.  Granted, it's just a slightly scarier version of an R.L. Stine Goosebumps tale, but it doesn't set out to be anything more than that.  If you're hanging out with a tween, this may be a more entertaining movie than the rating below implies.

The RyMickey Rating:  C