Red Sparrow

Red Sparrow (2018)

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Irons

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Written by Justin Haythe

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Boy Erased

Boy Erased (2018)

Starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton, Joe Alwyn, Xavier Dolan, Troye Sivan, Britton Sear, Flea, Cherry Jones, and Russell Crowe

Directed by Joel Edgerton

Written by Joel Edgerton

Summary (in 500 words or less):  When Jared (Lucas Hedges) comes out to his parents after a semester at college, his preacher father (Russell Crowe) enrolls his son into a gay conversion program. 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

It Comes at Night

It Comes at Night (2017)

Starring Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Christopher Abbott, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., and Riley Keough

Directed by Trey Edward Shults

Written by Trey Edward Shults

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

Summary (in 500 words or less):  A contagious outbreak has seemingly wreaked havoc across the United States.  Paul (Joel Edgerton), his wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), and their teenage son Travis (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) have holed themselves up in a secluded house in the woods, venturing outside only when absolutely necessary.  When a stranger (Christopher Abbott) attempts to enter their house, Paul immediately doubts his intentions, but he eventually is won over and invites the stranger's wife (Riley Keough) and young son to stay with them.  Unfortunately, this kind gesture may end up being something Paul and Sarah will regret.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Jane Got a Gun

Jane Got a Gun (2016)

Starring Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor, and Noah Emmerich

Directed by Gavin O'Connor

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

Loyal readers of this blog may know that westerns are not my thing.  Color me surprised then that through the first act of Jane Got a Gun I was finding myself moderately intrigued with the tale of revenge set in the New Mexico territory in 1871.  Unfortunately, as is the case with most films of this genre, slowness rears its ugly head and the snail's pace of the proceedings hampers the enjoyment.

Jane (Natalie Portman) lives in a secluded house with her five year-old daughter.  After a long absence, her husband Ham (Noah Emmerich) returns home riddled with several bullet wounds inflicted by John Bishop (Ewan McGregor) and his "Bishop Boys" - a group to which Ham had once been a member - telling his wife that John is on the hunt for him and will inevitably be on his way to their house.  Jane enlists the help of her former fiancé Dan (Joel Edgerton) to help save her family whilst we learn the backstory of how Jane, Dan, and John Bishop have all connected in one way or another over the past seven years and just exactly why Jane feels the need to seek out revenge on Bishop and his men.

This film sat on the shelf for years, going through a laundry list of different directors and co-stars for Natalie Portman.  When it was finally released, it ended up being the Weinstein Company's lowest-grossing wide-release ever.  In short, Jane Got a Gun isn't as bad as that damning list would make it seem.  Unfortunately, the film never really rises to the promise that Natalie Portman brings to the table in a strong, stoic performance.  While the back-and-forth time-jumping slowly peels back the layers of Jane's backstory with her three aforementioned male co-stars, the ploy grows tiresome as the film progresses.  Additionally, director Gavin O'Connor stages the film's climatic conclusion in the dark of night, leading to poorly shot moments that are almost indecipherable.  It's a bit of a shame, really, because this started out showing promise before it dissolved into a typically dry, boring western like many of its ilk.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Midnight Special

Midnight Special (2016)

Starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Lieberher, Sam Shepard, and Adam Driver 

Directed by Jeff Nichols

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

I legitimately had no clue what I was getting into when I started Midnight Special.  Maybe I'd seen a trailer...maybe...but with the exception of knowing that it was directed by Jeff Nichols -- whose film oeuvre I find decent, yet slightly boring -- I really was coming into this blind.  By the time the credits rolled, Midnight Special lands in that same realm of Nichols' other films -- decent, yet slightly boring although it admittedly is a bit more ambitious in scope than Take Shelter, Mud, or Loving.

Honestly, I'm not going to summarize this one all that much.  I think the lack of knowledge concerning the storyline helped me become immersed much more than I would have otherwise.  Needless to say, the overall gist is that two men (Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton) have seemingly kidnapped a young boy named Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher) who may or may not possess some special powers or secret knowledge that multiple entities including the US government want.

The mix of science fiction, chase film, and family drama surprisingly meld together quite well with Nichols planting the viewer right into the action from the opening scene and gradually revealing the various layers of mystery as the story progresses.  Michael Shannon is surprisingly captivating in a role that requires a bit of heart rather than the typical scary intensity we see from him.  Jaeden Lieberher is also successful as the young boy who may be more than he seems.

Nichols takes his time to craft his characters and in doing so they prove to be fully developed.  He certainly excels in carving out an atmosphere for his economically lower-class characters to inhabit.  It's just unfortunate that his films oftentimes feel so slowly paced.  While a little more plot-driven than his other works, Nichols is still proving to be a director that meanders his way through things.  While I've yet to truly dislike anything he's brought to the screen in his young career thus far, I keep waiting to be blown away and I thought it might've happened with this one.  The first hour is tense and full of edge-of-your-seat moments.  Unfortunately, it devolves a bit in the second half where the pacing becomes a bit of a slog.  Still, Midnight Special is Jeff Nichols' best work yet and he's a director to keep an eye on in the future.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Loving

Loving (2016)

Starring Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Marton Csokas, Nick Kroll, and Michael Shannon

Directed by Jeff Nichols

Just because a movie tells an important true story doesn't necessarily mean it's good.  Unfortunately, that's the case with Loving which details the circumstances that led to the Supreme Court hearing Loving v. Virginia which ruled that interracial marriages were constitutional.  Director and screenwriter Jeff Nichols gets really nice subdued, lived-in performances from his leads, but the film is tediously numbing, embracing the "everything's slower in the South" mentality and failing to really create any momentum as it progresses.

"I'm pregnant" are the first words we hear as the film opens as Mildred Jeter (Ruth Negga), a young black woman, sits on a porch nervously waiting for a response from her boyfriend Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), a white man.  As a smile forms on Richard's face, the two decide to get married, but due to laws in Virginia where they currently reside, they must travel to Washington, D.C., to get a marriage license.  Even after they return to Virginia as husband and wife, Mildred and Richard have to walk on eggshells because the concept of an interracial romance was not looked upon kindly by those in their neighborhood.  Shortly following their wedding day, the couple is awoken in the middle of the night by a police raid on their house which sends both Richard and the pregnant Mildred to jail for sleeping in the same bed together.  Upon their release, they are tried in court and through a plea bargain set up by their lawyer, the couple are forced to leave Virginia in exchange for not facing any jail time.

Over the course of the rest of the film, we see how Mildred and Richard deal with their extradition from Virginia, being forced to leave their families behind and start anew on their own.  Eventually, after nearly a decade, the couple's case is tried before the Supreme Court, but the film doesn't focus on this aspect of their story as much as I'd expect.  The end result, as a matter of fact, feels oddly rushed and almost tacked on which seems a bit odd considering it's the impetus behind their story being told cinematically in the first place.  

The quiet nature of the film grows boring quickly, but Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton both give understated, yet powerful performances where more is told through their eyes and facial expressions than any actual words.  Both Negga and Edgerton have crafted characters that feel lived-in and natural to the 1950s/60s world they're inhabiting in the film.  The connection between the two of them feels credible and Negga in particular is captivating in the strong, yet subdued way she carries herself as Mildred.

The film itself, though, simply wallows in blandness.  Repetitive shots of bricklaying or car races or a laughably silly closing image of a rope hanging over a tree (that is used as a children's plaything but is obviously harkening to its similarity as a noose) feel unnecessary and unimportant to the plot.  There's an appreciation to the notion that Jeff Nichols focuses mainly on the couple rather than the important civil rights battle of their triumphant story, but the quiet nature of the piece almost creates a lack of compassion for these two because the film feels a need to be stoic and calm rather than a little passionate.  Loving is well-acted and it's certainly an interesting story, but in the end it's more likely to put you to sleep than elicit any other emotion.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Gift

The Gift (2015)

Starring Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, and Joel Edgerton

Directed by Joel Edgerton

The Gift is a rather unique flick.  Yes, it would certainly be classified as a "thriller," but rather than place emphasis on jump scares or classically "suspenseful" moments, writer and first-time director Joel Edgerton creates an atmosphere with an always building sense of foreboding, and while some may consider the ending a bit of a "letdown" in terms of a lack of stereotypical "Hollywood-style" confrontation, the film ends up feeling more realistic and therein scarier than most flicks of its ilk.

Married couple Simon and Robyn (Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall) have recently moved to Simon's old hometown for his new job.  While shopping for furniture for their new home, Simon runs into Gordo (Joel Edgerton), an old classmate of Simon's whom Robyn invites over for dinner.  Gordo is slightly off kilter in terms of having an odd personality that doesn't sit so well with Simon who becomes particularly distressed when Gordo brings a variety of gifts to them on multiple occasions seemingly in an attempt to simply hang out.  Simon ends up telling Gordo to essentially take a hike which doesn't sit so well with the former classmate who may have a reason to seek revenge on Simon for things from the past.

As mentioned, writer-director Edgerton does a nice job of building ever-increasing tension thanks to the various layers he peels back on the lives of Simon, Robyn, and Gordo.  With a film that is essentially a three-person dialog-driven piece (albeit with slow burn directorial flourishes thrown in thanks to the genre on display), Edgerton impressively weaves his story with the appropriate levels of dread and tautness.  Rebecca Hall and Edgerton himself come off the best with Bateman also solid.  The latter suffers a bit from the fact that he's playing a role we've seen him play before in that Simon is a bit of a slimy guy and while Bateman can play slimy guys well, it's seemingly de rigueur for him.  Still, all three actors play well off one another and help to create the necessary character twists and turns seem believable.

All these positives being said, however, The Gift misses the mark a bit in that it overstays its welcome a little too long.  I understand the slow burn mentality Edgerton was bringing to the party here, but there are a few scenes at the beginning and during the middle that I couldn't help but feel could've been trimmed without detriment to the overall storyline.  There's also a character issue that's been gnawing at me in the past few days that I can't quite get over.  Maybe I missed something in the story, but this particular "trait" is a bit to spoiler-y to reveal here -- I'll throw it into the comments if I remember but it has to do with things in Simon's past that are brought to life that strike me as a bit inconsistent with the story The Gift is trying to tell.  Still, Edgerton proves to be a deft director here and the film itself is a solid thriller.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Black Mass

Black Mass (2015)

Starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, David Harbour, Adam Scott, Julianne Nicholson, and Corey Stall

Directed by Scott Cooper

With an impressive cast, Black Mass is a solid mob pic that's impressively shot, but lacks a real riveting storyline.  That isn't to say that Black Mass is particularly boring, but it didn't quite lure me in as much as I wanted despite very good above- and below-the-line aspects.

Johnny Depp tackles the lead role in this true story as James "Whitey" Bulger, brother to state senator Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch) and also one of South Boston's nastiest and violent criminals from the 1970s through the 1990s.  Not only a crime boss, Whitey ends up being "recruited" by FBI agent (and childhood friend) John Connelly (Joel Edgerton) to be an informant, spilling beans on other crime gangs throughout Boston.  As the film details a variety of Whitey's crimes, we also witness his ability to twist things in his favor, most evident by the coercing of Agent Connelly into allowing crimes to be committed with the agent's knowledge.  This manipulation (to which Connelly knowingly acquiesces) makes up some of the best aspects of the film.

Much has been made of Johnny Depp's performance which finally brings the actor back to a serious role after many years of comedy, action, or Tim Burton-esque weirdness.  The praise is warranted with Depp pretty darn scary as the headstrong, violent, and downright nasty Bulger.  He's matched by a solid supporting cast none of which give a bad performance, but none of which can really hold a candle to the admittedly electric charisma Depp has onscreen even behind his character's somewhat harrowing make-up job.

While good, Black Mass never quite reaches levels of greatness.  There's a been there-done that quality that make the film feel not quite as unique as I'd have liked.  Director Scott Cooper does a solid job here, but the film feels as if it meanders a bit in the middle and its conclusion involving the uncovering of some of Agent Connelly's actions doesn't quite land as satisfyingly as expected.  Overall, it's a bit rote and by-the-book, and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just doesn't get me overly excited about the piece as a whole.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Wish You Were Here

Wish You Were Here (2013)

Starring Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Felicity Price, and Antony Starr

Directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith

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

Oh, what joy there is in discovering a little underseen gem of a film and being able to espouse its goodness to others.  Wish You Were Here is one such flick -- a taut, exciting mystery that I heartily recommend.

Steph (Teresa Palmer) and Jeremy (Antony Starr) are all set to travel to Cambodia for a relaxing getaway (with a slight amount of business thrown in for Jeremy).  Looking for a way to spend more time together, Steph invites her older sister Alice (Felicity Price) and her husband Dave (Joel Edgerton), hoping for some quality "sister" time before Alice gives birth to her third child.  While soaking up the sun in Cambodia, the quartet attend a party one evening in which they become intoxicated (or worse) and Jeremy ends up going missing.  Unable to locate him, Steph, Alice, and Dave return to Australia, carrying with them secrets that are gradually revealed as the film progresses.

While the story itself isn't necessarily new, co-writers Kieran Darcy-Smith (who also makes his feature debut directing here) and the aforementioned Felicity Price decide to let things unfold in a non-linear fashion.  While the initial bouncing around in time proves to be a bit disorienting, the debut screenwriters (who are also husband and wife) make a smart decision in the way they decide to tell their story -- just as the characters find themselves in a dizzying spiral caused by the loss of their friend, we in the audience are left a bit discombobulated as well and it's an interesting touch.

What makes the film really pop, however, are the performances of Edgerton and Price.  I'd never seen Ms. Price before in anything and I can only hope that she'll find herself branching out from Australian tv and into more films.  Price's role of Alice is a bit tricky as she's forced to often "react to" rather than
instigate situations.  However, her character's naivete is built out of love for both her husband and her sister and when she's forced to question the people for whom she cares deeply, her emotions are palpably wrenching at times.

Even in lukewarm films, Edgerton usually manages to make an impact.  Here, he plays a conflicted man with secrets that are weighing him down, literally causing him pain from carrying them.  Edgerton is given an interesting character to work with and he absolutely makes us feel for his nice guy thrown into a desperate situation.

In addition to getting great performances from his actors, director Darcy-Smith proves more than capable behind the lens, taking a tricky screenplay and making the pieces fit together effortlessly, slowly and constantly building tension until the film's final moments when the Australia present and the Cambodia past storylines combine.  Kudos all around (including some beautiful cinematography) for a fine piece of filmmaking.  Wish You Were Here is absolutely worthy of a stream from Netflix.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby (2013)

***viewed in 3D***
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgarton, Elizabeth Debicki, Jason Clarke, and Isla Fisher

Directed by Baz Luhrmann

The Great Gatsby is distinctly a Baz Luhrmann film and your initial like or dislike will largely hinge on your feelings towards the eclectic auteur.  I was a big fan of Romeo + Juliet upon its release in my junior year of high school, but a revisit in 2011 didn't sit so well with me.  Similarly, I was a huge admirer of Moulin Rouge upon its release simply for its unique take on the movie musical and I rewatched it last year certain that it would land in my Personal Canon, but that didn't come to fruition this time around.  (The less said about Australia the better.)  It's not that Lurhmann suddenly became an incompetent director in my eyes, it's simply that he is a bit of a one trick pony (similar to Quentin Tarantino in that respect).  He does what he does well, but when you already know what you're going to get with him, there aren't as many surprises around the corner.

This isn't to say that is take on The Great Gatsby doesn't provide a solid experience, but the quick cutting, bombastic music, and focus on "love" (all Luhrmann staples) overshadow the other aspects of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work.  And I say that as someone who finds Fitzgerald's so-called masterpiece a fine read, but nowhere near the perfection that others espouse it to be.  [I finished a re-read of the novel mere hours before I went to see the movie.]  To Luhrmann, Gatsby is nothing but a tragic love story between the title character (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his long lost love Daisy (Carey Mulligan), the Midwest gal he's been pining over for the decade since he headed off to war and had to leave her.  Any semblance of Fitzgerald's take on the decline of American morals is brushed aside solely to focus on a love story.  Granted, I will admit that upon reading Gatsby again, I was quite surprised how much the Gatsby/Daisy love story was made a focus in the novel, but Luhrmann trains his camera (and script) right in on it, failing to leave the confines of the lovers' embrace for an exceedingly long time in the film's middle act.

Much like the book, the film is told through the wide eyes of Nick Carraway, played here by Tobey Maguire in the same dorky, oddly reflective way Tobey Maguire plays every single role he's ever undertaken.  No one was more surprised than me to discover that Maguire is a perfect fit for the role.  I realize that may not be a universally accepted opinion -- in fact, I've heard much derision sent Maguire's way -- but having recently read the novel, Maguire totally embodied my vision of Carraway.  That isn't to say that the actor did anything overly ambitious or out of his comfort zone, but Carraway is a part the oftentimes dumbfounded-looking former Spiderman was made to play.

Joel Edgarton and Elizabeth Debicki also aptly personified my visions of, respectively, the womanizing Tom Buchanan and the cynical Jordan Baker.  In her first major film role, I found myself unable to take my eyes off of Ms. Debicki who captivated me despite her character's bitter edge.  Mr. Edgarton continues to be an actor to watch as of late.  I could see how some might find his portrayal of Tom as a bit of a caricature, but he perfectly exemplified the hypocritical arrogance and machismo that comes across in Fitzgerald's work.

If anything, the problem with The Great Gatsby is with Gatsby himself and his paramour Daisy.  DiCaprio plays Gatsby much more fey and weak than I expected.  Yes, I realize once he lays eyes on Daisy, he essentially becomes a child again, but even in moments where he is supposed to exude strength and charisma, I found him a bit empty.  In the novel, Gatsby was a character whom I found passionate about a great many things, but none of this vigor comes to the surface in the film.  There's part of me that wonders if Luhrmann pushed DiCaprio in this direction in order to make the title character more sympathetic and appealing to women -- but that probably just comes off sounding sexist.

Gatsby's counterpart, Daisy, has always been an enigma to me.  She spouts lines that don't make sense to me in the novel and don't make sense to me in the movie either.  I don't understand who this woman is and why Gatsby fell head over heels for her.  Carey Mulligan didn't help my confusion.  Her character's arc is one that doesn't feel fulfilling for me and the film does nothing to change that.

I say all this and I realize the review comes across a bit more bitter than I intended it to be.  For the most part, I enjoyed The Great Gatsby while I was watching it.  However, like Baz Luhrmann's previous films, it hasn't lingered as well in my mind as time passes.  There's something alluring and even invigorating when watching Gatsby (at least in the first and final acts...the less said about the love story-fueled lengthy middle act the better), but when you peel back the visual and aural cacophony, there sometimes isn't enough there.  Then again, there aren't many directors that do visual and aural cacophony with the punch and pizzazz Luhrmann brings to the table.  And for that, The Great Gatsby is worth a view.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Odd Life of Timothy Green

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)

Starring Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgarton, CJ Adams, Rosemarie DeWitt, David Morse, Dianne Wiest, Ron Livingston, and Common 

Directed by Peter Hedges

I am sometimes a sucker for sentimentality.  Movies that others may find too sweet or kind I can often find myself enjoying.  But I will admit that films that carry this overly nice sentiment are tricky and can easily veer off onto mind-numbingly mushy and saccharine paths that can't ever be corrected...and The Odd Life of Timothy Green takes a boatload of those unfortunate roads, all of which lead to dead ends.

When married couple Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgarton) are told that they have exhausted all medical methods to conceive, they find themselves deeply saddened by the news.  To try and get themselves out of their funk, they decide to allow themselves one final evening where they imagine what their child would've been like, place these "memories" in a box, and bury them in their garden.  Magically, in the middle of the night, a freak thunderstorm causes a lightning strike in their yard and as the couple wakes up, they discover that a ten year-old boy is in their home.  After much doubt, Cindy and Jim realize that this boy (whom they name Timothy) is actually a culmination of all their dreams of who their child would have been.  Despite the fact that Timothy (CJ Adams) has leaves growing out of his ankles, he's seemingly normal and helps the Greens become the family they've long desired to be.

Of course, since Timothy appeared magically, those leaves on his ankles must mean something -- and they certainly do.  As he helps people throughout the town of Stanleyville, his leaves begin to fall off.  When all his leaves are gone...well, let's just say the Greens will find themselves in a sad state once again.

Unfortunately, nothing works in this movie at all.  The performances from Garner, Edgarton, and Adams never find the right balance with each other and with the film overall.  While I didn't find myself wishing ill will on the couple, I never really found myself rooting for them either.  The townsfolk are all caricatures without a single unique vision for a character.  There's an awful subplot involving a girl with whom Timothy falls in love that I found embarrassingly bland and completely superfluous to the point of annoying.

I realize as I'm typing this that I'm not quite accurately describing my complete dislike for the film.  The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a movie that attempts to be sugary sweet and perhaps even strives to be reminiscent of a Jimmy Stewart Americana movie of the 1940s, but it really just fails miserably.  There's simply nothing to recommend about this movie.  Nothing at all.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Starring Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle, Reda Kateb, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, and James Gandolfini

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

It is an inevitability that people are going to compare director Kathryn Bigelow's Afghanistan and Pakistan-based Zero Dark Thirty with her fantastic Best Picture-winning Iraq-centric The Hurt Locker.  Whether that is a fair comparison or not, I'm not going to say, but Ms. Bigelow (and her reunited screenwriter Mark Boal) doesn't stretch much from her comfort zone of Middle Eastern-set war movies.  With such a powerful first glance at this landscape a few years ago, hopes were set high for Zero Dark Thirty and unfortunately it's simply not as good as her previous effort.

In my Hurt Locker review, I stated that the film contained "edge-of-your-seat excitement" and I know many would scoff at that remark thinking that the film actually moved at a rather slow pace.  Somehow, though, Bigelow managed to achieve great amounts of tension for me despite deliberately pacing the film.  In Zero Dark Thirty, the pacing is still slowly deliberate, but the tension simply isn't there.  Is it because we already know the result in that Osama bin Laden is killed?  I think that's part of the issue, but not the sole problem.

The film is slowly building for nearly two hours to the invasion of bin Laden's hideaway in Pakistan and while there are moments along the way that create tension, Bigelow isn't able to create a steady escalation which, in retrospect, almost makes the bin Laden raid (which is shown rather interestingly in an almost first person-"you are one of the soldiers" style of filmmaking) a bit of a letdown.  For the entirety of the movie, we watch as CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) fights her superiors on almost every step of the way in the hunt for the terrorist leader.  The movie is much more about the character of Maya and her struggles, and, to be quite honest, I never found myself caring about her.  It doesn't help that the script gives Chastain nothing to work with.  She's told to be averse to torture at first, but then slowly come around to embracing it.  She's told to look steadfast and resolute at all times.  She's told to be strong and not break down.  She's told to never waver in her desire to catch bin Laden and her belief that she is right in terms of his location.  Don't get me wrong -- I'm thrilled that this woman existed in real life (although I've read that "Maya" isn't based on any one specific person, but is an amalgamation of several), but I'm not quite sure this is a character to build a movie around.  The character is such a one-note figure only doing what the film's plot requires of her rather than actually having her own journey and I feel that this is another key reason why the film isn't quite a success.

Zero Dark Thirty isn't a bad film.  The story certainly kept me interested and despite my issues with the film, Bigelow is still a better director than most out there (and Mark Boal's screenplay is still a smart adult drama albeit with some problems).  Perhaps it's unfair to compare a film like this to Bigelow and Boal's earlier work, but as I said above, I think it's inevitable, and Zero Dark Thirty just comes out significantly below their fantastic collaboration in The Hurt Locker.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Warrior

Warrior (2011)

Starring Joel Edgarton, Tom Hardy, Jennifer Morrison, and Nick Nolte

Directed by Gavin O'Connor

Prior to watching Warrior, I knew absolutely nothing about the world of MMA -- Mixed Martial Arts -- a boxing/wrestling/karate-type sporting event in which two men enter a hexagonal ring and duke it out until one of them is either knocked out or admits defeat by tapping his hand on his opponent's body or the floor.  Perhaps wrongly, I felt that I would have no desire to witness this sporting event on film, but if I'm being honest, Warrior not only proved to be a better film than I imagined, but made me interested in a sport I heretofore couldn't have cared about in the slightest.

When Warrior came out, I chalked it up to being 2011's version of The Fighter...and it is.  That doesn't necessarily make it less worthy to be made into a film, but facts are facts and both films deal with a broken family that has surrounded themselves in the world of competitive fighting for decades.  They both feature a brother who's gone down the road of addiction -- in this film's case that role goes to Tom Hardy as Tommy Conlon -- and a brother who has things together -- here played by Joel Edgarton as Brendan Conlon.  Both films feature a parent who has pushed his kids hard and has been through tough times on their own although Warrior gives the parent -- Nick Nolte in an Oscar-nominated performance --  the added arc of being a recovering alcoholic himself.  When the two brothers who are both down on their luck in terms of money hear of a sixteen-man five million-dollar worldwide MMA battle, they both instantly want in and somehow (by the magic of the movies) they both succeed.  In the March Madness-like tournament bracket, the two brothers find themselves on opposite sides and is it really any surprise who the final two are going to be?

While Warrior is really a slightly watered-down version of The Fighter, it still manages to hold its own thanks to some solid performances from Edgarton and Hardy.  However, the film really shines thanks to some incredibly intense fight scenes.  Director Gavin O'Connor also directed the hockey flick Miracle and he has a keen eye in terms of building suspense when it comes to sports movies which often have a tendency to become sappy and overly "inspiring."  Here, we find ourselves right in the middle of the caged ring and it's a frightening place to be.

Yes, The Fighter is a better movie than Warrior, but not by much.  Both are worthy glimpses at the rough world of hand-to-hand sports combat and both are well worth your time.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Thing

The Thing (2011)

Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgarton, Eric Christian Olsen, and Ulrich Thomson 

Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.

I had seen the John Carpenter's original 1982 The Thing a few years ago and found it to be a perfectly acceptable monster movie.  This 2011 prequel falls again into that "perfectly acceptable" category and may have even ventured into the "good" realm had it not been bogged down by a rather ridiculous third act.

I must be honest here -- I didn't realize that I was watching a prequel at all and only discovered that information when I was looking up a bit of research for this review.  The reason I wasn't aware of that is because this movie is essentially telling the same plot of the original (or at least it seemed to be the same plot to this moviegoer who hadn't seen the original in years).  It's simple -- an alien life form wreaks havoc on a research crew in Antarctica.  There's really nothing else that needs to be said.  We're not reinventing the wheel here.  And that's perfectly fine.  There are some scares here and there -- too few, though -- and the acting is fine although all the characters end up blending together because they're given no discernible personalities.  (Although kudos to Mary Elizabeth Winstead for giving her scientist gal role a strong edge that proved to be compelling to watch.)

Unfortunately, unlike the original which knows what it sets out to be and is admittedly just an alien attack flick, this prequel foolishly (SPOILER ALERT) takes us onto the alien ship in the final act -- a plot point which feels incredibly forced and ultimately unnecessary since what happens on the ship is decidedly pointless in the long run.  (END SPOILERS)  This screeches the film to a halt at the exact point it should be ratcheting up the tension and ends things on a sour note to be sure.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom (2010)

Starring James Frecheville, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton, Ben Mendelsohn, and Jacki Weaver

Directed by David Michôd

While Animal Kingdom certainly wasn't off my radar (what with Jacki Weaver's Supporting Actress nod at this year's Oscars), I wasn't expecting to be completely riveted while watching it...but riveted I was.  This Australian modern-day crime drama slowly reveals its diabolical and surprising cards at just the right moments, creating an ominous tone throughout and proving that, along with 2010's release of the superb The Square, Australia is the new breeding ground for excellent thrillers.

Ultimately, I don't want to give much away here.  It's great to see this film unfold without knowing a whole lot, so I'll simply say what I knew going into it.  Seventeen year-old Josh Cody (James Frecheville) is left orphaned when his mother overdoses on heroin.  Not knowing where to turn, he calls his grandmother Janine (Jacki Weaver) whom he hasn't seen in years.  The outwardly pleasant Janine takes the teen into her home which she shares with her sons who all happen to be mixed up in various crimes, from robbing banks to selling drugs.  That's it.  That's all I knew...that's all you should know...now move this thing up towards the top of your Netflix queue.

First-time director David Michôd does a great job here.  Lensing his own screenplay, I was honestly amazed at how many times I was genuinely surprised by the direction the film veered.  And to keep things nervously tense for two hours is not an easy feat, but Michôd makes it seem like a piece of cake.

Of course, helping keep things interesting is Michôd's cadre of talented actors, including newcomer James Frecheville as Josh, who, much like the lead in the aforementioned The Square, plays things extremely solemn and gloomy, but manages to hold our attention nonetheless.  Couple his glumness with Jacki Weaver's exuberance (and the underlying sheer nastiness underneath the pleasant façade) and you've got a pretty nifty duo to watch.  But it would be a disservice not to direct your attention to the actors I list above underneath the title at the top of this post because everyone in this Australian crew is darn good.  Particular kudos to Ben Mendelsohn who managed to truly skeeve me out every time he came onscreen.

Despite a slight bit of a lag in the film's first act, Animal Kingdom is absolutely a must-see and one of the best films of 2010.  I doubt you'll be disappointed if you check it out.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-