Mare of Easttown

 Mare of Easttown (2021)

Starring Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, David Denman, Guy Pearce, and Evan Peters

Directed by Craig Zobel

Written by Brad Ingelsby

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Togo

Togo (2019)

Starring Willem Dafoe and Julianne Nicholson

Directed by Ericson Core

Written by Tom Flynn

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

I, Tonya

I, Tonya (2017)

Starring Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson, Paul Walter Hauser, McKenna Grace, and Bobby Cannavale

Directed by Craig Gillespie

Written by Steven Rogers

***This film is currently streaming via Hulu***

Summary (in 500 words or less):  The story of Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) and her involvement in the attack on fellow figure skater Nancy Kerrigan told in a mock-documentary-style.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

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 - August: Osage County

August: Osage County (2013)

Starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper, Ewan McGregory, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Misty Upham, and Sam Shepard

Directed by John Wells

I must admit that I avoided August: Osage County in theaters because I had a disappointing experience with the Pulitzer Prize-winning play upon which the film is based.  Four years ago, I remember heading up to Philadelphia on my birthday excited to see both the Phillies play a day game (this was when they were still moderately good, whereas games now are sometimes greeted with exasperation when I have to go) and then go see August: Osage County on stage at night.  The play had garnered gushing rave reviews and won a slew of awards when it had played in New York City, so I told my family that it had to be good.  It wasn't (and my review reiterated this).  I was greeted with a three hour-and-twenty minute soap opera that seemingly kept trying to one-up itself with ridiculous "surprises."  Needless to say, this previous experience with playwright Tracy Letts' material didn't have me awaiting with bated breath his re-working of his own play for the silver screen.  Color me surprised then when I finally put the Blu-Ray into the player and discovered that Letts pared down his play by over an hour and created something that is still steeped in GREAT melodrama, but works a bit better on the screen than it did on the stage.

With a huge esteemed acting ensemble in tow, August: Osage County tells the story of the Weston family whose patriarch Beverly (Sam Shepard) has gone missing at the film's start.  Ailing matriarch Violet (Meryl Streep) calls her three daughters -- Barbara, Ivy, and Karen (Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson, and Juliette Lewis, respectively) -- back to their old Oklahoma home to help their cancer-stricken mother find their father.  Taking place almost entirely in and around their childhood home, the three daughters find themselves having to deal with their abrasive and over-medicated mother, her somewhat crazy, though lovable sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale), and their own significant others all of whom are creating trouble for their own personal lives.

This is a film that despite being nearly balanced in terms of the gender make-up of the cast is all about the women.  While Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Chris Cooper, and Benedict Cumberbatch may try to act like they're important, the core relationship this film is focusing upon is that of Violet and her three daughters and all four of the actresses portraying those characters hold their own.  Of course, Meryl Streep is quite good, playing the incredibly off-putting and sharp-tongued no-nonsense Violet.  In my opinion, however, she's upstaged by Julia Roberts who brings a quiet resilience and strength to Barbara, a character who, in my opinion, is just as much a lead as Violet despite the fact that the film and play may try and convince you otherwise.  Unfortunately (and this isn't Roberts' fault as I felt this was an issue in the theatrical production as well), the character of Barbara is a tiny bit flawed.  [Moderate Spoiler:  Tracy Letts attempts to make us feel that Barbara is "becoming" her mother in terms of personality, words, and actions, but I never was convinced of that.  Despite literally being told, "You're becoming our mother," Barbara is much more grounded than we ever see Violet and, I believe being the oldest daughter, she feels simply that she needs to smack a little bit of sense into her sisters considering that she's had her own troubles and doesn't want to see her siblings fall down a dark path.]

August: Osage County isn't a perfect film, but its flaws abound from the Pulitzer Prize-winning (for some reason) script.  This is absolutely a convoluted family soap opera -- epic almost in its laughable plot twists at times.  Still, thanks to a fantastic cast of actors -- not a single one of whom disappoints in the slightest -- they elevate this sometimes silly material and make us give a damn about this crazy Weston family.

The RyMickey Rating:  B