Let Him Go

 Let Him Go (2020)

Starring Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, and Lesley Manville

Directed by Thomas Bezucha

Written by Thomas Bezucha

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B+

The Bodyguard

 The Bodyguard (1992)

Starring Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Gary Kemp, Bill Cobbs, and Ralph Waite

Directed by Mick Jackson

Written by Lawrence Kasdan

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D

The Art of Racing in the Rain

 The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)

Starring Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, Kathy Baker, Martin Donovan, and Gary Cole

Featuring the vocal talent of Kevin Costner

Directed by Simon Curtis

Written by Mark Bomback

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Molly's Game

Molly's Game (2017)

Starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Bill Camp, and Brian D'arcy James

Directed by Aaron Sorkin

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Summary (in 500 words or less):  The true story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) who runs an underground poker ring after a failed Olympic mogul skiing career.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - Criminal

Criminal (2016)

Starring Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Eve, Gal Gadot, Michael Pitt, Jordi Mollà, and Ryan Reynolds

Directed by Ariel Vromen

***This film is currently streaming via HBO Now/GO***

Not that it matters to this reviewer at all, but for some reason I thought Criminal was a Ryan Reynolds-starring film.  Considering this was released shortly after the huge (unwarranted) success of Deadpool, perhaps the marketing did genuinely play up Reynolds' involvement, but let it be known that the actor is barely in this piece.  Reynolds is Bill Pope, an American CIA agent working in London who has recently been in contact with a hacker known as The Dutchman (Michael Pitt) who broke into a variety of computer programs and gained access to a slew of worldwide nuclear codes.  The Dutchman was working for Xavier Heimdahl (Jordi Mollà), an anarchist who, upon discovering the Dutchman's betrayal, sets out to find Pope and find out where the CIA agent is hiding the hacker.  Pope refuses to talk and Heimdahl has him killed.  (I promise, that's not really a spoiler as it happens within the first fifteen minutes of the film.)  London CIA head Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman), who is also unsure of the Dutchman's location, contacts Dr. Micah Franks (Tommy Lee Jones) who has been working on an experimental treatment for the government where he implants the memories of one individual into another.  Considering the risky operation, the CIA chooses a nasty convict, murderer Jericho Stewart (Kevin Costner), to test the treatment and, needless to say, Jericho doesn't necessarily follow orders when he's finally released from his isolated prison cell leading Agent Wells and his team to not only have to save the world from the Dutchman's boss, but also try and round up a criminal whom they've set loose in the city of London.

A long summary, yes, but the details at the start of Criminal are the most important...and frankly, the beginning is the only time this movie really works.  Sure, there's an obvious ludicrousness to the medical notions discussed, but it was at least moderately intriguing and slightly different which is more than can be said about the film's second two-thirds which devolve into a rote action chase film.  It's fun to see Kevin Costner as a bad guy -- albeit a bad guy with the memories of a good guy which sets up a slightly complicated character for Costner to sink his teeth into -- but the film Costner's Jericho Stewart is inhabiting is just too typical and ho hum to really become invested.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures (2016)

Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, and Mahershala Ali

Directed by Theodore Melfi

There's something so refreshing about the simplicity and basic nature of Hidden Figures and its engagingly pleasant and uplifting story that it's awfully tough not to enjoy director Theodore Melfi's film as it jauntily prances across the movie screen.  The great trio of black actresses at the film's center -- Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe -- do a fantastic job of sugarcoating the fact that the film's screenplay is riddled with one-note white supporting characters and its direction is full of clichés.  However, despite the lack of edginess and its rather elementary (and rudimentary at times) treatment of race relations in the 1960s, Hidden Figures is immensely enjoyable and held my attention as the true story of the three fascinating lead characters unfolded.

Hidden Figures succeeds not because it's got great direction or plot, but because it's a mainstream Hollywood film that capably tells an unknown true story headlined by three charismatic lead actresses.  At the forefront is Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Goble, a rather genius mathematician who worked for NASA at the Langley Research Center in Virginia.  After working in the segregated computer lab, Goble is called up to help the head of the Space Task Group Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) as his team attempts to launch an American into space.  Henson's Goble is an extremely intelligent woman, but she's also a caring mother to her three daughters who faces all the challenges thrown at her with perseverance ever after losing her husband a few years ago.  Henson is captivating at the center of the film, balancing heart and humor with ease.

Perhaps the bulk of the film's humor (and this is a surprisingly funny piece at times) is supplied by Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson, the requisite sassy gal who longs to get her Masters in Engineering but isn't allowed because of Virginia's segregation laws.  While not known for acting, Monáe has proven to be an intriguing newcomer in the field with her work here and in 2016's Moonlight.  She has a presence onscreen that emits strength and grace and she's someone I'm certainly going to pay attention to in the years to come.

The only actress Oscar-nominated for her role here is Octavia Spencer, who plays Dorothy Vaughn, the supervisor of the "colored" computer room.  Spencer is essentially playing the same role here that she played in her Oscar-winning turn in The Help, but she's admittedly good in that no-nonsense type role.  Here, Spencer takes on the motherly role with ease, but I honestly think she's the least impressive of the acting trio -- not saying that in a derogatory way, just in the fact that her role seems the most generic.

The three actresses make this film shine.  Unfortunately, some of what goes on around them proves disappointing.  Kirsten Dunst and Jim Parsons are given rote, been-there-seen-that roles as 1960s white folk seemingly opposed to integration only to have their eyes opened up when they see what other groups have to offer.  Their evil side-eyes and brusque mannerisms are so utterly stereotypical that it sometimes proves laughable as opposed to impactful which is a shame because I'm sure that these three real-life ladies faced some true opposition to their emergence in NASA.  Kevin Costner bucks the trend as Goble's superior, but it's a bit too little to help.

Director Theodore Melfi doesn't reinvent the wheel here in any way, but in the end, that's okay.  Hidden Figures was meant to be a crowd-pleaser, not a deeply innovative piece.  In that sense, it's entirely successful.  In the end, though, it lacks the gravitas or uniqueness to really make a cinematic impact, but the story of the three ladies at its center is certainly a worthwhile historical footnote to learn about.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - McFarland, USA

McFarland, USA (2015)

Starring Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Morgan Saylor, Carlos Pratts, Michael Aguero, Rafael Martinez, Ramiro Rodriguez, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar, and Johnny Ortiz

Directed by Niki Caro

McFarland, USA should have been nothing more than a stereotypical sports movie where a downtrodden coach comes to a down-on-their-luck team and turns things around.  We've seen this story before...many, many times.  Yet, thanks to a heartwarming performance from Kevin Costner, a well cast group of unknown actors as the McFarland High School track team, and a sentimental story that is somehow told without being overly treacly or sugary by director Niki Caro and a trio of screenwriters, McFarland, USA is a sleeper hit that hopefully more people will come to appreciate in years to come.

A true story, McFarland, USA doesn't reinvent any wheel, but what it does well is create an atmosphere of warmth and old-fashioned values that would brighten up even the cruelest of hearts.  Costner is Jim White, a Midwest high school football coach who gets fired after an understandable lapse in judgment causes him to do something he knows he shouldn't have done to one of his players.  Desperate for a job, Jim moves his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) and his two daughters to McFarland, California, a small town wherein the majority of the population is Latino.  With Jim and his family sticking out like sore thumbs, Jim finds himself not quite fitting in as the assistant football coach either and is soon relegated to teaching a gym class during which he notices that several of the students have an affinity towards running.  This being the 1980s, California high schools were just on the cusp of allowing cross country racing to be an option for their students and Jim convinces the McFarland High administration to give him a chance coaching a team.  Never easy, Jim and his students struggle both on the track and off as they all grow to become better individuals.

I have to think that part of the reason for the success of McFarland, USA for this blogger anyway is due to the fact that I was expecting nothing from the film whatsoever.  Lowered expectations (or, quite frankly, no expectations) certainly aided its upward trajectory for me.  However, the film is also pretty darn good.  Costner is a staple of sports movies, but here he's a considerate coach who genuinely cares about the well-being of his family and his students.  Coping with the notion that he is responsible for moving his family away from a huge Midwestern house in which they'd settled for years, Costner's White is gruff and angry, but there's a heart at his core that gradually reveals itself when he realizes that he's providing an outlet for underprivileged Latino students to find success.  Kudos also must go out to the group of actors playing those students, most of whom are making their theatrical debuts with this film.  Together, they manage to individualize their personalities in ways I wasn't expecting -- which is also a credit to a nice script and a director in Niki Caro who allows a variety of storylines to all get their due without ever making one feel less important than another.

There's a "basicness" to McFarland, USA that some viewers may not be able to take.  To me, though, this simplicity allows for the true story to really shine through, creating a film that emphasizes a culture we don't often see displayed in mainstream films while also making a movie that really appeals to all generations of viewers.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Black or White

Black or White (2014)

Starring Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Jillian Estell, Bill Burr, Mpho Koaho, André Holland, Jennifer Ehle, Paula Newsome, and Anthony Mackie

Directed by Mike Binder

While Black or White certainly isn't a deep introspective look at race relations in America, director and screenwriter Mike Binder's film surprisingly tackles multiple sides of the incessantly hot button topic.  Based on a true story, Kevin Costner is Elliot Anderson, grandfather to Eloise (Jillian Estell), a biracial young girl whose teenage mother died during childbirth and whose father is a drug addict and criminal who has had nothing to do with his daughter's life.  After Elliot's wife Carol (Jennifer Ehle) passes away, the custody of Eloise is brought into question by her paternal grandmother Rowena Jeffers (Octavia Spencer) who wonders if Elliot -- who has a tendency to drink -- is capable of raising his granddaughter on his own.

With the biracial Eloise caught in the crossfire, Black or White raises questions of culture and race with neither side coming out unscathed.  It's intriguing to see a film that doesn't shy away from both sides taking responsibility for actions rather than just playing the blame game.  There are moments on both sides of the race aisle here that were rather revealing and admittedly rang a little true.  Costner gives a good performance, but I'm still a bit unsold on Octavia Spencer who seems to be playing a very similar role here to her Oscar-winning turn in The Help (which placed in my Top Five Supporting Actresses in 2011).  There's been little stretching by her as of late (partly due to scripts that are stereotyping her a little) and I'd like to see a bit more from her in the future.

Admittedly, despite digging a little deep on the race issue, the overall story of Black or White rings a little generic.  The conclusion, which I thought may prove to be powerful, felt like a bit of a cop out.  Then again, this is based on some form of true story, so me calling it a cop out may be an unfair assessment, but cinematically, it disappointed.  However, the lead-up to the final act kept my interest more than enough to warrant this one a watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Draft Day

Draft Day (2014)

Starring Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Chadwick Boseman, Josh Pence, Sean Combs, and Ellen Burstyn
Directed by Ivan Reitman

I've never been a football guy and I likely never will be.  I've never gotten excited over who the Philadelphia Eagles choose in the annual NFL draft so the concept of a film revolving around this day didn't exactly scream fascinating to me.  The fact that Draft Day kept my interest is a feat unto itself and the notion that I found it somewhat enjoyable is nothing but surprising to me.

Kevin Costner is quite captivating as Sonny Weaver, the general manager for the floundering Cleveland Browns, who wakes up on draft day to his girlfriend and co-worker Ali (Jennifer Garner) telling him that she's pregnant.  As if draft day wasn't strenuous enough, now he's got this whopper in his back pocket all day (and, really, let's be honest, if Ali is the football fiend that her high-paying job at the Browns says she is, she should have known better than to reveal this big news on draft day).  Nevertheless, the claws are out for Sonny from the fans, the potential draftees, the coaches and players currently employed by the Browns, and the owner of the team (Frank Langella).  One wrong move and Sonny will seemingly be out of a job.

Draft Day works best when it places Sonny in moments where football decisions are front and center.  (No one is more surprised than me that I just wrote that sentence.)  Clouding his day with family problems -- the new fatherhood, his mother (Ellen Burstyn) attempting to make him feel guilty for forgetting about his dead father (and former Browns coach whom Sonny himself fired when the team failed) -- just bog the film down.  I guess part of me understand why these issues are present in an attempt to appeal to the masses, but the inner machinations of an NFL draft day are more than interesting enough.  Livelihoods are truly on the line and Draft Day does a pretty darn good job of making that evident.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - 3 Days to Kill

3 Days to Kill (2014)

Starring Kevin Costner, Hailee Steinfeld, Amber Heard, and Connie Nielsen

Directed by McG

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

3 Days to Kill has no clue what it is.  Is it an action movie in which an older, grizzled CIA officer discovers he has three months to live and sets out begrudgingly on one final mission?  Is it a family drama in which the aforementioned older, grizzled CIA officer tries to reconnect with his ex-wife and now teenaged daughter whom he abandoned for his job?  Or is a quirky comedy starring an older grizzled Kevin Costner as an older, grizzled CIA officer who can't figure out why his teenage daughter (Hailee Steinfeld) finds him so repugnant?  As the film attempts to meld all three of these varied plots, it becomes a muddled mess with none of the three story lines panning out in any desirable fashion.

Although I thought the flick started out promisingly with a moderately intense opening action scene, things quickly devolve from there.  Costner is actually decent and Steinfeld is charismatic although her character is much too much of a stereotypical jerk of a teenager to give a damn about her various plights.  The less said about Amber Heard as Costner's boss, the better -- her character is just so nebulously vague and odd that I never quite understood who she was or why she was told to act like some S&M vixen throughout.  McG's direction doesn't do any of the actors any favors, failing to find any rhythm in the dramatic and comedic scenes.  (He fares a tiny bit better in the film's action moments, but they're so few and far between that it doesn't much matter.)  This one's big ole waste of time.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

Starring Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, and Kenneth Branagh

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

I was hoping for some success for the reboot of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan character -- previously played onscreen by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck.  In Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, we see the title character in his infancy in the CIA.  Chris Pine, who previously successfully spearheaded the "rebirth" of the Star Trek franchise, heads the "begin again" here and while I still find him a surprisingly charismatic action star, this flick isn't quite as successful as his journeys with Captain Kirk and Spock.

The biggest issue with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is that the story isn't all that interesting for a movie that attempts to market itself as an action picture.  In the film's prologue, Ryan's Army helicopter is shot down over Afghanistan and after receiving therapy (and meeting his doctor wife played by Keira Knightley in the process) goes on to work at a prestigious stock brokerage on Wall Street.  Little does anyone else know that upon returning home from the war, Ryan was recruited by the CIA to work undercover in the banking industry to uncover crooked dealings from overseas bigwigs.  Ryan uncovers a big red flag concerning Russia and his boss Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) sends him to Moscow to investigate Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh) to figure out just what he's planning on doing with his shady financing.

And that's it.  An action movie about finances.  There are a few moments of tension and there's a long chase scene at the film's end that works but just feels out of place amidst everything else.  Kenneth Branagh proves once again (after the original Thor) that he's a solid director of action pics and I hope that the disappointing returns on this flick don't shy studios away from hiring him in the future.  Chris Pine and the rest of the cast all bring what they can to the table and they certainly keep the audience interested in the goings-on...the problem is that the goings-on just aren't that interesting in the first place.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Man of Steel

Man of Steel (2013)

Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, and Kevin Costner

Directed by Zach Snyder

To me, "Superman" has to come with a little bit of fun attached.  Maybe it's the fact that I grew up with the somewhat tongue in cheek Christopher Reeve version or the very tongue in cheek Lois and Clark tv series (a must-watch every Sunday night for me growing up), but Zach Snyder's Man of Steel was so über-serious that it sucked all the joy out of a fun character.  Granted, we never get to see the journalist "Clark Kent with Glasses" in this movie -- I assume that's being saved for the sequel if the film's final minutes are to be the fodder for what is to come -- and we're forced to endure yet again another origin story which are two factors leading to the lack of frivolity.  Seriously, do filmmakers not realize that these iconic characters don't need their early life stories told over and over again (I'm looking at you Spider-Man)?

After we're told how Superman makes it to Earth from his home planet of Krypton (therein setting up the villain's plotline as well -- which I'll discuss in a bit), we jump ahead in time about two decades and find that the US government is investigating some strange scientific readings in the Arctic.  Intrepid news reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is on the scene and does a little digging on her own one night, coming upon a Kryptonian space ship wherein she meets Superman (Henry Cavill) who was doing a little digging of his own trying to find his origin.  While on the ship thanks to some weird outer space science, Superman is able to "meet" the holographic image of his father (Russell Crowe) who tells him that Krypton's military commander General Zod (Michael Shannon) is hellbent on finding a way to Earth in order to take it over since Krypton was destroyed decades ago.  Although Superman flies away, Lois is intent on finding out who this man is and discovers that he grew up as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas, with a mother and father (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner) who raised him as their own after they discovered his spaceship in their barn.  Eventually, General Zod arrives on Earth and the ultimate showdown begins.

Although I'm certainly no expert on this, Man of Steel certainly feels like it must hold the record for most deaths in a movie.  Granted, we don't see many of these deaths, but during the nearly hour long battle between Superman and General Zod, huge swaths of cities are destroyed and one has to think that the casualties were astronomical.  During this lengthy tête-a-tête, boredom ultimately set in for this viewer.  I was along for the ride for a bit, but then director Snyder just seems to try and want to top himself over and over again with ludicrous one-upmanship.  It begins to wear thin particularly thanks to the drab color palette he conjures up for the piece.

With the exception of the over-zealous (and over-acting) Michael Shannon and his evil minions who chew up the scenery whenever they make an appearance, the acting helps Man of Steel achieve a naturalness that we admittedly don't see in Superman pieces.  Henry Cavill (with whom I'm really not at all familiar) has the down-to-earth All-American Clark Kent-ian vibe to him, but also carries the gravity of the strength of "Superman" quite well.  Although this film didn't really give him the opportunity, I also think he's got the sly comedic chops in him that are needed for the adult Clark Kent journalist role so that's certainly a plus.  Amy Adams brings an intelligence to Lois Lane that I hadn't seen before (sorry Teri Hatcher) and it is somewhat refreshing.  She's still much too intrepid of a character for her own good, but Adams doesn't play her as a damsel in distress (although she is often just that throughout the film).  Nice turns from Diane Lane and Kevin Costner round out the cast.

Man of Steel is decent, but much too dark and serious for its own good.  The Marvel universe has at least latched onto the fact that a little bit of humor has to be instilled into their films in order to poke fun at the ridiculous nature of some of the goings-on.  Man of Steel is just itching for that same dry humor and instead it languishes in a world that's devoid of any joy.  I'd look forward to a sequel out of Zach Snyder's hands, but he unfortunately appears to be back at the helm which doesn't bode well for things to come.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Company Men

The Company Men (2010)

Starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson, Rosemarie Dewitt, and Kevin Costner

Directed by John Wells

The Company Men is certainly a movie "for our times" as it weaves the tale of three corporate employees who lose their jobs due to downsizing.  While the flick may be entirely relevant in this period of high unemployment rates, it's simply not a very good story.  Its three main characters have the exact trajectories one would expect -- I had each of their resolutions pegged right at the get-go -- and writer-director John Wells isn't able to manage to keep things the least bit interesting.

Nursing a Boston accent that (considering his roots) surprisingly wavers, Ben Affleck is Bobby, "the young one" of the bunch who loses his white collar job when his company downsizes.  Finding it difficult to give up all he's had -- the country club membership, the Porsche, the fancy house -- he begins to have trouble supporting his family.  But Bobby isn't the only one who loses his job.  Fifty-something Phil (Chris Cooper) also gets the ax and it's blatantly evident from the very beginning that Phil's a guy that's not gonna handle things like this all that well.  The road he travels down is one that has been travelled by many a movie character and while it's believable, it's too obvious to come as a surprising turn of events.  Finally, Bobby and Phil's boss, Gene (Tommy Lee Jones) gets the boot, but finds that perhaps his firing may have been a blessing in disguise.

The biggest problem with The Company Men is that despite the fact that there could have been something quite substantive based on the subject manner, the film flounders in blandness.  The flick needs more bite and oomph, but instead Bobby, Phil, and Gene feel like simply "stock character types" pulled from some "Screenwriting 101" class.  There's a story to be told in grown men losing their jobs and being forced to reexamine their lives, but it's certainly not a story that's told well here.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - The War

The War (1994)

Starring Elijah Wood, Kevin Costner, Mare Winningham, and Lexi Randall

Directed by Jon Avnet

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

***Posted as part of the Elijah Wood Early 90s Mini Film Festival***

The unfortunate thing about this Elijah Wood Early 90s Mini Film Festival is that the films that made up this five day affair simply weren't all that good and 1994's The War does nothing to change that way of thinking.  However, what these films did prove is that Wood was a darn good child actor and although he sullied himself with the likes of Flipper following his appearance in The War, he has a stretch of movies in his youth for which he can be proud of his acting abilities.

It's 1970 in Mississippi and Stephen Simmons (Kevin Costner) has returned home from the Vietnam War with a Purple Heart and some severe post traumatic stress disorder.  Unable to hold down a job, Stephen is disappointed in his ability to help his family.  Still, Stephen's children Stu (Wood) and Lidia (Lexi Randall) love their dad despite the monetary struggles he's putting their mother (Mare Winningham) through.  Amidst the family toils, Stu and Lidia are finding themselves in their own war taking place in their backyard with the Lipnicki clan, a group of stereotypical redneckers who want nothing less than to ruin Stu and Lidia's summer and their plan to build the ultimate treehouse.  If you were guessing that there'd be some comparisons between the Vietnam War and this war over whether the Lipnickis or Simmonses own the treehouse, you'd be correct.

And that comparison is just one of the reasons the movie doesn't work.  It tries to bring "the war" to the homefront, but it just ends up being rather silly.  And it doesn't help that the Lipnicki kids who make up a huge part of the story are laughable caricatures of uncultured southerners.  Add in an underdeveloped and unnecessary racism subplot and The War is stretched too thin in terms of trying to seem "important."

But Elijah Wood and Kevin Costner help to elevate this to a decent level.  Costner is quite good as a dad under stress.  Had the film been simply about him and his family dealing with the aftereffects of Vietnam, there may have been something really special here.  Wood also provides the film with fine work.  He gets a chance to be silly and serious and was certainly coming into his own.  There's an obvious difference between Radio Flyer and this movie and his growth as an actor over those two years is nice to see.

The War is decently directed and shot and there's a nice musical score from Thomas Newman.  Unfortunately, it just doesn't really work since it tries too hard to be more important than its script allows it to be.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-