Don't Look Up

Don't Look Up (2021)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Melanie Lynsky, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep

Directed by Adam McKay

Written by Adam McKay

Click here for my Letterboxd rating

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Still of the Night

Still of the Night (1982)

Starring Roy Scheider, Meryl Streep, Joe Grifasi, Sara Botsford, Josef Sommer, and Jessica Tandy

Directed by Robert Benton

Written by Robert Benton

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

Death Becomes Her

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Starring Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep, and Isabella Rossellini

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Written by Martin Donovan and David Koepp

Click here for my Letterboxd review

Click here for my original RyMickey Ramblings review

The RyMickey Rating: C

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

The Laundromat

The Laundromat (2019)

Starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, David Schwimmer, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeffrey Wright, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Nonso Anozie, Will Forte, Chris Parnell, James Cromwell, Melissa Rauch, Larry Wilmore, Robert Patrick, Rosalind Chao, and Sharon Stone

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Scott Z. Burns

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Starring Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, and Dick Van Dyke

Directed by Rob Marshall

Written by David Magee

Summary (in 500 words or less):  The iconic Mary Poppins returns to help Jane and Michael Banks save the family home on Cherry Tree Lane.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

The Post

The Post (2017)

Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Rhys, and Bruce Greenwood

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer

Summary (in 500 words or less): Washington Post owner Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep) -- the first female owner of a major newspaper -- and editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) are struggling to keep their paper afloat in the early 1970s.  The New York Times -- one of their major competitors -- breaks a huge story about multiple presidential administrations hiding information about the Vietnam War from the American public.  This classified info was admittedly stolen from the US government and the Nixon administration sues them to stop the release of any more info. Fortunately for the Washington Post, a secret informant drops that same information off to them and Graham and Bradlee are faced with the challenge of whether to publish the information or not.

• A true story, Spielberg's The Post feels a bit languid, slow, and plodding.  
• A good performance from Meryl Streep -- seriously, I keep wanting to not like her in things, but I can't -- balances out a less successful turn from Tom Hanks who, despite having some backstory given to his character, never really connected with me.
• Much like Hanks not connecting with me, the film itself didn't either.  Spielberg's direction felt a bit stiff and stolid, and while I liked the way the film looked and some camera angles here and there, it's just bland and unexciting.
• The script by Liz Hannah and John Singer thinks it cleverly is inserting subtle jabs at the current administration and praise of the #MeToo movement, but they're so blatantly displayed by Spielberg that it often proves to be laughable.  Particularly towards the end, the feminism angle is ridiculously displayed -- Streep's Graham leaves a Supreme Court hearing to find herself surrounded by cheering throngs of women as the music swells around her.  Ridiculous.  The film didn't need that -- we already saw what a strong and committed woman Graham was...we didn't need the silly visual.
• This may be a film that generationally simply doesn't work.  Perhaps the older crowd -- re: those around in the Vietnam War era -- may feel more connection and excitement with the unfolding story.  To me, however, I was left disappointed.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Florence Foster Jenkins

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

Starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Nina Arianda

Directed by Stephen Frears

Based on a true story from the 1940s, Florence Foster Jenkins tells the tale of its titular New York socialite (played by Meryl Streep) who has a great appreciation and fondness for classical music and opera.  On a whim and with the support of her husband and manager St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) Florence decides that she is going to showcase her operatic singing at a small recital for friends and other New York elite.  St. Clair hires an up-and-coming pianist Cosmé McMoon (Simon Helberg) to be Florence's accompanist and they begin preparing for the recital.  The problem, however, is that Florence can't sing...at all.  Her riches have allowed her to be trained by conductors of the Metropolitan Opera, but even these great musical minds can't mold Florence into a good singer.

The relationship between Florence and St. Clair is an unusual one.  Florence had been previously married and through that marriage contracted syphilis, so the couple have never consummated their marriage.  Because of this, despite being married, Florence and St. Clair don't live together with the two having an unspoken rule that St. Clair can see others.  Psychologically, this seemingly has an effect on St. Clair to be incredibly kind and generous to his wife, allowing her to act out her whims regardless of whether she really should, hence St. Clair's insistence that Florence be allowed to sing despite the fact that she simply is atrocious.

It's the admittedly odd connection between Meryl Streep's Florence and Hugh Grant's St. Clair that powers the film along.  There is obvious love conveyed for one another, but their unique living arrangements lead both parties to acquiesce to each other's whims.  This blind acceptance leads to quite a few humorous moments, particularly involving Simon Helberg as Florence's accompanist.  Helberg's Cosmé is seemingly only in the film to give reaction shots to Florence's truly horrible voice, but he does so with such aplomb that it's easy to overlook his underwritten character.  Hugh Grant is also charming -- as he is wont to be in films -- but this is really Meryl Streep's film.  Florence is certainly not as complicated a character as Streep as played in the past, but the actress imbues the character with heart, compassion, and a survivor-esque quality.  She's certainly captivating as always.

The film itself isn't quite as successful.  It's by no means bad, but in the end it's very much a throwaway.  There simply isn't a lot here.  Once we hear how awful Florence is, the comedic schtick runs a bit cold.  You can only hear a woman sing off-key so many times before you find yourself looking at your watch secretly urging the film to come to its conclusion.  Florence Foster Jenkins is amusing and lighthearted, but in the end, it's a bit empty.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review- Ricki and the Flash

Ricki and the Flash (2015)

Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Mamie Gummer, Audra McDonald, Sebastian Stan, Ben Platt, and Rick Springfield

Directed by Jonathan Demme

I wasn't expecting much from Ricki and the Flash and diminished expectations probably worked in the Jonathan Demme directed, Diablo Cody penned film's favor because, when you really dig into things, there's really not much substance in this one.  The story is incredibly simple -- aging bar room rock band singer Ricki (Meryl Streep) receives a call from her ex-husband (Kevin Kline) that their daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer) has just been left by her husband and has sunk into a horrible depression.  The California-living Ricki returns to Indiana and finds that her family harbors deep resentment for her leaving them behind, forcing Ricki to examine her past and think about changing her future.

That minimal story is nearly overtaken by what seems like eight to ten musical interludes sung by a raspy-voiced Streep whose character's acerbic tongue and edgy attitude are enjoyable.  It's not even that Streep is an awful singer -- she's fully embracing and embodying the aging rock chick persona -- it's just that the film thinks that it can build her character by having her sing U2 and Springsteen songs.  It just doesn't work that way.  In the story moments in which Ricki is dealing with her family, this film is successful, but it just doesn't have enough of them to really click completely.

It's also rather unfortunate that Ricki and the Flash delves into the realm of old people smoking pot for comedic effect which loyal readers will know is one of my least favorite cinematic tropes.  Quite frankly, there's not much I despise more in film than screenwriters stooping to a low level of having their older actors light up in an attempt to show how fun and carefree they can really be.  This alone knocks the grade down a notch or two -- please, please make this concept stop!

That said, as mentioned Streep is quite good here, taking on the comedic aspects of the flick with gusto and also proving to be perfectly believable up on a stage playing a guitar.  Her real-life daughter Mamie Gummer holds her own up against the Legend That Is Streep, but beyond the character of Ricki no one else in the film really has much to go with in terms of character development.  Everything in the flick is very "surface" and while the film is a comedy and doesn't need deep pathos, it definitely needs a little more bite and a little more story for everyone in which to sink their teeth.  As it stands now, Ricki and the Flash is decent -- and better than I could have expected -- but it left me wanting more because it has sparks of great potential that end up just amounting to ho-humness.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Suffragette

Suffragette (2015)

Starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, and Meryl Streep

Directed by Sarah Gavron

There are certain movies that seem made purely to garner awards attention.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes the "importance" of a piece can too highly overshadow a film's cinematic values and that's unfortunately the case with Suffragette, a film that never succeeded in bringing me into its story.  While it certainly tells an important tale as it deals with the British suffrage movement in the late 1910s, Suffragette suffers from relying too heavily on contrived predicaments in order to emphasize the struggles facing women a century ago.  While the heavy-handed plot lines our characters face may very well be based in reality and truth, when placed into a film setting, they can't help but feel piled on in order to achieve a desired emotional impact.

Carey Mulligan is, as always, doing excellent work as Maud Watts, a married laundry worker and mom of one who stumbles onto the suffragette movement one afternoon when she spots co-worker Violet (Anne-Marie Duff) tossing rocks into a store window in an attempt to have civil disobedience bring awareness to their cause.  However, as great as Mulligan is at taking us on her character's journey that begins with nonchalance towards the movement and ends with staunch advocacy on behalf of equality for voting rights, it is Maud who is inherently the film's problem.  A fictionalized character, screenwriter Abi Morgan piles heartbreak after heartbreak onto this women which, while once again may have truly happened to some in the 1910s, feels in a cinematic setting as an easy way to emotionally tug at audiences' heartstrings rather than resonate as realistic.

Morgan's script isn't helped by Sarah Gavron's pedestrian direction which, given the subject matter, fails to rouse the audience to join the cause in any way.  Weighed down in grays and browns with production design that always seems as if we're on a set rather than in a natural setting, Suffragette keeps the viewer at a distance rather than involving them in the plot despite its obvious intentions to do just the opposite.  While Gavron consistently gets good performances from key cast members -- including a nice turn from a subdued Helena Bonham Carter as a leader in the suffragette movement -- they're not enough to save this one from being a disappointment.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - The Giver

The Giver (2014)

Starring Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgård, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, Cameron Monaghan, and Taylor Swift

Directed by Philip Noyce

I never read The Giver growing up so despite the Lois Lowry book being a staple of many folks' youth, it held no revered place in my mind.  I thought that may help things given how the general public opinion of director Philip Noyce's adaptation was that of disappointment upon the film's release this summer.  Unfortunately, it didn't.  While visually appealing, The Giver fails to deliver anything new on a science fiction premise we've seen before.  (Granted, perhaps the novel The Giver gave us this premise first...but in the cinematic world, this movie feels like old news.)

The year is 2048 and following some horrific events, a community has decided to erase all memory of its inhabitants in an attempt to create a "perfect" city in which everyone lives peacefully together.  The experiment is seemingly working as sixteen year old Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is assigned his career at the annual graduation ceremony.  Jonas is deemed "special" and is granted the right to visit The Giver (Jeff Bridges), the only member of the community who retains the memories of the past.  These memories are utilized by the Giver to advise the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) to shape the community's actions.  Aging, however, the Giver begins to pass on his memories to Jonas who finds his community's robotic and sterile atmosphere disturbing and decides to do something to shake things up a bit.

Unfortunately, this "utopian" society thing feels so played out nowadays and The Giver comes at (one can only hope) the tail end of this sci-fi subgenre.  While visually appealing (director Philip Noyce begins the film is stark blacks, whites, and grays and only introduces colors as Jonas begins to receive memories), the film feels simplistic and childish at times.  It lacks the metaphorical messages that I assume it wished to espouse.  The young Thwaites is fine, but he's really quite emotionless and his character's romantic subplot with a young gal just weighs the film down with unneeded teenage angst.  Meryl Streep is okay, but certainly nothing special, and Jeff Bridges mumbles so incoherently at times that I felt like I wanted to put on the subtitles.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Into the Woods

Into the Woods (2014)

Starring James Corden, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Billy Magnussen, Mackenzie Mauzy, and Johnny Depp

Directed by Rob Marshall

Note: The Disney Discussion will return soon.  In its stead, a review of Disney's latest fairy tale musical -- in live action form this time around.

"Once upon a time in a far off kingdom, there lay a small village at the edge of the woods.  And in this village lived a young maiden, a carefree young lad, and a childless baker with his wife."  The opening line of Into the Woods sets up a broad view of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and playwright James Lapine's Broadway classic, but the film delves deeper into a world where some of the most well-known fairy tale characters interact with one another popping up into each others' familiar stories and creating some havoc.  Director Rob Marshall does a fantastic job allowing each character's storyline to shine, giving life to Sondheim's tricky lyrical melodies, and creating a film that flows effortlessly from one tale to another.

We have Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) whose evil stepmother (Christine Baranski) and nasty stepsisters (Tammy Blanchard and Lucy Punch) won't allow her to attend the Royal Ball of the Prince (Chris Pine).  Then there's Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) of Jack and the Beanstalk fame whose mother (Tracy Ullman) forces her son to sell his only friend -- Milky White, a cow -- in order to add to their measly income.  The third storyline deals with a Baker (James Corden) and His Wife (Emily Blunt) who have heretofore been unable to conceive a child.  They discover in the film's opening song, however, that the haggard and ugly Witch (Meryl Streep) has placed a spell on the Baker and His Wife which the couple can break if they bring her "the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold" before three midnights pass.  Add in Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), a giant, and a horny wolf (Johnny Depp) and you've got a menagerie of characters.

The Baker, His Wife, and their plight are the impetus of much of the film's plot as they weave in and out of the various other characters' story lines in order to retrieve the objects from their Witch-sponsored scavenger hunt.  The first half of the film generally follows the familiar fairy tales in their typical fashion, however, as the flick progresses, things start to take a dark turn with these tried and true characters forced to do things that we typically aren't used to seeing them have to undertake.  Ultimately, Sondheim and Lapine seem to be telling us that life can't always be a fairy tale, but we still have to face the good and bad times in the best way we know how.  Yes, these are fractured fairy tales, but they're interesting twists on classics.

Sondheim's songs aren't exactly hummable and with the exception of the title number, you may very well not remember any of them upon the film's conclusion.  However, that's not necessarily a bad thing.  The film is filled to the brim with singing and the numbers flow effortlessly into one another and that's certainly attributed to Sondheim's songs, Lapine's book/screenplay, and Rob Marshall's direction.  Marshall isn't exactly a prolific director, but this is certainly his best film since his Chicago debut.  The film appears richly atmospheric (kudos to the costume and production designers) and places its audience squarely in the titular woods.

Sondheim's lyrics are a tricky beast to wrap your tongue around, but the cast gamely takes on the task of giving life to his words (and his uniquely syncopated rhythms).  James Corden and Emily Blunt are charming, witty, and carry the film admirably.  Lilla Crawford and Daniel Hiddleston are exactly what their young characters need to be -- adventurous, yet longing for guidance.  Meryl Streep hardly ever delivers a bad performance and this is no exception.  Award worthy?  I'm not quite sure, but she doesn't disappoint in the slightest.  Two of the film's best moments, however, belong to Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine whose romantic relationship as Cinderella and her Prince isn't exactly the epitome of perfection.  As Cinderella flees the ball, time stands still and Kendrick sings a lovely tune about how she's unsure of what she wants for her life.  Pine also gets a similarly-themed number about longing, although his slimy, though utterly charismatic and charming Prince has quite a different spin on his wishes and desires.

I will admit that I was expecting to be a little let down by Into the Woods.  Musicals are tough sells sometimes, often feeling hokey or corny unless the right tone is set right at the film's open.  However, from the opening two minutes, I could tell that Marshall was giving us a piece that wasn't ashamed of the notion that it was a musical.  It embraced the genre and, in turn, is the best live action musical since The Muppets in 2011.

It should be noted that I've been holding off writing this review for over a week now.  This is one of those movies that I really liked, yet can't quite get comfortable with expressing my thoughts on it.  Don't let my bland review (which flows so disappointingly for my taste) discourage you from seeing this one.

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

Movie Review - The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady (2011)

Starring Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent

Directed by Phyllida Law

Much like last year's The King's Speech, I went into The Iron Lady thinking I was going to be bored learning about a piece of British history, but hoping that my qualms would be squashed.  Unlike The King's Speech which proved to be thoroughly entertaining and heart-warming, The Iron Lady is simply yawn-inducing and cold.  Please don't get me wrong here -- Meryl Streep is amazing as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  There's part of me that wanted to be able to come on this blog and type that Streep finally blew it and gave a crappy performance, but I'm really beginning to think this lady can do no wrong.  She is riveting.  It's the story crafted around her and the rather silly direction that drags this one down.  There was part of me that was hoping I'd at least feel a little loyalty towards the "character" of Margaret Thatcher onscreen seeing as how her conservative nature is something I lean towards politically, but when I'd already checked my watch ten times in the first forty minutes to see how much longer this flick was going to go on (and that's no exaggeration), I knew this simply wasn't working for me.

When the film opens, we see an aged Margaret Thatcher, retired from her political life, sitting at her kitchen table with her husband Denis (Jim Broadbent).  As she discusses an increase in the price of milk, it is revealed that Margaret is simply talking to herself.  Denis has died, but a senile Margaret can't seem to let go of her husband's presence.  As the troubled Margaret tries to deal with her husband's death, she remembers back upon her life from her humble beginnings as the daughter of a grocer to her rise to power in the Conservative party of Great Britain.  Unfortunately, those flashbacks lack any bite, leaving Thatcher much more two-dimensional than three.  Important moments in Thatcher's political career are seemingly glossed over rather than examined and debated.

Still, what saves The Iron Lady from being an all-out failure is Meryl Streep.  She loses herself in Thatcher and we forget that we're watching Ms. Streep.  Of course, kudos to the make-up department for making Ms. Streep utterly unrecognizable as an old woman, but beyond that, the woman has the ability to lose herself in these characters.  Even before that opening shot I describe above, we get an image of an elderly Margaret Thatcher walking along the streets of England.  From this moment as Streep slowly makes her way through the town, I was won over.  There's something about Streep's ability to pick up on the littlest nuances of people (the way elderly feet shuffle along the ground, for example) that amazes me.

Of course, Streep's performance doesn't save the movie from being a train wreck.  Well, a "train wreck" is probably the wrong terminology to use because you'd probably be morbidly fascinated with watching a train wreck whereas The Iron Lady does nothing but make you twiddle your thumbs out of ennui.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Death Becomes Her

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Starring Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, and Isabella Rossellini

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

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

Almost a real-life cartoon of sorts, Death Becomes Her is essentially a 90-minute catfight between two aging "frenemies" who will do whatever it takes stay as young and fresh as possible.  Director Robert Zemeckis creates an over-the-top atmosphere that never once feels "real"...but that's the point.  Absurdity is given free reign and Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn chew up the scenery with soap opera diva levels of overacting.  Unfortunately, this doesn't always work and the dark comedy finds itself with too many moments of awkward silences to be fully successful.

When the egotistical actress Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) steals away her good friend's fiancé, her old college pal Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) is sent into a downward spiral leading her into a life of overeating and obsessing over murdering Madeline.  However, things aren't going so well for Madeline either fourteen years later.  Her once well-revered plastic surgeon husband Ernest (Bruce Willis) has lost his license to practice medicine thanks to his tendency to down one too many alcoholic libations, and now he finds his gawky and nebbishy self making over folks who have died so that they look beautiful in their coffins.  In addition to her hubby troubles, Madeline can't help but find herself aging much more than she would like.  When attending a party for Helen's self-help book, Madeline discovers that Helen is looking younger and more voluptuous than ever sending Madeline into her own downward spiral.  Looking for any possible assistance in helping her age gracefully, Madeline finds herself on the front porch of the Gothic-looking abode of Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini), an incredibly sexy and sensuous witch of sorts who sells Madeline what essentially amounts to the Fountain of Youth in a bottle...which may or may not be a good thing in the grand scheme of life.

As is the case in nearly all of her films, Meryl Streep is a treat to watch.  As I've grown, I've come to admire her simply because she is solid at nearly every performance she undertakes.  Even as a comedienne and even with a role as broad and one-note as Madeline, Streep is fun to watch.  Goldie Hawn is fine, but considering that she's more well-known for comedy, the script doesn't give her nearly as much humor to work with as Streep.  Bruce Willis is solid and Isabella Rossellini is simply stunning. I remember watching this as a 12 or 13-year old boy and finding myself agog in multiple scenes where Ms. Rossellini shows as much as is allowed in a PG-13 rated film...she's still just as lovely to look at eighteen years later.

Filled with some decent special effects (which won this film the Oscar for Best Special FX), the corny cartoon atmosphere works some times, but by the film's end, the one-upmanship between Madeline and Helen upon which the film is based grows a bit tiresome.  The catfights are funny initially, but it's not quite enough to build an entire story upon.  

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The River Wild

The River Wild (1994)

Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, John C. Reilly, Joseph Mazzello, and David Strathairn

Directed by Curtis Hanson

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

I hate to overly praise Meryl Streep because I think, as of late, she puts herself in a movie and the viewing public and the Academy automatically think she should be granted an Oscar nomination.  But that fact of the matter is, Streep is a pretty darn good actress, able to capably perform in comedies, dramas, and, in the case of The River Wild, action flicks.

This 1994 film features Streep as Gail, a mother of two whose marriage to Tom (David Strathairn) is perhaps on its last legs.  For a summer vacation, Gail, Tom, and their oldest child Roarke (Joseph Mazzello of Jurassic Park fame) decide to take a river rapids journey in Idaho.  Gail was a former rafting instructor so she's familiar with the river so when the group comes across Wade (Kevin Bacon) and Terry (John C. Reilly), two seemingly bumbling fools stuck on the side of the river, Gail decides to help them make their way down the treacherous rapids.  Little does Gail know that Wade and Terry are more insidious than the river could ever be.

I saw this movie back when it came out and I remembered thinking it was okay, but for some reason or another, I felt like giving it another shot and I'm glad I did.  The River Wild is actually a pretty solid actioner.  It takes a little bit to get started and all of the characters are rather one-note, lacking any real nuances, but to give credit where credit is due, Meryl Streep carves a nice little performance out of what she's given to work with.  She's the reason this movie works as well as it does because she genuinely elevates her character to a different level simply by adding an interesting facial expression here or an uncomfortable laugh there.  She really is an impressive actress and even a movie like The River Wild shows this.

Kudos also to director Curtis Hanson for lensing some pretty exciting rafting scenes that made me kind of want to attempt white water rafting one of these days.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Manhattan

Manhattan (1979)

Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy, and Meryl Streep

Directed by Woody Allen
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

What a nice, pleasant surprise after a recent disappointing string of Woody Allen flicks that I've watched.  Go figure that Manhattan is apparently one of Allen's least favorite films he has directed.  I actually found this to be a wonderful visual love letter to New York that mixed in just enough of the staple Allen-isms (neurotic main character fascinated by the foolishness of the human race who pals around with literate chums, smart female roles, a classy score) to make me realize it's a Woody Allen film, but not hate it for those very same reasons.

Allen plays Isaac who is essentially the same character Woody Allen plays in every other movie.  Twice divorced and with his second wife (Meryl Streep) writing an exposé on their marriage, Isaac is currently in a relationship with seventeen year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway).  He loves her and she loves him, but Isaac realizes that there's probably no future for them.  [Oddly and uncomfortably enough, this May-December relationship (a premonition of sorts for Allen's real-life romance with Soon-Yi) is never looked upon with any scorn or disgust...it's simply set up as normal and okay.]  When out one night with his buddy Yale (Michael Murphy) and his wife, Yale tells Isaac that he is having an affair with a rather snooty writer Mary (Diane Keaton).  Although Isaac initially can't stand Mary, he eventually begins to fall in love with her causing confusion in his already frazzled brain.

To me, what makes this film stand out from other Woody Allen films are some of his directorial choices.  Moreso than in other movies, I felt like he allowed his camera to linger in scenes, allowing a very natural "you are there" feeling to many moments.  I also absolutely adored the interspersed big-city interstitial shots between scenes.  This also felt very un-Allen-esque who oftentimes doesn't tend to look at the "big picture."  Here, though, New York City is almost like another character and it's refreshing.  Plus, the film moves at a brisk pace, filled with nice comedic and dramatic moments and pretty great performances from Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, and Allen himself.

Although I haven't seen Annie Hall (Allen's supposed masterpiece) in ages, I might say that I liked Manhattan better than that one.  This is definitely one of Allen's better efforts and one that I'd imagine I'd watch again in the future.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - It's Complicated (2009)

It's Complicated (2009)

Starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and John Krasinski

Directed by Nancy Meyers

I'm going to quote my Adventureland review here for a moment (and let me tell you, that's something that I never thought I'd ever do):

Any movie where all the characters pretty much sit around and smoke pot all day never really does a thing for me. Life's so bad, let's smoke pot. Life's so boring, let's smoke pot. Let's smoke pot and giggle a lot.

Now, It's Complicated certainly isn't all about smoking pot, but there's an extended twenty-minute scene where Streep, Martin, and Baldwin's characters smoke some weed and act all kooky.  Let me just say that the "smoking pot to humorous effect" is a tired movie staple that isn't funny and always comes off incredibly forced to me.  If I never see this "scene" in any film again it'll be too soon.

That being said, the pot isn't really what It's Complicated focuses on in the slightest.  Instead, we get Jane (Streep) and Jake (Baldwin) as a divorced couple with three grown kids.  Jake has remarried a much younger woman, while Jane hasn't slept with anyone since their divorce (which leads to talks with her girlfriends about her vagina closing up which was as incredibly unappealing as it sounds).  At their son's college graduation in NYC, Jane and Jake sleep together.  And that's when things get complicated (aah...there's the title connection).  For, you see, Jane is actually enjoying being with Jake despite the fact that she has now turned into the mistress.  Jake's changed a bit...and they've both grown and matured.  But Jane remembers the past and perhaps sees a nice future with Adam (Martin), the nice divorced architect guy who's working on renovating her house.  What's Jane to do?

Honestly, the only problem with this movie lies in the story.  It doesn't feel like there's anything new being presented here and, in the end, it's really just not all that funny.  There were a couple times when I laughed out loud, but it felt like Jane's internal struggle went on for far too long.  Writer-director Nancy Meyers just can't seem to wrap things up quick enough and feels the need to drag things out.  I will say, though, that with the exception of the pot smoking scene, Jane, Jake, and Adam all felt like very real people.  They weren't caricatures or presented in over-the-top manners, so I will give credit to Meyers there.

But credit also must go to Meryl Streep, Steve Martin (who makes the most of his character who is essentially a boring old lump with zero personality), and Alec Baldwin.  Baldwin is really the one who comes off the best.  His Jake begins as a older ladies' man, but soon morphs into a guy who you genuinely are rooting for to win back his former wife.  He plays Jake with just a little bit of his trademark "30 Rock" Jack Donaghy mannerisms, but knows when to back off of them and play the nice guy.

And I've said it before, but Meryl Streep is...well, she's MERYL STREEP for a reason.  She's so goshdarn good in everything.  I try and try to dislike the woman, but when she's onscreen, she's really great.  Even in these throwaway roles (and this is certainly a throwaway "I need to make money" kind of role), she puts such soul into her characters that you can't help but admire what she does.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Featuring the voice talents of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, and Willem Dafoe
Directed by Wes Anderson

I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am that this movie lived up to all my expectations. I've been desperately trying to not get excited about this film, but from the first preview, I was in love with the look of this thing and I couldn't wait for its release. Unlike some flicks that have had kick-ass trailers this year and failed to live up to expectations (*cough*Where the Wild Things Are*cough*), Fantastic Mr. Fox lived up to and exceeded my hopes for this film.

Mr. Fox (Clooney) has become "domesticated" in his later years. Once a criminal known for breaking into chicken, turkey, and squab farms, his wife (Streep) convinced him to give up that life upon the birth of their child, Ash (Schwartzman). A few fox-years have passed and Mr. Fox, having somewhat of a mid-life crisis, decides to move his family out of the foxhole they reside in and into a tree that happens to face the factories of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, who specialize in raising poultry and making alcoholic apple cider. Mr. Fox's old "wild animal" tendencies arise again and he decides to tackle one last caper. Little does he know that the three factory owners decide to join forces to fight back against the fox and his animal friends.

Quite simply, this film is a joy to watch. The stop-motion animation here is exquisite. I'm a big animation buff and this has got to be the best-looking stop motion animation I've seen on the big screen. The thing that's really neat about it is that it looks totally old-school, bringing to mind the Rankin-Bass Christmas classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The stop-and-go style isn't seamless, but that's what makes it so darn cool to watch. The colors, character movements, costumes, and backdrops simply add to the stellar production.

The voice acting -- wow. Sure, you knew you were listening to George Clooney and Meryl Streep, but their subdued voices just fit with the tone of the movie so well. Particularly winning was Jason Schwartzman as Mr. and Mrs. Fox's son, Ash. That character and his relationship with his fox cousin, Kristofferson (which is seriously the coolest name ever), was absolutely my favorite part of this movie.

No doubt the script has a quirky nature that may not appeal to all. It's certainly felt like a live-action Wes Anderson film that just happened to be animated. Granted, I've only seen two of Anderson's other works -- The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic -- but the flick certainly reminded me of those previous works, filled with odd characters and dry humor. As I mentioned above, the production design -- colors, set design, costumes -- was reminiscent of those two Anderson movies I've seen as well. I remember reading a ton of Roald Dahl when I was a kid and I loved all of his books. (Perhaps as one of my final books in my Book-a-Week Quest, I'll wind up reading one of his books again.) His style and tone certainly seems to fit Wes Anderson very well.

I find it much more difficult to write about movies that I love...I simply don't want to write about them, but instead just want to get back to the theater and watch them again. So, this may seem like a lack of enthusiasm, but whatever I say won't begin to convey my love for this movie.

The RyMickey Rating: A
(Finally! My first A of 2009!)

Movie Review - Julie & Julia (2009)

Starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, and Jane Lynch
Written and Directed by Nora Ephron

This is a movie that has four very good performances, but just can't seem to find itself. Telling both the story of how famous cook Julia Child (Meryl Streep) came to write her first cookbook and of how blogger Julie Powell (Amy Adams) trekked her way through all of the recipes in said Julia Child cookbook in a year, the movie just never picks up any steam and relies much too heavily on desperately trying to make comparisons between these two woman's lives. I was with the movie for the first 45 minutes to an hour, but then I just got bored with the same-old back and forth between these two women.

Despite my problems with the story, I really liked all four main actors here. Sure, Streep is simply copying Child's mannerisms and incredibly well-known voice, but I thought she did a great job. Child is certainly presented as kind of an egotistical, full-of-herself woman, but Streep sells the role. I'll be honest -- Streep made me smile multiple times during the movie simply by the way she looked at things or by a facial expression.

Amy Adams, on the other hand, is saddled with a role that's incredibly boring. I didn't give a damn about Julie Powell and her quest to do all these recipes. Adams is as cute (and, at times, hot) as could be, but Powell is a lost woman. She's trying to prove herself to someone, but in the end, I never really felt like she learned her lesson (which, if I'm being honest, I still don't quite know what this lesson was...that she can avoid procrastination?)

The two husbands -- Stanley Tucci as Child's and Chris Messina as Powell's -- were both good as well, although neither of them (Tucci in particular) really had moments that made them stand out. Nevertheless, both Tucci and Messina (who was so good in Away We Go) certainly were better than average in the simply average roles they were given.

So, here's the thing...I really think that all four of these performances were very good. On that basis, I think folks should see this one on video. However, my rating below is not going to make this flick fall into the "see it" category when I post my next "Year in Movies" post. So, rent it, but go into it not expecting a whole heckuva lot.

The RyMickey Rating: C-