Hustle

 Hustle (2022)

Starring Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Juancho Hernangómez, and Robert Duvall

Directed by Jeremiah Zagler

Written by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Four Christmases

 Four Christmases (2008)

Starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakum, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Voight, and Sissy Spacek

Directed by Seth Gordon

Written by Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, Jon Lucas, and Scott Moore

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Widows

Widows (2018)

Starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Garret Dillahunt, Carrie Coon, Lukas Haas, Jacki Weaver, Robert Duvall, and Liam Neeson

Directed by Steve McQueen

Written by Gillian Flynn and Steve McQueen

Summary (in 500 words or less):  After their criminal husbands are killed while attempting to complete a robbery, their widowed wives are forced to contemplate committing a crime of their own when a shady man demands money their husbands owed him.

 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Judge

The Judge (2014)

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard, Leighton Meester, and Clint Howard 

Directed by David Dobkin

How anyone was expecting The Judge to be a prestige picture seeing as how the man behind the camera brought us flicks like Fred Claus, Shanghai Knights, The Change-Up, and Wedding Crashers is befuddling to me.  Pre-release Oscar buzz and snagging the opening film slot at the Toronto Film Festival upped The Judge's aire of importance.  Admittedly, if you walk into the flick with that mindset, disappointment may set in.  However, if you erase all that talk from your mind, The Judge is a decent paint-by-numbers tale about a family coming together at a difficult moment that surprisingly holds one's interest for (surprisingly brisk) nearly two-and-a-half hours.

When his mother passes away, hotshot Chicago defense attorney Hank Palmer (Robert Downey, Jr.) returns home to a podunk small town in Indiana to attend her funeral.  Estranged from his family having not visited home in years, Hank's return is greeted with disdain from his father Joseph (Robert Duvall) -- the two obviously having had issues in the past that pushed them apart.  After the funeral, Joseph -- the small town's respected judge -- goes out for a drive to clear his mind and the next morning Hank and his two brothers Glen and Dale (Vincent D'Onofrio and Jeremy Strong) discover that their father's car has been in some kind of accident -- a thought that is confirmed as the cops pull up to take Joseph in for questioning for the death of a cyclist who died in a hit and run the night before.  Later charged with murder, Joseph and Hank must attempt to work together to acquit Joseph of the crime, but their complicated past doesn't make things easy.

You know where The Judge is heading right off the bat and you know how it's going to get there.  Script- and dialog-wise, the screenwriters have crafted something that is so incredibly by-the-book, I feel like I could've written it.  Directorially-speaking, David Dobkin didn't do a single thing worth mentioning.  So, how in the world did I find myself maintaining interest in this work?

It all comes down to the very talented ensemble, all of whom elevate the lackluster elements above into something that is able to hold interest.  Admittedly, Robert Downey, Jr., isn't doing anything we haven't seen him do before -- make smart-ass Tony Stark a lawyer and you've essentially got Hank Palmer.  Somehow, though, Downey's charm and humor captivate.  (And there's actually quite a bit of gentle humor which is surprising and welcoming.)  Robert Duvall isn't necessarily reinventing the wheel either, but his character's humility and heart play a nice counterpoint to his son's brashness.  We all know where the story's going to end up, but with Downey, Jr., and Duvall playing off one another, it becomes worth watching.  Add in some nice performances from Vincent D'Onofrio, Billy Bob Thornton (as the prosecutor trying Joseph's case), and Vera Farmiga (as Hank's high school girlfriend) and you've got a cast worth watching.

I look back on The Judge and find many faults with it -- there are so many subplots that weigh down the script that it's almost laughable -- but I also remember it fondly.  There's a simplicity to the overarching story that we often don't see in films today and while some may find it clichéd or treacly, I found it a little bit ballsy in the midst of our crazed society.  It's the kind of movie Jimmy Stewart would've been starring in were Jimmy Stewart alive today -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Crazy Heart (2009)

Crazy Heart
Starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, and Robert Duvall
Directed by Scott Cooper

We've seen this story before. The plot summary is as simple as this: A washed-up singer has turned to booze, but happens to meet a new lady and tries to clean up his act to be with her. Crazy Heart is not above that cliché. In fact, there's not a single thing in this movie that feels the least bit "new" or "fresh."

Fortunately, Jeff Bridges' turn as the alcoholic has-been Bad Blake more than makes up for the paint-by-numbers storyline. Honestly, in the film's first few minutes, I was rolling my eyes. Bad (as he likes to be called) was simply like any other movie singer I'd seen portrayed -- he drinks, he smokes pot, he spouts profanities, he sleeps with his groupies. Somewhere around the twenty minute mark, love interest Maggie Gyllenhaal is introduced and while her news reporter character, Jean, is nothing we haven't seen before, Bad's reaction to her is what tips the scale in this film's favor. We've seen Bad with other women at this point, but Jean is something special, bringing out tenderness in him that adds that extra layer I was looking for in him. Bridges exudes kindness and warmth that was, admittedly, unexpected.

Bridges is onscreen in every scene and he ultimately won me over after a shaky start. He completely embodies Bad Blake and, while Bad's a walking stereotype, Bridges puts his whole heart into the role and none of it seems the least bit fake or forced. And his singing ain't too shabby either. [Now's a good a place as any to mention that the songs, while sounding slightly repetitive, were a perfect fit.]

This is a showcase for Bridges and that's it. The story isn't there. The direction is simple. Everybody else (from Gyllenhaal to Colin Farrell's younger aspiring country star to Duvall's guardian-angel-esque role) is simply on the sidelines watching Bridges do the heavy lifting. That's not to say that these side characters are lackluster -- in fact, it's the opposite. They certainly add to Bad's story. But in the end, this is about one guy, and while I wish there was a little more to the film, Bridges elevates it to a higher level.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - The Road (2009)

Starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron, and Guy Pearce
Directed by John Hillcoat

I read Cormac McCarthy's The Road last year and it really got me started on this "I should read more" kick. I truly enjoyed the book -- McCarthy created a tale about an apocalypse with heart. Unfortunately, it's the heart and compassion that really feels like it's missing from the film adaptation. It's not that the film in and of itself is bad -- in fact, it's quite a well-crafted movie all around -- it's just that the book's hopeful soul is nonexistent.

Somehow, Earth has fallen to shambles. The sun no longer shines. All life -- trees, animals -- has died. Ash constantly falls. Earthquakes are a common occurrence. The few human survivors hunt for whatever nutrition can sustain them...even if that means resorting to cannibalism. However, a nameless father (Mortensen) and his nameless son (Smit-McPhee) will not resort to eating their fellow man and instead are on a constant search for food, shelter, and safety.

That's it. That's the story. It's surely a simple premise as we watch the man and boy travel across barren wastelands having awful things happen to them in the process. They're traveling south seemingly because that's what the man's wife (Theron) told them to do before she died. It seems that the father's dreams of his wife are pushing him on this journey...that and his strong desire to not have anything bad happen to his son.

Yes, the film certainly depicts a father's love for his son and vice versa. But the heart and soul that were in the novel seemed to be missing. And it's not that it was Viggo Mortensen's fault. He, once again, proves that he's one of the great actors of our generation (seriously, everyone should watch his badassery in the flick Eastern Promises). The love and devotion for his son certainly come through. And as his son, the young Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the role with a child-like innocence that worked to a tee. To some, the son may seem too innocent for his own good -- but to me, even though he's seen some horrific things, his father's love has somehow shielded him from the world around him. Born after the apocalypse occurred, the son's never seen anything outside of what his father has shown him -- no tv, no movies, no radio. I can see how some would be annoyed with the soft-spoken son, but it seemed spot on to me.

And as far as that missing "heart" goes, it's definitely there in a scene where the father and son come across stockpile of food in an underground shelter. That scene -- the one happy moment in the movie -- had everything that I was looking for in this movie. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie didn't have that sense of hope for me.

I realize I'm probably not making a lot of sense with this one, but I'm gonna post it this way anyway (it's 3am...). Once again, it's not that this movie was bad...in fact, the story itself was a decent adaptation. Something was missing, though. Maybe in a day or two I'll realize what that "thing" was.

The RyMickey Rating: B