Movie Review - The Monster

The Monster (2016)

Starring Zoe Kazan, Ella Ballentine, and Scott Speedman

Directed by Bryan Bertino

An indie horror flick, The Monster has its moments (including one or two genuine jump scares), but there's just not quite enough story for the film to maintain momentum over the course of its ninety minutes.  The tense moments all carry the same type of fear so instead of creating different puzzle piece-like parts to create a unique whole, the repetition wears the scares thin, making the whole film rather one-note.

At the heart of The Monster (and perhaps a metaphorical interpretation of the title character) is Kathy (Zoe Kazan), an alcoholic young mother to ten year-old Lizzy (Ella Ballentine).  No longer with Lizzy's father (Scott Speedman), Kathy loads Lizzy into the car to take the several hours' drive so her daughter can spend time with her dad.  Unfortunately, on a secluded back road, Kathy crashes the car after hitting what appears to be a wolf.  While waiting for a tow truck, however, Kathy and Lizzy discover that they may not be alone on the highway as something horrific begins to stalk them in moonlit night.

Through a series of flashbacks -- which, frankly, are the best parts of the film -- we discover just how horrific of a parent Kathy truly is.  Obviously a young mother, Kathy never wanted to be parent and her actions since Lizzy's birth prove that nurturing is not a characteristic that comes easy for her.  Kazan is a bit scary, yet fully believable as an addicted mother who cares more about her next fix than her daughter's well-being.  These moments which shape Lizzy's discontent with her living situation are the best parts of the film.  Unfortunately, the "horror" aspects which dominate the picture fall flat for the most part and fail to build to anything substantially riveting.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - October Gale

October Gale (2015)

Starring Patricia Clarkson, Scott Speedman, and Tim Roth

Directed by Ruba Nadda

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

Despite a nice performance from Patricia Clarkson as Helen, a recent widow returning to her family's Canadian cabin following her husband's death there a year ago, October Gale is a film that doesn't achieve what it sets out to do.  Director and writer Ruba Nadda previously paired with Clarkson on 2010's Cairo Time, a film I admired and placed in my Top Fifteen of 2010 in addition to giving Clarkson a Top Five berth in my Lead Actress category that year.  Nadda definitely has an eye for lensing and creating well-rounded female characters, but in October Gale she attempts to tack on a "thriller" aspect that disappoints immensely which is a shame because there's certainly promise in this filmmaker's work.

Upon arrival at her lakeside cabin, Helen begins to clear out many of the things left there by her husband after he was killed in a boating accident the prior October.  Now, almost exactly a year later, during the middle of another brewing thunderstorm, a young man named Will (Scott Speedman) arrives on her doorstep, barely able to walk and with a bullet in his shoulder.  After taking care of him, Will reveals that he has been in jail for killing a man whom he had known for decades and considered to be his brother during a bar fight that got out of hand.  That man's father (Tim Roth) whom he considered to be his father as well is now hunting Will down, displeased with the prison sentence Will received and hungry for revenge.

During the film's first act, I appreciated Nadda's display of simplicity, taking her time developing the character of Helen, but as soon as Scott Speedman's Will shows up, things start to take a turn for the worse.  Through no fault of Speedman or Clarkson -- who pair nicely together in their scenes -- October Gale simply fails to create tension or suspense.  By the time Will's secrets are revealed and Tim Roth comes into the picture, I'd already lost interest.  This is an unfortunate misfire, but Ruba Nadda still has goodwill built from her previous effort so I'm willing to give her another shot when her next feature rolls around.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Out of the Dark

Out of the Dark (2015)

Starring Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman, Stephen Rea, and Pixie Davies

Directed by Lluís Quilez

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

Ugh... one of these days I'll realize that horror flicks with limited theatrical releases even if they contain actors I know -- Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman, and Stephen Rea, in this case -- just aren't worth my time...particularly if Netflix has picked up streaming capabilities.  Until that day comes when I recognize this problem that I sometimes have, I'll at least know that I'll have some films filling in the lower rungs of my annual rating system.  Out of the Dark is one of these very films that falls into the lower echelons of the RyMickey Ratings.

When Sarah and Paul Harriman (Stiles and Speedman) head to Colombia for a new job working at the manufacturing plant founded and headed by Sarah's father (Rea), they're expecting a refreshing change of pace from their everyday life.  However, their daughter Hannah (Pixie Davis) begins to start acting odd and the Harrimans soon realize that their house may very well be haunted by ghosts of Colombian children.

Sounds generic enough, right?  I could deal with generic.  The problem here is that director Lluís Quilez has crafted a film that is so utterly dark that I found myself literally unable to see what was going on in the film's purported "horror" moments.  That's a huge issue particularly in a horror film that gains its suspense from jump scares rather than a build-up of tension.  It doesn't help matters that the screenplay attempts to shoehorn environmental awareness into the plot to levels of epic failure.  With the actors left squandering in a listless and lifeless plot, Out of the Dark is truly one of the worst films of 2015.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - The Captive

The Captive (2014)

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Rosario Dawson, Scott Speedman, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand, Alexia Fast, and Bruce Greenwood

Directed by Atom Egoyan

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

The Captive is an odd movie.  From the opening scene, we know who the bad guy is since we see him keeping a teenage girl locked away in a room.  So the suspense of that aspect of Atom Egoyan's film is moot right from the get-go.  The question we find ourselves asking then is "Why has he kept this girl alive for eight years since kidnapping her?"

As Egoyan's film jumps around through time (to presumably keep things [unsuccessfully] suspenseful), we drift back to the day when young Cass was kidnapped out of her father's truck while he went in to buy a pie at a local Canadian diner.  Upon his return, Matthew (Ryan Reynolds) finds his daughter missing and his life turned upside down as his wife Tina (Mireille Enos) blames him for their daughter's disappearance and two cops (Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman) think Matthew is hiding something from them.

Of course, we know that Matthew isn't the culprit.  Instead it's Mika (Kevin Durand), a put-together soft-spoken weirdo of a guy who keeps the now teenage Cass (Alexia Fast) locked up in a room, providing for her whatever she needs in terms of food, clothing, and other leisure items.  As part of this weirdly sick game Mika is playing (which doesn't seem to involve any sexual favors with the teen), he places cameras at her mother's place of work so Cass can still connect with her and promises Cass that he will allow her to see her father again for a few brief minutes.  Even when Mika's motive for keeping Cass alive is revealed, it seems odd -- just as odd as the twisted and completely far-fetched and unbelievable game he's playing with Cass and her family.

I can't say I hated The Captive.  I did find that it kept my interest mostly throughout, but that was partly because it was so strange.  It helps that Egoyan's eye behind the camera keeps the drab Canadian landscape seem like an ominous character in and of itself.  Also, Ryan Reynolds is quite good here as the beleaguered dad, proving he really can stretch his dramatic muscles successfully if he so desires.  Rosario Dawson also gives one of her better performances, but her character is unfortunately drafted into one of the more ludicrous aspects of the plot -- and the one that the film tries to "hide" from us as long as possible thanks to the time twisting.  Atom Egoyan unfortunately makes films that I find myself always thinking have potential, but never deliver and The Captive really isn't an exception.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Good Neighbors

Good Neighbors (2011)

Starring Emily Hampshire, Scott Speedman, and Jay Baruchel

Directed by Jacob Tierney

***This movie is currently streaming on Netflix***

There's a serial killer loose in Québec and wheelchair-bound Spencer (Scott Speedman) and his neighbor Louise (Emily Hampshire) often spend their nights morbidly discussing the crimes.  When new tenant Victor (Jay Baruchel) moves in to the complex, he immediately feels a connection with Louise and he soon finds himself becoming involved in their conversations much to Spencer's chagrin.  As the dark comedy unfolds, it becomes clear that some people may not be whom they seem to be as hidden secrets are slowly revealed.

Good Neighbors is a pleasant enough watch that works mostly because of a few twists towards the end that I didn't see coming in the slightest.  Admittedly, I was rather alarmed at the beginning of the film because the first "twist" regarding the serial killer was obvious to me from the film's opening moments and if it was supposed to be a surprise, it failed miserably.  However, I'm not quite sure it was supposed to shock because the subsequent turns of the plot proved to be much more interesting and alarming.  Director-screenwriter Jacob Tierney initially makes us think the film is about the serial killer, but instead it's really about the reactions of the public to the fact that there's a killer roaming around the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce section of the Canadian province.

Emily Hampshire's Louise is an oddball who took a little bit of time for this viewer to warm up to, but once I did, I found her quite the amusing character.  A woman in love with her cats more than anything else in the world, her interactions with humans are short, curt, and almost Asperger-like in their awkwardness.  Despite that, Victor seemingly falls for her immediately and Jay Baruchel continues playing the same quirky neurotic that he portrays in everything.  Still, I like the guy and think he's darn good at playing that role.  Scott Speedman is perhaps the weak link of the trio, but that's only because his storyline is the one I found fault with which really isn't a problem of his.  

Good Neighbors isn't perfect, but it's an enjoyable dark comedy that drags a bit, but works for the most part and is worth an Instant Watch on Netflix if you're bored.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Adoration (2009)

Starring Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard, Devon Bostick, and Arsinée Khanjian
Directed by Atom Egoyan

I'll be completely honest here and say right off the bat that I'm not 100% sure what director Atom Egoyan was trying to say here. He's definitely tackling the notion of communication via the internet and how lies can much more rampantly be spread in this new technological age. But I think he's also touching on the fact that all religions can also spread lies just as easily as computers...discussing the notion that killing others in order to spread one's faith is intrinsically opposite to what 'faith' stands for. Granted, that idea isn't anything new...so, in the end, the film really isn't presenting anything we haven't heard before in that department which is why it doesn't pack as much of an emotional wallop as I hoped.

Teenager Simon's (Devon Bostick) parents died in a car accident when he was a young boy. He's living with his uncle Tom (Scott Speedman), but he's not exactly a happy kid. His French teacher, Sabine (Arsinée Khanjian), who also happens to be the school's drama teacher, presents him with an assignment to weave a twisted tale about his parents -- to "put on a show" stating that his father set his mother up to bomb a plane traveling to Israel without her knowledge. When the bomb doesn't go off, both his parents are accused of the terrorist act. Little does Simon know that this drama assignment will balloon out of proportion...and may change his attitude towards everything in his life.

There's a big flaw in the film in that I find it hard to believe that none of Simon's fellow students would have known a thing about his parents' true deaths in a car accident. There's a big deal made about the fact that Simon's uncle has desperately struggled to keep Simon in the home that he grew up in so that he wouldn't have to deal with moving around as a young kid. If that's the case, why wouldn't his fellow students -- his friends -- know about his parents' death? Since the whole film forms its basis around this "lie," it fails story-wise.

Still, it's an intriguing premise and a thought-provoking one (even if, as I stated above, it's not something "new"). With the exception of a godawful Rachel Blanchard as Simon's mother, all the actors bring some hefty emotion to the table. Scott Speedman (who I know from J.J Abrams' first tv show Felicity) and Arisinée Khanjian are the two standouts and their final confrontational scenes together proved quite suspenseful.

It's unfortunate that the film just doesn't click overall because there's something intriguing here, but it misses the mark.

The RyMickey Rating: C-