Movie Review - Room

Room (2015)

Starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, Tom McCamus, and William H. Macy

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson

The biggest compliment I can pay Room is that I wanted director Lenny Abrahamson's film to be Boyhood-levels of epicness in terms of length.  I found myself so incredibly enveloped and taken in by the story of the flick's two main characters that I didn't want to leave their journey.  When something like that happens in a movie theater, you know you're in for a treat and Room is a fascinating film that captivated me like no other I've seen from 2015.

I had such high expectations for Room simply based on its initial reviews and a broad concept of the story that I tried as hard as I could to stay away from learning anything about it prior to seeing the film -- and somehow I achieved that goal, not even watching a trailer for the film.  So, with that said, if you'd like to have as "pure" of an experience as me, perhaps you should stop reading now.  For those who wish to continue, be prepared for some gushing.

Told in essentially two acts, Room details the story of five year-old Jack (Jacob Tremblay) and his Ma (Brie Larson).  Jack and Ma (whom we later learn is named Joy) live in a ten-by-ten room, never glimpsing the outside world except for the sky through a small skylight.  As we wonder why these two people are stuck in this tiny place, Joy's story is gradually revealed and we come to understand that she was kidnapped as a teenager and has been held captive for seven years.  Jack has never once been outside Room (as he calls it) and his Ma has made up a variety of stories to tell him about how everything outside of Room is fake and their abode is the only thing that's real.  Every Sunday evening, Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) pays a visit, bringing Jack and Ma's weekly allotment of food, but Ma never lets Jack meet Old Nick, forcing Jack to go to bed behind doors in Wardrobe whenever he is due to arrive.  Needless to say, despite bringing them sustenance, Old Nick isn't a good guy and on Jack's fifth birthday, Joy begins to have the courage to contemplate an escape plan.

Imagine seeing the world for the first time -- quite frankly, we can't even begin to contemplate what the cacophony of sounds, the frenetically paced movement, and the sheer brightness of something as commonplace as sunlight would be like to us if we were seeing it for the first time.  So imagine how little five year-old Jack feels upon stepping outside Room for the first time.  Not only is he seeing the world for the first time, but he's also dealing with the fact that for five years, his mother has told him that Room is real, while outside Room is fake.  Pitch-perfectly portrayed by young Jacob Tremblay, we as adults are taken in by the nine year-old actor who is depicting the awe-inspiring, frightening, and bewildering emotions of his character with such precision and childlike innocence that it's a wonder this little guy hasn't been on the cinematic radar sooner.  The youthful zest for curiosity is ever-apparent in Jack, and Tremblay -- who is just as much a lead as his counterpart mother -- deserved to be recognized by the Oscars rather than be ridiculously overlooked.  (Admittedly, one of the reasons for this is that the film studio was marketing him as a supporting actor while he is very much the lead here which may have led to some split voting amongst Academy members unsure of which category in which to place him.)

Brie Larson popped onto my radar with the brilliant Short Term 12 -- my #2 movie of 2013 (it's streaming on Netflix so there's no excuse for not seeing it) -- and her choice of Room as her next "serious drama" was yet another reason this flick was on my Must See 2015 Movies.  Room is really a tale of two movies for the actress.  In the first half, despite obviously being deprived of the outside world, she exudes both a strong will for survival and a desperately loving demeanor to her son to whom she is his only source of communication, compassion, and contact.  By the time that second act rolls around, though, Larson is able to really run a gamut of believable and thought-provoking emotions -- some that I wasn't expecting despite all of them being perfectly legit.  Obviously, it was going to be a change of pace -- and a difficult one at that -- acclimating her son to the world outside of Room, but Joy never could have expected how difficult it would be for her to return home to her mother (Joan Allen) whom she hadn't seen since her teen years.  I found it utterly fascinating to see Larson's Joy almost revert back to her stubborn seventeen year-old self once the weightiness of the real world -- and the choices that led to her being captured and those she made while being captured -- began to reign down on her.

Larson in particular owes a huge part of her character's depth and intricate emotions to screenwriter Emma Donogue who is adapting her own novel (which I now cannot wait to get my hands on).  Donogue nails the tricky and tenuous emotional roller coaster for not only Larson and Tremblay's characters, but also for Joan Allen whose role as Joy's mother and Jake's grandmother is also a delicate balancing act.  Without ever feeling strained or cloying, Donogue's script is a riveting one, packed with heart, compassion, and gutsiness.

Director Lenny Abrahamson is not a name I am particularly familiar with and his one prior film I had seen -- Frank -- didn't quite gel.  Fortunately, everything comes together here brilliantly.  Not only does Abrahamson master the mother/son emotional relationship, but he proves that he's also a master of creating suspense thanks to the edge-of-your-seat nature of Jacob and Joy's escape from Room -- a ten minute sequence that runs the gamut of emotions from fear to joy to sadness to compassion.  Considering that the first hour of the film takes place entirely within the confines of Room, Abrahamson keeps the audience riveted and fascinated by the proceedings, and once we step outside of Room, the film doesn't lose any momentum.

A lot of times when I see a movie I really like, I hold off on writing my review as I'm not quite sure how I want to frame my thoughts.  With Room, it was the exact opposite.  I wanted to hash this one out as quickly as possible to get out "on paper" the emotional impact this flick had on me.  I can't recommend this one highly enough.  Get yourself to Room immediately -- I think I'll be heading back as well.  As I said in my first sentence of this review, this was a film I didn't want to end.  I wanted to find out more about all of the film's inhabitants as I rooted for them to find the happiness they so richly deserved.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Movie Review - Cake

Cake (2014)

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington, Mamie Gummer, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, and Chris Messina

Directed by Daniel Barnz

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

A little more darkly comic than I was expecting, Cake gives Jennifer Aniston a nice vehicle to showcase her dramatic chops (with tinges of humor), but surprisingly doesn't give her that "Oscar" moment for her to really make a huge impact.  Granted, that's not necessarily a bad thing -- the simplicity of the movie doesn't really call for that "Oscar Scene" to happen.  Still, the flick really fails on creating an emotional arc, with things feeling decidedly and disappointingly one-note.

Aniston is Claire Bennett, a woman in chronic pain struggling to cope with an horrific event from her past that fails to let her create a livable present.  With her life in shambles -- her husband (Chris Messina) has left her, a friend (Anna Kendrick) from her chronic pain support group has committed suicide, her anger causing issues with her group's leader (Felicity Huffman) and physical therapist (Mamie Gummer) -- the only person giving Claire any modicum of support is her housemaid Silvana (Adriana Barraza) who wishes nothing but the best for her employer, but is increasingly frustrated by Claire's reliance on pain medication to make it through day-to-day routines.

The best part of Cake is this relationship between Claire and Silvana, with both Aniston and Barraza playing off each other quite well creating moments of both humor and heartache.  The film falters when it branches out to some of the other aforementioned characters mainly because none of them are really given adequate time to create an emotional impact.  Ultimately, that's the underlying problem with Cake -- too many superfluous side stories when the best part of the screenplay focuses Claire's grief and how she and her only friend -- her maid -- deal with her issues.

You could certainly do worse than watch Cake and Aniston and Barraza are absolutely the reasons to give it a go.  Unfortunately, the screenplay doesn't quite give these two characters the adequate justice they deserve.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Jurassic Park III

Jurassic Park III (2001)

Starring Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan, Michael Jeter, and Laura Dern

Directed by Joe Johnston

After the debacle that was The Lost World, Jurassic Park III really didn't need to do much to fare better and fortunately this third film of the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy at least finds itself having a little more fun than its predecessor.  There's an action-comedy vibe reminiscent of Romancing the Stone here thanks to the repartee between newcomers William H. Macy and Téa Leoni as divorced couple Paul and Amanda searching for their son Eric (Trevor Morgan) who is lost on the dinosaur-infested Costa Rican island after a paragliding accident.  Paul and Amanda trick original Jurassic Park character Alan Grant (Sam Neill) into helping them find their son and -- surprise, surprise -- a bit of chaos ensues.

Right off the bat, bringing Alan Grant back into the mix proves to be a much bigger benefit than Ian Malcolm of Part 2.  Jeff Goldblum's stuttering kooky shtick worked as a secondary player in the first film, but having him take the bulk of the focus proved to be more annoying than anything else.  Sam Neill's Alan Grant has already played "the lead" before and he carries a bit more authority and believable presence which works in the film's favor.

Some may find Macy and Leoni a tad obnoxious, but I found their banter a pleasant diversion, adding the light comedy back into the mix that was welcome in the first film (wherein Grant and Laura Dern's Ellie bounced barbs back and forth to one another -- Dern also appears here in a brief role and is a welcome addition).  This couple's plight and their lovingly conniving motivations for coming to the island worked as a valid storytelling reason to return to this land again.  Surprisingly, the film doesn't add too many superfluous characters who are simply there to be eaten.  This is a positive as we already know the carnage these giant reptiles can enact so no need to be so blatantly over-the-top with it.

Here, Steven Spielberg stepped down as director and Joe Johnston stepped up to the plate, proving to be more than adequate.  He attempts to blend a little more puppetry/robotics into the mix a la the original Jurassic Park and while he isn't as successful as Spielberg's first effort, the effects are still much better than The Lost World which still boggles my mind with how dismal the dinos looked in it.  Johnston also keeps the pace surprisingly quick with this being the shortest entry into the quadrilogy by nearly thirty minutes.  There isn't much exposition at the start, but it's certainly enough to set up the story and get the ball rolling.

Jurassic Park III is a different beast altogether -- it's a "rescue" movie whereas the first two dealt a little more with the science of bringing these giants back to life.  There's not much talk of gene-splicing and DNA in this one and that's a bit of a relief.  Unfortunately, despite all the positives, the film still isn't all that fantastic.  It works, but it's still a pale shadow of the original.  It lacks the spirit and awe-inspiring moments of Jurassic Park.  While infinitely better than The Lost World, Jurassic Park III is simply a little-better-than-average summer popcorn flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Join in tomorrow as we explore more of the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy:
Tomorrow:  Jurassic World
Previously:  Jurassic Park
Previously: The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Movie Review - The Sessions

The Sessions (2012)

Starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, William H. Macy, and Alan Arkin

Directed by Ben Lewin

The year -- 1994.  A fourteen year-old guy comes across a tv show called Mad About You.  No sane eighth or ninth grader would find the show funny.  There was nothing about it that he could relate to since it was about adult relationships, but he still found it humorous and discovered he was experiencing one of his first crushes ever on an actress named Helen Hunt.  1996 brought along a little blockbuster movie called Twister and Helen Hunt made a white t-shirt look so good.  1997 brought the lady an Oscar for As Good As It Gets.  But that's when things started to shift for Ms. Hunt and that now seventeen year-old's crush.  As she faded from the spotlight, so did his crush status.  Still, he always held a fondness for the lady despite the fact that no other person his age understood what he saw in her.  They didn't understand that to him, she exuded a smartness that seemed incredibly attractive.  And that the white t-shirt in Twister certainly helped matters.

Cut to nearly two decades later and that fourteen year-old guy is now your lovable blogger himself who is certainly happy to see Helen Hunt back on the big screen again garnering a bunch of awards buzz for her role in the film The Sessions.  Needless to say, I'm happy to report that even if one didn't have a teenage crush on Ms. Hunt -- and let's be honest, I'm likely the only guy who had that fascination -- they'd still find themselves watching one of the most heartfelt and best films of 2012.

Based on a true story, The Sessions is an incredibly simple tale laced with much more humor than I expected, full of affection and compassion towards its characters, imbuing them with a surprising amount of depth.  John Hawkes finds himself in a prone position through the entire movie playing Mark O'Brien, a poet who was inflicted with polio at a very young age leaving him essentially paralyzed from the neck down and forced to be in an iron lung nearly all day.  Mark, whose muscles fail to work but still manages to have feeling across his body, has managed to live his life as well as he possibly could considering his disability -- graduating high school and college and continuing to successfully write utilizing a typewriter and a stick he places in his mouth to press buttons -- but he has never experienced sexual intercourse.  He's fully cognizant that despite his charming and self-deprecating personality, it would likely be very difficult for a woman to find him attractive.

After seeking the advice and blessing of his Catholic priest (William H. Macy), Mark meets Cheryl (Hunt), a sex surrogate whose chosen profession is misconstrued by the public at large.  A licensed therapist with a husband and son, Cheryl explains to Mark that she is here to help him understand both his body and her body, allowing him to gain knowledge about physical intimacy.  After six sessions together, they will need to go their separate ways, ideally to prohibit any connection of affection from forming between them as they perform intimate acts together.

The Sessions is certainly unique in that it's a Hollywood movie that doesn't shy away from sex, instead placing it front and center in an adult manner that doesn't stoop to raunch and is never once exploitative.  Couple that with the fact that Mark's religion plays an integral role in his life and is treated with respect and tolerance and you've got a movie that should really never have been made.  And maybe that's why I found it so invigorating to watch.  A flick about sex and religion?  And a film that brings those two together in an incredibly thoughtful and intelligent manner?  Unthinkable, really.  This was a ballsy movie to make (and there's no sexual pun intended there) and director and screenwriter Ben Lewin certainly took a chance and succeeded undoubtedly.

Ultimately, the biggest reasons for the film's success are John Hawkes and Helen Hunt who are fantastic.  Hawkes essentially is forced to act only with his head and his voice and I can only imagine that these physical restrictions were particularly challenging for the actor.  Nevertheless, there's a great amount of feeling in his eyes and a huge amount of depth to his character's heart that Hawkes amazingly brings to the table.  Oddly enough, while we feel sorry for Mark's condition, Hawkes and the director never once dwell on the notion of pity which is another reason why the film feels so refreshing.

Ms. Hunt finds herself completely nude for a good chunk of the film, but to the director's credit, there's no titillation factor on display.  That's not what the movie's about at all.  This movie is about providing comfort to others and Hunt perfectly embodies that.  There's a kindness and gentleness that emanates from Hunt's Cheryl that is absolutely lovely and gives Hunt what could possibly be her best cinematic work to date.  Her role gives the film a tenderness that never becomes melodramatic.

I don't think The Sessions is a perfect movie for it falters a bit by delving into Cheryl's home life, but not quite digging deep enough to really matter (although the home scenes do help to provide some added emotional gravitas to an absolutely beautiful moment following Cheryl and Mark's last session together).  And while I recognize that minor flaw, I walked out of the film feeling invigorated and charmed by what I had seen onscreen.  It's life-affirming in an odd way (and I mean that in the least Oprah Winfrey-esque way possible) and a lovely piece of work with some fantastic performances.  [I realize now I never even mentioned the simple, yet thoughtful work of William H. Macy as Mark's priest/friend and the short, almost cameo, appearance by an actress named Annika Marks who starts Mark on his sexual journey.]  Simply put, in case my effusive praise above isn't telling enough, I can't recommend The Sessions highly enough...even to you folks who didn't have a crush on Helen Hunt when you were fourteen years old.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Side Note:  It bothers me that when I typed in "Helen Hunt" to label this post, I realized I had never labeled anything with a "Helen Hunt" tag before.  I apparently need to watch Twister again and post about it.

Movie Review - Psycho

Psycho (1998)

Starring Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and William H. Macy

Directed by Gus Van Sant

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

***Warning -- Spoilers ahead***

Why?  That's the question I've posed for the last fourteen years since I first found out that Gus Van Sant was making a near shot-by-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece (and my favorite movie of all time) Psycho.  What's the point?  I still don't get it even after I watched the film -- I guess it was some weird "experiment" -- but I will say that the film was better than I thought it would be.  That being said, I also thought this was going to be one of the worst moviewatching experiences I'd ever have so it wasn't going to take much to prove me wrong on that front.  However, the remake comes nowhere near close to the brilliance of the original.

Admittedly, I was actually quite impressed with Anne Heche's take on Marion Crane.  Janet Leigh is so iconic to me in that role and has an undeniably devious take on the character.  Not that the viewer ever gets a sense that Leigh's Marion "deserves" to die, but there is a slight feeling that she gets her appropriate comeuppance in the end.  Heche, however, plays Marion a bit more innocently and I admired that quality.  Unfortunately, Heche is only in the film for 35 minutes and things fall apart rather quickly at that point.

Vince Vaughn is simply painful as Norman Bates.  His Norman is visibly off his rocker right from the very first time we lay eyes on him -- he nervously laughs at the end of his first line and it felt so forced and "actor-y" that it took me out of his performance immediately.  Anthony Perkins played Norman as an outwardly normal guy who just so happened to be nuts.  Vaughn's Norman is simply nuts.  I despised nearly every line reading by him and when the last two-thirds of the movie shifts its focus towards him, it disappointed.  Similarly, Julianne Moore has been told to play Marion's sister Lila as a seemingly "butch" tough gal which didn't fit for me at all and felt incredibly off-putting.  When Lila gives Norman a take-down kick to debilitate him in the final basement scene at the Bates Motel, I couldn't help but think she should have yelled "Girl Power!" and it nauseated me with the political correctness of the change.  

The film updates the story to 1998 and I can't help but think it proves to be a detriment.  While it takes place in modern times, everything felt incredibly dated.  By replicating nearly everything from the 1960s -- sets, camera shots, music, costuming -- I don't quite understand the point.  Maybe it was done to allow the slight changes that are enacted -- like Norman masturbating when looking through the peephole as Marion prepares to shower or the odd flashes of rolling thunderclouds as Marion meets her demise in the shower -- seem appropriate in tone or something.  Nonetheless, those changes evoked chuckles from me and didn't add a thing to the tale.

The question still remains -- why was this remake needed?  What does it add to the discussion of Hitchcock's Psycho?  The answer seems to be that the story itself still holds up and the camera shots and dialog still work even in a modern-day setting.  However, it's not even remotely comparable in terms of quality and tension to the original.  Do yourself a favor -- if you've never watched Hitchcock's classic, rent it and revel in its awesomeness.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - The Lincoln Lawyer

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Frances Fisher, and William H. Macy

Directed by Brad Furman

You've seen movies like The Lincoln Lawyer before.  Courtroom tales featuring twists and turns galore with somewhat quirky characters peppered throughout.  Nothing new is brought to the table here and, if I'm being honest, there's not a thing about this movie that would make it seem worthy to be seen on the big screen.  But, seeing as how it's now on dvd, when watching it in the comfort of your own home, the flick becomes a perfectly adequate little mystery even if it tries too hard sometimes to be a little edgier than the rather stodgy story permits it to be.

Rich playboy Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) gets accused of beating up a prostitute and hires the smarmy and somewhat sleazy lawyer Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) to represent him.  With the help of his detective-for-hire Frank Levin (William H. Macy), Mick begins to uncover the truth behind the crime Louis is convicted of and soon begins to realize that there is more to Louis than he seems to be revealing.

If the summary above seems a little bland and uninspired, that's because the movie itself isn't anything particularly special.  As I've said, there's nothing new brought to the table here.  And, if I'm being honest, I'm surprised I was as interested as I was considering the fact that both Matthew McConaughy and Ryan Phillippe aren't exactly known in my mind as having the best acting chops.  Their performances here do nothing to change my tune.

Still, somehow for some inexplicable reason, I somewhat enjoyed The Lincoln Lawyer.  I can't really explain why, so I won't even try (which I realize is the antithesis of what a review is supposed to do).

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Oleanna (1994)

Starring William H. Macy and Debra Eisenstadt
Directed by David Mamet

Went and saw this on Broadway a week-and-a-half ago and didn't love it. I thought the performances were good, but the play itself was quite flawed. I figured I'd give the movie a shot and see if the issue up in NYC was just a flawed production.

It wasn't.

Once again, you've got a female character who isn't too bright in act one who manages to become a genius in the course of a few months, manipulating a man to believe he's done something wrong when no sane person would believe that he has.

On film, Mamet's dialogue comes across as super-stilted (which I noticed onstage as well, but it worked better there). Hardly any of the lines ring true or sound like anything people would actually say. And Mamet's direction is pretty awful...very by the book and basic (I guess it's difficult, though, when your movie only contains two people). For some reason, I also noticed the poor production design -- instead of looking like a movie, it looked like the set of a high school production of the play.

Simply for my benefit should I look back at this blog in a few years and wonder what I thought way back when, Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman were much better than Debra Eisenstadt and William H. Macy...so the Broadway production had that going for it.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Shorts (2009)

Starring Jimmy Bennett, Leslie Mann, William H. Macy, and James Spader
Directed by Robert Rodriguez

Giant people.
Giant robots.
Giant boogers.

Giant failure.

Worst kids movie of the year. And to think that I actually really enjoyed Rodriguez's Spy Kids. This had the same feel to it, but it was horrendous. A painful 90 minutes.

No need to dwell on this any more than necessary.

The RyMickey Rating: F