'The Secret Agent' A Review

The Secret Agent is a historical thriller set in 1977 Brazil about research professor Armando(Wagner Moura) on the run after a local oligarch dismantled his department and murdered his wife.

Moura is compelling but he overly relies on his(not ineffective) neutral face to do a lot of the work. He leads the film well, with confidence and solidity, but all the characters and plot that swirl around him are kind of a mess. The supporting cast are all talented, particularly the women- Tânia Maria, Maria Fernanda Cândido, and Alice Carvalho in a brief flashback- to name a few. But the material just really isn't there for them to dig in and soar, acknowledging of course there may be some cultural connections or meaning that an average US citizen would miss.

Visually the film is beautiful with some inspired, exciting sequences. Some long takes and artistic ones. And the score is thrumming and enhances the mood. But the story is deliberately unclear, overly complicated, and tonally inconsistent. It careens from thriller, to drama, to melodrama, to straight up slapstick comedy. Which is all great it just doesn't come together. At about the halfway point a new time period is introduced, in which nothing at all really happens, and seemingly serves no purpose but to cap the film in a very contrived unnecessary way. There's a lot going for it but at 2 hours and 40 minutes it is simply too sprawling, too erratic, too unfocused to have the kind of artistic impact it so clearly aspires to.

Intriguing and beautiful but unequal to the sum of it's parts especially narratively.

Currently in theaters.

Stream It.

'Anaconda' A Review

Anaconda is an action comedy a reboot/meta-sequel to the franchise. Doug(Jack Black) a wedding videographer and Griff(Paul Rudd) a struggling actor together with their friends Kenny(Steve Zahn) and Clarie(Thandie Newton) decide to pursue their dormant dream of making a movie and travel to the Amazon to reboot the 1997 cult classic Anaconda.

Black is as magnetic as ever and wills this into being an agreeable, fun adventure by shear charisma and energy alone. Rudd is decent but is a bit uninspired, he's seems to lost a bit of his spark in recent years, but both Zahn and Newton make up for it completing the foursome with enough chemistry and electricity to make this enjoyable. The supporting cast is pretty limited with Selton Mello(who is inspired) and Daniela Melchior(good in a mostly thankless role) being the most notable. All in all it's a solid ensemble.

Visually the film is relatively straight-forward with some action and comedy sequences being the most involved(and effective), the soundtrack catchy. The script, overall, is a bit thin but nonetheless it's entertaining, a solid popcorn flick in a time when depressing Oscar bait is flooding theaters. Good counter-programing.

A relatively fresh take on IP is bolstered by the indefatigable Black and Newton clearly relishing operating in the comedy space. Hampered by somewhat predictable emotional arcs.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.