'Stan & Ollie' A Review

Stan & Ollie is a biopic about the latter days of legendary comedy duo Laurel & Hardy.  The film opens in 1937 on the production of Way Out West where Stan Laurel(Steve Coogan) and Oliver "Babe" Hardy(John C. Reilly) have a falling out over their studio contracts. Flashfoward sixteen years and the remainder of the film takes place as the famous duo, their stars waned, tour Europe to make money and in hopes of relaunching their film careers.

Both Coogan and Reilly give elegant, nuanced performances, their "impressions" may not be spot-on but they're close and both are able to channel the charm, humor, and palpable chemistry of the famous comedy team. They really shine when they revive, reinvent, and in some instances completely imitate Laurel & Hardy bits and routines. The final scene of the film, the closing act of their stage show, is a dance routine and its one of the most arresting scenes of the year. The two actors capture the heartbreaking reality of the aging-out artist, the fading of relivance, the decline of ability. That straightfoward look at the once-great breaking down, both physically and within an industry that has moved on, is the most fascinating aspect of the film and Coogan and Reilly take such care and empathy in their performances.

The other aspects of the film aren't as successful. The plotting follows a conventional, plodding, biopic format and conflict between the two leads is manufactured periodically(between the two of them or with their respective wives) in order to propel the action. But the conflict is virtually unnecessary.  What is engaging about the film is how the two stars, aged out, surpassed by evolving taste and younger talent grapple with their impending irrelevance. All the rest is distraction and loses the magic the film captures. The obvious almost saccharine score doesn't help coming in continually aggressively telegraphing emotions the actors are already nimbly eliciting.

An amateur script with two excellent leads.

Rent It.

Increasing Efficiency: 2019 Update to Policies and Procedures

The reality is
it's never about progress
it's about the illusion
of progress
like testimonials
in pharmaceutical commercials
performative
and substanceless.

'Aquaman' A Review

Aquaman is a superhero movie, the latest in DC's attempt to compete with Marvel, this time with some actual success. The movie opens in 1985 at a lighthouse and the meeting of Aquaman aka Arthur's parents one human(Temuera Morrison) and one Atlantian(Nicole Kidman). Flashfoward to a year after the events of Justice League and Aquaman(Jason Momoa) is being the superhero he is saving a Russian submarine from a group of hijackers. Uh-oh! Turns out those hijackers are in league with Aquaman's half-brother, war-hungry Atlantian King Orm(Patrick Wilson). Aquaman must confront his past and perhaps reclaim his birthright in order to save the land dwelling humans.

Momoa brings his everyman-fratboy charm to bare to relative success and anchors the light almost campy tone of the movie. Balance out by the more sincere portrayls of his onscreen parents Kidman and Morrison. Wilson goes full-on teeth-nashing mustache-twirling villain which is pleasing for what it is. Heard as Mera Aquaman's defacto partner and love interesting is given the relatively thankless role of babysitter and near constant expositional conduit. With Willem Dafoe as Aquaman's teacher, in flashbacks, and current kings adviser he gives one of the most flat and lifeless performances of his career. The story doesn't necessarily require the cast to go beyond the minimal so the wild variance in tone from performance to performance doesn't particularly matter but it is odd.

Rich visuals and compelling action sequences are clearly the focus and as such succeed significantly beyond that of the character arcs. Director James Wan is adept at large scale, with two set piece sequences, Aquaman and Mera fleeing the rift creatures and the concluding battle, having a sense of scale, chaos, but also coherence. Humor, broadness, and a goofy sincerity run through the movie, differentiating it from DC's previous propensity for bleak nihilism.

Mild popcorn entertainment, impressive only in context to DC's recent litany of failures.

Stream It. 

'The Mule' A Review

The Mule is a drama directed by and staring Clint Eastwood about real life elderly drug mule Leo Sharp that transported thousands of pounds of cocaine for a Mexican drug cartel. The movie opens on Earl Stone(Clint Eastwood) a beloved central Illinois horticulturist tending his flowers. He goes to a flower expo, wins an award, and glad-hands with his peers at a local bar. This is happening at the same time as his daughter's wedding. We then flashfoward to his granddaughters engagement party and it is revealed that his family and his business have collapsed. Through a reference from one of his granddaughter's acquaintances he becomes a drug mule and kind of(?) befriends some of the men he works with until the DEA gets on his trail and the cartel is taken over by a meaner(?) regime.

With a few exceptions(Bradley Cooper, a handful of nameless cartel members) the performances are all wildly imbalanced and tonally uneven. Dianne Wiest and Alison Eastwood(as Stone's ex-wife and daughter respectively) for example ave huge outbursts of emotion that are not really responded to by the other actors they play off of to the point they seem to belong in a different movie. Ignacio Serricchio's performance is so underdevloped and flat its as if he is struggling simply to remember his lines. Every scene with Laurence Fishburne is in a hall way or office and every third line of his is "Ok, get it done." Eastwood himself has a few flashes of competency and charm but mostly mumbles and grumbles his way through a wild variety of actions and behaviors of his character with no real throughline or coherence. The "character's" propensity for dancing with younger woman as well as visiting prostitutes culminates in a truly egregious scene of Eastwood topless with two women a quarter his age also topless stopping just short of an out-and-out sex scene, doubly baffling and repugnant given this aspect of the "character" has no real place in the story and adds nothing to it. It is, transparently, an excuse for Eastwood, the director, to grope young attractive women. Woof.

Over the past decade Eastwood's patented one-take style of working has really deteriorated to the point his past several movies feel amateurish in their editing and especially in their performance. The story of an elderly drug mule is interesting, I suggest reading the New York Times article on which the movie is based, but The Mule is a muddled confusing mess of zero character development and a truly incompetent script. What is interesting and compelling about the true story is seemingly lost in thin characterizations and a meandering plot that touches on everything but focuses on nothing.

Compare this to this years The Old Man & The Gun and it makes you sad Robert Redford has announced his retirement and it makes you hope that Eastwood will.

Don't See It.

Holidaze

After days
of travel-
obligation
and
celebration-
I lay my head
in my partner's lap
unburdened
for a time.

'Bumblebee' A Review

Bumblebee is an action movie, a prequel to 2007's Transformers and the sixth in the franchise. The movie opens on the war for the Transformers home planet as the good Autobots are forced to flee against the hordes evil Decepticons. Autobot leader Optimus Prime charges B-127 with going to and safeguarding Earth as a rendezvous for the Autobots. B-127 is damaged and disguises itself as a VW Bug. Sometime later it is picked up at a junk yard by Charlie(Hailee Steinfeld), the two develop a surprising friendship, and B-127 is dubbed the titular Bumblebee. The Decepticons are still on the hunt however and Charlie and Bumblebee must work together to thwart them.

Steinfeld brings her burgeoning charm to bear in this relatively straightforward role, alternatively sincere and sweet but not terribly complicated, she plays at least a character and isn't on display for the male gaze, a vast improvement from some of the other installments in the franchise. The supporting cast all give solid if not terribly sophisticated performances- John Cena as the suspicious government official, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Charlie's love struck neighbor, Pamela Adlon as Charlie's mom(criminally underutilized), John Ortiz in a brief role- actually the casting is relatively inspired and all are able to pivot from and balance with the action/comedy tone with some stabs at genuine emotion.

On it's own Bumblebee is an entertaining enough action movie, with a vein of solid comedy running through it, with some surface attempts at straightforward emotional engagement. Taken in the context of the Transformers series it is a real triumph. The action has more clarity than any sequence in the earlier installments, the characters have more depth and actual discernible feelings, and the story has stakes, consequences, and concern for collateral damage unlike the grim metallic parade of destruction the series is known for.

On it's own, serviceable, taken in context a surprise.

Rent It.

'Support The Girls' A Review

Support The Girls is a dramedy about a day in the life of the manager Lisa(Regina Hall) of a Hooters style restaurant Double Whammies in suburban Texas. Lisa tries to maintain her relentless positivity while running an unauthorized car wash, facilitating the various interpersonal needs of her staff, dealing with unruly customers as well as her estranged husband and ungrateful boss.

Hall gives an understated performance that steadily unfolds and opens up into something truly flawless. The balance she strikes, the reality she's able to convey, the empathy she shows to the other characters and by extension evokes in us, all taken together by the end of the film it is, in total, a really seismic portrayal. She is funny and emotional but all crescendos and moments build slowly with the mellow and almost mundane feeling of reality. The supporting cast are all equally kind of perfect, all fitting together into this story that feels very True and important but without any pretension and with almost no cinematic style conflict. Things happen but they transpire naturally, it is easy for us to imagine ourselves in this story, in this town, in this restaurant, because it is a reflection of us.  Haley Lu Richardson as Maci and Shayna McHayle as Danyelle are the other standouts as Lisa's second-in-commands at the restaurant. Both turns are subtle yet buoyant, inhabiting the story with power and presence but not a heavy hand.

Writer/Director Andrew Bujalski does his most compelling work since 2005's Mutual Appreciation. Because of his slice-of-life style and realistic dialogue all of his films have a feeling of authenticity but Support The Girls not only has that but taps into the current cultural moment with a startling amount of grace. The film addresses race, sexism, divorce, economics but not directly, various issues are shown in how they actually manifest in day-to-day interactions. We follow Lisa on this day- her struggles and past, her ambition and sorrows are all implied, inferred. There is very little that is specifically spelled out as far as plotting or back story and that serves to further the engagement, serves to heightened those moments of actual confrontation and celebration.

Criminally, the film was only briefly released in select cities but is available on Hulu or for rent on Amazon.

Don't Miss It.