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| Courtesy of Disney |
Monkey Kingdom
(Rated G. Playing in
wide release.)
The cast: Tiny Fey and
a lot of monkeys.
What it’s about:
Disney’s latest nature documentary, narrated by Fey, focuses on a monkey named
Maya and her newborn Kip. They serve as the audience’s entry point into the
brutal hierarchy of monkeys that live in South Asia’s jungles. Since Maya and
Kip are on the lowest rung of the group’s social ladder, every day is a
struggle to survive.
The good: Directors
Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill craft a compelling narrative from the
thousands of hours of footage they likely shot. Carefully selected scenes allow
viewers to quickly pick up on the monkeys’ unbreakable laws regarding social
status. It’s an astute way to establish heroes and villains for the film’s
primarily audience of young children. Fey’s narration, although a bit dry at
first, eventually shifts to a warmer, more comical view of the monkeys’ lives.
Plus, the brisk 81-minute running time is perfect for kid-sized attention
spans.
The not-so-good: The
movie ultimately feels slight, like we’ve only skimmed the surface of the
monkeys’ social order and their interactions with their human and animal
neighbors. Part of that is the filmmakers clearly aiming for the Disney demo
(the monkeys’ mating rituals and sometimes deadly conflicts are understandably
alluded to rather than shown), but other times it feels like you’re on a tour
with a guide who’s speeding things along so she can take her lunch break.
Grade: B
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| Courtesy of IFC |
Clouds of Sils Maria
(Rated R for language
and brief graphic nudity. Playing in limited release and On Demand.)
The cast: Juliette
Binoche, Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz
What it’s about:
Renowned actress Maria Enders (Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of the
play that made her a star 20 years ago. However, instead of playing the
beautiful young girl who eventually drives an older woman to suicide, she is
being asked to assume the opposite role. It’s an emotionally exhausting part,
so she spends a lot of time rehearsing with her assistant (Stewart) in the
Swiss town of Sils Maria. Her co-star will be a young Hollywood starlet
(Moretz) famous for her tabloid exploits, so she must prepare herself for both
the role and the extra attention the other performer will bring.
The good: The
deliberately measured pacing is hugely successful in making the movie feel like
a play. It’s a smart move considering the film is a character study with lots
of talking, particularly about the craft of acting and the differences between
theater and Hollywood blockbusters. Acclaimed writer-director Olivier Assayas
adds to this perception by focusing on the moments leading up to and following
major events, fading to black right when the action is about to start or end.
Assayas also captures
the natural beauty of the titular location, but what makes the film especially
worth recommending are the performances. It’s no surprise that Binoche is
excellent; she has spent her three-decade career delivering consistently great
work. But the biggest – and most welcome – reminder is that Stewart is a
fantastic actress.
You’re probably
rolling your eyes and thinking, “the girl from Twilight with the blank
stare?!,” but she has spent the last couple of years doing terrific,
under-the-radar work in several independent films. After her fierce work here
and last fall’s Still Alice, I’m officially back on the Kristen Stewart
bandwagon. Moretz is also good despite only interacting with the major
characters near the end.
The not-so-good: Some
will dismiss the film as art house nonsense, the textbook definition of
pretention, and I can’t exactly disagree. What little plot there is moves at a
glacial pace, so I can imagine those with short attention spans rolling their
eyes and giving up after a few minutes. But those with the patience to commit
for a couple of hours will be rewarded with fantastic acting and a perceptive
take on what happens to women’s status in society as they age.
Grade: B
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| Courtesy of IFC |
5 to 7
(Rated R for some
sexual material. Playing in limited release and On Demand.)
The cast: Anton
Yelchin, Berenice Marlohe, Olivia Thirlby, Glenn Close, Eric Stoltz and Frank
Langella.
What it’s about: Brian
(Yelchin), a young writer, falls in love with a glamorous French woman named
Arielle (Marlohe). The feeling is mutual, but there’s a catch: she’s in an
unconventional marriage to a high-profile diplomat and can only see Brian on
certain evenings between the hours of 5 and 7. She’s not exactly sneaking
around – she and her husband have a mutual arrangement, and he has his own relationship
with a young editor named Jane (Thirlby). But eventually the writer wants more
than just two hours a day, leading to some tough life lessons.
The good:
Writer-director Victor Levin (who also worked on Mad Men for a while) creates
a compelling world of privileged characters who don’t live by the same rules as
us mere mortals. Even Brian, the closest thing to a “regular guy” in the movie,
has rich parents who allow him to work as an unpublished writer while still
living in a very nice New York City apartment. As such, the premise comes off
far less unpleasant than the plot description above might suggest.
It also helps that
Levin has a wonderful cast to work with. Yelchin is endearing as the
barely-adult guy who’s well aware that he hit the jackpot with his new
girlfriend. He treats the bizarre relationship with every bit of the “can you
believe this is my life?” attitude it deserves. Langella and Close are funny in
their brief scenes as Brian’s initially disapproving parents, with the former
getting the film’s biggest laugh when he attempts to impress Arielle with his
limited French.
But Marlohe (who
played a Bond girl in Skyfall) is an absolute revelation. She’s a throwback
to classic French actresses like Bridget Bardot and Catherine Deneuve, women
who possessed otherworldly beauty, but still seemed like people who could exist
in the world. Even though I wasn’t fully on board with the movie’s premise at
first, once Marlohe unleashes that dazzling smile, I immediately understood why
this kid would agree to whatever it takes to be with her.
The not-so-good: The
film’s stylized dialogue isn’t as witty as Levin thinks, and a jarring – albeit
inevitable – tonal shift in the last act ends the proceedings in an emotionally
weird place. There’s also an unfortunate costuming decision in the final few
minutes, when Yelchin’s hairstyle and eyeglasses are supposed to represent
Brian’s maturity and the passage of time. Instead, he comes off looking like a
creepy serial killer. Probably not the look Levin was going for.
Grade: B-
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