 |
| Courtesy of Lionsgate |
American Ultra
(Rated
R for strong bloody violence, language throughout, drug use and some sexual
content.)
The
cast: Jessie Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace and Connie Britton.
What
it’s about: A comedic thriller that centers on Mike (Eisenberg), a laid back
stoner who is shocked to discover he’s actually a Jason Bourne-style assassin.
When the government agency that trained him decides to clean house, he and his
girlfriend (Stewart) must rely on his skills to survive.
The
good: Eisenberg and Stewart, continuing her post-Twilight career rehab, prove
the terrific chemistry they shared in Adventureland wasn’t a fluke. They seem
to bring out the best in each other when they work together – Eisenberg doesn’t
come off smarmy as his characters often do, and Stewart gets to play someone
with complex emotions and hidden talents. Viewers who haven’t seen her nice performances
since the sparkly vampire movies will be surprised.
The
supporting cast is memorable as well, with Grace and Britton clearly loving the
chance to play against type alongside a bunch of familiar character actors. Max
Landis’ screenplay is mostly solid, particularly the creative action sequences.
The
not-so-good: Jarring tonal shifts are tough to pull off (check out In Bruges for a film that accomplishes this masterfully), and Landis never gets the
mixture exactly right. Several times throughout the movie, the audience never
knew quite how to react. Is this a comedic moment, or one we should take
seriously? Are we supposed to care about this guy now, even though we’ve been
rooting for his death since the beginning of the movie?
Nima
Nourizdeh, directing his second film, never settles on a style. He waffles back
and forth between gritty, realistic thriller and stylized Hollywood assassin
movie. These schizophrenic shifts are another contributing factor to the
audience confusion I just mentioned.
Grade:
B-
 |
| Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics |
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
(Rated
R for strong sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity, drug use,
language and drinking – all involving teens. Now playing in limited release.)
The
cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Kristen Wiig and Christopher Meloni.
What
it’s about: Minnie Goetze (Powley, in an Oscar-worthy performance) is a
15-year-old girl living in 1970s San Francisco with raging hormones and a deep
curiosity about sex. As she attempts to figure out what it means to be an
adult, she begins an affair with her mother’s (Wiig) 35-year-old boyfriend,
Monroe (Skarsgard). What follows is shocking, funny and – as you might imagine
– often deeply troubling, as we see the events play out from Minnie’s unique,
wide-eyed perspective.
The good: The Diary
of a Teenage Girl is a welcome return to the more serious fare of fall.
Cinematic junk food is delicious, don’t get me wrong; but sometimes I want a
film that has something more ambitious to say. Marielle Heller’s stunning
directorial and screenwriting debut (based on Phoebe Gloeckner’s graphic novel)
certainly has plenty on its mind.
The
subject matter guarantees polarized viewers, but Heller and her cast ground the
story in realistic emotions rather than titillation. Because Minnie views her
sexual encounters with Monroe as a real relationship, the film doesn’t make him
a cartoonish monster. Yes, he’s unquestionably a predator – although a
buffoonish, immature one – but Minnie doesn’t view him in that light. As such,
Heller depicts the relationship in a way that lets viewers see how it could
happen while also not condoning it.
One
reason the affair happens is because Minnie’s mother and Monroe are bigger
children than the titular teenage girl. They’re both brilliantly portrayed by
actors tasked with playing enormously difficult, unsympathetic roles in an
authentic fashion. As a matter of fact, there’s not a wrong note in the cast. While
Powley, Skarsgard and Wiig will deservedly get the most accolades, I also loved
Meloni as the ex-husband of Wiig’s character, often the film’s sole voice of
reason. It’s not a giant role, but he makes it count.
The not-so-good: Even
at a brisk 102 minutes, gets overly repetitive in the final act. I’m assuming
no viewer is harboring any delusions that this story is going to end well, so
watching as Minnie falls deeper and deeper into despair (I heard one critic say
he was afraid the movie was headed into Requiem for a Dream territory) is
both tough to endure and narratively unnecessary. Still, despite the slight
missteps, it’s nice to see a coming-of-age story from a girl’s perspective for
a change.
Grade: B+
 |
| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
(Rated
PG-13 for action violence, some suggestive content, and partial nudity.)
The
cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Jared
Harris and Hugh Grant.
What
it’s about: Based on the popular 1960s television series, this spy caper keeps
the action in the Cold War era, but filters it through modern cinematic
sensibilities. When a mysterious criminal organization gets its hands on a
nuclear weapon, CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and KGB agent IIya Kuryakin
(Hammer) are forced to work together to stop their common enemy from wreaking
global destruction. Their only lead is the daughter (Vikander) of a former
German scientist who believes her father is being held captive and forced to
work on the nuke against his will.
The good: I’m not a
big Guy Ritchie fan (his recent Sherlock Holmes flicks left me cold), so
imagine my surprise at how much I enjoyed his loving tribute to ’60s-era Bond
films. He plays the material (which he co-wrote with Lionel Wigram) totally
straight; although it’s often funny, there are no Austin Powers-style winks
to the time period. Instead, he pays slavish attention to the fashion, weapons
and technology of the era in a joyously entertaining way.
Cavill is terrific
here, witty and fun even when his character is facing almost certain death.
It’s a far cry from the dour Superman franchise he’s currently stuck in.
Hammer, recovering nicely from starring in 2013’s awful The Lone Ranger, is
also quite good, pulling off a believable Russian accent and allowing his
character to match Solo’s intellectual strength with sheer brute force.
However, the movie’s
biggest asset is Vikander, who turns what could’ve been a glorified Bond girl
into a genuinely compelling character who can hold her own against the guys
onscreen. Between this performance and her work in the remarkable Ex Machina (one of 2015’s best films), it’s only a matter of time before she’s a household
name.
The not-so-good: Unfortunately,
the movie’s box office performance; it’s underperforming the studio’s
expectations by a pretty big margin. If you’re interested in seeing The Man
from U.N.C.L.E. on the big screen, better do it fast. I can see why audiences
are overlooking it, as spy fatigue is probably setting in. (2015 has given us Spy, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and the above-mentioned American
Ultra, with a new 007 movie opening in November – and that’s not even mentioning
countless summer blockbusters with espionage-related subplots.) But you’re
missing a lot of fun if you decide to sit this one out.
Grade: B+
Comments
Post a Comment