Jackie-2016

Director-Pablo Larrain

Starring-Natalie Portman

Scott’s Review #576

Reviewed January 1, 2017

Grade: A-

Natalie Portman carries the 2016 biographical-drama film based on the life of Jackie Kennedy, and the events directly following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

The film is not a retread of conspiracy theories nor does it feature more than a few glimpses brief of JFK himself, but rather, it is Jackie’s story and what she faced throughout the ordeal.

The film wisely uses flashbacks to show the famous tour of the White House, which Jackie gave shortly before the President’s death. A bravura performance by Portman as Jackie.

Director Pablo Larrain, primarily known for achievements with foreign-language films (the Chilean film, No comes to mind), rather than the American History genre, is successful in his work with direction.

The film is a gloomy one, both in tone and with the terrific brooding musical score composed by Mica Levi, with its loud, abrupt sound effects.

The overall feel of the film is foreboding and dark.

The main activity is told through a famous Life interview that Jackie Kennedy gave a week after the assassination- the reporter was Theodore H. White, who was slightly less than sympathetic in demeanor toward the First Lady.

Held in Massachusetts, Jackie is away from the limelight in peaceful tranquility but is still pained.

Portman is very successful at revealing two sides of Jackie Kennedy to the audience. Not simply a smiling debutante that she always portrayed to the world publicly, Jackie was also a complex, feisty woman, who vehemently wanted the world to see how brutal the assassination was, how proud she was of her husband, and how she would not back down from holding a lavish and public funeral procession for her deceased husband.

Jackie was met with harsh criticisms and defiance for desiring to do so. A proud woman- she did not wish to run off and hide from the terrible events that occurred.

Jackie is mostly a quiet, introspective film. Much of the film is Jackie being interviewed, or flashbacks of her giving the White House tour.

Typically Portman plays Jackie as prim, proper, and demure- she is always filled with class and grace. In one riveting sequence though, we see Jackie walking through the White House, smoking cigarettes, and drinking vodka. She appears alone and vulnerable, having just lost her husband.

Portman embraces her pain and the audience grieves with her- she is alone in more ways than one. We see her not only as a First Lady but as a sad woman,  in her agony.

Portman is fantastic in her mannerisms and tone of voice.

I loved the continuous usage of flashbacks to tell the story, but the film does not delve into an unneeded history lesson- we all know what happened- the point of the film is to answer curiosity about Jackie.

What is most effective is the focus on Jackie’s reactions and how Jackie handled the events.

In a grotesque scene, rivaling any horror film, we are right there with Jackie in the car that fateful day as a shot rings out, blowing JFK’s head wide open. Sinking into Jackie’s lap, she later candidly describes to the Life magazine reporter, how she attempted to hold the remains of his head together.

We then see her wandering around, her beautiful pink suit smeared with blood.

A quiet yet compelling and mesmerizing film, Portman is the main draw. She channels emotions of heartbreak, sadness, and composure.

A fantastic First Lady, Jackie always was graceful and proper, but Portman shows another side to her, which very few people knew of.

In addition to this fine acting, Jackie is a dark, brooding film that successfully tells this woman’s story.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Natalie Portman, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Feature, Best Director-Pablo Larrain, Best Female Lead-Natalie Portman, Best Editing

Loving-2016

Director-Jeff Nichols

Starring-Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga

Scott’s Review #527

Reviewed November 26, 2016

Grade: A

Loving is a quiet film.

Subdued and poignant, it is an important, historic story to tell, and jarring to be transported back to the 1950’s southern style, where interracial marriage was not only illegal but children of interracial couples were barely considered human beings, to say nothing of the views of their parents, specifically by law enforcement.

Sadly, circa 2016, we all should be aware that racism is still alive and well in the United States and this film is a reminder of how much further we need to go. The true story of the landmark1967 Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court case is the basis for this film.

The time is 1958 Virginia, and a sweet, working-class couple-Richard and Mildred-are very much in love. Richard-white, and Mildred-black, are met with some sideways glances around town, but generally have a strong supportive family and friend structure, although both families are quite poor. They enjoy spending time with friends in bars and racing cars.

When Mildred becomes pregnant, Richard purchases a plot of land for them and asks Mildred to marry him. Despite the challenges this will create, they are wed in Washington D.C. Once they return to Virginia, they are arrested for violating anti-miscegenation laws, prohibiting interracial marriage.

The couple eventually sue the state of Virginia, leading to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling a decade later.

As a film, Loving is thoughtful and introspective.

The audience questions who are we to decide who someone loves? This can apply to same-sex couples as easily as interracial couples.

The film, led by director Jeff Nichols, creates many quiet scenes of thoughtfulness on the faces of leads Edgerton and Negga.

Furthermore, several scenes of peril encompass the film.

The Loving’s are in constant threat of being discovered as they secretly return to their forbidden home state to give birth to their son- only wanting Richard’s mother to perform the birth. The tense scene where Mildred is dropped off on a deserted back road is well shot- the camera constantly focusing on the road and the threat of a car coming by at any moment.

Edgerton, a fantastic actor, and director gives a tremendous performance as a quiet, stoic, blue-collar man, madly in love with his wife and seeing nothing wrong with it, simply because it is not the norm.

He is poorly educated, but Edgerton gives him underlying intelligence and a basic understanding of cherished love and more than once calmly uttering “but I love my wife.”

To him, it is that simple. Richard will also use any measures necessary to protect his family, as any man surely would. Edgerton’s squinting blue eyes portray suspicion, warmth, and love.

Negga is equally compelling as calm and loyal Mildred.

One might expect Mildred to finally explode with rage as she has to put up with obstacle after obstacle, raising three kids in an environment she does not want, yet she never does.

Negga embodies the character with sweetness wide-eyed passion and longing for a better life. Mildred tries not to get her hopes up with each impending court date, but Negga successfully portrays the character with many different emotions and complexities.

My favorite scenes of hers simply involve Mildred gazing at her husband- her eyes filled with love and pride.

Nichols wisely does not spend very much time in the courtroom and this is positive with the film. Sure, we do get the occasional scene of Richard and Mildred facing the court, but the film does not go a different route than necessary.

Despite a landmark decision coming from Loving’s marriage, the film is a love story between a good man and a good woman, who just happen to be of different races.

What a lesson every viewer can learn from this film.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Ruth Negga

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Director-Jeff Nichols, Best Female Lead-Ruth Negga

Straight Outta Compton-2015

Director-F. Gary Gray

Starring-O’Shea Jackson Jr., Paul Giamatti

Scott’s Review #517

Reviewed November 12, 2016

Grade: B-

The rap group N.W.A. was a highly influential and controversial unit to emerge from Compton, California in the late 1980s and featured soon-to-be solo rap artists Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. Another member, Eazy-E, rounds out the trio that is featured in this film along with their manager Jerry, played by Paul Giamatti.

Straight Outta Compton tells their story.

Ice Cube and Dr. Dre produced the film along with Eazy-E’s widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, and Ice Cube’s real-life son, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. portrays Ice Cube.

The film is interesting as a way of learning about the rap group and their rise to and fall from stardom, but the film has a very slick and glossy style that detracts from the grittiness of the subject matter- it feels very Hollywood and overly produced.

Especially, since the language is atrocious- almost overly so as if the point was being shoved down the throat of the audience.

Additionally, the acting, except for Giamatti, is not too impressive.

Lastly, the violence portrayed and the gang stuff seemed a bit stereotypical for my tastes.

The film begins in 1986 and we meet a trio of friends. Determined to provide a raw, honest style of poetry to their music, they eventually meet their manager, Jerry, who takes them under his wing and leads them to their success.

Predictably, with success comes jealousy and contract disputes. The film delves into this subject matter as the partying and drug use, womanizing, and violence, all lead to the rap group’s constant struggles with the police force, especially since one of their top songs is anti-police.

Impressive is the real-life footage used of the 1991 beating of taxi driver Rodney King by the Los Angeles Police Department and the subsequent riots that occurred after the officers were found not guilty of any wrongdoing.

The racial tension that existed in this city at that time was interesting to revisit and palpable to the film’s subject matter.

The acting was noticeable to me and not in a good way. The young actor who played Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) was fine, but the others (Jackson) and Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E were average at best. In any of their dramatic scenes where they appear to be angry, it just does not work, and the scenes lack grizzle and intensity.

Conversely, any dramatic scene that held any gusto belonged to Giamatti, who was excellent in his part. In some ways he made the others seem better, but in other ways, their inexperience was evident as compared to his.

In any event, he only made the scenes he appeared in more genuine. Early in the film, when Jerry lashes out at police officers, it is a meaty scene and forceful.

The filmmakers certainly went for a message of violence and swearing in this film, but despite these qualities, Straight Outta Compton still seems safe and overly produced. This may have had to do with the bright, slick cameras used.

In this way, it had a studio, high-budget appearance that does not completely work. I wanted it to look grittier and dirtier and see more of the seedy side of the business instead of it merely being explained to me.

Women in this film are not treated very well and the characters who are the girlfriends are written sympathetically, but not given much substance to sink their teeth into.

Contrasting, Death Row Records CEO “Suge” Knight is portrayed as a maniacal, violent man.

Straight Outta Compton is a guy’s film.

I had difficulty relating to any of the central characters except perhaps Giamatti’s and it becomes unclear if Jerry had been ripping off the members of the rap group or if that is merely their perception. He seems to care about the members of the outfit, so that part is undefined.

Perhaps this film might hold more appeal for fans of N.W.A., which I never was, and rap is not my preferred style of music, but I can appreciate the biographical way the film explains the trio’s story, ups and downs, reunions, death, and violence, but this film could have been much better and is flawed by its over-stylized filming.

Oscar Nominations: Best Original Screenplay

Joy-2015

Director-David O. Russell

Starring- Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro

Scott’s Review #485

Reviewed September 24, 2016

Grade: B-

Joy is a safe, mainstream, female-centered 2015 film, a biopic written for current star Jennifer Lawrence. She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for her role and she carries the film.

Still, despite her very good performance, the film is nothing special and is written in a ho-hum manner.

It is simply not very compelling and the supporting characters are not utilized as they could have been. Despite being based on a true story, the writing is lazy and the plot far-fetched. I expected more.

The film is another collaboration between director, David O. Russell, and big stars of the time- Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Robert DeNiro- all used in previous Russell films.

Lawrence plays Joy- a struggling Long Island mother of two- divorced from her husband (who still lives in the basement of her house), with multiple family members living with her, forming a support unit.  The sense is that Joy is the breadwinner of the family.

The story is narrated by Joy’s grandmother, who she calls Mimi (Diane Ladd). Mimi always had a feeling Joy would be a success and we see a few scenes of Joy as a child, surviving her dysfunctional family and her parent’s disputes.

DeNiro plays her womanizing father, divorced from her mother (Virginia Madsen), who lies around in bed all day watching soap operas. Cooper plays opportunist, QVC executive, Neil Walker, who takes a liking to Joy and helps her achieve her dream as a successful businesswoman after she patents an idea for a new, high-powered mop.

Enjoyable to me was the authenticity of the time- circa 1989- and through the 1990’s- as we see Joy working for Eastern Airlines, a company that would fold several years later. Also authentic were the automobiles of the time as well as the dress and hairstyles.

These points the film does very well. And how cute was it to see famous daytime television stars such as Susan Lucci, portraying soap opera stars, as Joy’s mother lives her life vicariously through their tangled and bizarre soap lives?

Several scenes occur on the television set as we get glimpses of the soap stories.

The film as a whole, though, feels too neat.

Predictably, Joy faces obstacles on her way to success.  Already struggling financially, she takes out a second mortgage on her house. At first, she cannot give away mops, let alone sell them. On the brink of giving up, she finagles a meeting with execs who laugh at her product, but Walker is there to give her a break because she has a pretty face.

Predictably, things do not go well at first, and there is a rather dull subplot about a company in Texas trying to steal Joy’s idea. When she goes and threatens them they immediately back down and obediently give in to her every whim. This is both unrealistic and uninteresting.

I much rather would have seen a messy back and forth and/or some court scenes, but the Texas company is portrayed as nothing but the villain.

The writing has either plot holes or contains missed opportunities altogether and many questions abound. Despite many scenes of Joy’s past we end up knowing little.

Her entire family lives with her in a suburban Long Island house- why does Joy own the house and not her mother or grandmother? Why does Joy have a rivalry with her half-sister, Peggy? Why does Joy’s father own an auto garage and still need to stay with Joy, presumably always broke? Why is Joy’s mother mostly in bed?

Madsen as the mother is rather cartoonish and unnecessary to the plot as is Ladd- a dynamic actress given little of substance.  I did not buy DeNiro as a cad nor as in love with his wealthy new girlfriend Trudy (though great seeing Isabella Rossellini in the part), conveniently there to be Joy’s financer.

Despite an enormously talented cast, which is fantastic to see, most of the supporting parts could have been played by any actors, as the roles are not all that challenging, and the film itself is for certain a vehicle to showcase Jennifer Lawrence, David O. Russell’s current “it” girl.

This is not a slight towards Jennifer Lawrence as she is the best part of the film.  She successfully portrays Joy as a sympathetic, strong-willed, fair, decent human being, with enormous struggles, and a blue-collar sensibility.

Great performance, but I wish the writing and the other talents involved in the film were given better material.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Jennifer Lawrence

Trumbo-2015

Director-Jay Roach

Starring-Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane

Scott’s Review #449

Reviewed July 11, 2016

Grade: B+

Trumbo, starring Bryan Cranston, who is suddenly in everything these days, is a 2015 biography drama about Dalton Trumbo, a  famed, talented Hollywood screenwriter blacklisted in the 1950s.

Cranston is certainly center stage in the film, and very good.

The film itself has a crisp, glossy look and excited me with its ode to old Hollywood and its mixture of real-life interspersed newsreels.

Great stuff for a classic film buff!

The sets, costumes, and art direction travel back to the 1940s and 1950s, but throughout I had a constant feeling of a modern film dressed to resemble an older one and I never felt true authenticity- still, a very good effort and a well above average Hollywood film.

A treat for cinema lovers or even those folks interested in seeing some classic black and white footage- a young Ronald Reagan is seen testifying, presumably against those feared to be communists.

Following World War II there was panic throughout the United States, including liberal Hollywood, to oust anyone with thinking deemed “un-American”. If this sounds like a dated way of thinking now, the United States was not always as diverse as it is in 2016.

The infamous “Hollywood 10”, included ten screenwriters who were Communists- or at least had communist beliefs and sympathies. The story in Trumbo focuses on Dalton Trumbo, a quirky screenwriter, always with a classy cigarette, and holder, in hand.

His story is told and the audience sees his passion for fairness in the United States- he sees nothing wrong with being a communist.

The supporting characters are excellent. John Goodman, in the role of Frank King, B movie director, who gives Trumbo a chance to write under a pseudonym, and Helen Mirren and David James Elliott, as villainous Hedda Hopper and John Wayne, respectively.

I felt Diane Lane could have been given more to do as loyal wife of Trumbo, but sadly, Hollywood is not a woman’s world.

If I were to have any criticism of this film it is that Trumbo is mainstream fare and not high on the edgy factor, which is only a mild complaint.

There is nothing wrong with that, but the film screams Hollywood branded.

For instance, throughout Trumbo’s two-year prison sentence he faces no real threats, no beatings, no abuse, nothing. He emerges from prison with a few gray hairs and life goes on. When Trumbo’s friend battles, and finally succumbs to lung cancer, there are no long-suffering scenes, making the film on the soft side.

Again, more an observation of the type of film Trumbo is more than a complaint.

The scenes of Trumbo with his three children as the film periodically ages the children with older actors are touching, especially scenes with his oldest daughter, Nikola, are sweet. She grows up to be just like her father.

Trumbo earnestly explains to young Nikola, why he is a communist and asks what she would do if someone else was going without- her response is to share- a simplistic and sweet scene. Ah, through the eyes of a child the world is so innocent.

Trumbo goes back to Hollywood of old- clean, glamorous, extravagant, both in the way the film is made, and also the retro use of old footage.

It is a nonthreatening film that simply explains the story of Dalton Trumbo in a safe, yet thorough way. I enjoyed the film tremendously.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor-Bryan Cranston