Tag Archives: Nick Searcy

2006 Films, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama, Independent Thriller, Thriller

The Dead Girl-2006

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The Dead Girl-2006

Director Karen Moncrieff

Starring Brittany Murphy, Toni Collette

Scott’s Review #794

Reviewed July 24, 2018

Grade: A

The Dead Girl (2006) is a unique independent drama with a moody, gloomy underbelly and is quite the downer; however, it is also a masterpiece.

Reminiscent of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001), the remote and dark setting perfectly counterbalances the traditional image of sunny California as a young woman’s murder is discovered.

Writer and director Karen Moncrieff spins a delicious tale of the mysterious and sinister.

Moncrieff, (a former daytime television actress), wisely carves the film into five chapters- each focusing on a different character.

The clever approach, since at first it seems as if the stories are independent, is that they are all intertwined.

The mystery of who the woman is, why she was killed, and other major questions come into play as the chapters unfold. To twist the drama even further, one of the chapters is revealed to be a complete red herring.

The five chapters are each compelling in their way.

Chapter one focuses on Arden (Toni Collette) and her relationship with her abusive mother, deliciously played by Piper Laurie. Arden has a love interest in Rudy (Giovanni Ribisi), whom she confides in when she discovers the “Dead Girl”.

The film then moves to various other chapters titled “The Sister”, “The Wife”, “The Mother”, and finally “The Dead Girl”, which is told from the perspective of the murder victim as final clues are revealed.

The last chapter is the best and most heartbreaking in my opinion.

The casting is just wonderful, with a myriad of top talents appearing in the film. With low-budget independent films, especially before 2006, finding big stars willing to accept little pay was quite difficult.

Moncrieff, however, scores big with the actors cast in her film.

Mainly an all-female cast, the ensemble includes talents like Collette, Laurie, Mary Beth Hurt, Brittany Murphy, and Marcia Gay Harden. Names like these could fill up a Hollywood marquee, let alone a small indie like The Dead Girl.

Speaking of Murphy, this may be the very best role of her career. Sadly, after this film, she meets her death; she gives a mesmerizing performance in the title role, also known as Krista.

With heavy, gothic-style makeup, her character is vulnerable, having had a difficult childhood and struggling to send an enormous teddy bear to her daughter on her birthday.

Tragically, events do not go as planned for Krista, but what a bravura performance by Murphy.

The overall tone of the film is a great achievement and key to its success. The film is small and does not need explosions, car chases, or police banter to convey its message.

The Dead Girl is a quiet film about struggles, decisions, and wounded characters dealing with the life that they have been given, the best they can.

The mysterious identities of the characters, and the loneliness and lack of identity of some of them, make me think Lynch’s Mulholland Drive at least somewhat inspired Moncrieff.

Not quite as oddball as the former, but more of a downer, The Dead Girl shows elements through unusual characters and a melancholy vibe.

The latter focuses more on a serial killer subject matter.

As a huge proponent of the independent film genre (think modern 1970s films with directors who have a clear vision), I find The Dead Girl an enormous achievement.

Despite a handful of Independent Spirit Award nominations, I still feel the film is under-appreciated and a decade later is largely forgotten, if anyone knew about it, to begin with.

Let’s hope that enough young, aspiring filmmakers were inspired by Moncrieff and what she created with The Dead Girl (2006).

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Feature, Best Director-Karen Moncrieff, Best Supporting Female-Mary Beth Hurt

2017 Films, Best Picture Oscar Winners, Drama, Fantasy, Romantic Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller

The Shape of Water-2017

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The Shape of Water-2017

Director Guillermo del Toro

Starring Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon

Scott’s Review #705

Reviewed December 16, 2017

Grade: A

Director Guillermo del Toro created a lovely Beauty and the Beast-style film, The Shape of Water (2017). It is gorgeous to look at, and the story is intelligent and sweet to experience.

Thanks to a talented cast led by Sally Hawkins, the film is part drama, part science fiction, even part thriller, but touching to one’s heart and a lesson in true love regardless of outward appearances.

Vanessa Taylor co-wrote the story, giving it a needed female perspective to perfectly balance the traditional male machinations.

The setting is Baltimore, Maryland, in the early 1960s. The Cold War is ongoing, pitting the United States and the Soviet Union against each other.

Both sides are mistrustful of the other.

Kindly and mute, Elisa Esposito (Hawkins) is a curious and whimsical young woman who works as a cleaning lady at an Aerospace Research Center.

When she stumbles upon a mysterious “shape” being held prisoner for experimentation, she slowly communicates with and befriends the creature, eventually falling madly in love with him.

The “asset,” as the scientists like to call him, is an amphibian/humanoid that needs saltwater to survive. Elisa sees an opportunity to help her love escape captivity, and off she goes.

Hawkins exudes warmth and fills Elisa with courage and astounding determination. Not uttering a word is a tricky feat for an actor to challenge, but instead of words, Hawkins successfully provides a vast array of emotions to reveal how Elisa feels.

Despite her “handicap,” she is a strong woman who speaks her mind on more than one occasion, using sign language to express her frustration. Hawkins gives a fantastic and believable performance.

In excellent and vital supporting roles are Richard Jenkins as Elisa’s friend and neighbor, Giles, a closeted gay man who works as a commercial artist. Jenkins fills this character with intelligence, heart, and empathy as he struggles with his issues of alcoholism and loneliness- unable to be accepted for who he is.

Octavia Spencer shines as witty and stubborn Zelda Fuller, Elisa’s best friend and co-worker. Zelda has her domestic problems but is forever there for her friend, and Spencer gives her character zest, humor, and energy.

Finally, Michael Shannon plays the dastardly and menacing Colonel Richard Strickland, the man who found the “asset” in the rivers of South America and has a lovely family.

Each character is written exceptionally well and has a storyline rather than simply supporting Hawkins’s character.

The audience becomes involved in Giles, Zelda, and Strickland’s private lives, and we get to know and care for them—or hate them, as the case may be.

Giles, harboring a crush on a handsome pie shop owner, is afraid to reveal his feelings. Zelda, with a lazy husband, dutifully takes care of her man, though she is as sassy as they come. And Strickland lives in an all-American family with a pretty wife and two kids, unaware of his shenanigans.

The film is a gorgeous and lovely experience with a magical element. The opening and closing sequences, shot underwater, resound in beauty as objects float along in a dreamy way.

The narrator (Jenkins) takes us on a journey to explain the events of the story.

At its core, The Shape of Water is a romantic love story, and my favorite scenes—those of Hawkins and the “asset”—are to be treasured. Yes, the two do make love, which may be too much for some, but the scenes are tasteful and important, showing the depth of the characters’ love for one another.

Cherishing is how Elisa uses music and hard-boiled eggs to communicate with the “asset.” When Elisa imagines the two characters dancing, the sequence is an enchanting experience reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast.

Other underwater scenes involving Elisa and the “asset” are tender, graceful, and filled with loveliness.

A key part of the film involves a story of intrigue between the Americans and the Soviets. While both are portrayed negatively, the Americans are arguably written as more unsympathetic than the Soviets.

Thanks to Strickland—abusive and vicious—and his uncaring superior, General Holt, we do not root for the government officials at all but rather for ordinary folks like Elisa, Zelda, and Giles, who are outcasts.

Interestingly, Dmitri (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Soviet spy scientist, is the only character working at the center who wants to keep the “asset” alive and is written sympathetically.

My overall assessment of The Shape of Water is that it is a film to be enjoyed on many levels and by particular varied tastes- the film will cater to those seeking an old-style romance, complete with some tasty French music.

Then again, the film can be considered a political espionage thriller, with a cat-and-mouse chase and other nail-biting elements.

Overall, the film has heart and truth and will appeal to vast audiences seeking an excellent movie.

Oscar Nominations: 4 wins-Best Picture (won), Best Director-Guillermo del Toro (won), Best Actress-Sally Hawkins, Best Supporting Actor-Richard Jenkins, Best Supporting Actress-Octavia Spencer, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score (won), Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design (won), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing

2017 Films, Comedy, Crime Drama, Dark Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri-2017

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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri-2017

Director Martin McDonagh

Starring Frances McDormand

Scott’s Review #703

Reviewed December 4, 2017

Grade: A

Frances McDormand takes control of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and never lets go. In the Martin McDonagh-directed 2017 vehicle, she rivetingly portrays an angry Midwestern woman seeking justice.

The up-and-coming director has also created such films as  2008’s In Bruges and 2012’s Seven Psychopaths.

Similar to these films, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is peppered with dark comedic moments and vile, bitter characters. The film is a measured success because it is not your standard Hollywood production and is quite left-of-center.

The action begins as we meet McDormand’s Mildred Hayes, sitting alone in her beat-up station wagon, brooding by the side of the road, gazing at three tattered billboards.

She is both pissed off and thoughtful as she formulates a plan to purchase a year’s worth of billboards, questioning the local police’s ineptitude in finding her daughter’s rapist and killer.

Woody Harrelson portrays the Ebbing police chief, Sheriff Bill Willoughby, and Sam Rockwell plays the racist and dim-whited officer Jason Dixon, both displeased with Mildred’s activities.

Other casting decisions in small yet essential roles are Lucas Hedges as Mildred’s adolescent and depressed son, Robbie, and John Hawke as her ex-husband, Charlie, who is dating an eighteen-year-old ditz.

Peter Dinklage is well-cast as James, a local car salesman who is an earnest dwarf with a crush on Mildred.

Supporting roles are prevalent throughout the film, and small-town locales like Jason’s mother and Red, the owner of the advertising agency who rents the billboards to Mildred, shape the experience.

The casting in Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, is a strong point of the film.

The town of Ebbing is portrayed as dreary, blue-collar, and racist, which is just perfect for setting the tone of the film.

I suspect residents of the Midwest or the southern United States of America may have some issues with character representations. Jason is written as both racist and not too smart, and he encompasses numerous characters in the film.

Enough cannot be said for Rockwell’s performance, transforming from a hated character during the film’s first two-thirds to suddenly almost becoming the hero towards the end.

Props are also deserved by Harrelson’s Chief Willoughby- bordering on hick and racist, he also has a heart and cares about Mildred’s predicament- when a shocking event occurs, he becomes an even richer character.

It is worth pointing out and impressive to me as a viewer that the three prominent black characters—Willoughby’s replacement, Abercrombie, Mildred’s best friend and co-worker, Denise, and a kindly billboard painter—are each written as intelligent and sensitive, a fact I found to perfectly balance the other less sympathetic characters.

In this way, a nasty film becomes more satisfying.

Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, though, belongs to McDormand. She is successful at portraying a myriad of different emotions. From her sly eye-winking as she crafts a good verbal assault on whoever crosses her path, to an emotional breakdown scene towards the end of the film, McDormand embodies the character with depth.

In a gorgeous scene, she has a sweet conversation with a peaceful deer grazing nearby, and for a second, she imagines it could be her dead daughter reincarnated. The scene richly counterbalances other violent and brutal scenes.

McDormand manages to look downright homely in some scenes and beautiful in others.

A film will indeed divide viewers. Some will champion the film’s crisp writing and witty dialogue. Still, others will undoubtedly be turned off by some of the character’s foul language and nasty nature.

I found Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), sarcastic, gritty, and well-told. It is a versatile affair rich with layers and brimming with enjoyment.

Oscar Nominations: 2 wins-Best Picture, Best Actress-Frances McDormand (won), Best Supporting Actor-Sam Rockwell (won), Woody Harrelson, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 2 wins-Best Female Lead-Frances McDormand (won), Best Supporting Make-Sam Rockwell (won), Best Screenplay