Tag Archives: Rachel Pickup

2017 Films, Adventure, Super Hero

Wonder Woman-2017

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Wonder Woman-2017

Director Patty Jenkins

Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine

Scott’s Review #696

Reviewed November 20, 2017

Grade: B

Wonder Woman is a 2017 summer offering (and a mega success) firmly nestled in the comfort of the superhero adventure genre. It is unique because it is directed by a woman in a male-dominated field.

This must be championed, and the film has a palpable, female-empowering quality that I adore since it is still lacking in most mainstream movies.

However, at times, the film teeters too much around predictability and possesses many traditional superhero elements, such as good versus evil, climactic fight scenes, and stock villains.

But liberties must be taken, and overall, I saw the film as a female-driven work.

The fact that the masses celebrated Wonder Woman is terrific news.

Director Patty Jenkins, notable for having previously tackled weighty subject matter in films such as 2003’s Monster, is at the helm of this project and embodies her lead character with a good blend of earnestness, pizzazz, and heart.

“Wonder Woman” is a likable character, and newcomer Gal Gadot, who is unknown to me, is interesting casting. There are a myriad of young Hollywood “names” who could have championed the part—Scarlett Johansson or Jennifer Lawrence may have been palpable in the role.

Seemingly brave, Gadot takes command of the character and fills her with substance.

We meet “Princess Diana” as a young girl living on the protected Amazon island of Themyscira, inhabited only by females. It is around 1918, amid the harsh reality of World War I, though the members of the tribe know nothing about the war or any other current events—nor do any males live on the island.

Most women are trained warriors, presumably to protect the island from potential dangers. It is soon revealed that Diana has special powers, and after meeting a lost American soldier, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), she embarks on a mission to save the world from the ravages of war.

Mixed in with the main story is a briefly mentioned ancient legend of Zeus’s son Ares plotting to return and destroy the Amazons, whom Zeus created.

My only issue with Wonder Woman as a whole is with the story.  The plot is not weak, but simply put- it is nestled in Hollywood predictability rather than containing surprises.

Despite deserved kudos for the characterization of Diana, the story ultimately turns ho-hum like many superhero films—peppered with the inevitable battle scenes.

The genre-specific “save the world” is played to the hilt as Diana takes it upon herself to stop the war, believing that people are not entirely bad. With this thought, Diana finally learns a valuable lesson about the complexities of human beings.

Wonder Woman contains a moralistic tale, but then there are more battle scenes.

The villains are mainly cartoon-like, which is what one might expect for a film of this kind.  Chemist Isabel Maru/Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya) dons a mask to hide a disfigured face (intentionally to test the poison gas), and General Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston) plans to destroy all of humanity.

These characters are straight out of comic books and contain no redeeming qualities.

Contrary to where the main story may be a tad lacking, the romantic element is nicely done. The scenes involving Diana and Steve are sweet and romantic, making them fun to watch and a good balance against the action sequences.

Gadot and Pine have great chemistry, adding humor, so the scenes are not forced. As Diana sees Steve naked for the first time, a clever sexual flirtation develops, and a sly lesbian backstory is briefly hinted at.

Diana remarks with a smirk that men are only needed for procreation and that the women on the island “can satisfy themselves.” The duo also has a play of words about his “manhood.”

Due to Wonder Woman’s success, a sequel, again directed by Jenkins, is in the works. My hope is that because of the box office performance, the talented director can take many more liberties and push the envelope further, as she did with Monster.

Wonder Woman (2017) is a good film, so we hope the next installment will be great.

2015 Films, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama

Chronic-2015

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Chronic-2015

Director Michel Franco

Starring Tim Roth

Scott’s Review #682

Reviewed September 18, 2017

Grade: A-

Chronic (2015) is a brave film, a character study, that offers an in-depth look at the life of a male nurse. He has rich relationships with his patients.

The film also reflects not just the patients’ obvious physical needs, but the strong effects their dying has on the main character.

The film is quite bleak, with a quiet tone and very long scenes with little dialogue, but it’s a treasure in bold storytelling and brazen reflection.

The film is a subdued work requiring attention and focus.

Yes, some would deem Chronic to be slow, and most would describe it as “a downer”, but dismissing the film is a mistake, as it offers rich writing and an in-depth look at a vocation and lifestyle misunderstood or confusing to most people.

Tim Roth, famous for his bad-boy roles, especially in Quentin Tarantino films, does an about-face, delivering a superb, subdued performance as David Wilson, a lonely, depressed nurse in the Los Angeles area.

He is a quiet, kindly man whose internal pain registers on his face as he dutifully treats his mostly close-to-death patients, sometimes attending their funerals after they have expired.

Initially, we meet David as he treats a sickly young woman. Once beautiful, she is now haggard, and I cringed when the woman’s nude, skeleton-like body is on display as David washes her with a washcloth.

The filmmakers do not gloss over his tender attention to her private areas, shot gracefully rather than garishly.

Still, the long scene is frighteningly realistic.

When the woman succumbs to AIDS, David reluctantly becomes involved in a celebratory drink with a newly engaged young couple after he goes to a bar to unwind.

When he pretends the deceased woman is his wife, he receives sympathy, but the couple quickly becomes aloof when he reveals what she died of.

Does he do this purposely to push the couple away? Throughout the film, we realize that David thrives on being with his patients and can do no other work.

In contrast, he has difficulty with relationships with “normal” people.

Perplexities abound in this film, which makes the viewer think and ponder throughout and after the story ends.

For example, David searches a young girl’s Facebook account, looking at her photos; later, he finds the girl, who is studying medicine, and they happily reunite.

Is she his daughter or the daughter of a deceased patient?

Later, David is sued by an affluent family and subsequently fired after he watches porn with an older man to lift his spirits. There is a glimmer of uncertainty where we are not sure what David’s sexual orientation is.

In the most heartbreaking sequence of all, David begins caring for a middle-aged woman with progressive cancer.

Martha (Robin Bartlett) is strong-willed and no-nonsense and makes the painful decision not to continue with chemotherapy after suffering chronic nausea and later soiling herself.

It is apparent that her family only visits her out of obligation, as she lies to them that her cancer is gone and she is in the clear. She then pleads with David to end her life with dignity using a heavy dose of morphine- the sequence is heartbreaking.

The final scene will blow you away, and I didn’t see this conclusion coming. The event left me questioning the entire film, wondering how all the pieces fit together.

Surely, being overlooked for an Oscar nomination, Tim Roth proves he is a layered, complex, full-fledged actor in a painful yet necessary story called Chronic (2015).

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Feature, Best Male Lead-Tim Roth