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Reviews
The Whale (2022)
Not about being fat
I hate writing about metaphors, in movies, music, or poems, but this movie cries out fot it.
It isn't about, just, a man who is fat. It is about a man who loves, to excess. And his excess of love leads him to an excess with food. He had left his family, not "abandoned" them, for he still felt for them very deeply. But because his love was for another man that his wife abandoned him, and thru her, his daughter. The man he loved was deeply depressed and killed himself and that love lead him to his excess. He tried so hard to connect with his daughter, whom he loved above all, but his wife kept them separated. His nurse loved him and cared for him, and even enabled his excess with food. Enter a "preacher" who isn't really a preacher at all. That's all I can do with that.
The title seems to be misunderstood, even tho it's made clear from the start. The first, English, edition of Moby Dick was published in England and the origitnal title was "The Whale." If you ever come across a copy of that book, it's worth millions.
Fathers & Daughters (2015)
Love is not love?
The film emphasizes over and over how much the father loved the daughter and vice versa. And yet, when she is an adult she says she is incapable of love. That is absolutely absurd and makes the whole story a farce.
Man on the Train (2011)
Should have worked
I didn't know how to rate this one. For the first 120 min it is excellent. Interesting music, excellent direction, wonderful cast--Donald Sutherland is in top form, nuanced yet clear, perfectly in character. But then came the ending, or perhaps three endings? Fatuous, pretentious, pseudo-"deep," just appallingly bad. I hated it that such great material and worksmanship should end up as such a train wreck. This director showed such wonderful talent, it's a shame she fell for such really bad end writing. She deserved better and should have known better. I look forward to her other work.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Dumb and dumber, part 6
Oh, OK, I get it, the horse's name is Dan! How funny is that!?? The "jokes" went downhill from there. I guess they're right, playing to the lowest common denominator, if this is called "humor." The 14-year-old boy triumphs again.
Adrift (2018)
True Story?
MAJOR SPOILERS
At the beginning we are told that this is a "true story," not "based on" or "inspired by." But it isn't. The man was washed overboard in the hurricane and died, yet the movie says he lives and she nurses him. Well,, it was quite enough that she survived and made it to Hawaii on her own, an excellent story of determined survival. Why wasn't that enough? They could have kept the romantic flashbacks without fooling us about things that didn't happen.
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Love of folk music?
I don't see how people see this as a love of folk music, which they make fun of at every turn, the only exception being the excellent Irish quartet. They make fun of Peter Paul and Mary, of Bob Dylan, and above all their subject, Davis. They even parody a parody song, Please Mr. Custer, with a wit-less and really bad result. As always, the Coen Bros. make fun OF their subject, instead of having fun WITH it. They seem to think this shows how smart they are.
Wunderland (2018)
Bang bang, you're dead
The makers of this film were obviously big fans of really bad old Westerns, where the valiant white guys shoot once and 10 Indians drop dead instantly. None wounded. Meanwhile, the enemy is firing furiously and no one gets hit. Well, maybe once, for dramatic effect. (No, no, I'm fine! (thud)). I think this is called Wunderland because you wonder what it's about. It's certainly not about the Battle of the Bulge.
Given (2016)
Magical
This film is beautifully shot, excellent pace, and an absorbing story. The narration by the boy is perfect as we travel the world over with his surfer parents and a quest for the Big Fish. It is a quiet film but as it unfolds it is an absolute treat to see so many places so exquisitely filmed, with a special attention to lighting. It is not a "surfer" movie, although there are wonderful shots of surfing, nor is it a "boys" movie, although the story as told by Given is enchanting. These are the real people telling the story of their real lives and an inspiration for all.
Losing Sight of Shore (2017)
Pacific Rowing Expedition (contains spoilers)
I was really looking forward to this documentary about four women who set out to row the Pacific from California to Australia. This would be a first for a team of four, men or women, as others have rowed the Pacific but none as a team of four. The filming was excellent and there were wonderful views of sunsets and storms and an aching portrayal of the tedium and sheer willpower it took to row 2 hours on, 2 hours off each shift, 24 hours a day. And the women occasionally record video diaries that add to the story, and their honesty and often pain is palpable. And they accurately recount the many setbacks, as currents and winds push them in the wrong direction. HOWEVER. The "team of four" did not row the whole way: one quit in Hawaii and was replaced and another quit in Samoa and was replaced. The rules say that for it to count it has to be an unassisted row. So this was a team of two assisted by four others and so was not a record at all, as they claim at the end. Yes, it was a huge achievement, but not the one they claim.
Grace of Monaco (2014)
Deception
This film purports to be about a "moment in time" and based on "historical events" about Grace Kelly as Princess of Monaco, and it is an utter fabrication from beginning to end. Which would be fine as an imagining but it pretends to be a biopic, and it isn't. It is utterly inaccurate about Grace Kelly herself and the events it presents. It is demeaning both to her and to the history it misportrays. The writer and director obviously have no sense of shame whatsoever and did this film only with an eye on the buck they could make by cashing in on her fame. Fortunately, they lost their shirts on this turkey. Yes, Nicole Kidman and Tim Roth and Frank Angella, as always, did their best and were great. But they were horribly deceived about what this film would be. I think it's fun to reimagine history, but not when you pretend it's fact and completely misrepresent the truth. This film is a travesty of film-making, and a lesson in deception that film-makers should pay attention to. Making fools of us is not fun, or even, in this case, profitable.
Strajk - Die Heldin von Danzig (2006)
History?
When a director labels his/her film "inspired" by a true story, watch out! This usually means "I added enough spin to bounce this off the back wall." In this case, Lech Walesa is portrayed as not *really* being the leader of Solidarity (he hardly appears at all, and as nothing more than a prop), but is merely a token figure being given some backbone by the heroine, who in this case is a German, not a Polish actor! Note that the original title is also in German. Hmmm. Our heroine is implausibly super-heroine and played with such tenacious pluck that she achieves near-caricature status. And they changed her name from the original character--to avoid comments from the people who really knew her? If so, it didn't work, for her neighbors weighed in on this film and while she is greatly admired, she did not play the role given her here. Having said that, the film is remarkably even-toned and effective, history aside. Would that they had gone just that little bit further and given the Polish workers their due credit in bringing down the Soviet Union, revisionist historians of the Reagan Right notwithstanding.
The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)
Sploosh
Manages to be overblown and pedestrian at the same time. Laden with so many clichés that neither a story line nor character development ever get out of the rough. Less about golf than about fevered camera shenanigans. A formulaic plunk into the water. How the hero gets the girl is never explained nor explored, it is simply there as an obligatory plot element. Likewise the relationship with the father (and mother)--never explored in any meaningful way. The one tiny interaction between father and mother is goofy and like so much in the film, pretends to explore but substitutes glibness for dialog. Ditto the Harry Vardon character--glimpses of a conflict that is never more than a vague attempt at exploring class distinctions, so crudely handled that it's like a caricature of a caricature.
Empire Falls (2005)
Slick Soap
Excellent production--great cast, director, cinematography, etc., all in aid of making a superior soaper. Will the mean old rich lady get her comeuppance? (organ chord) Will Milt find out who his *real* father is? (organ chord) Will Becky and Ralph get back together again? (organ chord)
Tossing in a Columbine-type element doesn't add the "contemporary" touch that the writer hoped would elevate this beyond soap. Without it, all that would be missing would be the Palmolive ads; with it, we just get the heavy hand of nastiness.
Several have mentioned Nobody's Fool (a truly great movie) as a parallel, but that's like comparing King Lear with Days of Our Lives.