A winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, Mommy is filled with daring choices, from the 1:1 screen ratio, the prominent use of familiar pop songs, and the introduction of a world exactly like our own, only with one small legal change. That last one might not seem very daring, but when you realize how subtly it changes the world around these particular characters, the fact that the legal change is only explained in the beginning and never mentioned again is extraordinary. In fact, it's remarkable how much of the film revolves around things unsaid when you take into account the verbosity of two of its leads. The mother-son pair at the center of Mommy are rough, unrefined people, although the son proves to be the more volatile of the two. Their neighbor, for reasons only vaguely stated but emotionally understood, becomes enmeshed in their family, and the two women struggle together to correct the path of the troubled son. The film doesn't demonize any of the characters, no matter how many wrong turns they make, and lovingly shows the way that families can be made and broken. This was the only film I've seen all year to achieve what Roger Ebert called elevation, to the tune of Oasis's growling Wonderwall. Unfortunately, this film just misses all-time greatness with an ending that seems unsure of when to stop.
Reviews
3 Reviews
The Voices
(2014)
Darkly hilarious
29 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Everyone's favorite director/graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi worked from someone else's material for the first time in The Voices, a dark, weirdly funny story that will appeal to those who enjoyed 2012's genre-bending Cabin in the Woods.
Ryan Reynolds stars as Jerry, a sweet but troubled man who has conversations with his cat Mr. Whiskers, his dog Bosco, and the human heads he keeps stored in the fridge. Much credit has to go to screenwriter Michael R. Perry, who manages to make Jerry likable despite his homicidal streak. With much of the story being filtered through Jerry's skewed perception, Satrapi is able to play with the visuals, jumping between what Jerry sees and the reality of his situation to hilarious effect.
This is an empathetic film, but first and foremost it's insanely funny. My major take-away from it: never trust Mr. Whiskers.
Ryan Reynolds stars as Jerry, a sweet but troubled man who has conversations with his cat Mr. Whiskers, his dog Bosco, and the human heads he keeps stored in the fridge. Much credit has to go to screenwriter Michael R. Perry, who manages to make Jerry likable despite his homicidal streak. With much of the story being filtered through Jerry's skewed perception, Satrapi is able to play with the visuals, jumping between what Jerry sees and the reality of his situation to hilarious effect.
This is an empathetic film, but first and foremost it's insanely funny. My major take-away from it: never trust Mr. Whiskers.
The Keeping Room
(2014)
Seek This One Out
19 September 2014
The American Civil War is a time period that's been told almost exclusively from the male perspective and has most often centered on Northerners (winners do write history), so to see a story about southern women enduring the brutality of the war's end is rather surprising. What makes it satisfying, and a truly excellent film, is how sharp the storytelling is. Writer Julia Hart uses the small story of three women, two sisters (Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfeld) and their young slave (Muna Otaru), to capture the massive effects the war had on the southern way of life, but never hits you over the head with its larger themes. Instead, it tells its story almost as a home- invasion thriller, with a slow-burning sense of dread filling every ounce of the runtime. Bleak, tense, and at times difficult to watch, The Keeping Room isn't fun, but you'll be happy you saw it.
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