American Made

— “American Made” is the story of a likeable but bored TWA pilot recruited by the CIA to take reconnaissance photos in South America. From there it’s a slippery slope toward bringing cocaine into the U.S. for Pablo Escobar, and running AK-47s to the Contras for the U.S government. It’s loosely based around one player in one of the biggest CIA operations in U.S history and the charm of the star works to mask the obvious ethical issues involved. That tension is one of the elements that make this black comedy worthwhile. Tom Cruise can ooze charisma, even more so when his life is a little out of control and he’s doing questionable things to give his wife and kids a better life. He’s also operating with a script that has plenty of comic lines and opportunities to break the 4th wall and grin at the audience. The film mostly skims on the surface of things while moving at a breakneck speed, letting you laugh with and root for a bad guy and then be jolted back to reality when things don’t end well for him.

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[2017. 115 min. Directed by Gary Spinelli. Starring Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, and Sarah Wright.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/movies/american-made-review-tom-cruise.html

Menashe

— This film was something of a surprise to me. Menashe is a New York City Hasidic widower who’s trying to obtain custody of his son even though his culture requires children to only be raised in traditional, two-parent homes and the Rabbi has said his son should live in his brother-in-law’s home until a matchmaker’s helped Menashe find a new wife. It’s a quiet story that feels very real, appropriate for the first dramatic feature by a talented documentary filmmaker. It’s told in Yiddish and, although the story itself is interesting, for a Midwesterner like me, its the texture of the film that's almost more interesting--the traditions, the clothes, the homes, and all the other layers that are part of such very orthodox living. It’s a gentle story that’s worth seeing.

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[2017. 82 min. Directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein. Starring Menashe Lustig, Yoel Falkowitz, Ruben Niborski, Meyer Schwartz, and Yoel Weisshaus.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/menashe-2017

American Assassin

— There are plenty of overly independent, slightly rogue, intelligence-trained, tough guys operating in films with plenty of special effects backing them up. In this case it’s the CIA’s Mitch Rapp who is young and short fused, but certainly competent thanks to training from his crusty, legendary, ex-SEAL mentor. He’s pitted against a particularly nasty enemy and triumphs in the end. Did any of us think he wouldn’t? It’s a shame he doesn’t seem to have much personality behind most of it. Meanwhile, the audience is forced to think about how emotions can cloud reason and the difference between revenge and retribution, de rigueur for these kinds of films. it’s not a bad film and I’d say it’s perfectly adequate end-of-summer action, but if this is the first of a series, they desperately need to pump up the backstory and add more personality to Rapp’s character. Right now his crusty mentor, played by Michael Keaton, is the best part of the franchise.

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[2017. 112 min. Directed by Michael Cuesta. Starring Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Latham Taylor Kitsch, and Shiva Negar.]
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/travers-on-american-assassin-spy-thriller-is-irresistible-w503194

Mother!

— “Mother!” has to be one of the stranger things I’ve seen in a while. I’m still trying to decide if it rubbish or greatness. I’m leaning toward greatness but it’s so filled with darkness and allusion that it’s really hard to know if Aronofsky was just being divisive or presenting an ambitious vision. Either way, Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ed Harris are mesmerizing, and it may be best to see it without preparation so you experience it and, later, try to figure out what it all means.

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[2017. 121 min. Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer.]
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/09/19/darren_aronofsky_needs_to_stop_explaining_what_mother_is_about.html

Patriots Day

— Mark Wahlberg has a knack for picking sentimental, patriotic, action films and doing a good job with them. This one, focusing on events of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing follows that pattern, focusing on a few stories as the events unfold with Wahlberg’s character tying it all together. This one was good, although maybe a little long and not quite as good as either “Deepwater Horion” or “Lone Survivor.” [DVD]

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[2016. 133 min. Directed by Peter Berg. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monagham, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons, and John Goodman.]
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/23/patriots-day-review-boston-marathon-bombings-mark-wahlberg