The Sisters Brothers

— This is an interesting film as all good Westerns can be, but it deals in a world of bloodshed and bravado, and sin and salvation. It’s the story of Charlie and Eli Sisters, brothers who work for a man known as the Commodore, tracking and finding those who have stolen from him or done him wrong, and killing those who get in their way. The brothers aren’t much alike, but they fit together well, need each other, and do their jobs well. The Commodore’s hired a detective, John Morris, to find a chemist named Herman Warm, and detain him until he can be delivered to Charlie and Eli who are on their way to meet him. Before they arrive, Morris and Warm realize they make better friends than enemies, forcing Charlie and Eli to track them farther. Once Charlie and Eli have them in cuffs, circumstances arise to make then reconsider the situation and all four men band together, forcing the Commodore to dispatch new men to find them. All four men seem a little too educated and think a little too much about their place in the world and, as the film progresses, so does each man’s understanding of himself, his past, and the future that may be available to him. The acting is fantastic but it took me a bit to get used to the dialogue which seems a little high-brow at first. Once I settled in, its quirkiness seemed more normal and I enjoyed the ride.

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[2018. 121 min. Directed by Jaques Audiard. Starring John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-sisters-brothers-2018

Roman J. Israel, Esq

— I watched this on DVD and was fascinated by Denzel Washington’s performance—one for which he was nominated for an Academy Award—because he’s everything we’ve come not to expect of his characters. Roman J. Israel is an overweight, sloppy, shuffling, introvert. Unfortunately, it’s hard to know what the rest of the film is. Not exactly a courtroom drama, not fully an ethical dilemma or a legal expose, although it toys with being these things as it flounders. The film has a lot of problems, but Denzel’s performance is good.

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[2017. 122 min. Written and directed by Dan Gilroy. Starring Denzel Washington, Colin Ferrell, and Carmen Ejogo.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/roman-j-israel-esq-2017

The Old Man and the Gun

— I enjoyed “The Old Man and the Gun," a fairly light film with a great cast, mostly based on a true story, that just requires you to go along for the ride with no need for additional thought or introspection. The film flows well, thanks to some judicious editing and a decent narrative but, as much as anything, thanks to Redford’s charisma which hasn’t dimmed anymore than the twinkle in his eyes over all these years, and still almost overshadows his acting abilities to say nothing of Sissy Spacek’s considerable talent. It may not be his best film, but it’s enough to make anyone wish he hadn’t retired from film acting.

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[2018. 93 min. Directed by David Lowery. Starring Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek, and Danny Glover.]
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/review-the-old-man-and-the-gun-is-a-peak-in-robert-redfords-career

The Hate U Give

— I’ve seen my share of films thematically linked to the Black Lives Matter movement and, from my perspective, whether fiction and documentary, most have communicated an anger and righteousness without encouraging much understanding. “The Hate U Give” is different. 16-year-old Starr lives in a black neighborhood but her parents have sent her to a mostly white, privileged high school in an affluent part of town. To fit in, she has adopted two distinct personalities, one for her white high school crowd and the other for her neighborhood friends. When she leaves a party one night with a long-time friend and a policemen stops their car, Starr does everything her father had coached to do if ever stopped but her friend doesn’t and, reaching for his hairbrush, the policeman thinks he’s going for a gun and shoots him. As the only witness to his death, Starr’s ability to put on two separate faces becomes more difficult until, eventually, she becomes her own person. “The Hate U Give” is based on a young adult novel, and it personalizes the story, pulling viewers into Starr’s life and managing to actually give viewers a sense of her journey from striving to fit in to speaking out, from living on the edge to tackling the problem. In the process, privileged, white viewers like me really do get a better sense of what’s going on, but with the anger and frustration directed more at the fact we’ve all ended up at this place. Instead of focusing on blame, viewers can focus on affecting a change. Amandla Stenberg is fantastic and, while the film doesn’t look at every injustice or the full history of institutional racism, it does what films do best and provides a way for viewers to step into the environment, not just view it from afar.

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[2018. 133 min. Directed by George Tillman Jr. Starring Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, and Anthony Mackie.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/movies/the-hate-u-give-review-amandla-stenberg.html

First Man

— The story of Neil Armstrong’s path to becoming the first man to walk on the moon, in Damien Chazelle’s hands, is a personal story of the inner thoughts and fears with which Armstrong struggles as much as of the national race to the moon. It’s at its best when dealing with the Gemini and Apollo missions, able to provide a realism that’s often nerve-racking, emphasizing the fragility of our space efforts and our own significance in the larger world. On earth, the film isn’t quite as good when looking at family and friends, perhaps because the cadence just seems a little off. In the end, it does a great job of making us question the costs associated with the space race both on a personal level and as a nation. I liked the film’s look and intent a little more than the film itself.

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[2018. 141 min. Directed by Damien Chazelle. Starring Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, and Pablo Schreiber.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/first-man-2018

Phoenix

— “Phoenix” wasn’t even on my radar when it was released a few years ago but I’m glad I checked it out on DVD this past weekend. It’s a noir, “doppelganger psychodrama” set in post-WWII Berlin. Nelly makes it out of Auschwitz but with a badly disfigured face and her friend, Lene, gets her to a clinic for reconstructive surgery. Although she could choose any face she wants, she wants her old face back so she can reclaim the life she had before the war when she was a singer and married to pianist Johnny. Lene, who works in the Hall of Records, thinks Johnny betrayed Nelly to the Gestapo to save his own life, and then divorced her during the war. Johnny wants only to erase the past, Nelly wants only to return to it, and Lene wants Nelly to go to Palestine with her where they can start a new and totally different life. At the same time, Germany is quickly rebranding itself, burying the Nazi past in favor of a more democratic future. When Nelly is released from the clinic, she finds Johnny working at the “Phoenix” club but he doesn’t recognize her, or at least not exactly. He senses something familiar, something similar, and later enlists her help to let him transform her into his wife so they can claim and split her estate, now a hefty sum since she is the only survivor in her family. And so it is that Nelly ends up impersonating a stranger impersonating herself, and the pieces are in place for a consideration of identity, love, betrayal, survival, denial, hope, and healing. It’s a beautiful, suspenseful film, and a touching one as well, that could easily have focused on betrayal and the plot to get Nelly’s inheritance. Instead, the focus is squarely on the emotions of the characters as they maneuver in the complicated post-war times. It’s tightly crafted and acted, and ends on a perfect note, literally.

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[2014. 98 min. Directed by Christian Petzold. Starring Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, and Nina Kunzendorf.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/phoenix-2015

A Star Is Born

— This may be the film industry’s “tale as old as time.” It says something about a story that it holds up even when retold for each generation, for it’s quite a feat to make it feel fresh time and time again. Somehow actor and first-time director Bradley Cooper manages to do just that and quite a bit more. Lady Gaga, whose musical talent is already legendary but whose acting depth had yet to be fully challenged, is amazing. Cooper, as the alt-Country superstar who's reached the height of his career, is perfect. They both do their jobs well, one star about to fall while the other is ready for her meteoric rise, but it is the overall tone, the amount of restraint as the story builds, and the believable chemistry between the actors that makes everything work. This version, in a nod to gender relationship changes over recent decades, eliminates the resentment felt by the male leads in previous versions and instead the point of conflict comes from Gaga’s character making it as a pop star instead of remaining true to herself. The first half of the film is almost perfect and, although the second half has a few problems, by then we’re in the palms of their hands, ready to believe and feel the fairy tale. If you like this kind of film, you'll like it.

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[2018. 135 min. Directed by Bradley Cooper. Starring Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, and Andrew Dice Clay.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-star-is-born-2018