The Prom

— This is lots of fun if you like a somewhat campy musical, with a slew of good actors, evidently signed on to have a little fun or to support inclusion, with plenty of theater references, and tidied up with that Ryan Murphy varnish. It fits nicely into the growing library of mainstream LBGT-themed films that have appeared in the past 2-3 years (“Boys in the Band,” “Uncle Frank,” “Booksmart,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Rocketman,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Boy Erased,” “Papi Chulo”). The sections of the film that make fun of Broadway narcissism and insecurities, as well as life in the urban, East coast bubble are more appealing to me than the parts designed to encourage inclusion and acceptance in the Midwest, fly-over bubble. It is fun to see Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells singing and dancing in both NYC and small-town Indiana, and the music is mostly good. When it ran over 2 hours, I wondered if something couldn’t have been cut, but part of its charm may be its excess. I enjoyed it but it really isn’t anything special. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 130 min. Directed by Ryan Murphy. Starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells, Kerry Washington, and Keegan-Michael Key.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-prom-movie-review-2020

Mank

— This film has a lot going for it, with Gary Oldman and David Fincher topping the list. It’s also an interesting script, written by Fincher’s father, telling the tale through a series of flashbacks, à la “Citizen Kane,” an appropriate nod since the story is held together in the “present” with Herman Mankiewicz (“Mank”), recovering from a serious auto accident, in a remote cabin working on a deadline to write the script for “Citizen Kane.” It’s a complicated back-and-forth in black-and-white and it manages to keep your attention, at least if you’re interested in 1930’s and 1940’s Hollywood. What seems to be a film about the experiences that gave Mank the inspiration for the script, ends up as a beast with two personalities, and is as much about the intersection of Tinsel Town power and politics with national and statewide politics then, and, by extension, now. Well, it’s all very interesting but a little disappointing too. It doesn’t rise to the level of Fincher’s “The Social Network,” perhaps because the story remains less personal to draw out the parallels, or maybe Oldman’s Mank just isn’t as artfully written and acted as Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg. No matter what, although historical fiction, Mank feels much more speculative than historical. It’s a beautiful and wonderful film some of the time, and that’s enough to make it worth watching. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 131 minutes. Directed by David Fincher. Starring Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, and Arliss Howard.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mank-movie-review-2020

Uncle Frank

— I was taken by “Uncle Frank” with its well-written script, nice acting, and wonderful Southern vibe. I suggested it to a friend and he liked it too, even mentioning the tone reminded him a bit of the Southern feel Harper Lee provided so well. Initially, it almost seems like another entry in the gay-and-not-out-in-the-1970s genre we seem to be seeing more frequently, but that’s something of a parallel and maybe even lesser story to what ends up being a coming of age tale tale. Beth, the niece of the man who’s made a life for himself in New York City and whose sexuality isn’t discussed by his family in South Carolina, ends up at NYU, and stumbles across Frank’s secret. They soon they forge an even stronger bond during a road trip back home for a funeral. Once they arrive home, the script is easier to guess and not completely believable, but a shift to tug at our heartstrings isn’t the worst thing that could happen. It’s hard not to find a tear running down your cheek by the end. I enjoyed the film. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2020. 95 minutes. Written and directed by Alan Ball. Starring Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, and Peter Macdisi.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uncle-frank-movie-review-2020

Hillbilly Elegy

— It’s always sad when a top notch director and first rate actors can’t carry a film I based on a pretty decent book, but that’s the case with “Hillbilly Elegy,” based on J.D. Vance’s book, directed by Ron Howard, and featuring Amy Adams and Glenn Close. It’s not bad, just disappointing—it iwould be fine as a movie of the week on a cable channel. It’s a look at three generators of dysfunction and one person who escapes the cycle. There’s a lot of screaming and a too many flashbacks, and too little focus on the rustbelt world so many people don’t understand, and it’s characteristic of being isolated and isolating. In the end, the film makes it clear the world from which we come makes us what we are, but our dreams and actions make us what we become. Unfortunately, this must seem like a hopeful misconception of the privileged to people living lives without hope. Some of the parts of this film are pretty good, but it doesn’t come together as well as I’d like. Sadly, I think this is one where too many of the original story’s nuances slipped away when the film was made. [Netflix streaming.]

Small Axe, Season 1: Mangrove

— I’ve seen three of Steve McQueen’s films (“Shame,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Widows”) and, different as they are, they’ve all been very good, so it’s no surprise that the first episode of his anthology for Amazon is very good too. It’s a look at harassment by London police of a Trinidadian immigrant’s restaurant in Notting Hill as the restaurant, the Mangrove, became an enclave for West Indian immigrants, intellectuals, and activists in the late 1960s, culminating in a protest/march in 1970. The result was a confrontation and subsequent courtroom drama vaguely reminiscent of the Chicago 7, but referred to as the Mangrove Nine and with a decidedly British twist. It is well done and worth seeing, but hard to watch without thinking about our country’s current struggles with racism and systemic racism. I also confess I knew nothing of the Mangrove Nine before watching this film and realize I received a dose of “history” through a single lens focused by McQueen to make a point, again speaking to how history is being written today as we receive our news through social media and “news” programs that cross the line between reporting and opinion. It also makes me think about unlikely heroes who may engage in personal acts of resistance, but then suddenly find themselves at the center of a larger, cultural change, and the courage they must find within themselves. Evidently this is the first of five episodes in the first season, all of which McQueen directed and all of which focus on the same community. I’m looking forward to the next one. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2020. 126 minutes. Directed by Steve McQueen. Starring Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/small-axe-mangrove-movie-review-2020

Rebecca

— I’m not sure “Rebecca” needed a refresh or an update or anything else, but as long as Netflix come up with one, I watched it. Ends up it’s an attractive film with pretty places and pretty people, but it’s missing the unsettling nature infused in every paragraph of du Maurier’s novel and every scene of Hitchcock’s film version. Kirstin Scott Thomas does the best job of the bunch and she’s certainly chilling but anything falls flat bouncing off Lily James. It might be okay if you have no familiarity with the story but otherwise, it’s a disappointment. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 121 minutes. Directed by Ben Wheatley. Starring Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ann Dowd.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rebecca-movie-review-2020

The Trial of the Chicago 7

— I’m an unabashed Aaron Sorkin fan and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for his writing skills and, now with two directing credits behind him, his directing potential. Those of us who are of a certain age know the story, but that leaves 85% of the U.S. population with no first-hand knowledge. Given current events, it makes sense to remind people. I personally thought the film was a little slow laying the groundwork but again, just trying to bring viewers up to speed so they have a sense of the era, the politics, and the groups (SDS, Yippies, Black Panthers…) is a tricky task, and one that Sorkin does well. By the time he'd rounded up the characters and gotten them to Chicago, I was hooked. The original trial was theatrical and left many people shaking their heads in disbelief, just as so many events do today. As our country refocuses on policing, elections, and the courts, it does seem like we haven’t travelled very far in 50 years. It's worth seeing. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 129 minutes. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. Starring Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, John Carroll Lynch, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Frank Langella.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-movie-review-2020

The Boys in the Band

— My familiarity with the “The Boys in the Band” has pretty much been limited to seeing it mentioned among gay theater/film milestones and vague memories of seeing the William Friedkin film version fifty years ago. This all-star version features the same actors who starred in a 2018 anniversary run on Broadway. The play has a gay character for everyone, from campy and flashy to closeted and just coming out of the closet, and everything in between. The plot is something of an all-gay version of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” where liquor flows a little too freely at a birthday party, laughter fades as barbs are exchanged and secrets told, a “game” sets everyone on edge, and eventually the party ends, leaving the audience to have witnessed love, self-pity, despair, and something between hopelessness and acceptance. In 1968 it was ground-breaking. Now it’s a period piece in the sense that LGBTQ characters have become more commonplace, but sometimes still seem like caricatures instead of fully formed individuals. Jim Parsons does an incredible job in the lead and most the rest of the cast does a fine job as well with the script they've been given. It’s hard not be exhausted at the end, and to find yourself thinking about what’s changed and what hasn’t in fifty years. I'm lukewarm on the film, but glad I saw it. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 121 minutes. Directed by Joe Mantello. Starring Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Brian Hutchinson, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Tuc Watkins.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-boys-in-the-band-movie-review-2020