Category: Reviews

  • ‘The Accountant’ Adds Up Nicely

    ‘The Accountant’ Adds Up Nicely

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    Ben Affleck IS ‘The Accountant’

    “There’s no business like show business, but there are several businesses like accounting” – David Letterman

    The good news is that the audience doesn’t need to know a lot about accounting to enjoy The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck as “Christian Wolff” who appears to be a small-town CPA who has an office in a small storefront next to a laundromat and a Chinese restaurant.  But like everything else about this film, penned by Bill Dubuque (The Judge), there is more than meets the eye here.

    Wolff is one of several aliases that this accountant has used over the years.  One of two sons born to an Army colonel (Robert C. Treveiler) and his wife (Mary Kraft) they learn that “Chris” has autism although he is able to function at a high level in spite of his condition.  Offered a chance to place their son at the Harbor Neuroscience Institute, where they specialize in treating children like him, his father turns down the opportunity.  He’s convinced he can teach his son what he needs to know to cope with life.

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    J.K. Simmons and Cythia Addai-Robinson in ‘The Accountant’

    The adult Chris is a brilliant accountant who runs his small practice as a front for his real business, working for some of the world’s largest criminal enterprises as a forensic accountant.  It is a major need for them as a cartel or crime family can’t just hire one of the Big Four accounting firms to see who has been stealing their ill-gotten gains. But at the behest of “The Voice” an unseen woman who is Christian’s support system and protector, he decides to take on a legitimate client.

    As Christian is going to work for Living Robotics, run by “Lamar Blackburrn” (John Lithgow) and his sister “Rita” (Jean Smart), there is trouble on the horizon for Christian.  In Washington, D.C., “Ray King” (J.K. Simmons), a high ranking member of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) is aware of the existence of someone who is doing that accounting work for major crime organizations and he wants to crack this one last case before he retires.  He co-opts “Marybeth Medina” (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), an analyst with strong skills and a checkered past to help him discover the identity of the mystery man who shows up alongside so many criminals in photos taken from a distance.

    Wolff is at Living Robotics because a junior accountant named “Dana Cummings” (Anna Kendrick) noticed something in the accounting records that indicated someone was doing something untoward.  They’ve hired Wolff to find the “leak” and he definitely does.  Other than the fact that events after the discovery have Christian and Dana on the run from those behind the leak and from Ray and Marybeth, the rest is best left to be seen on screen.

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    Jon Bernthal and John Lithgow in ‘The Accountant’

    The best parts of this film are its strong cast, its technical accuracy about the weapons and the hand to hand combat, which is based on the Indonesian martial art Pencak Silat.  It was the 2012 popcorn flick The Raid: Redemption that first showcased internationally how this particular martial art could be used so effectively in the action genre.  The Accountant also uses sound quite well, particular the sounds of the weapons being used.

    Director Gavin O’Connor put together an extremely talented cast and they take what might have been just another action movie to another level.  Ben Affleck gives an inspired performance as the savant who struggles to function but manages to do it well enough that few would suspect the nature of his affliction.

    Hire The Accountant for two hours of film fun.

  • ‘Goat’ milks the savage nature of fraternity hazing

    ‘Goat’ milks the savage nature of fraternity hazing

    Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas in 'Goat'
    Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas in ‘Goat’

    “The brotherhood of man is the only fraternity that’s proud to rush anyone, but most never get past the hazing stage.” – Bauvard

    “You’ll be subjected to hazing all your life.” – Martin Luther

    Based on the 2004 novel of the same name, Goat is an examination of brutality and violence; and how young men handle being victims of them.  Be warned that the depictions of such things in this movie can be difficult to watch.

    “Brad” (based on Brad Land, author of Goat and played brilliantly by Ben Schnetzer) is at a party when he is convinced to offer two men a ride.  He believes them to be friends of the party’s host.  They are not and after he drives to a remote location, they beat him mercilessly before stealing his car and ATM card.  The experience has him considering not heading off to college in the fall where he would be joining “Brett” (Nick Jonas); his older brother.  Brett eventually convinces Brad to change his mind and soon Brad is pledging Phi Sigma Mu, the fraternity he is a member of.

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    Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas in ‘Goat’

    As attractive as the period where the young men are “rushing” fraternities seems, with parties, drinking, drugs and hot women, the reality of PSM’s Hell Week is ugly.  Everything is designed to test the limits of the pledges.  In one particularly telling scene one of the pledges is forced into a small cage where he is subjected to something truly humiliating.  The cage is symbolic of the self-imposed imprisonment that hazing represents.

    Portending the future for some of the pledges is an appearance by former member “Mitch” (James Franco).  In a moment reminiscent of Rob Lowe’s return visit to his character’s fraternity in 1986’s St. Elmo’s Fire, Mitch is the frat boy who never fully graduated into adulthood.

    The pledges survive Hell Week but not long after, “Will” (Danny Flaherty) drops dead while running laps on the college’s track.  This triggers an investigation into the fraternity and someone gives up the details of what’s been going on inside the PSM house to the university’s provost.  As a result the frat is suspended for the rest of the school year and their leader “Will” (Gus Halpern) is convinced it was Brad that ratted them out.

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    James Franco in ‘Goat’

    Despite being dark and difficult to stomach at moments, Goat is a movie that grabs the viewer.  If this is what real-life fraternity pledges have to deal with, one has to wonder if the life-long connections that being a member of a frat brings are worth what it takes to get there.  In some ways the hazing seemed similar to that the trainees go through during a different kind of Hell Week in 1992’s The Finest Hour and 1997’s G.I. Jane.  Both are depictions of BUD/s which is the military acronym for Navy SEAL training.  The difference between the two Hell Weeks is that there is a purpose to putting SEAL trainees through a week where they are allowed to sleep four hours during a 5.5 day period.  It is designed to ensure they have the physical AND mental toughness to become SEALs before the Navy invests a great deal of time and money in their training.  The Hell Week that the PSM pledges had to go through may have had a rationalized purpose in the minds of those who are doing the hazing, but it is obvious that one of the main purposes is for the puerile pleasure of those torturing the pledges.

    Ben Schetzer and Nick Jonas are both up to the task of playing the brothers who are the focus of the film.  James Franco’s cameo alone is worth the price of admission.

  • ‘Misconception’ is a documentary exploring population growth or lack thereof

    ‘Misconception’ is a documentary exploring population growth or lack thereof

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    A chart of our planet’s explosion in population since 1800, the subject of ‘Misconception’

    Jessica Yu’s latest documentary, Misconception had its genesis in her 2011 film Last Call at the Oasis, a stark examination of how we treat our limited water supply on our planet.  In several interviews about this latest effort she has said every Q&A session after Last Call at the Oasis there were questions about the impact of overpopulation on that water supply.

    According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the world’s population reached one billion in the year 1804.  123 years later, it hit two billion.  85 years later, less than it took to go from one billion to two billion, the population hit the seven billion mark.  The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates there will be approximately 9.7 humans on our planet by the year 2050.

    Misconception challenges these notions, using the research and extraordinary presentation skills of Dr. Hans Rosling.  Professor of International Health at the world-renowned Karolinska Institute in Sweden, he is medical doctor, statistician and entertainer all at once.  He makes several points at the film’s outset.

    80% of families live in nations where the average family has only two children per household.  Or as he puts it, “per woman.”

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    Bao Jianxin in ‘Misconception’

    Since 1990 the number of children born each year has not increased.

    The current number of children under the age of 15 remains stable at two billion.

    He also postulates that the greatest threat facing the planet is not population growth, but the consumption of too many resources by those who live in nations with the highest standard of living.

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    Denise Mountenay speaking at the UN about banning abortion. This photo is from her GoFundMe page.

    Miss Yu goes on to examine the issues involving population growth by taking a detailed look at three individuals.  First up is Bao Jianxin, who resides in Beijing.  It is inconceivable to look at population growth without considering China where a one-child per family policy remained in place until the beginning of this year.  Now there is a two-child policy.  Bao is 29 years old and the subject of extreme pressure, both internal and external from his parents and friends, to marry before he turns 30.  He is at a severe disadvantage in this quest.  Dr. Rosling points out that due to the one-child policy and the Chinese preference for male children, there is a shortage of some 30 million women in the People’s Republic.  We see Bao’s attempt to find a wife in a variety of situations.

    Next up is a look at Denise Mountenay of Canada.  She is not seeking to personally procreate but wants to ensure that the process continues in other women without being slowed by contraception or abortion.  She is an activist who is traveling to the UN with swag bags for the diplomats who will meet with her.  Swag bags that contain plastic representations of fetuses at the 10th week of development.  Her affect is displayed at its peak of off-putting.

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    Gladys Kalibbala and one of the children she helps in Uganda, in ‘Misconception’

    Finally we journey to Uganda where journalist Gladys Kalibbala searches for those children who have disappeared or gone missing.  She write a column for a newspaper where these children are featured, in hope of locating their families and reuniting the children with them.

    The examination of these three very different people is done in a somewhat uneven fashion.  Gladys is made to look like a future Nobel Peace Prize nominee while Denise and her beliefs are shown in the worst possible light.  Bao’s plight evokes sympathy and gives us an enlightening glimpse into a world most of us know little about.

    In the end, Misconception will have the audience reexamining their views on population growth and that makes it a success.

  • ‘The Light Between Oceans’ shines a light on a difficult moral dilemma

    ‘The Light Between Oceans’ shines a light on a difficult moral dilemma

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    Michael Fassbender in ‘The Light Between Oceans’

    “You can’t patch a wounded soul with a Band-Aid.” – Michael Connelly

    During World War I, some of the most intense fighting took place in the Western Trenches.  After spending years in those trenches, Australian “Tom Sherbourne” (Michael Fassbender) comes home in search of quiet time to heal the wounds to his soul.  He lands the perfect job in the ideal place for this healing, on remote Janus Rock off the West Coast of Australia as the lighthouse keeper.  The only human contact the keeper has is with the occasional supply ship.

    Michael Fassbender stars and Alicia Vikander in 'The Light Between Oceans'
    Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in ‘The Light Between Oceans’

    Things take an abrupt change of direction just prior to Tom’s departure for his new home.  He is introduced to “Isabel Graysmark” (Alicia Vikander) and she sees there is more to this man than just the world-weary look of him.  She senses a depth within that no one else has seen.  After a very brief time together he leaves for Janus Rock and she remains at home.  They exchange letters detailing their feelings via those supply ships and eventually he comes to town and proposes marriage.  Did they rush into their union because being the keeper’s wife was the only way for Isabel to come to Janus Rock?

    They are very much in love and as a result their existence becomes idyllic.  Soon Isabel is pregnant and the couple encounter their first tragedy.  They bury the child and try to move on, but when the second child they conceive also fails to survive childbirth, Isabel is crushed.

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    Michael Fassbender in ‘The Light Between Oceans’

    If a dinghy had not washed up on the shore of Janus soon after this there is no knowing what might have transpired.  But inside the dinghy was a dead adult and a live infant.  Tom wants to note this in the light house log but Isabel eventually convinces him that they can keep the girl and pass her off as their child.  Wanting so much to make Isabel smile again, Tom ignores his better judgment and agrees.

    The consequences of this choice come crashing down on Tom during a visit to town a few years later.   He learns that “Hannah Roennfeldt” (Rachel Weisz) is still haunted by the loss of her daughter and husband.  Tortured by guilt, Tom makes a decision that could ruin the life that he and Isabel have built.

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    Rachel Weisz in ‘The Light Between Oceans’

    The Light Between Oceans is a mixture of a love story with a tale of moral dilemmas.  Doing the right thing can come with a steep price if one made the wrong choices in the past.  The interweaving of the two is effective.  The stellar casting of Fassbender, Vikander and Weisz enhances what is a very visually enjoyable film.  The island, the ocean and even the town where Isabel and Tom met all make terrific backdrops against which we watch an engaging tale unwind.  All three of the leads are great but there is something about how Rachel Weisz goes from crushed to ecstatic to resigned that stands out among the performances.  The ending is unpredictable.

  • ‘Sully’ soars and crashes at the same time

    ‘Sully’ soars and crashes at the same time

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    Tom Hanks in ‘Sully’

    True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.  – Arthur Ashe

    “Andrew Beckett” (based on real person Geoffrey Bowers)

    Jim Lovell

    “Carl Hanratty” (based on real person FBI Special Agent Joseph Shea)

    Captain Richard Phillips

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    James B. Donovan

    That is a list of performances in feature films where Tom Hanks portrayed real people, or characters based on real people.  It is something he does extremely well (like just about any other performance from the two-time Oscar winner).  Now he is portraying an American hero, Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger in Sully, the new film from director Clint Eastwood.

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    Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart in ‘Sully’

    Unless you’ve been asleep since January 15, 2009, you should be familiar with the man this film is named after.  On that day he was piloting an Airbus A-320 from LaGuardia Airport in NYC.  Its destination was Charlotte, NC but roughly three minutes into flight, the aircraft suffered multiple bird strikes  Power was lost in both of the planes’  CFM56-5B4/P turbofan engines.  Less than three minutes later, Captain Sullenberger landed the plane on the Huston River.  All 155 people aboard survived.

    The movie is biographical in nature but focuses almost entirely on the flight and its aftermath.  It is based on Captain Sullenberger’s autobiography  Highest Duty which he wrote with Jeffrey Zaslow.  It is now on bookshelves with a new title, Sully.  We do see a representation of Captain Sullenberger’s early days in the cockpit when he was flying F-4 Phantoms for the U. S. Air Force.  We also discover he learned to fly before going off to the Air Force Academy (his Academy ring is visible in a number of shots).

    Captain Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) are hauled before a National Transportation Safety Board (Jamey Sheridan, Anna Gunn and Mike O’Malley.  They are portraying the real investigators but they have fictional character names).  They seem intent on blaming Captain Sullenberger for ditching the plane in the Hudson while he insists that there were no alternatives that wouldn’t result in a crash.  Captain Sullenberger sets out to prove that he and Jeff Skiles got it right.

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    Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart in an NTSB Investigation scene in ‘Sully’

    What the real Sully called a  “forced water-landing” are easily the best moments in the movie.  Eastwood uses flashbacks and dream sequences in a somewhat linear structure that does not enhance the telling of the story.  The acting is very good, with Hanks shining in the titular role.  Aaron Eckhart is as reliable as Yellowstone’s Old Faithful when it comes to giving a solid turn.  The talented Laura Linney portrays Lorraine Sullenberger, Sully’s wife but the storyline involving their relationship goes nowhere.

    The biggest controversy surrounding this film is the depiction of the NTSB investigation as being adversarial and attempting to place the blame on Captain Sullenberger for failing to try to return to LaGuardia, or attempting to land at nearby airports in New Jersey.  As the actual investigation report clearly states, and as the actual investigators point out, they were simply seeking to discover the truth about what had happened.  The movie claims a very different result regarding computer simulations done to determine if there was a chance that the plane could have made it to an airport.

    The story of Captain Sullenberger and Flight 1549 was dramatic enough without creation of controversy through poetic license.

  • Sadly, ‘Max Rose’ is riddled with thorns

    Sadly, ‘Max Rose’ is riddled with thorns

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    Kerry Bishe and Jerry Lewis looking at Kevin Polllak in ‘Max Rose’

    Until September of 2010, Jerry Lewis was an annual visitor to our living rooms on Labor Day weekend.  As host of the Muscular Dystrophy annual telethon, his in your face style of fundraising was an annual event for millions.  But he had not appeared in a feature film since 1995’s underrated Funny Bones until Max Rose debuted at Cannes in 2013.  The film sat on a shelf gathering dust until it landed a distribution deal earlier this year.  While it features a terrific turn by Lewis himself and one strong scene near the end, it has little else to recommend it.

    Lewis is the title character, a retired jazz pianist whose wife of more than 60 years has just died. After her passing his granddaughter “Annie” (Kerry Bishe) and to a lesser extent Annie’s father “Christopher” (Kevin Pollak) try to comfort him.  He allows Annie to spend time with him but makes it clear that the rift between Max and Christopher is deep enough that he does not want or need Christopher around.

    As Max goes through the house he shared he with “Eva” (Claire Bloom, who is seen only in flashbacks and in Max’s musings) finds something truly disturbing.  Something she’d kept secret from him and inside it is an inscription with a date and a profession of love from another man.  It becomes maddening and then an obsession.  He wants to know who this man is.  What his relationship with his beloved wife was.  If she was ever unfaithful to him.  It eventually leads to a heart attack.

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    Jerry Lewis and Lee Weaver in ‘Max Rose’

    Max moves into an assisted living facility when he is discharged from the hospital.  He is not happy with this and expresses his anger and outrage to Christopher.  When he learns that his home has been sold by Christopher in order to help defray the costs of the assisted living facility, he becomes apoplectic. “Jenny Flowers” (Illeana Douglas) runs the place and she does her best to try to get Max interested  in enjoying his golden years.

    Eventually he makes some friends in his new home.  Finally he learns the identity and location of the man who gave his wife the gift and he makes a journey to confront him.  In what may be the film’s best scene, he meets “Ben Tracey” (Dean Stockwell, a regular in TV produced by Donald P. Bellisario) who is quite ill.  Their confrontation is very enlightening.

    With running time a sparse 83 minutes, it is easy to speculate over just what pieces of this story were left on the cutting room floor.  The gaps in the story are palpable.  Kerry Bishe does the best she can but her character’s dimensions are limited.  Overall this film is very disappointing.  The terrific turn performed by Jerry Lewis can’t quite save this from being nothing more than movie mediocrity.

  • ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ hits some high notes using a lot of flat notes

    ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ hits some high notes using a lot of flat notes

    Simon Helberg, Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in 'Florence Foster Jenkins'
    Simon Helberg, Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’

    “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent” – Victor Hugo

    Florence Foster Jenkins is a biopic from director Stephen Frears that allows the three main actors to show off their incredible talents, lifting the quality of the film by leaps and bounds.  You will enjoy the film even as you cringe at the truly awful singing you will hear.

    Meryl Streep plays the title role with her usual brilliance.  Few actresses ever have had her ability to bring a character (real or fictional) to life on screen the way she does.  Since we’ve seen her sing well in Mamma Mia, Ricki and the Flash and Postcards from the Edge (to name just a few), taking on a role where she would have to sing in a truly awful fashion had to be a challenge.  They may be off-key, flat and truly frightening notes, but she nails all of them.

    Born in the late 1860s, Florence Foster married Dr. Frank Thornton Jenkins while still in her teen years.  She left him a year later and wound up in New York.  There she met and married St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) who was an actor.  He became her manager and she eventually opened The Verdi Club in order to stage Tableau Vivants in which she invariably portrayed a major role in the climatic scene.  Thanks to the meticulous planning of St. Clair, only “true fans of music” attend these events and the reviews that appear in the New York press are always quite favorable.

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    Meryl Streep and Simon Helberg in ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’

    When Florence decides to go back to taking vocal lessons, she must have a new accompanist.  Enter Cosme Moon (Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg whose casting was an inspired choice because of his comic chops and superb musical ability) who Florence is immediately fond of.  While aghast at her complete lack of musical talents, he is willing to accompany her since doing so pays very well.

    But all is not as it seems.  Florence has a secret from her past and St. Clair may be married to her, but he shares a different home with Kathleen Weatherly (Rebecca Ferguson).  The charade regarding Florence’s musical abilities is nearly blown at a performance by Agnes Stark (Nina Arianda), the new wife of a long-standing patron of Florence’s music.  She has a spectacular dance scene with Hugh Grant during a post-performance party at St. Clair’s home.

    Florence decides to make a recording of her music and when it begins to receive play on the NBC radio network, she decides to book a performance at Carnegie Hall. Because she is an ardent supporter of the war (it’s 1944 while most of the film takes place) she gives 1,000 tickets to military personnel.

    Meryl Streep has 19 Academy Award nominations and 3 Awards and finding new adjectives to describe how wonderfully she acts may be more challenging than her off-key singing was for her.  This may well be the best performance of Hugh Grant’s career.  But Simon Helberg outshines every other member of the cast.  I’m not just saying this because I worked at the institution where he was a student during Middle and High School.  He comes from an entertainment industry family but I had no idea just how talented he is until I saw this film.

    The story sags in a few places and a moralistic audience might look askance at the life St. Clair Bayfield leads.  Ms Streep’s singing will torture your ears and warm your heart all at once.

    A photo of the real Florence Foster Jenkins
    A photo of the real Florence Foster Jenkins
  • ‘Anthropoid’ brings life to an important historical event

    ‘Anthropoid’ brings life to an important historical event

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    Jamie Dornan, Toby Jones and Cillian Murphy in ‘Anthropoid’

    “I believe that Heydrich was the worst criminal of them all. I myself saw him and he looked with such a glance of hatred that I shall never forget it.” – Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, the last survivor of the July 20, 1944 plot to kill Adolf Hitler; describing Reinhard Heydrich

    Anthropoid is another in the long line of feature films based on historic events that took place during World War II.  Its title comes from Operation Anthropoid, the  code-name for an Allied operation to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, Hitler’s third-in-command.  It is set in Czechoslovakia during the period from December of 1941 through May of 1942.

    Jozef Gabčík (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubiš (Jamie Dornan), along with other Czech operatives, were parachuted back into the area near Prague in December of 1941.  The Czech government-in-exile had ordered the duo to observe Reinhard Heydrich and formulate a plan to assassinate him.   After some misadventures they manage to make contact with  Jan Zelenka-Hajský (Toby Jones) who says to call him “Uncle.”   He puts them in the apartment of Mrs. Moravec (Alena Mihulová) whose husband is unaware that she and their son Ata (Bill Milner) are helping the Resistance.  He thinks the two are just two men who have come to Prague to look for work.

    Because two men walking the streets of a locked-down Prague alone would attract attention, Jozef and Jan ask Marie (Charlotte Le Bon), the housekeeper for Mrs. Moravec to find a female friend so she and the friend can act as the girlfriends to the two operatives.   Marie gets Lenka (Anna Geislerová) who believes in the Resistance to help.  Faux romance becomes real as time passes, in spite of the women’s reaction when they learn just what they are helping Jozef and Jan to attempt.

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    Jamie Dornan and Charlotte Le Bon in ‘Anthropoid’

    Because of the level of security around Heydrich in his home and in the building where he works, the only feasible plan to kill him is as he is en route from home to work.  Since he is occasionally accompanied by a heavily armed escort, they plan to wait until a day when the escort isn’t present.  But intelligence that Heydrich might be transferred to Paris very soon forces Jozef and Jan, augmented by some of the other operatives who parachuted into Czechoslovakia at the same time, the plan must be carried out the next day.

    WARNING:  While the history of what happens next is well known to most, in case you aren’t familiar with it, be warned that there are spoilers ahead.  Heydrich initially survives the assassination attempt and the massive manhunt for the team that tried to take him out precludes any attempt to leave Prague.  The operatives take refuge in a church that becomes the location of one of the best climactic action scenes in some time.

    The film has a solid first act and a superb third act, but sags during the  middle.  The cast was well chosen and they do a good job.  Perhaps experts on the history of the era can find flaws with the accuracy of how 1942 Prague is displayed, but it certainly felt correct.  The reprisals in the wake of Heydrich’s death are displayed in text on-screen following the end of the film, which seems to reduce their horrific nature; but there was no other way to depict them without detracting from the story being told

    A solid effort, worth seeing.

  • ‘Disorder’ is aptly titled

    ‘Disorder’ is aptly titled

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    Matthias Schoenaerts in ‘Disorder’

    Almost all of Disorder takes place on an estate in France named Maryland, which was the film’s original title.  “Vincent” (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a member of the French military who is suffering from PTSD.  We learn further into the film that he served in Afghanistan but as is often the case with those afflicted with PTSD, the question is, did he fully return?

    He wants to go back into the field but is waiting the results of a physical/mental evaluation of his fitness for active service.  In the interim he accepts a spot on a team of military types who’ve been hired to provide security for an event at Maryland.  “Imad Whalid” (Percy Kemp) is the wealthy owner of Maryland and whatever his public occupation is, we discover he is involved in arms dealings.  Apparently there is a problem with one of his deals and it reaches to the highest echelons of the French government.  How else are we to interpret the presence of Interior Minister “Pierre Dufoy” (Phillipe Haddid) at the soiree and his secretive discussions with Whalid?

    After the party Whalid has to leave town for a couple of days and he needs someone to provide security for his wife “Jessie” (Diane Kruger) and son “Ali” (Zaïd Errougui-Demonsant) during his absence.  Vincent’s friend “Denis” (Paul Hamy) offers the gig to Vincent and since the money is good, he accepts.  The crux of the remainder of the movie is whether there is or isn’t a real threat against the lives of Jessie and Ali; or is it all a delusion in Vincent’s mind.  The fact we’re shown he’s mixing painkillers and anti-seizure medications makes it seem that it is the latter.

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    Diane Kruger, Zaïd Errougui-Demonsant, Paul Hamy and Matthias Schoenaerts in ‘Disorder’

    Aside from some brief exposition on Vincent’s life before this job came up and an eventful visit to the beach, everything happens at Maryland.  The estate is a great place for a set piece, large and lushly appointed.  Director Alice Winocour makes effective use of the estate, particularly the multiple camera security system.  The shots of Vincent’s POV as he monitors the estate through the lenses of the cameras tell a nonverbal tale that’s easy on the eyes.

    Matthias Schoenaerts and Diane Kruger have interesting chemistry as their connection builds slowly during the film’s 98 minutes.  He plays the part of a man whose seen and done too much to just go back to a normal life well.  Kruger’s beauty is downplayed by making her look as plain as possible in a number of shots, but she’s still an incredible looking woman.  Fortunately she has the acting chops to enable the audience to enjoy her performance without being distracted by her beauty.  There’s one shot where she gives Schoenaerts a quick glance that speaks volumes without a single word.  While the film is in French with English subtitles, the fact that both of the leads are fluent in French is a major plus.  The tattoo on Schoenaerts right forearm is a nice tough if the viewer is quick enough to read what it says.  One word that is close to perfect in describing the life of someone with PTSD.

  • ‘Jason Bourne’ is a return to the franchise’s high-octane origins

    ‘Jason Bourne’ is a return to the franchise’s high-octane origins

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    Matt Damon is ‘Jason Bourne’

    “Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” – André Malraux

    The Jason Bourne of movies bears little resemblance to the Jason Bourne of the Robert Ludlum trilogy that began in 1980 with The Bourne Identity.  That’s not a bad thing.  The changes were the best part of the first three film adaptations of the Ludlum novels and now with the reunification of Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass in the new Jason Bourne, the franchise is back in a big way.

    It’s been almost a decade since the world has seen “Jason Bourne” (Matt Damon).   He is completely off the grid and taking part in illegal fights to support himself.  The only other character from the earlier films, “Nicky Parsons” (Julia Stiles) finally manages to hack into the CIA’s classified mainframe computer and download the highly classified files that contain information on the origins of the Treadstone Program that created Jason Bourne.   She arranges to turn over the data to Bourne in Greece.

    Jason Bourne (2016)
    Alicia Vikander in ‘Jason Bourne’

    Unbeknownst to her, she did not break into the CIA’s computers without being detected.   “Heather Lee” (Alicia Vikander) detects the intrusion and reports her findings to the CIA Director, “Robert Dewey” (Tommy Lee Jones).  He has his own reasons for wanting to put Jason Bourne in his rear view mirror once and for all.  They try to intercept Parsons and Bourne in Greece, with Dewey deploying an operative known only as “The Asset” (Vincent Cassel) to kill them.  He, like Dewey, has a personal reason for wanting Bourne dead.  Ms Lee’s agenda is different than those of Dewey and The Asset.  She sees the return of Jason Bourne as her best opportunity to make a major move upward in the CIA hierarchy of power.

    The other parts of the story are that Jason Bourne’s memory is coming back and what he is remembering will motivate him to take action; along with a new project about to come online involving a gigantic social media company known as “Deep Dream.”  The company’s founder, “Aaron Kalloor” (Riz Ahmed) is having his arm twisted by Director Dewey to replace the metadata collection that the NSA had engaged in before Edward Snowden blew the whistle on them.

    Tommy Lee Jones in 'Jason Bourne'
    Tommy Lee Jones in ‘Jason Bourne’

    This is a film where the key roles are especially well cast.  Tommy Lee Jones could serve as the prototype of someone at the top of the intelligence/espionage food-chain, for whom the means justify any ends he sees fit to order.  Alicia Vikander gives a tight performance, not quite as emotionless as in Ex Machina but nowhere near the Oscar-winning emoting she did in The Danish Girl.  Matt Damon says very little verbally but communicates extremely well with nuanced facial expressions and body language.

    Some find fault in director Paul Greengrass’ use of handheld cameras.  Their use does nothing to detract from what are some of the best action scenes this year.  While no one will ever top the car chase scenes from Bullitt or the original Gone in 60 Seconds, the Vegas car chase scene in this film is one of the best in some time.  Jason Bourne is a winner.