Category: Reviews

  • ’13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’ might be 13 minutes or so too long

    ’13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’ might be 13 minutes or so too long

    John Krasinski in '13 Hours'
    John Krasinski in ’13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’

    “They’re all bad guys until they’re not” – Kris “Tanto” Paronto

    If you go to see 13 Hours:  The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi for the purpose of discovering who is to blame for what happened at the diplomatic compound in that city on September 11, 2012, you will be disappointed.  Director Michael Bay’s latest is strongly focused on the events of the titular period of time.  In fact, conservative ideologues waiting with baited breath for an attack on presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be disappointed to learn that her name is not mentioned at any points during the film’s 144 minute running time.

    “Jack Silva” (John Krasinski) is a former Navy SEAL who has just arrived in Benghazi on an assignment as a paramilitary contractor with GRS (Global Response Staff).  GRS is providing security at a secret CIA facility in Benghazi.  After a scare en route from the airport to the facility, Jack meets the other members of the GRS team.  Mark “Oz” Geist (Max Martini), Kris “Tanto” Paronto (Pablo Schreiber), “Dave ‘Boon’ Benton” (David Denman), Glen “Bub” Doherty” (Toby Stephens), John “Tig” Tiegen (Dominic Fumusa) and Tyrone “Rone” Woods (James Badge Dale).  He also gets introduced to the facility’s “Chief” (David Costabile), who really wishes the security team weren’t there.  Take note that this film is based on a book co-written by the surviving members of the security team and that their real names are used in the film with the exceptions of Jack Silva and Dave Benton.  Those are pseudonyms.

    Christopher Dingli, Matt Letscher and David Giuntoli in '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi'
    Christopher Dingli, Matt Letscher and David Giuntoli in ’13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’

    The contractors are there to provide oversee security for the facility and to provide “babysitters” for the CIA operatives who go into Benghazi to gather intelligence and develop new sources for that intelligence.  Their lives are complicated when the U. S. Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens (Matt Letscher) comes to town to stay at the diplomatic mission there.  The contractors will be his additional security force as his chauffeurs.  They visit the mission and find the level of security to be less than satisfactory.  But the Diplomatic Security Service agents there tell the contractors that due to budget constraints the security wasn’t upgraded.  All seemed okay, especially when Ambassador Stevens reluctantly agrees to remain within the mission on the anniversary of 9/11.

    What happens next is a matter of historical fact, and the movie does not spend much time on how the incident was originally reported by the media.  What it does do is show us how the contractors wanted to respond to the diplomatic compound as soon as it was attacked to protect the ambassador; and how the Chief told them they were “…the last resort” and delayed their response.

    The action sequences are brilliant on a visual and auditory level, although a few special effects might have been over the top.  Surprisingly, Michael Bay appears to have reined himself in to a degree and the result is extremely effective.  What weakens a movie that might have been on par with Blackhawk Down and American Sniper is the writing.  The dialogue in the script that was adapated by Chuck Hogan is weak and cliched.  The finished product runs a bit long and would have benefited from a bit of trimming.  There is jingoism to be sure but not to the level of offending those who don’t like such things.  One of Bay’s best to date.

  • Michael Moore’s ‘Where to Invade Next’ will make you think

    Michael Moore’s ‘Where to Invade Next’ will make you think

    moore2
    Michael Moore visiting a school cafeteria in France in ‘Where to Invade Next’

    Let me begin with a disclaimer.  I have issues with some of Michael Moore’s documentary films because, IMHO, I think there are places where he has played fast and loose with the facts.  Since documentaries are supposed to be the true story, without poetic license, I find that objectionable.  I have no such issues with Where to Invade Next.  Mr. Moore has stepped up his game and this film is both informative and entertaining in the extreme.

    The premise is unique.  Rather than invading other nations to conquer them, Michael Moore goes there in search of ideas to steal to improve the U. S. economy, education system and in general; to raise our standard of living.  The eyebrows of corporate CEOs and Human Resource professionals will be raised mightily by Moore’s sojourn through Italy.  So will the owners of shares of stock in U. S. corporations when they see profits can be made while offering very generous benefit packages and many more weeks of vacation than what U. S. employers offer.  Then their minds will be blown when they learn just how much maternity leave a female worker in Italy receives.

    Moore travels to an ordinary public school in France where the students are served multi-course gourmet meals at lunch.  Meals that are so wonderful that the students there can’t comprehend what we serve students in public schools here in the u. S.  He visits Slovenia where he learns that even foreign students can attend the universities there for almost nothing, while the locals pay absolutely nothing.  Contrast that with the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition in any of the 50 U. S. states.

    A chart showing the individual tax burden by country
    A chart showing the individual tax burden by country

    Staying with the students and educational system examination, Moore moves on to Finland, a nation that has one of the world’s most well-educated populations.  Students in elementary school there have almost no homework and spend fewer days and hours in class than American public school students.  How do they make this miracle work?  Moore shows us.

    This is not a complex examination of the economies and systems of these nations that allow them to offer what they offer.  Aside from business leaders in Iceland and Italy articulating how they feel required to provide equality of treatment and excellent benefits/opportunities for their workers, we hear nor see anything about how all of this largess is funded.

    In the making of Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore visited Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Slovenia and Tunisia.  With the exception of Tunisia, the individual tax burden is higher in all of them than it is in the U. S.  The programs that we see thanks to Mr. Moore’s various invasions are wonderful but the issue of how to pay for them is never addressed.  This omission is the only real flaw in his analysis and critique of our society and how we might improve it.  This is mentioned not as a judgment as to whether or not we need the improvements he is suggesting, but to point out someone has to foot the bill.

    None of this detracts from what is ultimately an entertaining, easy to watch movie that informs and provokes thought.  Don’t miss it.

  • ‘The Revenant’ brings back majestic movie making

    ‘The Revenant’ brings back majestic movie making

    Leonardo DiCaprio seeks revenge in 'The Revenant'
    Leonardo DiCaprio seeks revenge in ‘The Revenant’

    “Oh, make no mistake. It’s not revenge he’s after. It’s a reckoning.” – Val Kilmer as “Doc Holliday” in 1993’s ‘Tombstone’

    Revenant (noun) One who returns after death or a long absence (Origin – French)

    Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant is one of the best titled films of 2015.  It’s also one of the best films of the year overall.  Inspired in part by the true exploits of famed frontiersman Hugh Glass, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Glass.  He is the scout for a unit of trappers led by Captain Adam Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son “Hawk” (Forrest Goodluck) is also traveling with the unit.  Hawk is one-half Pawnee Indian and most of his conversations with his father are in Indian language.

    The trappers are ambushed by a group of Arikara Indians but some manage to escape in their boat.  Glass suggests their best chance for survival is to make their way overland to their fort.  John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) disagrees with the plan but goes along when Captain Henry says this what they will do.  They are making progress when Glass, scouting ahead on his own, encounters a mother grizzly bear and her cubs.  The bear mauls Glass but he manages to kill it.  Gravely wounded, Captain Henry insists they will carry and care for Glass for as long as need be.

    Tom Hardy in 'The Revenant'
    Tom Hardy in ‘The Revenant’

    But carrying their makeshift stretcher with Glass on it is difficult and the terrain challenging.  At last Captain Henry asks for volunteers to remain behind with Glass and bury him properly after his death.  Eventually, when the Captain offers a large cash payment for this duty, Fitzgerald agrees to remain with Hawk and Jim Bridger (Will Poulter).  Fitzgerald decides he’s waited long enough and attempts to smother Glass, only to have to deal with Hawk.  He kills Hawk and then convinces Bridger they need to leave Glass behind to save themselves from the Indians.

    However, Hugh Glass refuses to die.  Overcoming obstacle after obstacle, he crawls, hobbles and does whatever he has to in order to come face to face with Fitzgerald.  The day of reckoning that Doc Holliday mentions above is coming.

    Iñárritu has a tremendous ability to mix story, visuals, limited dialogue and just the right orchestral background music into a delight on both the visual and the auditory front.  Some may quibble that the shots of the gorgeous yet harsh lands the travelers traverse are held a bit long; yet they are so stunningly satisfying as to render such quibbling useless.

    This may be the best performance yet for Leonardo DiCaprio, which is saying quite a bit.  He captures the right mix of determination and anger that a father seeking to avenge his son’s murder would experience during such a challenging odyssey.  His acting is enhanced by some terrific work by the makeup artists who make his injuries seem incredibly realistic.  Tom Hardy, who was enjoying a banner 2015 with his terrific turns in Mad Max: Fury Road and Legend, is once again amazing.

    Films that run longer than 140 minutes will generally reach at least one point where the viewer sneaks a peek at their watch (or since this is 2015, a cellphone).  That did not happen once during The Revenant, deservedly so.

  • ‘The Hateful Eight’ is not a Ten. But it is highly entertaining

    ‘The Hateful Eight’ is not a Ten. But it is highly entertaining

    Samuel L. Jackson in 'The Hateful Eight'
    Samuel L. Jackson in ‘The Hateful Eight’

    “I’ve heard people say that
    Too much of anything is not good for you, baby” – Barry White – Can’t Get Enough of Your Love

    As expected, we’re reminded that The Hateful Eight is the 8th Film from writer/director Quentin Tarrantino at the outset.  168 minutes later (182 if you choose the 70MM Roadshow version, complete with intermission), it ends.  Those who are the die-hard fans of the director who stormed out of the South Bay of Los Angeles with his first film Reservoir Dogs will lap up and love every second of it.  But for some, the Barry White  lyric above may be the best capsule review of The Hateful Eight out there.

    Eight people.  Well, more, but eight central characters.  Six Chapters.  In the bitter cold of a Wyoming winter, “Major Marquis Warren” (Samuel L. Jackson) is a bounty hunter stuck on a lonely road.  He has three corpses with him that are worth $8,000 if he can get them to Red Rock.  A stagecoach comes upon Major Warren with a driver named “O. B. Jackson” (James Parks) and another bounty hunter who paid for a private ride.  “John Ruth” (Kurt Russell) is known as “The Hangman” because unlike most bounty hunters, he doesn’t kill his targets.  He has his latest target, “Daisy Domergue” (Jennfer Jason Leigh) in custody and it turns out she’s worth $10,000 in Red Rock.  She has a date with the hangman.

    Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Dern in 'The Hateful Eight'
    Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Dern in ‘The Hateful Eight’

    After some discussion, Major Warren joins the party and the stagecoach moves on.  It is being chased by a blizzard that will prevent them from going on through to Red Rock.  But before they can get to Minnie’s Haberdashery, their shelter from the storm, they are joined by “Chris Mannix” (Walter Goggins) who claims to be en route to Red Rock to become the town’s Sheriff.

    When they finally get to Minnie’s, the titular octet is completed as they meet “Bob the Mexican” (Damian Bechir), “Oswaldo Mobry” (Tim Roth), “Joe Gage” (Michael Madsen) and “General Stanley Smithers” (Bruce Dern).  They arrived on an earlier stage.  Bob is running the place as “Minnie” (Dana Gourier) and “Sweet Dave” (Gene Jones) are on the other side of the mountain, visiting her mother.

    Tim Roth in 'The Hateful Eight'
    Tim Roth in ‘The Hateful Eight’

    As in any film from Tarantino, there are layers within layers, twists and turns and the need to purchase fake blood is what Beldar and Prymaat Conehead would describe as “mass quantities.”  Who will die?  Who will be the victim of the goriest death of the movie?  Who is double-crossing whom?  Can the brutality rise to a level above that of a dancing man using a straight razor to slice off a victim’s ear?  Above that of a truly frightening crime lord being sodomized while wearing a ball gag?

    The dialogue, as always, is superb.  The tension level has ebbs and flows but the viewer will definitely move to the edge of the seat more than a few times.  There are surprises.  The problem is not with the usual elements of a Tarantino flick, but with the excessive amounts of them.  The Hateful Eight is a terrific 130 minute movie being stretched out in an attempt to make it a much longer Western epic.  It is an homage to the giants of the Western genre, with a soupcon of tribute here and there to others.  Why else would they be on the way to Red Rock, were that not the central location of most of Blazing Saddles?  In the final analysis, The Hateful Eight is very entertaining, will be beloved by the QT fanbase but isn’t as awesome as it could have been.

  • ‘Joy’ is another fine film from David O. Russell

    ‘Joy’ is another fine film from David O. Russell

    Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro in 'Joy'
    Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro in ‘Joy’

    When you enter a movie theater to see a film from David O. Russell, expectations are automatically high.  After all, he’s given us The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle over the past five years.  Three films nominated for Best Picture Oscars, three nominations for Best Director for Mr. Russell.  His latest effort, Joy, lives up to those expectations.  On some levels.  Sadly, on most levels, it does not.

    Joy begins with a label claiming it was “Inspired by the true stories of amazing women.  One in particular.”  While it is clear from the outset that this dedication refers to Joy Mangano.  Portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, her story of starting with nothing and becoming the holder of over 100 patents is amazing.  But how much of this is her real story and how much did Mr. Russell create on his laptop?  Bear in mind that during the film’s 124 minutes, the last name of the title character is not to be heard or seen.

    Robert De Niro and Isabella Rossellini in 'Joy'
    Robert De Niro and Isabella Rossellini in ‘Joy’

    At the outset we are introduced to the very complicated life of Joy, who lives in a house with her mother “Terry” (Virginia Madsen), her maternal grandmother “Mimi” (Diane Ladd) and her two children “Christie” and “Tommy” (portrayed by different young actors at various ages).  The husband she divorced two years earier “Tony” (Edgar Ramirez) lives in the basement.  As if things were not complicated enough, her father “Rudy” (Robert De Niro) is dropped off at her doorstep by his now ex-girlfriend and will be moving in.  Not long afterward, using a dating service, “Rudy” meets “Trudy” (Isabella Rossellini) and will play an important role in Joy’s journey.

    We see a flashback to Joy’s youth when she was a “maker of things” and as narrated by her grandmother, told the story of how she was meant to bring fortune to the family.  Then, inspired by an interesting accident, she comes up with the concept of a self-wringing mop.  It isn’t easy, but she ultimately finds a way to manufacture it and winds up in the office of “Neal Walker” (Bradley Cooper).  Turns out he is the man in charge of choosing products for the QVC network.  While things don’t go swimmingly at first, Joy’s mop is a success, which leads to a new set of challenges.

    Melissa Rivers plays her mother Joan Rivers in 'Joy'
    Melissa Rivers plays her mother Joan Rivers in ‘Joy’

    The journey of Joy is somewhat stilted and this is what doesn’t work well in the film.  The result is uneven pacing and an ebb and flow of tension that is a bit too wide.  What does work is the acting of Jennifer Lawrence.  The lens of the camera loves this woman and she returns the affection full force.  Given the highs and lows of that stilted journey, it affords her the opportunity to explore and display a wide range of feelings and emotions.  Bradley Cooper’s role, a probable composite of several QVC executives is limited, but he excels equally in each of his few moments on screen.  We’ve seen plenty of interaction between those two and their work opposite Robert De Niro and that also works here.  What also works is the background soap opera that Joy’s mother is seriously addicted to.  It uses real soap stars and they shine.  However, when all is said and done, there are more moments that disappoint rather than those that are wonderful.

  • ‘Sisters’ is raunchy, raw and rather entertaining

    ‘Sisters’ is raunchy, raw and rather entertaining

    James Brolin in 'Sisters'
    James Brolin in ‘Sisters’

    Given what we’ve seen Tina Fey and Amy Poehler accomplish over the past few years; given even a mediocre script, the expectation would be a funny film when the two are the leads in a project.  Sisters, a film from the very talented director of Pitch Perfect  (I’d have given it a better review than TailSlate’s other critic did) does a bit better than just funny.  Probably because screenwriter Paula Pell knows how to use both words and visuals to generate laughter.

    “Kate Ellis” (Fey) is the older sister.  She’s a single parent with one daughter, “Haley” (Madison Davenport).  “Maura Ellis” (Poehler) is the younger sister.  In atypical fashion, Kate is the discombobulated one, couch-surfing and jobless at the outset.  Haley went away without giving specifics about her summer plans and Kate has been worried about and looking for her.  Maura is the overly organized, anal younger sister who works as a nurse and tries to help anyone and everyone she encounters.

    John Cena in 'Sisters'
    John Cena in ‘Sisters’

    The sisters have to go to the home where they were raised because their parents (James Brolin and Dianne Weist) have unexpectedly decided to sell it.  The two never bothered to clean out their rooms and must do so before the new owners can take possession.  They have a lot of memories and a whole lot of stuff in that room that has to be out by Monday.

    Since Maura never got to have “her night” in their home, Kate agrees to be the ‘party-mom’ for a night and they plan a major rager of a party.  As they plan the soiree and make the guest list we’re introduced to a number of characters from their teen years who are still in the area.  Given the SNL connection, it is no surprise that a number of current and former members of SNL are cast in the film.  Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Monynihan and Rachel Dratch are all there.  Rudolph is particularly funny as a frenemy of Kate’s from high school.  John Cena is best known for being a 15 time WWE World Champion but he continues to demonstrate serious supporting actor chops, this time as a tattooed, overly muscle-bound drug dealer who comes complete with “safe word.”  He steals every second he is on screen.

    Maya Rudolph in 'Sisters
    Maya Rudolph in ‘Sisters

    With the house’s escrow scheduled to close and the new owners wanting to take possession on Monday, what happens at the party is pretty predictable.  But the laughs are in how what comes next happens more than in knowing it is coming.  The role reversal for Kate and Maura is highly amusing and you can see a confrontation coming.  While this isn’t anything ground-breaking, it has lots and lots of laughs, and a fairly good message about family and relationships.  Fey and Poehler have always played very well off of each other and while this isn’t their best pairing ever, it’s a good one.

    I’m told that when Paula Pell was writing the script she saw Poehler as the rebel sister and Fey as the straight-laced one, but Fey insisted they switch roles, “because Poehler is better at playing crazy.”  I’m not sure I agree, but however it came to be, it worked.

  • ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’ amazes, and enthralls

    ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’ amazes, and enthralls

    Adam Driver as "Kylo Ren" in 'Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens'
    Adam Driver as “Kylo Ren” in ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’

    On May 25, 1977 in only 42 theaters, what we now know as ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” opened.  Its writer/director George Lucas was so convinced that it would not be a hit, he traded a small portion of his percentage of the movie’s profits to his friend Stephen Spielberg for an equal percentage of Spielberg’s profits from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  In spite of the fact that Spielberg’s film was successful, he definitely got the best of that deal.

    Now, the 7th entry in this franchise is in theaters (on more than 4,000 screens) and at some point in the next few weeks, it will make the Star Wars film franchise the biggest box office franchise in film history, where only one major story is involved.  The Marvel “universe” has a larger total gross, but it involves film franchises that do not intersect in any way.

    The events in Episode VII begin roughly three decades after the end of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.  “General Leia Organa” (Fisher) is leading the Resistance, which is struggling against The First Order, which has replaced the Empire as the evil force attempting to rule the entire galaxy.  It is led by “Supreme Leader Snoke” (Serkis) who has a ruthless general named “Hux” (Gleeson) and someone very similar and yet different than “Darth Vader.”  This person is “Kylo Ren” (Driver) and his mastery of the power of the Dark Side of the Force is most impressive.

    Both the Resistance and The First Order are searching for a map that will lead to the location of “Luke Skywalker” (Hamill), last of the Jedi.  He disappeared after a catastrophe at the Jedi Academy that he’d set up following the defeat of the Galactic Empire.  One of the best pilots in the Resistance, “Poe Dameron” (Isaac), has managed to obtain the map but before he is captured, he hides it in his droid, BB-8.  The droid winds up in the possession of a scavenger named “Rey” (Ridley), who is marooned on Jakku.  Poe is tortured by Ren but manages to escape with the help of a stormtrooper he dubs “Finn” (Boyega).  Their stolen TIE fighter crashes on Jakku and this brings Finn into contact with Rey.  Eventually they will encounter “Han Solo” (Ford) and “Chewbacca” and wind up delivering BB-8 to the Resistance.

    No more of the tremendously engaging story needs to be outlined.  There are surprises, shockers and stunning sequences throughout every one of the film’s 135 minutes.  In this critic’s opinion, this is by far the best film in the Franchise since the original trilogy was first released.  The deft touch of director J. J. Abrams in keeping the best aspects of the first three films, especially the moments of well-placed humor, while employing advances in technology to enhance the visuals and action validates choosing him to helm this movie.

    I plan to see it again.  Soon!

  • ‘The Big Short’ is worth investing two hours in

    ‘The Big Short’ is worth investing two hours in

    Christian Bale in 'The Big Short'
    Christian Bale in ‘The Big Short’

    Investopedia.com defines the term short as follows:  “A short position is the sale of a borrowed security, commodity or currency with the expectation that the asset will fall in value.”  Basically borrowing something you don’t own and selling it at the current price, hoping that its value will fall.

    The Big Short is a film, based on a non-fiction book, about how a few individuals determined that investments based on mortgage lending were not what they were being sold as and made a lot of money short-selling them.  And it is much, much more.  Most of the characters in the film are based on real people, although Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale) is a real person, the founder of Scion Capital.  He has an unusual background and it’s worth allowing you to see how it develops on screen rather than giving spoilers.  Suffice it to say he’s not what one thinks of as an investment fund manager.  He is the first to uncover the fact that the system of Mortgage Backed Securities may look like an extremely solid investment, but is actually built on a foundation of loans that almost certainly will wind up in default.

    “Mark Baum” (Steve Carrell, playing a character based on the real Steve Eisman), on the other hand, looks like a prototype of the angry, aggrieve Wall Street type.  After suffering a tragic loss he becomes even more of a crusader against corruption and other things he considers ‘wrong.’  He becomes aware of the impending crisis through “Jared Vennett” (Ryan Gosling, playing a character based on the real Greg Lippman), who is the film’s narrator.  He is the first, but not the last to break the ‘fourth wall’ and each of these breaks is useful and placed extremely well.

    Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale star in 'The Big Short'.
    Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale star in ‘The Big Short’.

    Two other investment managers, who run a shoestring operation in Colorado, “Charlie Geller” (Magaro, playing a character based on the real Charlie Ledley) and “Jamie Shipley” (Finn Wittrock, playing a character based on the real Jamie Mai).  They worked with a retired trader “Ben Rickert” (Brad Pitt, playing a character based on the real Ben Hockett).

    There wasn’t even a market to short mortgage based securities but the potential profits from such investments had investment banks like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns salivating over the opportunity; so they created one.  Credit debt swaps are just one of the complicated terms one must understand in order to grasp what really went on before that bubble burst wide open.  Director Adam McKay found an excellent way to make terms like credit debt swap, mortgage backed securities, sub-prime and collateralized debt obligations.   He used celebrities and put them in interesting situations where they made the terms very easy to understand.  These little explanation vignettes were informative and highly entertaining as well.

    All of these characters are very interesting and the actors who portray them were all excellent. The Big Short is informative and entertaining as well.

  • If only ‘The Letters’ were as compelling as the life of its subject

    If only ‘The Letters’ were as compelling as the life of its subject

    Rutger Hauer and Max Von Sydow in 'The Letters'
    Rutger Hauer and Max Von Sydow in ‘The Letters’

    The Letters is a film about how a cloistered nun serving as a teacher in a convent in India became one of the most famous nuns in the history of the planet.  We know her today as Mother Teresa but she was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, which was part of the Ottoman Empire when she was born.  The film begins with her becoming a nun and soon moves forward to 1946 when then Sister Teresa was teaching at a convent school in Calcutta.  This was at the time when the conflict between Hindus and Muslims roiled the entire area.

    Sister Teresa heard a calling within a calling from God while aboard a train en route to a retreat at Darjeeling.  She petitioned to be able to leave the convent and go into the slums and work to help the poor.  She shed her habit in favor of a plain white sari with a blue border.  The initial approval for her to do this was for just one year or less, but it was extended and her efforts began to gain notice.  This led to her founding an order, the Missionaries of Charity.  Along the way she received some basic medical training and this enabled her to attempt to feed as well as heal the poor in the slums of Calcutta.

    The Letters goes back and forth from telling the story of this part of the life of Mother Teresa and the investigation into whether or not she should be canonized by the Catholic Church.  Father Celeste van Exem (Von Sydow) witnessed a miracle involving Mother Teresa as well as being her spiritual adviser during her life is visited by Father Benjamin Praagh (Hauer) who is the priest conducting the investigation.  Father van Exem tells Father Praagh about letters that Mother Teresa wrote to him over the decades he was her adviser.  In these letters she wrote of many things, including a crisis of faith.

    Juliet Stevenson in 'The Letters'
    Juliet Stevenson in ‘The Letters’

    The miracle that Father van Exem witnesses is ultimately certified and Mother Teresa was beatified.

    Clearly the story of this incredible woman’s amazing life is extraordinarily compelling.  It deserved far more than the plodding telling that it receives in The Letters.  Even Job himself would have probably lost patience if he’d sat through the entire one hour and fifty-four minutes of this movie.  It wouldn’t be fair to blame the cast for the weak performances because it is impossible to conceptualize how an actor might overcome dialogue that even a Tarrantino rewrite could not have saved.  The few confrontations between Mother Teresa and those residents of Calcutta who wanted her out of their slums because of their irrational fear that she would attempt to convert their children to Christianity are the few interesting moments in the film.  And they are far too few and far between.  The letters on a Wheel of Fortune puzzle board are far more entertaining than this.

  • ‘The Danish Girl’ is awards-bait but not brilliant

    ‘The Danish Girl’ is awards-bait but not brilliant

    Alicia Vikander in 'The Danish Girl'
    Alicia Vikander in ‘The Danish Girl’

    Quick, ask yourself a question.  Before Bruce Jenner made the transition to being Caitlyn Jenner, who was the most famous transgender person you knew of.  Chaz Bono?  Renee Richards?  Lana Wachowski?  Jan Morris?  Christine Jorgensen?  Before any of these people, there was a man named Einar Wegener (Redmayne).  He was a landscape artist married to Gerda Wegener (Vikander) who was a portrait painter.  The Danish Girl is the story of this couple and how Einar transitioned, becoming one of the very first men to undergo what was known then as sexual reassignment surgery to become Lili Elbe.

    We are first introduced to the potential existence of Lili within Einar when Gerda needs the assistance of her husband to finish a portrait.  She asks him to don the stockings and shoes of “Ulla” (Heard) and to hold the dress she wore for the painting against his body as she finishes up.  When Ulla walks in unexpectedly, she names him “Lili.”

    Soon Gerda is painting Lili’s face with makeup and ultimately they decide that Lili will accompany Gerda to a party that Einar refused to attend.  This creates complications when Gerda sees Lili enjoying a stolen moment with Henrik (Whishaw).  Afterward she asks, in fact demands that Einar stop dressing as Lili but it is too late.  The woman inside has come to the fore and has no intention of retreating inside of the very conflicted Einar.

    They seek help from a physician who claims to specialize in such disorders but he concludes that his patient is insane rather than transgendered (a term that did not even exist until decades later) and wants to institutionalize him.  But Gerda, having become a success as a portrait painter once she began to use Lili as a model forces Einar to go with her to Paris to avoid him being locked up.

    Matthias Schoenaerts in 'The Danish Girl'
    Matthias Schoenaerts in ‘The Danish Girl’

    In Paris she looks up Hans Axgil (Schoenearts), a childhood friend of Einars, who is a famed art dealer.  Not to represent her works, but to try to help in dealing with her husband and his growing insistence that he is Lili and needs to leave Einar behind.  Einar tries more doctors but with similar results as the one he went to in Copenhagen.  Gerda convinces Einar to try one last doctor.  Professor Warnekros (Koch) not only believe that Einar is a woman wrongly born into a male body, but is willing to perform the extremely risky series of operations to make Einar as fully female as possible.

    This is a compelling tale but because director Tom Hooper made a film seeking recognition by those who make awards rather than to please the audience, it isn’t nearly as interesting as it might have been.  Worse yet, the score by Alexandre Desplat frequently overwhelms the visuals on the screen.  Film scores should enhance the emotional content, not reduce them by overpowering the moment.

    The two leads are wonderful.  Redmayne’s ability to transform, already rewarded with an acting Oscar for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, is nothing short of magical.  Vikander, who earned raves for her work in Ex Machina earlier this year is even better in this film.  It is her emotional travails throughout this story that capture the attention of the audience.

    This movie is based on a true story, which was the basis for the novel upon which it is based.  Sources claim that the medical records of Lili’s surgeries and all other record of the Professor were destroyed by the Nazis during World War II.  If you want to know more about the true story, check out the book Man Into Woman: The First Sex Change, which was written in 1933.