Movie Reviews

Bombshell

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  • Title: Bombshell
  • IMDb: link

Bombshell movie review Bombshell offers a matter-of-fact, but ultimately not all that illuminating, look at the sexual harassment at FOX News under Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). The film primarily focuses on three woman (Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie), only one of whom we see Ailes abuse his power to manipulate and harass (Robbie, in the film’s best, and most skin-crawling and heartbreaking, scene). Undercutting the film’s moral stance more than a little is the fact that the focus of the lawsuit that kicked-off the media storm that eventually led to Ailes departure was less about Gretchen Carlson (Kidman) being harassed and more about seeking revenge for her dismissal from the network due to creative differences.

While Theron gets far more screentime, Robbie steals the film as the naive Kayla Pospisil just starting out in the business who gets a harsh reality check at how things are done. Kate McKinnon has an intriguing role as her friend/lover whose balance of being a lesbian Democrat working at Fox News is actually far more interesting material than most of what is explored over the course of the film surrounding Ailes and the lawsuit. Lithgow is properly slimy as seedy Ailes who is incapable of admitting he’s done anything wrong.

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Richard Jewell

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  • Title: Richard Jewell
  • IMDb: link

Richard Jewell movie reviewDirector Clint Eastwood‘s latest film examines Richard Jewell and the rise and fall of the security guard in the media from the hero who discovered a bomb during the 1996 Summer Olympics at Centennial Park to the FBI’s prime suspect in the bombing. An indictment on both media and the tendency of local and federal agencies to decide on a narrative and attempt to fit the facts to it rather than the other way around, the film focuses on how the lack of any evidence didn’t prevent either the FBI or the media at large from determining Jewell was guilty (despite the fact he was never charged with a crime).

Paul Walter Hauser is the stand-out as the naive Jewell who, even while being accused by the FBI, can’t help but try and help due to his hero worship of the police. Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates are strong as the few supporters believing in Jewell’s innocence while the other side of the investigation features far more one-note characters with Jon Hamm is stuck in a cliched cop role as the man leading the investigation, and other actors as forgettable nameless support, and Olivia Wilde is a slutty reporter whose need to break the story costs Jewell everything.

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Queen & Slim

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  • Title: Queen & Slim
  • IMDb: link

Queen & Slim movie reviewWriter/director Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim examines how one night can change your life. Driving Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) home after their unsuccessful first date, Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) is pulled over by a racist cop looking for any excuse to escalate the situation. Two gunshots later, the pair are on the run relatively oblivious to how their story will spread across the country.

The film is built on the backs of Kaluuya and Turner-Smith whose unusual first date leads the to unexpected destinations including a family reunion, a city-wide protest in their honor, and a drive towards freedom. Slim’s even demanor is a nice match for Queen’s more fiery moments, and it’s where the pair come together that Queen & Slim ultimately succeeds.

Matsoukas provides a stylish racially-charged tale of fugitives on the run that does begin to drag on during its final half-hour. While the decisions the pair make after killing a cop in self-defense are questionable at best, the script focuses on their perspectives, and life experience, to make the best choices they can given other equally bad alternatives.

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Why Joker is the Most Overrated Movie of the Year

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  • Title: Joker
  • IMDb: link

Joker movie reviewAlthough it has been phenomenally successful at the box office, writer/director Todd Phillips‘ film focused on the origins of the most famous Bat-villain has divided critics. Forgetting for a moment that attempting to rationalize and explain one of the most inexplicable characters ever created is a terrible, terrible idea doomed to failure, Phillips’ choices over the course of Joker leave much to be desired.

Stealing its plot from two different Martin Scorsese films (Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy) and adding a layer of DC Comics on top which acts more of a fuck you to fans than celebration of the character (purposely making claims that fly in the face of 80 years of comic writing), Phillips offers a script to explain the creation of the Joker. The movie isn’t a descent into madness, our lead character is already far gone by the time we meet him. Instead, Joker examines how a shitbag like our protagonist became the most famous villain in Gotham. And, in one of the film’s most troubling aspects, excuse that behavior by re-purposing the blame of the Joker’s actions on society itself. The Joker doesn’t kill people, society kills people.

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Dark Waters

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  • Title: Dark Waters
  • IMDb: link

Dark Waters movie reviewDark Waters is an interesting story that isn’t always told in an interesting way. Based on real events, Mark Ruffalo stars as corporate lawyer Robert Bilott who gets roped into taking on the kind of client his firm usually argues against when a farmer shows up in his offices with a story to tell how his land is being poisoned by the small town’s main employer, DuPont. Much like the court case itself, the film drags on as any movement in events happens at a glacial pace over decades (eventually the movie begins to increase the rapidness of its fast-forwards to alleviate some of the on-screen stagnation).

The script by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Mario Correa showcases how a big corporation flaunts its wealth and privilege, while ignoring any responsibility, even when solid proof of their wrongdoing is exposed. The other aspect to the film, not as well explored, is how the case changes Bilott’s life, both professionally and at home, when he decides to take on a case that eventually becomes more of a crusade he feels obligated to see through. The film’s set-up reminded me of 1998’s A Civil Action (among other films) which explores many of the same themes.

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