Reviews

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 September 2025

Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin first met while working in the advertising industry.  They put aside a little money, helped produce a few movies, and then waded into feature films with The Climb which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.  It was a low-budget, independent film with the pair credited as screenwriters, starring in the two lead roles and, in the case of Covino, serving as director.  It didn’t find much love at the box-office given its release during COVID-19 but was an important stepping stone in establishing their talent and credibility.

The duo has returned with a bigger budget and a more high-profile cast for their sophomore outing, Splitsville.  Both take on acting roles again and have been joined by the recognisable Dakota Johnson (Materialists), Nicholas Braun (Succession), and Adria Arjona (Father of the Bride).  The poster describes it as an “unromantic comedy” and it’s a suitable description.  We start with two (seemingly) happy married couples but over the course of several chapters, their respective relationships deteriorate in humorous fashion.

We begin with Ashley (Arjona) having a not-so-near death experience and deciding to confess to her boring husband, Carey (Marvin), that she’s been unfaithful many times and now wants a divorce.  He is floored by the unexpected revelation and runs/swims to the lakeside home of his wealthy friends, Paul (Covino) and Julie (Johnson).  As a modern, free-spirited couple, they’re not as perturbed by the news.  In addition to have almost no social boundaries, evidenced by an eyebrow-raising moment when Carey uses their bathroom for a shower, they reveal their marriage is an open one.  It’s a shock for the conservative Carey who is now starting to see the world differently when it comes to masculinity and monogamy.

Splitsville goes on wild, unexpected tangents.  From a cacophony of new lovers which enter Ashley’s life, through to a crazy-long fight sequence, through to a subplot involving a trouble-making child (Webster)… this is a comedy which uses a mix of randomness and edginess to generate its well-earned laughs.  Perhaps a touch more subtlety could have been added to characters (the Carey we first meet is such a clueless dork) but the actors deserve praise.  Despite the absurdity of each situation, they play their roles with an intense, straight-faced seriousness.  It never feels like the cast are deliberately trying to be funny… which only makes it funnier!

Also fortunate enough to be picked for a debut at Cannes, back in May 2025, Splitsville is nutty entertainment.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 28 August 2025

Director Darren Aronofsky has made a few stinkers (Noah, The Whale) but I will always respect him highly because of two masterpieces – Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler.  Both were the #1 movie on my annual top 10 list in their respective years of release.  Caught Stealing won’t achieve such lofty heights but it’s still an above-average, “return to form” for Aronofsky.  He’s guided by a twisty screenplay from Charlie Huston who is adapting his own novel, first published 20 years ago.

Set in New York City in the year 1998 (they go overboard with the Twin Towers imagery), the film is centred on an alcoholic bartender, Hank (Butler), who is going nowhere in life.  He was once a baseball prodigy touted for the big leagues but after his knee was wrecked in a nasty car accident, those dreams were torched.  He now lives alone in a shabby apartment which contains more liquors bottles than food items.  The only person steering him in the right direction is Yvonne (Kravitz), an on-again, off-again love interest who works as a paramedic.

Everything flips upside down when Hank is dragged into a world of gangsters and drug dealers.  His British next-door neighbour goes overseas, he’s asked to care for a snarky cat, and it sets in motion a series of events that leave him fighting for survival.  Hank is not a traditional hero with an arsenal of weapons and battle skills.  When we beaten to a blood pulp in the opening act, we see Hank more as an “ordinary guy” who is in waaaaaay over his head.

This serves the film perfectly.  Hank doesn’t want trouble but the more he tries to escape it, the more it finds him.  There are also several subplots that, without revealing spoilers, spin the narrative in unexpected directions.  One could draw comparisons with Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie given the blend of violence, comedy and crime… but this is sufficiently different.  I like a protagonist with vulnerability and Oscar nominee Austin Butler (Elvis) is terrific in the lead role.  You have a clear sense of the physical and emotional pain his likeable character endures.

With Regina King and Zoë Kravitz adding further interest with their supporting performances, Caught Stealing entertains in many ways.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 September 2025

The talents of Australian writer Tony McNamara were evident back in 2003 when he made his feature film debut with The Rage in Placid Lake, one of my top 10 movies of that year.  It’s taken time but only in the last decade has his career picked up serious momentum.  McNamara earned two screenwriting Oscar nominations in the past 7 years (only 5 others can say the same) for The Favourite and Poor Things, both directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.  He also created the 30-episode streaming series The Great which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nod and two awards from the Writers Guild of America.

McNamara returns to the big screen with perhaps his most challenging assignment yet.  The War of the Roses, authored by Warren Adler and first published in 1981, has already been adapted into a successful movie.  The 1989 cinema release was directed by Danny DeVito and starred the memorable Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.  It turned a handy profit at the box-office and earned three Golden Globe nominations including best musical/comedy (losing to Driving Miss Daisy).  What could McNamara extract from the source material to improve on the well-liked original?

I’ll applaud him for going with a fresh, modern take.  The differences are so numerous that, aside from the “Roses” reference in the film’s title, you can barely recognise this as a remake.  Even the character names have been changed.  Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite), who deserve praise for their outlandish performances, step into the shoes of the protagonists, Theo and Ivy.

The pair start out as a happily married couple living in Northern California but over the course of several years, their relationship deteriorates.  A simple, no-fault divorce would be the obvious solution but they’re intent on dragging out the misery as long as possible.  It reaches a point where things are so bad, they’re gleefully sabotaging each other’s lives in the most embarrassing and most financially expensive way possible… and they’re doing it with a smile on their faces!

Intended to be a dark comedy, The Roses is weak in places.  The supporting cast, which include Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Kate McKinnon (Barbie), aren’t given much to do.  They drift in-and-out of the story and peddle the same material in each scene.  This is highlighted by the affection McKinnon shares for Cumberbatch’s character.

Further, while I appreciate the film’s final punchline, the closing half-hour lost me with its over-the-top antics.  It’s too much of a screwball comedy.  Guns?  Really?  I much prefer the opening two acts which contain witty barbs and a humorous exploration of household power struggles.  While it shouldn’t be binary question, the movie has fun with their arguments over who should be the primary breadwinner and who should be raising the kids at home.

See it for the charm of Cumberbatch and Colman but The Roses is a modest letdown.    

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 August 2025

A private investigator (Qualley) looking into the strange death of a new client.  An evangelist (Evans) who uses his pulpit to  be prey on vulnerable women.  A chatty police detective (Day) who leaks information like a sieve.  A police officer (Plaza) in need of love, love and more love.  A single mum (Connolly) juggling a household with too many kids.  An office assistant (Beans) with a very light workload.

The Coen brothers have a long-held reputation of creating quirky, memorable characters (e.g. Fargo, No Country for Old Men) and while they now work separately, Ethan Coen continues the trend in Honey Don’t!  It’s a short (89 minute) dark comedy described as being part of a “lesbian B-movie trilogy.”  The narratives don’t overlap but this is the second outing following last year’s Drive-Away Dolls. Once again, Coen is collaborating with his wife, Tricia Cooke, who is credited as a screenwriter.

I appreciate why some may not like this.  A more traditional storyline would link the subplots and resolve them to audiences’ satisfaction.  Coen and Cooke take an alternative approach. They’re vastly different movies but I could draw a comparison to last week’s major new release, The Naked Gun.  You don’t watch a movie like that for its big finale – which is borderline irrelevant to one’s enjoyment.  Rather, you buy a ticket in anticipation of the jokes and interactions along the way.

That’s the attitude you must take into Honey Don’t!  The entire cast, including the minor supporting players, leave an impression with their distinctive performances.  They’re helped by the quality script which allows them to wittily interact with each other.  Margaret Qualley (The Substance) is central to all – from her back-and-forth debate with Chris Evans about being “open”, through to a discussion with Aubrey Plaza about “third dates”.  Adding to the film’s allure is the horniness of its characters.  So many of these people are either getting laid… or want to be getting laid.

Set in a small, desolate town where every building needs repairs (another cool point of distinction), Honey Don’t! taps into my own warped sense of humour.  Thumbs up.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 01 September 2025

I’m not sure what sparked the idea of screenwriters Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona but Fight or Flight comes across as a quirky combination of Snakes on a Plane and John Wick.  It’s got a barrage of contract killers trying to claim a $10 million USD bounty by killing a specific target… and the action takes place mid-flight on a passenger airplane where escape options are limited.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense but the deliberately silly plot, and the apt title, grabbed my attention.

The film also continues the career renaissance of Josh Harnett.  Thrust back into the spotlight after his distinctive supporting performance in Oppenheimer and his lead turn in Trap, Harnett is once again a box-office draw.  Here, he steps into the shoes of Lucas Reyes, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who now resides in Bangkok after his job went pear-shaped.  It’s a strong outing from Hartnett who finds the right blend of humour and masculinity in creating the character.

Reyes has a chance to “clear his name” and return to the United States but to do so, he needs to help the Government identify and apprehend a computer hacker who is onboard the flight.  The intelligence agency has limited information on the hacker and so the first part of the mission is identification.  Once that’s sorted, and I won’t spoil who it is, the next step is survival.  They must evade the skilled, contracted assassins looking to make big bucks.

Directed by first-time feature filmmaker James Madigan, who has a lengthy career as a visual effects supervisor, Fight or Flight succeeds in providing surprising laughs and bloody battles.  It’s outlandishly violent and while that may alienate the squeamish, the shock value adds to the film’s dark humour.  The body count is high with a mix of broken bones and eyebrow-raising facial injuries.  Cinematographer Matt Flannery, best known for his work on the excellent Indonesian action flicks The Raid and The Raid 2, delivers in spades.  I’m amazed how many great angles his fast-moving camera was able to access aboard a passenger airplane.

The back-and-forth scenes which take place at the U.S. agency are iffy.  They’re a bunch of boring, one-note characters.  Fight or Flight works best when things are at their most nutty and chaotic – in the air with an increasingly exhausted Josh Harnett killing bad guys.  See it for that reason!