Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 April 2023

Having never won at the Oscars, despite 7 previous nominations for best actor, British star Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia) was presented an honorary Academy Award in 2002 for his long, distinguished career.  During his short acceptance speech, the 69-year-old acknowledged the many people he’d worked with across his career but also the astonishing young talent from whom he “grabs energy in handfuls.”

In that regard, Hollywood is no different from any other industry.  It’s sad when a gifted actor passes away but there’s always someone coming through to fill the gap and leave their own mark.  These thoughts were rummaging through my head while watching A Good Person, the latest creation of writer-director Zach Braff (Garden State).

The film stars iconic 85-year-old Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption) who has nothing left to prove in terms of ability, but he continues to be motivated by a love for the craft.  It’s as if he’s in a contest with the ageless Clint Eastwood to see who can last the longest!  Here, Freeman is working alongside one of the great upcoming stars of today’s generation – 27-year-old Florence Pugh who, after a breakout performance in 2016’s Lady Macbeth, has built an impressive resume with roles in Fighting with My Family, Midsommar, and Little Women.

There is nothing flash or original with the script for A Good Person.  Pugh plays a young woman who has become addicted to prescription medication after being involved in a car accident which took the life of two friends.  Freeman plays a former alcoholic who has become the sole caregiver to his rebellious teenage granddaughter following the death of her parents.  They are as different as chalk and cheese but these two come together, via some semi-contrived moments, and reluctantly help each other through their pain and suffering.

Other films have covered the subject of addiction in a more convincing and emotional manner (The Lost Weekend, The Basketball Diaries, Requiem for a Dream) but A Good Person warrants your time for its two lead performances.  The experience of Freeman and the passion of Pugh make for a nice pairing.  There are moments when the characters let their guard down and show a tormented, willing-to-change side… and there are moments when the guard springs back up and they refuse to acknowledge their problems and alternate views.

A few plot points are heavy-handed (“I’ve read the reports”) and a few others are undercooked (the teenage daughter) but A Good Person does remind us that asking for help, when facing a life-altering addiction, is a tough first step.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 April 2023

In the same vein as Ford v Ferrari, Moneyball, and Jerry Maguire, Air provides behind-the-scenes insight in the world of sports management.  The scope here is narrow.  Set over a few weeks in 1984, it’s centred on a group of key staff at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon as they try to sign the much hyped 21-year-old basketballer Michael Jordan to a sponsorship deal before the start of the new NBA season.

Inspired by The Last Dance which he watched during the early stages of the pandemic, first-time writer Alex Convery crafted a script, and it found its way into the hands of Oscar winners Ben Affleck (Argo) and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) via their new production company, Artist Equity.  Affleck took the reins as director (and also a supporting role) while Damon stepped into the shoes of lead character Sonny Vaccaro, a scout/marketer at Nike who was tasked with identifying up-and-coming basketball players worth signing.

Noticeably absent from the film is the character of Michael Jordan.  The logic of Convery is that not seeing Jordan makes him “more mythological and mystical” but I’m unconvinced about this creative decision.  It becomes a weird distraction by film’s end.  In the handful of scenes in which Jordan appears, such as the final pitch meeting in the Nike boardroom, he is either shown from behind or obscured by other actors.  It’s an odd big-screen debut for actor Damian Delano who plays Michael Jordan in a film about Michael Jordan… and yet we don’t see him.

Another nigglingly annoying element of Air is its over-the-top montage to the year 1984.  I’ve no problem with the fun opening credits, which will bring back memories for those who lived through the era, but I’m unsure why it needed to be repeated, albeit fleetingly, at other stages.  Just let the cool sets and costumes (with an emphasis on Ben Affleck’s running gear) speak for themselves.  Do we really need unexpected clips of Ghostbusters and popular 1980s candy?

While I’m not fully on board with the artistic approach, Air is still an engaging movie because of its story, people, and dialogue.  It offers well-crafted comedy as illustrated by a scene where Affleck’s CEO character arrives late to the pitch meeting and tries to explain himself.  It also offers points of reflective, honest drama.  Perhaps my favourite moment of the film is an innocuous conversation between Damon and Jason Bateman (as the Vice-President of Marketing) as they talk about their personal lives while sharing coffee in an empty office as they work over the weekend.

Every member of the cast pulls their weight.  Damon is terrific as the overweight, nerdish scout (his speech at the end is a cracker), Chris Messina is amusing as Jordan’s ruthless, foul-mouthed agent, Matthew Maher is great as the chance-taking shoe designer, and Viola Davis is inspiring as Jordan’s negotiating mother.  The real Michael Jordan, who was involved with the production, specifically requested Davis early in the casting phase.  It’s also great to see Rush Hour’s Chris Tucker in his first movie role in 7 years.

One could argue the script is over-romanticised (it’s so easy to look back at events with the benefit of hindsight) but I like the way is addressed via two scenes at a convenience which serve as bookends to the main show.  Air knows what kind of film it wants to be… and it does it very well.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 April 2023

Awful in a good way?  Or awful in a bad way?  I can’t settle on a definitive answer and it’s likely that audience opinion will vary widely.  Australian Toni Collette (Muriel’s Wedding) steps into the shoes of Kristin, a mum going through a rough trot.  Her son just headed off to college (tears were shed), her husband has been sleeping with the school guidance counsellor, and her work at a big pharmaceutical company isn’t providing the satisfaction it once did.

To add further drama, Kristin learns her grandfather just passed away in Italy and she is named in his will as executor – a stunning surprise given the pair were never close and she has minimal contact with that side of her extended family.  Spurred on by the advice of a friend, Kristin tries to spin these events into a positive.  She’ll travel to the southern Italian region of Calabria, mourn for a day or so, and then go on an Eat Pray Love-style adventure to brighten things up.

As the film’s title suggests, things don’t go to script.  It turns out her grandfather was the head of a powerful Mafia family involved in a range of illegal activities including drugs, guns, and prostitution.  Kristin has been appointed as the new leader, much to the disgust of everyone, and she must start negotiating a truce with a rival group who have engaged in a territorial “turf war”.  She has absolutely no idea what she’s doing (she hasn’t even watched The Godfather before) and so what follows is a light-weight comedy where she clumsily bumbles her way through each dangerous situation.

It’s a farcical narrative where characters don’t stay true to themselves.  There are moments where Kristin is a panicking mum who fears for safety and wants to escape back home… and there are moments when she’s a horny, food-loving woman taking insane risks to hook up with guys she’s just met.  It’s a film that must be embraced as spoof for any chance of enjoying.  This is evident from Toni Collette’s lead performance who is insanely over-the-top with every emotional turn.

Some jokes are miles from hitting the mark.  A great example is a silly work Zoom call which drags on too long.  The shootouts and other scenes are also uninspired.  There’s a laughable sequence early in the film where a slomo shot of a calm, walking Kristin (an explosion is taking place in the background) is intermingled with regular-paced shots of a running, terrified Kristin.  Was it meant to be satire?  Or did director Catherine Hardwick (Twilight) struggle to edit everything together on a tight budget?

The film is not a total write-off.  A few laughs can be found from Toni Collette’s lead performance who is insanely over-the-top with every emotional turn.  Combining Under the Tuscan Sun and The Godfather (never thought I’d ever say that), Mafia Mamma is messy entertainment.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 March 2023

At the Jusarang Community Church in Seoul, South Korea, one will find a hole in the side of the building referred to as a “baby box”.  It’s a place where people can anonymously leave a baby they can no longer care for.  It is manned 24 hours a day and, since its creation in 2009 by the Church’s pastor, over 2,000 babies have been “dropped off”.  Unless the mum/dad has second thoughts and returns soon after, the babies are carefully looked after and then given the opportunity to be adopted.

This real-life location serves as the opening setting for Broker, a fictional tale from Palme d’Or winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters).  It’s a difficult film to summarise quickly and that’s part of its allure.  There are two guys (Kang-ho and Dong-won) who have stolen a baby from the box and are looking to sell him on the black market.  There are two police detectives (Doona and Joo-young) who are following closely and seeking to catch them in the act.  There is the baby’s mother (Ji-eun) who pops up unexpectedly while fleeing serious problems.  A few other players, including a young kid, also have a part to play.

Broker succeeds in being an interesting, not-sure-where-it’s-going thriller, and as a big-hearted family drama.  Kore-eda throws in a few unexpected twists along the way which will change opinions about the key characters.  These subplots add complexity and allow the narrative to morph into something deeper and thought-provoking.  It has something to say about successfully raising a child and how there are many different types of family structures that can achieve a positive outcome.

The performances are sublime.  Song Kang-ho (Parasite) won the Best Actor prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and is terrific as the morally conflicted thief.  Bae Doona (Cloud Atlas) is excellent as the hard-ass detective who slowly reveals a softer side.  Singer-turned-actress Lee Ji-eun (Shades of the Heart) skilfully illustrates the contradictory thoughts of a struggling mother.  Is giving up her newborn the right thing to do?

Parasite helped expand the popularity of South Korean cinema with Western audiences and if the country keeps churning out films as good as Broker, that interest is likely to be sustained.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 April 2023

It’s back-to-back weeks of reinvigorated stinkers.  Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves arrived in cinemas last Thursday and was considerably better than the lame 2000 effort.  This time around, we have The Super Mario Bros. Movie which is trying to improve on the live-action box-office flop, starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, released back in 1993.

The original arcade game was by the Japanese gaming company Nintendo back in 1983.  While this film is likely to tweak the curiosity of long-time fans and gamers, I’d describe it as a movie targeted more at kids than adults.  The story is straight forward, the characters are simple, and the humour is easy to understand.  The bright colours and fun sound effects are another reason it will resonate with the younger crowd.

Writer Matthew Fogel (Minions: The Rise of Gru) wastes no time introducing us to the two heroes, Mario (Pratt) and Luigi (Day).  They’re hat-wearing plumbers from Brooklyn, New York who, despite a flashy television advertisement, are struggling to get their small business off the ground.  This doesn’t seem to be a surprise to their extended family who aren’t offering much support.

Those problems will soon be overshadowed by a set of much bigger ones.  They get sucked down a green sewer pipe and end up in an entirely different universe filled with cute toadstools.  The pair become separated (a traditional plot device) with Mario encountering an assortment of characters in search of his brother.  The list includes a wise princess (Taylor-Joy), a fire-breathing turtle (Black), and the showboating Donkey Kong (Rogen).

In making the film as likeable as possible, the directing duo of Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) have gone with an array of classic songs including Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero”, and A-ha’s “Take on Me”.  These tunes, along with the bombastic music score of Brian Tyler and Koji Kondo, provide an appropriate backdrop to the hectic action scenes.  Of the voice cast, Jack Black has the most fun as the villainous, mood-shifting turtle who wants to marry the princess and rule the world.

As the tentpole animated feature of the Easter school holidays, The Super Mario Bros. Movie won’t blow you away emotionally… but it offers a tight 92-minutes of entertainment to keep children occupied.