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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 October 2021

When I attended high school in the first half of the 1990s, we had no internet or mobile phones.  When you wanted to chat to your friends of an evening, you’d annoy your parents by tying up the land line at home.  Much has changed over the last three decades.  A colleague from work has an 8-year-old daughter who is the “IT guru” at school at helps classmates with iPhone app and connectivity issues.

Ron’s Gone Wrong is an animated feature that provides an exaggerated look at the way technology shapes the lives of impressionable kids today – both good and bad.  Small, two-feet tall robots, known as B-bots, have been developed by a giant Apple-style conglomerate to accompany kids to school and help them make friends.

These robots are the new “must have device” for the younger crowd (it’s not explained why adults don’t use them).  They provide their owners with self-confidence and, by syncing with the broader network, help point the kids in the directon of others with similar interests.  They’re like smart phones in the sense that owners can upload photos and videos through the robot to obtain “likes”.

The opening scenes will have you feeling sad and sorry for the film’s kind-hearted protagonist, Barney (Grazer).  He’s shy and introverted and so struggles to make friends at school.  He’s also excluded from activities in the playground because he doesn’t own a B-bot – partially because his family is poor and partially because his father (Helms) believes in making friends the old-fashioned way (a valid point that could have been explored further).

It falls upon Barney’s out-of-touch grandmother (Colman) to remedy the situation by purchasing a cheap, broken B-bot that fell from the back of a truck.  The robot (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) becomes known as Ron and, thanks to faulty programming, it initially causes more problems that it solves.  It’s not long though until the pair become friends and Barney’s eyes are opened to the importance of a “two-way street” friendship.

Ron’s Gone Wrong doesn’t try to overcomplicate things and tells a simple story.  The messages are laid on thickly, conflicts are resolved easily, and there’s a one-note villain (the head of the B-bot company) who gives you someone to root against.  It’s designed to be easily digestible for kids and, for better or worse, skirts around questions that would be tricky for non-adults to understand (such as using B-bots to illegally spy on people).

Rising star Jack Dylan Grazer (It, Shazam) and the experienced Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Birdman) tap into the energetic side of their personalities and do a great job brining Barney and Ron to life.  The action is too frenetic in places but thankfully, there are enough nice moments where these two characters can sit, talk and open up.  They’re the best scenes in the film.  The supporting players don’t offer much but keep your ears peeled for Olivia Colman’s (The Favourite) fun performance as Barney’s grandma.

The first movie to be made by the London-based Locksmith Animation studio, Ron’s Gone Wrong is cute and wholesome.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 September 2021

If you were living in Australia in 1996, it’s an event you’re unlikely to have forgotten.  28-year-old Martin Bryant killed 35 people in a massacre in the small town of Port Arthur, Tasmania.  It remains the worst mass shooting in modern Australian history and led to a near-instant overhaul of gun laws and the buy-back of roughly 650,000 firearms at a total cost of $230 million.  The government reaction and its subsequent impact is referred to commonly in the United States by gun control activists looking to introduce similar changes in that country.

The idea of a film about Martin Bryant has already stirred up much debate within Australia.  Some have questioned the intentions of writer Shaun Grant and director Justin Kurzel (both responsible for the award-winning but equally controversial Snowtown) and whether its appropriate to bring this tragic story back into the public spotlight.  There was a particular concern the movie would create sympathy towards Bryant and, as a result, disrespect the innocent people who lost their lives on that day.

For what it’s worth… I’m fine with the finished product and what it asks of audiences.  It’s not an exploitative, Scorsese-style drama with gruesome deaths.  While the music-free, dialogue-free finale is harrowing, not a single shooting is shown.  Rather, the film’s focus is on providing a condensed, slightly modified look at Bryant’s upbringing to show who he was a person and how easily he was able to buy weapons that led to the massacre.

Nitram reminds us the world is complex and some things cannot be easily rationalised.  The Bryant we see in the film, portrayed by American actor Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out), is a man who is socially awkward, has a low IQ, struggles to make friends, takes anti-depressants, argues with his parents, and doesn’t understand risk.

Does the combination of those things explain the events of 28 April 1996?  Was it something else?  If you were his parents, depicted in the movie by Judy Davis and Anthony LaPaglia, could you have foreseen what happened?  Could it all have been prevented?  Would better guns controls have made a difference?  All of this will generate discussion and, when it comes to a subject like this, that’s a positive in my eyes.  I’ve spoken with several friends about the topic in recent days.

All the performances are strong but it’s hard to go past the iconic Judy Davis as the film’s best.  Her final scene is unforgettable and so too is a monologue mid-way through where she opens up about her son in front his new best friend (Essie Davis).  As frustrating as Nitram may be to some, especially those looking for easy answers, I appreciated the offering.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 October 2021

Today’s legal system in Australia prescribes that if someone is charged with a criminal offence, guilt must be proved “beyond reasonable doubt” for any punishment to be handed down.  That certainly wasn’t the case in 14^th Century France.  Although attempts had been made by several leaders to stop the practice during the Middle Ages, trial by combat still existed across Europe.  The Last Duel is based on actual events, set in the year 1386, and depicts the final judicial duel sanctioned by the French government.

The charge in this case was a heinous one.  Marguerite de Carrouges (Comer) had accused the wealthy squire Jacques Le Gris (Driver) of coming into her home whilst alone, pinning her down in the bedroom, and raping her.  Women of the time were not allowed to level charges against a man and so the responsibility fell on her husband, Jean de Carrouges (Damon), to commence legal proceedings.

Jean knew he couldn’t win an ordinary trial (a woman’s testimony would never override that of a man) and so he convinced the young King Charles VI to allow the judicial duel.  Citizens would watch from atop the battle ring and, if you believed in the nonsense of the times, God would deliver a verdict by deciding who lived and who died.  There was an added catch in this case.  If Jean were to lose the dual, his wife would be declared a liar and subsequently burned at the stake.

It’s a gory yet fascinating piece of history brought to the screen by Oscar nominated director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator).  Co-writers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) felt the story would best be told in three parts.  We begin with Jean’s perspective, that’s followed by the viewpoint of Jacques, and we culminate by seeing things through the eyes of the victim, Marguerite.  Independent filmmaker Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Can You Ever Forgive Me?), working closely with #MeToo groups, was brought in to write Marguerite’s scenes and provide a strong, honest look at her important character.

I’m not fully convinced by the structure.  The tension ratches up during the opening act… before being reset at start of chapters two and three.  Small details are altered in each version of events, wisely highlighting that truth varies depending on who’s telling it, but there’s no doubt as to Jacques’ guilt and so, when we see things play out for a third time, the repetition wears a little thin.  This format also pushes a few of the supporting characters too far into the background.  As an example, I’d prefer to have seen more of Jean’s opinionated mother (played by the talented Harriet Walter).

It’s a minor quibble though.  The three lead performances are strong and, as the pick of the bunch, Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) continues her breakout cinematic year after the success of Free Guy.  Kudos to her hair and make-up team also.  It should come as no surprise to see Ridley Scott direct a great battle sequence and while it’s a lengthy wait given the film clocks in at 153 minutes, the gritty, violent, well-researched climax serves as a fitting finale.

Offering a glimpse into an era rarely depicted on screen, The Last Duel tells a worthy tale.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 September 2021

Based on a true story from 2013, the film opens with Joe Bell (Wahlberg) and his 15-year-old son, Jadin (Miller), hiking on a remote stretch of road.  He’s not walking to work or to the corner store.  His goal is considerably more ambitious.  Joe is on a mission to trek across the contiguous United States from his west coast home in La Grande, Oregon to his son’s favourite place, New York City, on the east coast.  It’ll take over a year and the entire distance travelled will exceed 6,000 kilometres.

Armed with just a push trolly and a backpack, Joe isn’t doing this because of a simple sense of adventure.  His son has been bullied at high school for being gay and he wants to raise awareness about the issue and to try to prevent it from happening to others.  In each town he visits, Joe talks to news reporters and speaks in front of kids at school auditoriums.  He’s not the best public speaker but his heart is in the right place.

Without giving too much away, Joe Bell is an emotional, thought-provoking piece that has something to say.  The screenplay was developed by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, the Oscar winning duo who adapted Brokeback Mountain for the big screen, and the director is Reinaldo Marcus Green, a New Yorker who has transitioned from Wall Street banker to budding filmmaker.  His only other feature film was the well-received Monsters and Men from 2018 starring John David Washington.

Curiously, the least interesting character in Joe Bell is Joe Bell himself.  I was fine with the performance of Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights) and the film isn’t afraid to expose his flaws but he’s very one-note.  The Joe we meet at the start of the movie isn’t too different from the Joe we know at the end of the movie.

There are two characters with much more to offer.  The first is the 15-year-old Jadin who is fleshed out beautifully by rising star Reid Miller.  His background is explored using flashbacks and we’re shown affecting scenes where he comes out to his dad, is viciously tormented by classmates, and meets his first love.  Miller is exceptional (he’s a name to watch going forward) and it’s hard not to be moved by a particularly emotional sequence where, at a vulnerable low point, he calls his best friend and begs for help and support.

 The second character of note is Lola Bell, mother to Jadin and husband to Joe.  Wonderfully played by Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), she becomes the “voice of reason” and the person trying to pull strings and hold the family together when times get tough.  It’s easy to applaud Joe for his visible efforts in raising awareness about bullying but Lola’s unsung work behind the scenes, which takes its toll on her at times, deserves equal recognition.

Reviews were mixed when the film premiered at the 2020 Toronto Film Festival (it even went through a subsequent re-edit) but, in my opinion, Joe Bell is a moving drama that deserved more recognition than its received.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 September 2021

At some point in the late 1990s, an award-winning short film maker and an aspiring actor got into a heated argument on a staircase at a party in Denmark.  It wasn’t resolved until two high profile actresses intervened and hit them with their handbags.  Like something out of a movie itself, this odd first encounter kick started a friendship that endures today.

The two people I’m referring to are writer-director Anders Thomas Jensen, an Academy Award winning in 1999 for best live action short film, and well-known Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, star of this year’s Oscar winner for best international feature, Another Round.  These two are clearly aligned when it comes to creative vision and good storytelling.  Jensen has now made 5 feature films and each one has starred Mikkelsen.  Their most notable outings have been Flickering Lights (2000) and Adam’s Apples (2005).

Riders of Justice is their latest collaboration and it’s a brilliant, original, funny, surprising movie that flips the action hero genre on its head.  We saw a similar idea explored successfully earlier this year with Nobody – a Bob Odenkirk led action-comedy about a boring family man who reluctantly battles the bad guys.  This film goes much further in terms of its hilarious setting and its brutally dark material.  They’re joking about stuff you shouldn’t joke about… but it works!

The narrative is centred around a tragedy.  A crowded passenger train strikes a parked freight train and 11 people are killed (it’s a quick, jarring moment).  One of those killed is the wife of Markus (Mikkelsen), a respected soldier on tour in Afghanistan.  He immediately returns home for the funeral and to look after their teenage daughter, Mathilde (Gadeberg), who is struggling to reconcile the unfortunate series of events.  Her mum would not have been on the train that afternoon if not for the fact the family car broke down.

A survivor of the train crash was Otto (Kaas), a skilled but socially awkward actuary who has forged his career by calculating risk and odds.  He’s stunned to learn that the key enemy of a powerful motorcycle gang was also killed in the crash and so, it leads him to believe this was no accident or coincidence.  Foul play must be involved.  The police disagree and it leads Otto, along with two close friends, to approach Markus and express their views.

It reaches the point where Markus, Otto, and their band of misfits go after the dangerous motorcycle gang in search of revenge.  Their journey sends them down some bizarre, amusing paths.  For example, in trying to keep their plans a secret from the suspicious Mathilde, one of the men pretends to be a psychologist and, in the process, gets everyone to “open up” and deal with their guilt and grief.  It’s both farcical and profound!

Mads Mikkelsen gets the opportunity to play the “straight man” and it frees up the rest of the cast to win big laughs.  It’s a terrific ensemble with Lars Brygmann getting the best of the material as a foul-mouthed computer hacker who yearns to become a hitman.  Bookended by a thought-provoking moment involving a girl and a bicycle, Riders of Justice has a lot more to offer than your standard action flick.  This is comfortably one of the year’s best films.