Movie Review: Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Dan Gilroy.

Written by: Dan Gilroy.

Starring: Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.), Colin Farrell (George Pierce), Carmen Ejogo (Maya Alston), Lynda Gravatt (Vernita Wells), Amanda Warren (Lynn Jackson), Hugo Armstrong (Fritz Molinar), Sam Gilroy (Connor Novick), Tony Plana (Jessie Salinas), DeRon Horton (Derrell Ellerbee), Amari Cheatom (Carter Johnson).

 

The first thing I noticed about Denzel Washington is Roman J. Israel, Esq. is that the character does not have Washington’s trademark strut. Washington has one of the best struts in cinema history – he moves through the space with utter and complete confidence – he’s in control and he knows it (or at least that’s the impression he wants to give). But his Roman here doesn’t strut as much as shuffle. Unlike almost any other Washington character, he doesn’t walk with his head held high – instead, he mainly looks down, his old fashioned Walkman headphones on as protection from the outside world. Here’s he is playing a lawyer who has essentially got to hide from the outside world – live inside his head – for decades. He is partnered with another lawyer – but that other lawyer is the fact of the operation, does all the court appearances, meets clients, etc. Israel has a genius legal mind, but no social skills, so he stays in the office writing briefs – doing the grunt work – while his partner does the rest. It works for Roman – that is, until his partner has a heart attack, slips into a coma and dies. With nowhere else to go, nothing else to do, and in desperate need of money – he ends up working for George Pierce (Colin Farrell) – a slick, criminal defense lawyer who thinks he can use Israel’s genius mind to help his own, already thriving practice. But in a matter of weeks, Israel will essentially destroy himself.

 

What precisely is wrong with Roman is never really discussed in the film. He’s clearly somewhere on the autism spectrum – but if he’s ever been diagnosed, it doesn’t come up. He is, in many ways, a genius – but thrust out into the world without protection, he makes one bad decision after another.

 

Washington is in nearly every scene of the film, and luckily for the film, you cannot take your eyes off of him. I’m not sure it’s a good performance or not, but it’s an interesting one. Everything around him in the movie is a complete and total mess – none of the other characters make a whole lot of sense, the plotting makes less sense, and nothing in the film really coheres into a whole. I’m not quite sure what the film is trying to say about, well, anything.

 

The film was written and directed by Dan Gilroy – whose directorial debut Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal is a truly great neo-noir, with terrific performances, and a killer look. It was one of the great debuts of recent years. Here, though, I never got the sense of what Gilroy wants to do or say in the movie. He clearly doesn’t like the criminal justice system, which has turned into one in which everyone pleas out, without going to court, because the consequences of not doing so are so dire.

 

But of all that gets lost in a plot that involves a murder, and reward money, and Israel deciding to sell out, that regretting it – and a subplot involving Carmen Ejogo’s character – who works for some ill-defined Civil Rights group whose mission is never stated, who is drawn to Israel, for reasons that don’t make a lot of sense. Farrell’s character is worse. He has turned into a terrific actor over the last few years, but there is little you can do with a character who seems to be different – and have different motivations – every time we see him. The fact that this all takes place over the span of a mere three weeks makes no sense either – there’s simply too much going on.

 

Washington is as committed as ever to his role – and it’s a strange choice for him to play, and I admire him for doing it. Like the movie itself, I don’t think the performance entirely works – and yet I don’t see how it could have gone any better. Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a disappointment because it is the type of movie I wish Hollywood made more of – and because this one doesn’t work, that’s further proof for them to stop trying to do movies like this at all. It shouldn’t be. This is an odd film – and not a very good one. But I don’t think I’m going to forget it any time soon.

Movie Review: Most Beautiful Island

Most Beautiful Island *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Ana Asensio.

Written by: Ana Asensio.

Starring: Ana Asensio (Luciana), Natasha Romanova (Olga), David Little (Doctor Horowitz), Nicholas Tucci (Niko), Larry Fessenden (Rudy), Caprice Benedetti (Vanessa), Anna Myrha (Nadia), Ami Sheth (Benedita), Miriam A. Hyman (Bikie), Sara Visser (Katarin), Natalia Zvereva (Ewa), Jennifer Sorika Wolf  (Mai), Fenella A. Chudoba (Alina).

 

Spoiler Alert: Even more than most movies, Ana Asensio’s Most Beautiful Island works because of the narrative twists and turns it takes – starting out as one thing, and ending up as something else entirely. Because the best sequences in the film are the later ones, I would find it hard to discuss the film without talking about them – so be warned before reading on. You should definitely see the film – and you should definitely NOT know what you’re going to see when you do. You’ve been warned.

 

The first half of Ana Asensio’s Most Beautiful Island is essentially a neo-realist immigrant drama – a well-made one, with fine performances, directions and writing, but something that you have definitely seen before. Yes, there is one sequence in a bathtub– if you’ve seen the film, you know the one I mean – that at least hints at the possibility that there is something more going on here, but because of the brevity of that scene, and how much time after it seems like a normal drama, you put it out of your mind. You know it’s probably not going to be good when the main character, Luciana (played by writer/director Ana Asensio) is invited to work at a secretive party – and needs black heels and little black dress – to do so. Just what happens there, however, is something you will not see coming.

 

Most Beautiful Island is a film that works because of just how committed writer/director/star Asensio is to telling the story. The first half of this 80 minute movie, is about the regular challenges and humiliations that a working class immigrant faces in America – with multiple jobs, family back home, past traumas, no access to health care, and many other things piling up. It makes sense that Asensio would jump at an opportunity to make some quick money when her friend, Olga (Natasha Romanov) tells her about a party she’s supposed to work, but cannot make it to. From there, the tension starts to escalate, as Luciana follows some instructions, and has to travel to a few different places in New York, given cryptic messages, and a little purse she must bring with her. When she finally arrives at the “party” – welcomed by Larry Fessenden (never a good sign when he shows up) the last act of the movie is almost unbearably intense and frightening.

 

I don’t really want to reveal what happens next, so I won’t. What I will say is that the film says that each “game” lasts only two minutes, but it sure the hell feels a lot long than that. Perhaps it is because of my own phobias (then again, I think Asensio is smart to pick such a wildly held phobia to play with) but I’m not sure I’ve held my breath in a movie for that long ever before.

 

The whole film isn’t as great as that one sequence – and yet the sequence is as effective as it is, because of everything that surrounds it – which skillfully misdirects you away from it. The film is an ultra-low-budget debut for Asensio, who pulls it off brilliantly. This is a calling card movie for her. You can dismiss it as a stunt, but it works – and it should allow her to do something even better with her next film.

Movie Review: Voyeur

Voyeur (2017) *** / *****

Directed by: Myles Kane & Josh Koury.

 

There is a fascinating story at the heart of the Netflix documentary Voyeur, about a legendary journalist and his latest subject, which the filmmakers have full access to as they work together on the story. Gay Talese is now in his 80s – and has had a long career in journalism, exploring sex and celebrity, and many other topics in American life. He is an obsessive collector for these stories – he has a ton of stuff in labelled boxes related to all of his stories, even those that are decades old. This is perhaps why he was drawn to Gerald Foos in the first place. Way back in 1980, as Talese was about to study his book on sex – Thy Neighbor’s Wife – Foos contacted Talese, and told him about his own activities. In Aurora, Colorado Foos owned and operated a motel – and he had retrofitted that motel so that he can see and hear everything that goes on in the rooms – unseen, from above. He watches as people do all sorts of things in those rooms – particularly sex – and he never got caught. Foos, of course, didn’t want to go on record back in 1980 – but he did take Talese up there on day to show him what he could see. Then, decades later, Foos finally decides to go on the record with Talese – resulting in a New Yorker article, and eventual book. But how much of what Foos says can be believed?

 

Talese himself knows that Foos is perhaps not a reliable narrator of his own life – he mentioned it in the article itself. Yet, because he was there with Foos, he knows he isn’t completely full of shit. The documentary follows these two men as they wrestle for control on the narrative – friendly at times, not so friendly at others. But it’s also about how Talese, and those he worked with, ignored some of the warning signs that will blow up in their faces in the final part of the movie – when the Washington Post finds some inconsistencies in Foos’ story – most notably, that he didn’t even own the Motel for a period of several years in the 1980s. It wasn’t the first inconsistency in Foos’ story – Talese had identified others – but they mainly let them slide. At a certain point though, they add up.

 

Watching the film, I couldn’t help but wish that it had been made by someone else. It isn’t that filmmakers Myles Kane and Josh Koury are bad per se – just that they don’t seem to know what to do with the story other than point their cameras at it (at one point, when Talese gets really frustrated, he yells at the documentary makers, calling them “cameramen, not journalists” – and I’m not sure he’s wrong, despite the fact he’s being an asshole at that moment). The first part of the movie seems to be the story that Foos wants to tell about himself – delving into his life, his experiences, in his own words. Talese seems all too happy to let Foos keep talking. As the film moves along though, and becomes something greater, the filmmakers still just sit there and watch the two men as they bicker and argue. This works because both men are good storytellers, and also rather petty – that makes them great subjects. As the story breaks, and Foos start to question his decision to come forward at all, he in particular is a fascinating person to watch. He’s angry that Talese revealed that he has a large baseball card collection – and is convinced that people are on their way to break down his door.

 

The film never really answers the question about Foos and how much he is lying. At one point, Talese disavows his own work, but later, when cooler heads have prevailed, he stands by his work again. The film is content to simply allow you in the audience to watch, and figure it out. In many ways, this is the right decision to make. Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder what a filmmaker like Errol Morris (a very obvious influence on this film, for many reasons) could have done with the same material. He probably would have ended at the same place – but would have gotten more out of his subjects – he would have controlled the narrative, and not allowed it to be controlled. Then again, he’s not just a “cameraman”.

Movie Review: Woodshock

Woodshock * ½ / *****

Directed by: Kate Mulleavy & Laura Mulleavy.

Written by: Kate Mulleavy & Laura Mulleavy.

Starring: Kirsten Dunst (Theresa), Joe Cole (Nick), Pilou Asbæk (Keith), Steph DuVall (Ed), Jack Kilmer (Johnny), Susan Traylor (Theresa's Mother), Joel McCoy (Foreman), Michael Pavlicek (Mike).

 

Woodshock is one of those movies that even after you’ve seen it, you won’t really be able to describe it, or what happens in it. It is a film that tries, very, very hard to operate on some kind of dream logic, but instead, doesn’t seem to have any logic to it at all. The writers/directors – sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, fashion designers turned filmmakers – have some visual skills to be sure. The film looks great, and there are striking images throughout. Sure, much of those feel like pretentious, film school crap – but they wouldn’t be the first debut directors to make that mistake, and it looks fine just the same. But the movie is such a boring slog that eventually you don’t much care how it looks.

 

The film stars Kristen Dunst as Theresa – a woman we first meet, as she lights up a joint, laced with some sort of liquid, that she then gives her mother. He mother inhales and dies shortly after. This isn’t a murder, but an assisted suicide. The rest of the movie is basically Theresa feeling guilty about her role in this assisted suicide – and some of the other things she does (which, to be fair, she should feel guilty about).

 

Dunst is a talented actress, who I don’t think filmmakers use quite enough. She has done her best work with Sofia Coppola of course – but Lars von Trier’s Melancholia is another high point, and she’s someone I always look forward to seeing. There is little she can do in Woodshock though to save the film from itself. The film is dour and dull from the outset – and is basically a long slog from there. It doesn’t help that the men in her life are bores – her emotionless boyfriend Nick (Joe Cole), who doesn’t seem to know, or care, about anything going on in the rest of the movie or Keith (Pilou Asbæk), who runs the medical marijuana dispensary Theresa works at – and is also responsible for helping old people, like her mother, to kill themselves. He’s supposed to be a party boy – but his parties seem sad and pathetic – and not in the way the film intends.

 

The film ends with a violent, climatic bang – something meant to shock the audience, and I guess it is shocking, but only because it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the film – and puts Theresa in a different light than we’ve seen her before. I also don’t know what to make of the final shot – and worse, I’m not sure the filmmakers do either.

 

The film really does look great at times. I under that the Mulleavy’s wanted their film to operate not like a traditional narrative, but more like a dream. I normally love those film (David Lynch does this better than anyone – but there are lots of examples of this that I love). Here though, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything. Worse, the film is just plain dull. I would watch another film by these filmmakers, if only to see if they can match their visual talents to some sort of narrative that works. They really did not do that this time.

Movie Review: Menashe

Menashe *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Joshua Z Weinstein   

Written by: Alex Lipschultz & Musa Syeed & Joshua Z Weinstein.

Starring: Menashe Lustig (Menashe), Yoel Falkowitz (Fischel), Ruben Niborski (Rieven - Menashe's son), Meyer Schwartz (The rabbi), Ariel Vaysman (Levi), Yoel Weisshaus (Eizik)

 

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the wonderful Netflix documentary One of Us – a film about the insular Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn – told from the point of view of three people who left. That film looked at some of the darker aspects of the community, while providing a little insight into why they act the way they do. The film Menashe, which actually came out before that film, is a dramatic movie that takes place entirely inside that community – with non-professional actors that does something similar, with less dark, and more empathy. It is about a man named Menashe (Menashe Lustig), whose wife died a year ago, and until he gets remarried, will not have custody of his son – there are strict rules about children being raised in a two parent household, so his son Rieven has to go and live with Menashe’s brother-in-law. Menashe wants his son back – but doesn’t really want to get remarried (for reasons he eventually reveals). He is also a little bit of a screw-up. His heart is in the right place – and he tries hard – but things just aren’t going well for him.

 

The film is shot in the neo-realist style, by first time director Joshua Z. Weinstein. There’s a little bit of the Dardennes in the film, as it rarely leaves Menashe’s side, and he is the focus of nearly every shot in the movie. He is not a bad guy – he’s friendly, people generally like him – and he truly does love his son. He just doesn’t always have the best of luck, and at times, he makes the wrong choice. He isn’t very well respected in the community – he isn’t successful – he works as a clerk in a store, and lives in a very small apartment. He doesn’t wear his hat and coat everywhere – like most do – and he looks a little like a slob. He tries to do the right things – he goes on a few dates, arranged by the matchmaker – but his heart isn’t into it. Much is made of an upcoming dinner to commemorate his wife’s death – and he insists on hosting it himself. But he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.

 

The film is a tremendous act of empathy with Menashe. For most viewers, the customs and traditions of this Hasidic community may well seem foreign – you can hardly believe it’s in modern America - and yet throughout the film, you really do get to know and understand Menashe. Yes, he makes mistakes – some of them dumber than others – but what he wants isn’t all that different than what we all want. You see him try with his son – and his son try back, even if at times even he wonders if he wouldn’t be better off with his Uncle, no matter how much he loves his dad.

 

The movie never tells you how to feel about Menashe or his predicament – right up until the final shot of the movie. In some ways, that represents growth for Menashe – doing what is best for his son, even if it isn’t precisely what he wants. In other ways, it’s a sad shot – Menashe essentially admitting defeat. I’m honestly not sure how to feel about it. What I do know is that it comes at the end of a movie that allows a glimpse into one life, lived in a way that may seem strange, and makes it entirely relatable.

Movie Review: Sweet Virginia

Sweet Virginia *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Jamie M. Dagg   

Written by: Benjamin China & Paul China.

Starring: Jon Bernthal (Sam), Christopher Abbott (Elwood), Imogen Poots (Lila), Rosemarie DeWitt (Bernadette), Jared Abrahamson (Paul Anderson), Odessa Young (Maggie), Darcy Laurie (Marty Petrowne), Joseph Lyle Taylor (Tom Barrett).

 

Jon Bernthal has one of the most relaxed screen presence I can recall – making him perfect for a movie like Sweet Virginia, a combination of noir and western, set in contemporary Alaska. Bernthal plays Sam – a former rodeo star, who now owns and operates a local motel – and it’s to his credit, that I can easily imagine Bernthal being any of those things. In fact, in almost every role I see Bernthal play, I can often imagine him doing, quiet, normal guy labor – it’s one of his charms. The same is kind of true for Rosemarie DeWitt - who here plays Bernadette, who is having an affair with Sam behind her husband’s back. The two have an easy chemistry together, and share one of the most natural sex scenes I can recall. They are perfectly suited for each other – and this movie.

 

Because this is a noir though, we know things are going to be happy – in fact, we know that before we meet either Sam or Bernadette. The film opens in a bar, where a stranger – Elwood (Christopher Abbott) shows up, and continually tries to order the breakfast special, despite being told by the three men in the bar that they are closed. He leaves, but comes back quickly – shooting, and killing all three men. It turns out that Elwood is a killer for hire, hired by Lila (Imogen Poots), the wife of one of the men killed – because she wants his money. She’s horrified that Elwood killed two other men – including her friend’s husband (her friend being Bernadette). Lila needs her husband’s money (which turns out to be non-existent) in order to pay for his murder – so as she tries to stall Elwood, he stays at the motel owned by Sam – and the two kind of bond – although that’s mainly because Elwood won’t leave Sam alone, and Sam is too nice to complain.

 

Abbott has become an interesting actor in the last few years – but admittedly, sometimes he needs to calm down a little bit. Here, he plays a bundle of nervous energy – and ratchets the intensity of his performance up a little too much. He would likely be the prime suspect in the murders just for being weird, let alone the fact that he seems to be the only person around not everyone knows (it is a small town, of course) – but no one seems to notice him (to be fair, I don’t think the police factor in the movie at all – so they clearly don’t notice anything). Abbott here is clearly trying to contrast himself to Bernthal and his relaxed performance. He could have relaxed just a little bit though – and delivered an even better performance.

 

The film was directed by Jamie M. Dagg, who prefers his movies dark – literally – as most of the film takes place at night, much of the time in rooms where no one has though to turn on a light. It works for this type of story, and really does help to build the atmosphere. We know from the opening scenes where the film is going to end up – this is very much a classic noir setup, and has a classic noir payoff as well. It doesn’t really do anything new in that regard. But it does everything so well, that you don’t really care. And when the film focuses on Bernthal a DeWitt together, it actually builds one of the most quietly believable relationships I’ve seen in a movie this year.

Classic Movie Review: Winter Kills (1979)

Winter Kills (1979)

Directed by: William Richert.   

Written by: William Richert based on the novel by Richard Condon.

Starring: Jeff Bridges (Nick Kegan), John Huston (Pa Kegan), Anthony Perkins (John Cerruti), Eli Wallach (Joe Diamond), Sterling Hayden (Z.K. Dawson), Dorothy Malone (Emma Kegan), Tomas Milian (Frank Mayo), Belinda Bauer (Yvette Malone), Ralph Meeker (Gameboy Baker), Toshirô Mifune (Keith), Richard Boone (Keifitz), David Spielberg (Miles Garner), Brad Dexter (Captain Heller One), Michael Thoma (Ray Doty), Ed Madsen (Captain Heller Two), Irving Selbst (Irving Mentor), Chris Soldo (Jeffreys), Byron Morrow (Secretary of State), Elizabeth Taylor (Lola Comante), John Warner (President Tim Kegan).

 

Winter Kills is a strange movie that was made at just the right moment for it, and yet for some reason, didn’t connect. The film is ostensibly a paranoid thriller, made at the end of the decade in which paranoid thrillers were at their peak, and yet is really a straight faced comedy – it’s thriller elements so silly that they cannot be believed, although no one in the movie lets in that they’re in on the joke. The film should have been perfect for 1979 audiences, and yet the film was a commercial failure at the time. It’s gained a cult following since, yet watching the film, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching a relic of a previous era, who time had come and gone. I hate using the term dated to describe old movies – yet it’s undeniable that some movies are made for their time, and don’t work outside of it. Winter Kills is that type of movie.

 

The film stars Jeff Bridges as Nick Kegan, the beach bum half-brother of the former American President, killed by an apparent lone gunman nearly 20 years ago. An ex-con confesses to Nick, while on his deathbed, that he was he second gunman that day – and he was hired by an organization he did not know. Nick goes to his powerful father, (John Huston) with the information, who doesn’t want to hear it – but Nick will not give up. He starts a country spanning investigation, meeting people in all walks of life related to his brother, and a possible conspiracy – but as he unravels the plot, the people he meets with keep getting murdered by unknown killers.

 

You could hardly ask for a better cast for a film – Bridges, Huston, Anthony Perkins as an all-powerful Wizard of Oz type character, Eli Wallach as a gangster, Sterling Hayden as a powerful businessman, only seen riding around in a tank, Dorothy Malone as Bridges semi-out there mother, and Elizabeth Taylor, who never speaks, but wanders around looking Elizabeth Taylor. That doesn’t even mention small roles by Ralph Meekler, Toshiro Mifune and Tomas Milian – the film becomes a spot the star cameo game throughout, as these stars come out, have a scene or two, and then disappear. They keep the film watchable, and somewhat enjoyable.

 

But the film never quite finds the right tone – this film was required to walk the razor edge between plausible thriller and satiric comedy, and doesn’t really commit to either. It’s at its best in the most absurd scenes – like Huston’s introduction, accompanied by a large of rich men, who come riding in on golf carts, as if they are an invading army. The film also work in the background more than the foreground – like the presence of a ping pong table at the last place you would expect to see one, which undercuts the seriousness of the scene it’s in.

 

The ultimate problem with Winter Kills is that it doesn’t work as a comedy, a satire of a thriller. It wants to be a paranoid thriller – it is from the author of one of the best ever made, The Manchurian Candidate, but it doesn’t take its premise seriously (if you think about it, The Manchurian Candidate itself is a silly premise – they just sell the hell out of it). But it never quite nails the more satiric or comedic side ether. I could see the film working better in 1979 – having sat through a bunch of these types of films the preceding decade or so, perhaps it better hit those comedic targets. Watching it now through, it doesn’t really work. There’s a lot of talent involved in Winter Kills, and it is a very strange film – it just doesn’t add up to that much.