Movie Review: Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets **** ½ / *****
Directed by: Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross.
Featuring: Peter Elwell, Michael Martin, Shay Walker
 

The final day of a Las Vegas dive bar stands in for the end of the world in the Ross Brothers extraordinary film Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets. Some have taken issue with the brothers for calling the film a documentary, despite the fact that the bar was constructed in New Orleans, the patrons and the bartenders were cast, and brought together for a few days of shooting, and then it was intercut with scenes of the seedy, rundown part of Vegas – not the strip that the tourists see, but the part where real people live. But the Ross Brothers aren’t trying to fool anyone – they’ve been upfront about their method to get what they want. Even if you don’t consider the film a documentary – it’s more true than just about any film you will see this year.
 
The bar is the Roaring Twenties, and it’s a neighborhood dive bar – made up basically to resemble someone’s rec room. It’s the last day it will be open, everyone knows it, but it isnt discussed in detail. It seems like everyone just wants to avoid the inevitable – to treat today like any other day, even if tomorrow, everything will be different. The Ross’ shot the film almost immediately after the election of Donald Trump – and it’s a good portrait of Trump’s America, even if he never once comes up in the film.
 
The closest thing the film has to a protagonist is Michael (Michael Martin). He was once an actor, but has given that up. Now, he comes to the Roaring Twenties all day and drinks. We see him first walking towards the bar, and he shaves in the bar’s bathroom – he is essentially homeless. Around 60, with a mop of white hair, he says he takes comfort in the fact that his alcoholism didn’t make him a failure – the failure came first, then the alcoholism – as if it makes much of a difference.
 
Michael is one of the few people who stays in the bar from the day shift into the night shift. From the time during the day when the regulars are laughing and watching Jeopardy – the burly bartender with a long beard cracks jokes, plays his guitar and swaps stories – to the night shift, where a female bartender takes over, and everyone gets louder, and drunker. They’re all here to say goodbye – but to a chis fertain extent, Michael is the only one who doesn’t know what comes next. Everyone else has homes to go to, family – they may not like them, but they’re there. But what is Michael going to do?
 
But he’s hardly the only “character” in the film – they are all. Some of them are performers, like Michael, some may just be real barflies shipped in. Regardless, the alcohol they are drinking in real – and the pain and regret certainly feels that way as well. The Ross brothers get what they can – they filmed for three days, and then cobbled together this film, and yet it all feel organic, all feels real. Even when someone says something that sounds like a written line – like Mike’s “There’s nothing duller than a guy in a bar who used to do things, and now doesn’t do those things because he’s a guy in a bar”, it still sounds real – like something Michael really would say in that moment. All the barflies are natural storytellers anyway – and they repeat stories, and lines. They are all the wisest one in the room, all know the real story, the truth – and they need to make sure that everyone they talk to knows that as well.
 
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets really is about forgotten America – politicians like to talk about fighting for that group of forgotten Americans, but no one is fighting for these people. They spend their days and nights here – until they are pushed out. Vegas doesn’t have room for them anymore – it’s gone corporate, and even if that happened long ago, they have someone hung on this long. They’re just sad they cannot hang on a little longer.
 
Perhaps all of this makes Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets sound depressing – but it really isnt. It is when you think about it a little – when you reflect on what you’ve seen. But as the film is going on, you are enthralled – enraptured with these people, their stories, their lives. Even if you never went to dive bars in the first place – this film will make you miss them.

Movie Review: Guest of Honour

Guest of Honour *** ½ / *****
Directed by: Atom Egoyan.
Written by: Atom Egoyan.
Starring: David Thewlis (Jim), Laysla De Oliveira (Veronica), Luke Wilson (Father Greg), Rossif Sutherland (Mike), Tennille Read (Roseangela), Tamara Podemski (Detective Grove), Gage Munroe (Walter), Arsinée Khanjian (Anna), John Bourgeois (Gunter), Sugith Varughese (Indian Restaurant Manager), Hrant Alianak (Garo), Seamus Patterson (Lenny), Alexandre Bourgeois (Clive), Isabelle Franca (Young Veronica).
 

It is, sadly, hard to think of too many other directors who had such a sustained run of great films that have fallen harder than Atom Egoyan has. Throughout the 1990s and the early part of the 2000s, Egoyan could be counted to make complex movies like The Adjuster, Exotica (which I rewatched last week – and it’s still as brilliant and audacious as ever), The Sweet Hereafter, Felicia’s Journey and Ararat. Hell, I even like Where the Truth Lies and Adoration more than most do, even if in those films, you could tell his usually fine tuned skills weren’t quite operating as good as they had been. But in the last decade, Egoyan has made one dud after another – Chloe, which may have been his attempt to take his version of the erotic thriller mainstream with stars like Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried, but it just didn’t work, followed by the nadir of his filmography – Devil’s Knot, in which he couldn’t even make a director-for-hire gig work. The Captive had some interesting moments, but never really came together. At least his most recent film before this, Remember (2015) – his Nazi revenge story had great performances by Christopher Plummer, and knew, and embraced, how ridiculous its premise was. Still, fans of Egoyan’s work – and I count myself among them – have been waiting for a decade for something of a return to form.
 
With Guest of Honour, sadly, I think we’re still waiting – but we may at least see some signs that the return to form is still possible. There is no mistaking Guest of Honour for Egoyan’s work (something you probably couldn’t say of his last three films) as Egoyan tries to work out some of those old muscles delving into a story of buried trauma and family secrets, told in a fractured timeline that will supposedly come together in the final minutes. This is what Egoyan did better than anyone else at his peak. Guest of Honour doesn’t work like his best films do – it’s a more than a little too farfetched, not just in terms of its plot, but also in character motiviations for that. But it’s an odd film, that holds you in its grip and makes you want to know what else could possibly happen in this odd film.
 
The film stars David Thewlis as Jim, a lonely, stick-in-the-mud health inspector, who spends his days going to restaurants, and lecturing them about all their health code violations. The only person he is close to is his daughter, Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira), who he visits in jail – she being there for some sort of indiscretion with her students, when she was a young music teacher on a school trip – which we will see play out in flashbacks. The story is told from Veronica’s point-of-view, explaining it to a priest (Luke Wilson), who will be the one presiding over Jim’s funeral. If that’s not enough timelines, we also flash to Veronica as a child – when her mother was dying of cancer, and Jim grew closer to Veronica’s music teacher, which in her mind, meant an affair – who also happens to be the mother of Veronica’s boyfriend, who is angry with her over revealing something about his mother.
 
So there is a lot going on in Guest of Honour. Egoyan used to be able to handle this many timelines, and story fractures with ease – look at Exotica, which had just as many, and came together beautifully, leading up to a final shot that somehow explained everything and nothing all at once. To be fair to Egoyan here – he mostly handles these timelines with ease as well – there’s a lot going on, and some of it is deliberately confusing, because he’s keeping everything vague – but gradually it does in fact come together.
 
If the film doesn’t end up working like Egoyan’s best work though it’s because the characters are as deep or interesting – and their motivations seem murky at best. Vernonica in particular seems like a character who doesn’t act, in pretty much any of the timelines, like any reasonable person would. But she’s also the most interesting character – as Thewlis, who is quite good, is also playing a fairly dull character – someone whose life is sad and lonely, and he only gradually seems to come out of his shell, although it could also lead to his destruction.
 
In short, Guest of Honour is clearly a very odd film – a very Egoyan film. Does it work? I’m not entirely sure it does, but I’m not entirely sure it has to, since it does it’s such an odd duck of a movie, you like it, you’re drawn into, even if it’s all just strange. No, I don’t think Guest of Honour is a return to form for Egoyan – but it’s his first film in a while that makes me think a return to form is possible.

Movie Review: The Old Guard

The Old Guard *** / *****
Directed by: Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Written by: Greg Rucka based on the graphic novel series by Rucka and Leandro Fernandez.
Starring: Charlize Theron (Andy), KiKi Layne (Nile), Matthias Schoenaerts (Booker), Marwan Kenzari (Joe), Luca Marinelli (Nicky), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Copley), Harry Melling (Merrick), Van Veronica Ngo (Quynh), Natacha Karam (Dizzy), Mette Towley (Jordan), Anamaria Marinca (Dr. Meta Kozak), Micheal Ward (Lykon), Shala Nyx (Gita), Majid Essaidi (Sadeq), Joey Ansah (Keane), Andrei Zayats (Andrei), Olivia Ross (Celeste). 
 

A couple weeks ago, Netflix released Eurovision – which was the right comedy to kind of fill the void left by closed theatres during the summer for those looking for the kind of goofy, fun summer comedy we don’t have right now. Now, they release The Old Guard – which is kind of the big, summer action movie equilvalent – a movie to scratch that itch that should have been scratched months ago by all the now long delayed summer blockbusters. While I may not agree that the film is quite the exciting, original take on the action or superhero genre that many others critics do – I do think it more than adequately gives you what you want in a summer action movie – lots of action sequences in the John Wick-vein, with just a little bit more character development than you’re used to. It is perhaps a little too long, and it sorely needs a better villain (something that the end credits hints may not be an issue should there be a sequel) – but it gets the job done.
 
In the film, Charlize Theron stars as Andy – the leader of a group of mercenaries, who travel the world, trying to right wrongs. The twist is that they are basically immortal – like the X-Men if everyone was Wolverine. They get shot, stabbed, wounded, etc. – and they bounce again pretty quickly. There are four members of the group – along with Andy there is Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) – the “newest” addition to the group, who has been around since 1812. There is also Joe (Marwen Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) – a gay couple, which is refreshing to see in this type of movie, and are also responsible for the films most emotional, most talked about scene – which is terrific, even if I think that scene is doing too much of the heavy lifting to make us care about their relationship. Soon though – there will be a fifth member – Nile (KiKi Layne), an American soldier, who appears to be dead when her throat gets slashed – only to be okay not long after. Andy knows what comes next for her if they don’t rescue her – so that’s what she does, despite the fact that Nile doesn’t really want rescuing.
 
The film was based on a graphic novel series – and to be honest, the storytelling here suffers more than a little from having to tell the origin story. We spend so much time getting to know the group – particularly Andy, and then having to get to know Nile as well, that the actual conflict in the movie seems to be backburned – and honestly kind of lazily conceived. Copley (Chiwetwel Ejiofor), a CIA agent who watched his wife die of ALS, figures out who this group is, and what they can do – and decides to capture them and give them to Merrick (Harry Melling), a young pharma CEO, who will figure out their secret by any means necessary – basically admitting they will be tortured. It’s only then that Copley finds a conscience.
 
The film was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood – the immensely talented director of Love & Basketball (2000) and Beyond the Lights (2014) – two criminally underrated films – who isnt the first name you may think for an action movie. She puts those worries to rest pretty quickly though with an action sequence in the first 10 minutes that sets the tone for what the action will look like the rest of the film – a mixture of hand-to-hand combat, gun fights, and old school weapons (think swords, but cooler) done in a style that wants to be John Wick – and while it may quite rise to that level, it gets more than close enough to satisfy. She may also have been the right pick because she does slow the film down in the non-action sequences enough so that we do get to know Andy and Nile (not so much anyone else) more than we normally do. Theron has already proven she can do this in an action movie with Mad Max: Fury Road – and while her performance isnt that level, it’s really good. Layne, the gifted star of Barry Jenkins’ wonderful If Beale Street Could Talk – makes the transition to action movies with ease – give Nile some depth, but also kicking ass.
 
The Old Guard doesn’t reinvent the action movie by any means – but it’s a film that does everything it does well. The action sequences are better than most other actions movie, the characters – at least the two leads – are given more depth, more time to breathe, then they normally are. I did feel the actual story suffers a great deal – because it just isnt very interesting. And the whole thing kind of feels like an long, expensive pilot for a TV show. But if you’re missing summer action movies, and Marvel movies – than The Old Guard is an adequeate replacement.

Movie Review: Greyhound

Greyhound ** / *****
Directed by: Aaron Schneider.
Written by: Tom Hanks based on the novel by C.S. Forester.
Starring: Tom Hanks (Captain Krause), Elisabeth Shue (Evelyn), Stephen Graham (Charlie Cole), Matt Helm (Lt. Nystrom), Craig Tate (Pitts), Rob Morgan (Cleveland), Travis Quentin (Ipsen), Jeff Burkes (Shannon), Matthew Zuk (Flusser). 
 

Greyhound was supposed to come out in theatres in June – but we all know that didn’t happen, so the studio behind it sold it to AppleTV – who jumped at the chance to have a WWII movie with Tom Hanks in the leading role as a feather in its cap to draw more subscribers. It doesn’t benefit the film at all though – since the main selling point of the film is its authencity – it strives to make you feel what it was like on a US Navy Destroyer, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, heading up a convoy of ships, and trying to escape from German U-boats. Perhaps in a theatre – with the right sound, you may feel a little bit of that. But sitting at home, on my couch, watching Greyhound it all felt more than a little thin. They you are there authenticity is lost.
 
Hanks stars in the film – and wrote the screenplay – playing  Captain Krause, a veteran naval officer, who has been assigned to the lead ship of this convoy – codename Greyhound – even though it will be his first trip across the Atlantic. Krause is scared – but doesn’t want to show that to his men, and aside from a few moments here and there, you probably won’t feel it either (perhaps that’s why we have th scene with Elisabeth Shue as his wife in the beginning of the film – to humanize him a little more, to show that insecurity). Hanks, the writer, clearly prized authenticity and detail over everything else when writing the screenplay. It’s the selling feature of the film – but also its downfall.
 
That’s because for the most part, the film consists of Hanks’ Krause looking out of small windows at the head of the ship, and shouting orders to his crew. There are a lot of numbers shouted – where the German U-boats are, what distance, what position, etc. – and a lot of directions about how and when to steer the ship, to fire the guns, release depth charges, etc. It all certainly feels real – and I wouldn’t know if Hanks and company made it all up anyway.
 
Yet the film lacks what is really needed to make the film interesting. For the most part, we don’t see the German U-boats (they’re underwater, get it?) so they remain nothing but shouted co-ordinates to use, and occasionally a snarky, mocking voice over the radio. We often don’t see the other boars in the convoy either. We are stuck – with Krause and his men – who basically all blend together – for the duration of the movie.
 
Hanks and director Aaron Schneider (making his first film in a decade, after his promising debut – Get Low, I wonder what the story is there) seem to know this, so they keep Greyhound lean and mean – 91 minutes but you’re out in 80 if you don’t like credits. But there just isnt enough here to be all that interesting if you are super into nautical terms.
 
For Hanks, the actor, this role is a natural. He has often played characters – especially in recent years – who are heroic, but don’t like to talk about it, don’t like to call themselves heroes. Krause certainly doesn’t feel like one – even in the films stirring final moments, which Hanks underplays brilliantly. More of that, and less shouted orders, and Greyhound could have been something better than what it ended up.

Movie Review: Hamilton

Hamilton **** ½ / *****
Directed by: Thomas Kail.
Written by: Lin-Manuel Miranda inspired by the book by Ron Chernow.
Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda (Alexander Hamilton), Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler), Daveed Diggs (Marquis de Lafayette / Thomas Jefferson), Jonathan Groff (King George), Christopher Jackson (George Washington), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Peggy Schuyler / Maria Reynolds), Okieriete Onaodowan (Hercules Mulligan / James Madison), Anthony Ramos (John Laurens / Philip Hamilton), Carleigh Bettiol (Ensemble), Ariana DeBose (Ensemble), Hope Easterbrook (Ensemble), Sydney James Harcourt (Philip Schuyler / James Reynolds / Doctor / Ensemble), Sasha Hutchings (Ensemble), Thayne Jasperson (Samuel Seabury / Ensemble), Elizabeth Judd (Ensemble), Jon Rua (Charles Lee / Ensemble), Austin Smith (Ensemble), Seth Stewart (Ensemble), Ephraim Sykes (George Eacker / Ensemble). 
 

Does anything more need to be said or written about Hamilton at this point? The biggest smash hit on Broadway in decades, the 2015 Musical has already become beloved, has a massively selling soundtrack, and had its share of detractors take issue with everything from its depiction of the slave owning founding fathers, to its appropriation of hiphop in the music by Lin-Manuel Miranda – criticisms that I think are fair, although I cannot quite agree with either. I saw Hamilton on Broadway – the original cast was gone by then, but it was still a magical, electric theatre going experience. It was the same weekend Trump was being inaugurated and you could feel the tension in the air. It was an amazing experience.
 
And now comes the filmed version of Hamilton – film in the last few weeks the whole cast was going to be together in June 2016. Directed by Thomas Kail – who also directed the stage show – the film is more than just a filmed version of the stage show (of course it is that) – as the visuals are more dynamic than simply setting up a few cameras and filming it. It does quite reach the innovation that a director like Spike Lee brought to filmed theatrical productions like Passing Strange or Pass Over – but it’s more than good enough. Since by its very nature, theatre is temporary – the film acts as an invaluable document of what this production was like with its amazing original cast.
 
We all know the story by now – about the friendship/rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that runs through the play. The fact that Miranda uses hiphop (or at least a Broadway version of hiphop) to tell the story, and how all the major characters – save for King George – are played by non-white actors. Perhaps it’s worth pointing out in the wake of the massive success just how daring this really was originally – it seems obvious now that the show was a massive success, but I can only imagine the ridicule Miranda would have received had the show flopped.
 
The movie is probably as good of a representation of the live stage show as is possible to get on home on your TV screen. The musical numbers are all intelligently staged and shot – a mixture of a few different live performances, combined with some close-ups shot without an audience in there. For those of us who know the musical numbers from the soundtrack – but haven’t had a chance to see the original cast perform them – it really does give you a sense of just how good the Tony Award winning performances Leslie Odom Jr. is as Burr, Daveed Diggs as Lafayette and Jefferson, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica are – as well as the talent of Philippa Soo, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson are as well. It actually adds to the charm of Anthony Ramos’ performance to see him quite a bit. As for Miranda himself, no, he isn’t as strong of a singer as many of the others (there is good reason he lost to Odom) – but he knows his strengths and weaknesses, and wrote himself a role he could knock out of the park.
 
The questions and criticisms of the show are legitimate – and will continue. We should be questioning – especially now as it has become a hot button issue – how people who owned slaves AND founded America are portrayed and remembered – and while all historical fiction requires cuts, edits, etc. – it’s always worth debating what an artist chooses to include and highlight, and what they choose not to. That certainly isn’t going to be solved by me.
 
But Hamilton, the film, is a more than worthy document of the biggest success Broadway has seen in who knows how long. Whether you’re already an acolyte, or curious as to why this was the biggest thing on Broadway – one of the only times the Broadway world filtered into the wider world in years – than Hamilton is right there, waiting for you.

Movie Review: Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga *** ½ / *****
Directed by: David Dobkin.
Written by: Will Ferrell & Andrew Steele.
Starring: Will Ferrell (Lars Erickssong), Rachel McAdams (Sigrit Ericksdottir), Dan Stevens (Alexander Lemtov), Mikael Persbrandt (Victor Karlosson), Pierce Brosnan (Erick Erickssong), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Neils Brongus), Melissanthi Mahut (Mita Xenakis), Joi Johannsson (Jorn), Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (Policeman – Arnar), Demi Lovato (Katiana), Graham Norton (Graham Norton), Jamie Demetriou (Kevin Swain - Artistic Director), Jon Kortajarena (Corin Vladvitch), Elina Alminas (Sasha), Alfrun Rose (Anna), Elin Petersdottir (Helka), Christopher Jeffers (Johnny John John), Rebecca Harrod (Brittny), Josh Zaré (Bill), Bobby Lockwood (Jeff), Eleanor Williams (Jenn), Elena Saurel (Eurovision Stage Manager), Björn Stefánsson (Ian), Chris Lew Kum Hoi (Jae-Bong), Tómas Lemarquis (Jiles), Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Johans).
 

It would have been easy to make a movie mocking Eurovision – the song infamous contest barely known on this side of Atlantic as being over-the-top and silly. Instead, the Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga is in love with this goofy contest, and completely embraces it for the over-the-top and silly spectacle. Ferrell – who co-wrote the film – obviously has an affection for this contest – and it shows in every scene of the movie. He also delivers a wonderfully sweet, goofy performance in the film – but pretty much allows Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens to steal the movie right out from underneath him. The film doesn’t quite relive the glory days of Ferrell comedy stardom – it’s not Talladega Nights – but it’s closer to them than anything he has done in a while.
 
In the film, Ferrell stars as Lars Erickssong, an Icelander who has dreamed of being a music star since childhood – which is where his partnership with Sigrit Ericksdottir (McAdams) began. Everyone loves Sigrit, thinks she is wasting her time with Lars – playing dive bars, getting nowhere. She’s in love with him as well – something he seems completely ignorant of, so immersed in his music. His dream is to enter – and win – the Eurovision contest. They keep submitting their songs – but cannot even get into the Iceland competition, which would give them the right to enter Eurovision – but all that is about to change thanks a series of bizarrely (and very dark) things that happen.
 
Ferrell and company know that the charm of Eurovision is how over-the-top and cheesy it all is – and while they take things just a little farther for comedic effect, it’s not as far as you may assume if you’ve never come across Eurovision before. Yes, the Icelandic duo’s songs take things to another level of pure goofiness – but much of what we see is a lot closer to reality than you think. The film isn’t mercilessly mocking this – it’s affectionately ribbing it. And everyone gets in on the act.
 
Ferrell has always been good at playing dumb – characters who are pretty stupid, in movies that aren’t. Lars is in this wheelhouse, and he pulls it off with ease. He is upstaged by McAdams however, who has shown a gift being able to play comedy with a straight face no matter how insane things get, and ground it in some sort of reality. Her performance in Game Night is one of the best in recent years in a mainstream comedy – and while this may not quite be at that level, it’s close enough. I continue to believe that had McAdams came of age in a slightly earlier era – she would have become one of the biggest movie stars in the world – you cannot teach that charm, that comedic timing, that warmth that she has. Another highlight is Dan Stevens – as the Russian competitor, so gloriously going for broke, so obviously, flamboyantly gay, and yet not in any way that could be considered offensive. It’s a glorious supporting turn.
 
Eurovision is probably too long at over two hours – even if there isn’t much that obviously stands out as needing to be cut. I suspect that director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) fell in love with the material, and knowing it was a Netflix movie, just kept it all in (which may be the only comparison you can make between this movie and another Netflix film, The Irishman, in which Scorsese pretty much admitted that had the film been heading to theaters, he would have cut it a little). But the film remains so wondrously sweet and funny that it’s hard to complain. In a summer where we are missing big screen comedies, here is a good substitute.

Movie Review: The Truth

The Truth *** ½ / *****
Directed by: Hirokazu Koreeda   
Written by: Hirokazu Koreeda the film within the film based on the short story by Ken Liu.
Starring: Catherine Deneuve (Fabienne Dangeville), Juliette Binoche (Lumir), Ethan Hawke (Hank), Clémentine Grenier (Charlotte), Manon Clavel (Manon Lenoir), Alain Libolt (Luc Garbois), Christian Crahay (Jacques), Roger Van Hool (Pierre).
 

It’s always a tricky proposition when filmmakers venture outside their home country to try and tell a story in a different culture, a different language – and a trickier one for filmmakers whose films seem so ingrained in their own culture. While there is certainly universal truth in the films of Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda – they are also very Japanese in many ways. The Truth, his first film outside of Japan, is actually set in France – and most of the dialogue is in French – although he also includes an American character, delightfully played by Ethan Hawke, who doesn’t really understand anything being said, so he spends most of the movie grinning like an idiot, trying to keep up. While the film certainly doesn’t live up the best or Koreeda’s films – like his masterwork, Shoplifters, which won the Palme D’or two years ago, it’s still a rather delightful film – mostly when it simply sits back and lets two of the greatest French actresses in history, Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche share the screen together.
 
In the film, Deneuve plays Fabienne Dangeville, a famous French actress, in her twilight years, who is just about to have her memoir published, and is playing a supporting role in a new sci-fi film. Her daughter, Lumir (Binoche) is returning to France with her husband, Hank (Ethan Hawke) and their daughter Charlotte (Clementine Grenier) for the first time in years – there has always been an unresolved tension between the mother/daughter – and its unlikely to be resolved now.
 
The Truth makes literal was has always been an undercurrent in Koreeda’s films – about the performances everyone plays to be part of a family. This is a fractured family – they don’t really know each other that well, maybe don’t even especially want to, but for the run of this trip anyway, they are going to play like they are one. In the film, Deneuve is essentially playing an actress much like herself – a legendary actress, loved by the industry. She knows this, and so is very demanding of everyone around her. She constantly speaks of truth – how she needs it to be able to act, is dismissive of Hank, who is also an actor, but one on TV in America, saying he is playing at acting, not really acting. And yet, her obsession with the truth doesn’t extend to herself. Her latest memoir is full of fiction and half-truths – she seems to be taking the advice of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – when the legend becomes truth, print the legend. Lumir is perhaps the only one who knows how much is fiction – or even cares about it. She sees her mother as a hypocrite – and doesn’t much like it. This is why she went to America in the first place – and hasn’t been back in so long.
 
The film is at its best when it pits Deneuve and Binoche against each other – Lumir is the only one who challenges Fabienne, and the actresses rise to the challenge. This isn’t exactly Autumn Sonata or anything – Koreeda being a much gentler filmmaker than Bergman – but it’s still a pleasure to see two of the greats of French acting pitted against each other. When you add in the delightful Hawke performance – it’s not deep, but it’s fun to see him have fun in it, and the movie within a movie – which is perhaps too on the nose in the way it reflects and refracts the mother-daughter relationship, but is fun in the same way it was fun to see the film within a film in Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria, also with Binoche.
 
The Truth lacks the emotional gut punch that Koreeda’s best films have – you likely won’t leave the film with the same kind of emotional upheaval you experience in Shoplifters, Nobody Knows or Like Father Like Son. This is lighter film, requiring a lighter touch and Koreeda pulls it off. This is nowhere near his best work – but its good film just the same.