THE LAST THING HE WANTED (2020)

Rated:  R

STARS: Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Rosie Perez
DIRECTOR: Dee Rees
GENRE: Drama/Political Thriller


We open in 1982, and Elena McMahon (Anne Hathaway), a reporter for the Atlantic Post, and her colleague Alma (Rosie Perez) are in El Salvador during that country's civil war--doing what journalists often do. Poking their noses into dangerous situations for the sake of getting a story,

Later, McMahon gets reassigned to cover Ronald Reagan's 1984 reelection bid (funny...it's still 1984) and she's not happy. She cuts out on the campaign to be with her ailing and addled father, Dick (Willem Dafoe). Dick McMahon is involved in some illegal arms dealings to Central America, and he's on the hook for a half million bucks. He needs to get a load of weapons shipped down there and collect his payment. But he can't handle it himself. So he asks his daughter to fly down and facilitate the operation. By doing so, she's placing herself in a highly volatile and unpredictable situation. 

At what point would a normal person say, "No dad...that's crazy!" Apply a little tough love. But she agrees to do it, because as it eventually hit me...she's an adrenaline freak! (Despite the appearance that she's just a dedicated journalist ready to go where the action is.) Adrenalin junkies always need more, until one day...poof!--they've checked out of this world way too early.  

A little history refresher might be in order. In 1979, the left-wing Sandinistas overthrew the dictator in Nicaragua. Ronald Reagan was afraid it might trigger revolution throughout the region, and threaten U.S. security. The U.S. secretly funded the right-wing contras, who were fighting to overthrow the Sandinistas, even though such activity had been outlawed by congress. Much of the funding had come from Nicaragua's cocaine trade. Reagan continued to support the contras on the sly, and the resulting scandal threatened to take down his presidency. 

It is against this backdrop that the delusional Elena thinks she'll just go down there and complete her father's transaction, like an everyday trip to the bank.

Elena has pieced things together, and she wants to blow the lid off the whole she-bang. Ben Affleck is a high ranking government official who's trying to keep her from learning too much, which necessitates getting her into bed to gain her trust. (She's so sympatico!) She'll try to pump him for whatever information she can get. As she says, "I came for the money, I stay for the scoop."

The Last Thing He Wanted, adapted from Joan Didion's last novel, seems torn between wanting to be a personal or a political story. The political is settled history. We've been there, done that. It should provide a context to move Elena's story along, but not be constantly distracting us from it. We want to develop some empathy with Elena, but it's difficult when there are so many shadowy players to  keep track of. Whose side are each of them on? It keeps you guessing for sure, but it's like a crossword puzzle you will never finish because you've only figured out some of the answers.

The movie's strong points are its cinematography; its authentic sense of time and place; and the ratcheting up of tension with escalating dramatic music. And the heavyweights who play the heavies. Hathaway is in constant woman-running-from-bad-shit mode, but she looks good all sweaty and stuff. And a more mature Rosie Perez sans makeup is quite appealing as well. 

There's a twisty and twisted surprise ending. But how kind can you be to a film that will do any appalling thing for shock value? (When the dog appears, look away.)  

From Netflix studios.

Grade:  C

JILL'S TAKE

Thank god for Tim! Reading his review explained what this blankety-blank-blank movie was all about. I didn't have a clue. I kept muttering to my cat, "Is Ben Affleck a bad guy or a good guy? Is Willem DaFoe's character dead now or still alive? Did that actor who played the gay bon vivant also play Truman Capote?"(Toby Jones) But the question I kept on repeating to my furry friend was "When will this turkey ever end???!!

I've often wondered whether Netflix accepts films that the producers know will bomb in regular movie theaters. It would appear so if The Last Thing He Wanted is any example. Speaking of which, who is the "he" in that mysterious title? (Maybe it was a typo and they meant to call it The Last Thing She Wanted?)

If you have a secret desire to see Ann Hathaway's breast – at least one of them—then turn on this baffling and battle-weary film. My advice? Read the book instead. (Joan Didion had to have done a better job with the story-telling than African American female director Dee Rees.)

Grade: F

COLOSSAL (2017)

Let's say you're a rageaholic, or a raging alcoholic--or some other out of control type. You might not even be aware of the damage your behavior may be doing to innocent lives. And with that I've given you a big one-up on everyone else who may be quite clueless themselves as to the deeper meanings behind Colossal--the quirkiest and most thought provoking film to come down the pike since Alejandro Inarritu's Birdman. Of course, that's just one take on it. You may come away with something different. That's the beauty of this Beast. It will make you scratch your head and use your...noodle! (Some folks don't want that--they want it all spelled out for them.)

Anne Hathaway (who also produced the film, so she's in it up to her sweet derriere ) plays Gloria--a kooky chick with apparent memory problems stemming from her being drunk a lot. She lives with her boyfriend, Tim (Dan Stevens), in his New York apartment...but not for long. As the film opens, he is in the process of kicking her aforementioned ass to the curb. He's fed up with her ongoing bullshit. She can't believe it. She doesn't think she's that bad (they never do). 

She lands back in her upstate hometown, squatting in her parents' abandoned house. On the way there she runs into her old childhood friend, Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), who operates a local bar. He obligingly takes her on as a waitress. They sit around after hours and drink, which seems to suit Gloria just fine. Then comes a BIG twist--as big as when the space invaders appear out of nowhere in Cowboys And Aliens. A gigantic kaiju monster shows up in Seoul, South Korea and begins doing what all Godzilla-esque creatures do over in Tokyo, and that is to stomp around (innocently enough in its brain, you always get the feeling) knock down a few buildings and terrorize the populace. (Cue Carol King singing "I feel the earth...move... under my feet...")  And while it's not Japan, the people of Seoul know the drill...run for your lives!!! These scenes of terrified folk scurrying thither and yon may be the most believable thing in the movie--if you're going to take everything at face value. But you don't want to do that.

Gloria, sleeping it off in the local park, wakes and watches live news reports of the monster on her mobile device. Then the strangest thing. She discovers that when she raises her arm, the monster raises its arm. Any movements she makes, it follows in sync. She's doing a Howdy Doody number on a colossal creature thousands of miles away! Not only that, but when Oscar shows up at the park, there appears a humongous robot counterpart to the monster that begins following his every move! The monster and the robot become giant projections of Gloria and Oscar. This is where it starts getting real good! And this is where I'll leave you hangin.'  Except to say, in philosophical terms, the micro is the macro. 

Wait...here's a little more. There are flashback scenes to when Oscar and Gloria were kids together that give some plausible explanation as to why they are able to do what they are doing (as plausible as it gets in Colossal, anyway!)    

If you think in terms of metaphor, it's easy to come up with shades and shards of meaning. The butterfly effect. Personal responsibility. The seemingly insignificant (to us) things we do can have far-reaching consequences--creating monstrous bugaboos on the scale of global warming, for one.  

Approaching the Gloria and Goliath climactic scene, I was getting an adrenaline rush that evoked the first time I saw Rocky. That's a film I've viewed multiple times, and I will see Colossal again--you bet!  ( Will prolly buy it when it comes out on DVD.)

This is why I go to the movies. To be swept into another world.  Even one as off the wall as this. There is plenty of precedent for this kind of whimsy. We've rubbed elbows with the Mad Hatter...defied gravity with Uncle Albert (how stoned was that guy?)...and would have gladly loaned E.T. our smart phone--if they had been invented in 1982--and eavesdropped on his loooong distance call. 

As Bill Murray once said: It could happen! 

Grade:  A

JILL'S TAKE

I knew there was a good reason I left Tucson for California: you Arizonans are crazy! Only a crazy person would sit through this sci-fi monster movie twice.... As you must know by now, I want my films "all spelled out." (Thanks, Tim.) And spelled out Colossal isn't. I did leave the theater scratching my head. But it was due to the pounding in my brain from so many cinematic inconsistencies. I was hoping Tim might explain why these alcohol-induced monsters appeared in Seoul rather than in the aforementioned park? And why, if they represented the monster in all of us who over indulge, they looked so unlike the people whose rage created them? (The art director must have been Korean.) 

But I must admit I never got bored. And among the myriad points the script kept trying to make, I did love the idea that Jason Sudeikis' character – trapped in a town with nothing to do but drink and be a nobody-- got totally hooked on his monster's power. (He could finally "be somebody.") This made me think of all the serial killers who feel a rush every time they pull the trigger. It didn't, however, save this film from being a mish-mash of too many metaphors.

There have been many films that dwell on the evils of drink (Lost Weekend, Leaving Las Vegas, 28 Days) but they all have one point to make: too much alcohol can destroy you both literally and psychologically. Alas, Colossal gets overloaded with messages about the monsters in all of us who abuse booze. But too much thinking about drinking can make a very confusing movie....

Grade: C+

THE INTERN (2015)

Rated: PG-13

STARS; Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Anders Holm
DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers
GENRE: Comedy

It's the boomers versus the millennials in a friendly competition to determine who really has their act together--and 65 year-old screenwriter/director Nancy Meyers (It's Complicated, Something's Gotta Give) leaves little room for doubt at the end of The Intern as to where her sympathies lie.

Ben (Robert De Niro) is 70--a retired administrator, a widower, and at loose ends as to what comes next. So he signs up for a senior intern program at a start-up online fashion store that is going great guns, run by thirty-something founder, Jules (Anne Hathaway).  Jules starts out as a cliche--overworked, harried, and so absorbed in her job that she doesn't see what's coming with her emotionally neglected house husband (Anders Holm), who has taken on the role of Mister Mom. (That's the subplot.) As the character of Jules is fleshed out, she becomes a more sympathetic presence. She wants to do the right things, and she's not evil, which automatically puts her above most of the dramatis personae in the films that have been stinking up the big screen all summer.
  
So here we have Ben, the septuagenarian intern--a guy who wears a suit and tie to work each day--wondering how he's going to fit in with all these young'uns at the company. But when the house masseuse, Fiona (Rene Russo), happens by and gives him a frisky-fingered massage at his desk, Ben has an initially embarrassing response (unaided by any little blue pill), that elicits fist bumps from two of his wide-eyed male cohorts. That won't be the last encounter between Ben and Fiona, and that's subplot number two.

Anyhoo, Ben is assigned to Jules, and at first she doesn't know what to do with him. She even wants him reassigned to someone else. But time after time, he is placed in situations where imparting his wisdom--the kind that comes only from a life fully lived and learned from--saves the day for his tech-savvy (but otherwise rather clueless) counterparts. Sometimes it's just small things, such as the importance of carrying a handkerchief with you. His explanation for that one points up how far we have come, and what we have lost, in the scramble for gender equality and the resulting dance party on top of chivalry's grave. 

 In The Intern, we have De Niro and Hathaway--two of our finest--in a film about bridging gaps. Generation gaps. Communication gaps. Gender gaps. It will tap your funny bone and tug at your heartstrings. And being the emotionally sensitive type that I am, I can usually tell how much I'm going to enjoy a film when the music first kicks in, and how it resonates with me. The buoyant score from Theodore Shapiro hits all the right notes from start to finish.    

Bring a handkerchief. 

Grade:  B +

JILL'S TAKE

I realize readers prefer the verbal sparks to fly when Tim and I have differing opinions. Sorry to say that won't be happening with The Intern. It's a film that audiences of all ages will relate to. From the restless retiree who doesn't know what to do with himself all day, to the career-driven millenial who has to make a million before turning thirty, it deals with the many misconceptions we have about each other. Mainly about aging. One bit I particularly liked was how Anne Hathaway's secretary kept talking loudly to De Niro's character, assuming because he was "old" that he was also deaf. Very funny. Very telling.

As I see it, the chemistry (non sexual but just as powerful) between the two leads was so convincing that the subplots became superfluous. Any time Hathaway and De Niro weren't in a scene together, the film lost momentum. And while I'm on the subject of subplots, I have to say that the casting of Anders Holm as Matt, the permanently baby-sitting hubby, was questionable. With his scraggly beard, glasses and lackluster personality, it's hard to imagine what attracted her to him in the first place? As the subplot thickens—I won't give it away—it is revealed that he gave up his successful career so she could pursue hers. Again, it's hard to imagine this nebbish succeeding in anything more taxing than changing diapers!

Still, it's a refreshing film that left the audience applauding at the end. The tagline for The Intern is: 'Experience never gets old.' Four words that really describe what this film is all about.

Grade: B

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LES MISERABLES (2012)

Rated: PG-13



Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Samantha Banks
Director: Tom Hooper
Genre: Musical/Drama



The 2012 screen adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel of 19th century France, Les Miserables,  hits your eye like a big pizza pie! And like the pizza, it's huge, and messy, and satisfyingly delicious. Add to that the surprise of seeing that some unlikely bedfellows, e.g., Russell Crowe and Sacha Baron Cohen, can actually sing (passably). Though I wouldn't quit my day job to join the opera just yet, Sacha, as you're much too naughty, and those large-lunged divas would punch your lights out. .

Hugh Jackman heads up a stellar ensemble cast as Jean Valjean, a man who served 19 years at hard labor for a petty theft. As a free man, he breaks his parole and goes undercover, becoming  a respected citizen. Russell Crowe, as Inspector Javert, is the long arm of the law who pursues Valjean relentlessly, and is one of the tragic figures in the story. Anne Hathaway is Fantine, a young woman who resorts to prostitution to survive. She becomes pregnant with Cossette,  played here as a young woman by Amanda Seyfried. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter--who have a lot in common because they both have long names--are the innkeepers Thenardier and Madame Thenardier, who become the young Cossette's foster "parents." They add some levity to the mostly serious proceedings with the bawdy antics occurring inside their establishment. (Valjean later bribes them to to let him take the child.)  As time skips ahead,  Marius, a student who joins the impending revolution, (Eddie Redmayne) and the blossoming Cossette fall for one another. Eponine, (Samantha Banks) the Thenardier's daughter, is also smitten with Marius, but her love is unrequited.  

The stage musical of Les Miserables has been around in one incarnation or another since 1980. Now its true potential is reached, lending itself to the giant screen so effectively because the street battle scenes can be played out to scale, with stark and bloody realism--and while you normally would't expect to have people singing while they're shooting each other, that's the musical for you, and you'll soon get in the swing of it. 

Anne Hathaway is likely to get a nomination, mainly for her visceral  rendering of "I Dreamed A Dream."  But for my money, it's gotta be Jackman's achingly beautiful "Bring Him Home."  Other songs feature multi-layered harmonies that build to a soaring crescendo that is guaranteed to raise the hair on your back (unless you've gotten it waxed recently). And of no lesser genius is the deft jump cut editing here.  

Two minor annoyances. Many of those who have solos are shot in that kind of ubber closeup that was popularized by the spaghetti westerns of the sixties and seventies. Literally "in-your-face." It isn't necessary (or aesthetically pleasing) to see the size of every pore on someone's face, or whether or not they brushed their tongue beforehand. (You should always brush your tongue when you get up in the morning, because a layer of sulfur forms on it overnight, which can contribute to your friends giving you a wide berth when they are around you.)  The other thing is that the movie runs two and a half hours and then some, so it feels a tad long. These things I will  forgive in light of a preponderance of the evidence that Les Miserables  is a work of considerable genius.

That and the fact that I always like a good revolution.   

Grade:  A

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (now playing at home where you may be wishing you HADN'T gotten married)

Rachel Getting Married marks the coming of age of Anne Hathaway as a serious actress, in this down and dirty examination of dysfunctional family dynamics that got her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Her cursing is reminiscent of an uncensored George Carlin routine, and she appears topless in a bathtub scene (view partially obscured by arm placement--but hey, I'm just sayin'). Anyway, it's a far cry from The Princess Diaries and all that other G-rated crapola she was in early on.

Hathaway is Kym Buchman--outwardly a spoiled, acid-tongued attention whore (she's from Connecticut, though, so we'll have to give her a pass). Inwardly, she's a young woman dealing with tremendous guilt over a tragic incident she precipitated when she was sixteen. She's the black sheep of the family, on furlough from her latest stint in drug rehab to attend the wedding of her sister, Rachel. And since Kym is clearly the one we're supposed to regard as being screwed-up, it's tempting to marginalize the rest of the family's problems. But mom (Debra Winger) and Rachel (Rosemarie Dewitt) are both in need of some kind of therapy--they're both harboring long-standing, unresolved grief issues--the source of their thinly disguised contempt for Kym. Rachel-- going for her PHD to become a psychologist--ironically reveals herself to be an unrelenting, unforgiving shrew towards Kym for most of the movie. Dad(Bill Irwin) is a well-meaning but inept kind of guy--also crippled emotionally--and the only one who tries to defend Kym.

Upon arrival at the family home, Kim finds that Kieran, (Mather Zickel) a guy she just met at a 12-step meeting, is there to act as best man for the groom. Kym and Kieran immediately slip away to make it with each other, and nothing surprises us about her behavior--given her track record. The film proceeds through an overly long wedding rehearsal dinner, and all the preparations for Rachel's big moment. As the multi-racial assemblage at the dinner (Rachel's betrothed is African-American) is toasting and yukking it up--many trying a bit too hard to come off as hip and clever--Kym delivers a self-deprecating speech, an attempt at humor that falls flat with the group. Despite their pretense of cool, they're a pretty uncharitable bunch.

If you enjoy the banter of childish sibling rivalry, punctuated by lots of F-bombs, as Kym and Rachel try to heap blame and guilt upon each other for past failures and misdeeds--you'll love Rachel Getting Married. (As I've learned from personal observation, this is the way sisters often demonstrate their affection for one another.)

Kym is desperately trying to come to terms with, and to make some sense of her life--and when she draws her mother into the blame game, the cat fur really flies. As tensions mount for her, Kym gets behind the wheel and becomes Lindsay Lohan on acid.

Who's to blame for a young life gone out of control? Bill Irwin gives a stellar performance as the dad, who dotes on Kym too much. Debra Winger--already a legend--doeesn't disappoint as Abby, the estranged mom who is present for the occasion, but not really there.

Bottom line, Rachel Getting Married is about forgiveness, and how pitifully few of us in this world are willing to embrace it.

GRADE: B +

PASSENGERS (now playing at home where your kid just dumped a bowl of oatmeal over his head)

I wanted to see Passengers because it was touted as a film about people who disappear. I often think it would be great if about half the world's population would disappear--you and me excepted, of course. I wouldn't want to kill them off--just transfer them to a different dimension where they'd probably have more fun anyway.

That's because all of the world's MAJOR PROBLEMS can be traced back to overpopulation: POLLUTION (too many cars, factories, and cows farting--injecting their gases into the atmosphere). DISEASE (too many people spreading it around). THE ECONOMY(too many people, not enough jobs) and so on. But I digress.

And NOW, back to our story!

Anne Hathaway stars as Claire Summers, a psychologist who is called in to counsel a handful of survivors from a major plane crash. Eric (Patrick Wilson) is the one that she's drawn to, and the individual who presents the most perplexing challenge for her. Claire tries all the tricks of her trade to get him to open up to her along the lines of the standard patient-therapist relationship. But Eric wants to relate to her on a more personal level. He wants her to see him (and herself, in the process) as a real person. Claire wants to keep her professional distance, and the awkwardness she displays in attempting to do so reveals HER as the one who needs to learn a thing or three about being an authentic human being. If there's any substantive message in this movie--and it's a good one for those in the counseling profession--there it is. But I digress again.

NOW...back to our story again!

There's a guy with the airline who seems to be trying to hide something about the real cause of the plane crash.

There's a strange guy who starts hanging around Claire (she sees him through the window, but he doesn't have binoculars, so he's not just a perv).

There's a strange dog who starts shadowing Eric, barking like he's trying to tell the guy something (other than FEED ME).

And some of the survivors begin to disappear.

There's another wildly popular movie from a few years back that is ripped off by this film--but I can't tell you the name of it...or even who starred in it...somebody STOP me...I WANT to, but I just CAN'T...because if you knew the film I'm talking about you'd catch on to the surprise ending of Passengers. So just see this flick, then let me know that you've figured out the title of the other film and I'll give you a gold star!

Rip-off aside, Passengers is an entrancing love story set inside a mystery (with a great soundtrack by Edward Shearmur) that will hold you in its grip until the end.

GRADE: B +