THE MUSTANG (2019)

Rated:  R

STARS: Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruce Dern, Connie Britton
DIRECTOR: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
GENRE: Drama


To buy into The Mustang means you gotta buy into the BLM's policy of rounding up thousands of wild horses in western states. Most of them will spend the rest of their lives in long-term holding facilities, while a relatively select few will be trained in a prison program that matches inmates up with horses to break them, train them, and make them presentable for auction--with some of the animals going on to a career in  law enforcement and some going to the public. Personally, I think all horses should be wild and free. We should all be wild and free as well, running naked beside them. That's a Garden Of Eden scenario, but hey, I'm a throwback kinda guy.

So right off the bat, this was not going to be my kind of movie. It's extremely loud throughout a good portion of it--with loud rebellious horses...loud angry men...loud helicopters, etc. And it features a protagonist who's about as unsympathetic a character as you'll find. Roman (Matthias Schoenaerts) is an inmate at a Nevada prison with such extreme anger issues that he shouldn't be around anybody--man nor beast. But somehow he gets accepted into the horse training program run by crusty old wrangler Myles (Bruce Dern).

What follows is a battle of wills between Roman and his horse--and as it says in the trailers: "Some horses you can break, and some you can't." It's a fairly predictable story of redemption for Roman, who finally comes around to showing his human side in an emotionally charged meeting with his young pregnant daughter--trying to make amends to her for his past misdeeds. The trouble with this character study is that it's only vaguely alluded to that he brutally beat his wife and daughter's mother and made her something of a vegetable, requiring long-term care. But we never learn what makes this ticking time bomb tick. There's no back story. Had we learned that Roman was also abused, as most abusers are, I could have felt something for him. As it is, he's just a loose cannon who gets into a fight with his horse...punching the horse, and getting trampled for it as his just desserts. 

Bruce Dern is in his element here as the curmudgeonly old horse trainer who keeps giving Roman second chances. Schoenaerts is convincing--maybe too convincing--in his role. If I'm going to be totally objective, I have to acknowledge that The Mustang is a very well made film in terms of acting, cinematography, realism, and so on. But personally, I didn't enjoy it. This film rips your heart out, and not in a kind or gentle way. It's sad for the horses, because they're not wild and free. It's sad for the inmates, because they're wild but not free. But the real life program The Mustang is based on reportedly has had a transformative effect on many men when they are reintegrated into society.  

Grade:  B -

JILL'S TAKE

As a consummate lover of horse movies from Thunderhead (1945) to Black Stallion (1979) to Seabiscuit (2003), I was not disappointed with The Mustang. In fact, I was blown away by the story, the cinematography and most especially Matthias Schoenaerts' performance.

Have you ever watched an actor that you're unfamiliar with and, after seeing him, feel compelled to look up every film he's ever been in? Such was the case with me and Matthias Schoenaerts. A few weeks back, I watched a 2014 film titled A Little Chaos on Netflix. About King Louis XIV's chief landscape architect played by Schoenaerts, who falls in love with a commoner (Kate Winslet) hired to help design a lavish garden at Versailles. I was so moved by Schoenaerts' acting that I had to find out more about him. I didn't remember him in The Danish Girl(small part) and his other films were ones I hadn't seen – or didn't remember seeing. (Rust and Bone,Bullhead, Red Sparrow). Life went on and I soon forgot all about this Belgian-born hunk.

Until I saw Mustang.

If this film had been released closer to Oscar nominating season, I'd bet my last euro Schoenaerts would be up for a Best Actor award. And if they gave those gold statuettes to animals, I'd cast my vote for Marcus the Mustang. I was also impressed by female director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre's handling of this very male movie. Last but not least, I applaud Ruben Impens' brilliant cinematography. The aerial shots at the beginning were breath-taking as well as emotionally heart-wrenching.

So what didn't I like? The secondary plot about drugs and nasty cellies was, for me, a cliche and totally unnecessary. When there's an animal in a film, who cares about secondary plots? The Mustang is not for everyone. But if you decide to see it, I guarantee it will make a lasting impression on you.

Grade: A -

WHITE BOY RICK (2018)

Rated: R

STARS: Matthew McConaughey,  Richie Merritt, Jennifer Jason Leigh,  Bel Powle
DIRECTOR: Yann Demange
GENRE: Drama

If you like drugs and drug dealers (in the movies, I mean)...junkies, crooked cops and dedicated cops, and a little shoot-'em-up--all played out against the bleak backdrop of the seedier side of Detroit, amidst the height of the hysterical drug war in the mid eighties...then White Boy Rick is for you!

Based upon the true--and truly sad and appalling story of Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt), the film comes about its title due to the fact that Wershe was the youngest undercover FBI informant ever--at age 14--who hung around exclusively with black folk (at least in the movie) because all the dope dealers in this film are black (does that make this a racist film?), and thus he came to be affectionately known as "White Boy Rick."

Rick's dad, Rick Wershe Sr. (Matthew McConaughey), is an unscrupulous firearms dealer who sells AK-47s to the drug dealers through his son. The FBI gets wind of Junior's extra-curricular activities and recruits him to become a dope dealer himself in order to infiltrate the big boys of the trade, rat on them and take them down. 

As good as McConaughey and newcomer Merritt are in this film, the Kickass Performance Award goes to two supporting cast members: Jennifer Jason Leigh as a totally jaded and weary FBI  agent...and young British thespian Bel Powle, who plays Rick's junkie sister. Powle is perfectly cast in this role; her eyes are so naturally haunted it's scary (and Halloween is coming up!)

Also notable is Bruce Dern as Grandpa, but only because he's been reduced to bit parts as a curmudgeonly old bastard--popping up higgledy-pigleddy, just enough to make you say: hey, that's Bruce Dern...what the hell's HE doing in this film???

Like most movies based on true events, White Boy Rick proceeds at breakneck speed, leaving you at a loss to keep up at times, with a hip-hop soundtrack that could have been better if any of the songs were recognizable. But on the strength of the gritty performances, I'm giving it a decent rating. You may or may not agree, depending upon how chemically altered your brain is at the time. 

Grade:  B

JILL'S TAKE

I'm thinking maybe Tim's recent hiatus from movie reviewing has made him go soft. (oh oh)  Sad as the story of White Boy Rick is, I'm getting fed up with the idea that just because something is based on a 'true story'  makes it cinematic gold. Wrong!

If you're looking to spend one hour and fifty-one minutes being depressed, feeling a sense of unrelenting hopelessness, then this is the movie for you. I have to hand it to cinematographer Tat Radcliffe whose visions of Detroit in the 1980s are enough to make any young man sell drugs just to get out of there!

I suppose, if I had to pin-point the problem with White Boy Rick (a grabber title, by the way), it would be that it's riddled with nothing but losers, including the FBI agents. I'm not suggesting that some Hollywood knight come charging in on a white horse to rescue everybody.  But a film with nothing but bad guys in it risks being too much of a downer. At least it was for me.

Maybe my negative reaction had more to do with the toothache I was experiencing at the time.  I think not...

Grade:  C -

CHAPPAQUIDDICK (2018)

Rated:  PG-13

STARS: Jason Clarke, Ed Helms, Kate Mara, Bruce Dern
DIRECTOR: John Curran
GENRE: Historical Docudrama

Recalling my youthful impressions of what the Chappaquiddick incident was about: It's 1969 and Senator Ted Kennedy is driving home from a party late at night...possibly drunk...with a young worker from his late brother Bobby's campaign--Mary Jo Kopechne--when he runs off a bridge...the car is submerged...Kennedy escapes...she doesn't...he claims to have made valiant efforts to rescue her...he waits eight or so hours--pondering how to handle the situation--before reporting the incident to the authorities. He may have been boinking her.

As it turns out, my recollections were spot on according to the known facts as they are presented in Chappaquiddick. What remains unknown---and forever so--and the speculation surrounding it to this day is what keeps the film from being a boring documentary style retelling of old news.   

But if you're looking for fresh insights to lead you to one conclusion or another as to what really occurred on that fateful night, you won't find them--save for a couple of brief scenes that suggest the senator and Mary Joe may have engaged in some hanky-panky earlier in the evening. 

Chappaquiddick cuts Kennedy no slack, portraying him as shallow and more angst-ridden over the political ramifications to his possible presidential bid than he was over the snuffing out of a young life due to his negligence.  Jason Clarke, as the senator, brings these qualities out in spades. Kate Mara, as Mary Jo, doesn't get enough screen time (as you might expect) to bring any depth to the character of Ms. Kopechne. Bruce Dern, in what has to be the strangest and most WTF role of his career, plays a grotesque, near mute papa Joseph Kennedy, whose guttural utterances demonstrate his disdain for his only surviving son in scenes that are played to their maximum dramatic potential. Ed Helms, as cousin Joe Gargan--one of the senator's "fixers"--gives the strongest performance of the ensemble crew.  

Down the aisle from me, a coterie of older folks tittered away...derisively yukking it up virtually every time Teddy came on screen. In other words, the entire length of this brooding film--revealing themselves as being obviously from the "other side."  Reveling gleefully again in the man's misfortune! There's plenty of grist for them here too. Some will even interpret Chappaquiddick as a straight up hit piece on the Kennedy clan, and by implication, the progressive ideology they embraced--the timing of its release no coincidence in this critical election year. Anyway, prepare to be annoyed by such boisterous folk in the theater, depending on the random luck of where you are seated.  

If I were them, I'd have piped down and observed and taken a lesson from the master spin doctors who helped to resurrect Ted Kennedy's political career to where he was reelected to the U.S. senate continuously for another forty years until his death in 2009. Because when it comes to the art of the spin, their current heroes are tripping all over themselves. 

Grade:  B

JILL'S TAKE

As someone well acquainted with the environs of Cape Code and Martha's Vineyard, I felt Chappaquiddick portrayed both beach life and the world of the not-so-idle rich to perfection.  Kudos to cinematographer Maryse Alberti.  In watching the story of young Ted's self-serving neglect, I kept hoping none of the surviving Kennedys would watch this cinematic hatchet job on their uncle.  We all make mistakes....Granted, not as horrific as this one was....

I think the screenplay took certain liberties.  For example, it is widely known that Joseph Kennedy never spoke another word after his stroke. But the scene -- whether accurate or not -- where two of Ted's closest pals went diving in the water trying desperately to save Mary Jo while Ted lay prostrate on the dock was a definite shocker. 

An odd bit of casting was comedian Jim Gaffigan as states attorney Paul F. Marham.  A close friend of Teddy's, he willingly bent the truth for his drinking buddy. Be that as it may, I couldn't help watching Gaffigan in the role and recalling many of his comedy bits.  ("hot pockets," etc.)

I wasn't the least bit bored by this rehashing of history.  I did, however, wonder who Ann (Joseph Kennedy's caretaker) was.  A relative?  A nurse? Because she wielded quite a bit of power in this family drama, her relationship should have been explained. 

Not a film for everyone, especially if you're a  Kennedy worshipper.  But Jason Clark's performance is worth the price of a ticket.

Grade:  B+

NEBRASKA (2013)

PublicDomainPictures.net

Rated:  R

STARS:  Bruce Dern,  Will Forte,  June Squibb,  Stacey Keach,  Bob Odenkirk
DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne
GENRE: Drama

I wonder what the folks in Nebraska  think of Nebraska, and what they are saying about it. Having spent a goodly number of my formative years in the Cornhusker state, I imagine it's to the effect of:  Geez, we're not all such rubes!  While it's true that director Alexander Payne  has portrayed the locals, by and large, as  a mass conglomeration of hicks from the sticks, it goes with the territory in a film where most of the characters are varying degrees of over the top. 

Nebraska is a funny movie. Funny in the way that Peyton Manning pizza commercial on television is funny (the one where he's "tossing the dough") because it relies on someone being totally naive and out of his depth.  You are going to hear that  the film is charming, heartwarming, and rife with cackles. And I agree. That doesn't mean it doesn't have its warts.

Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is a crusty old guy who isn't  all there--at least according to his wise-cracking wife, Kate (June Squibb). When Woody receives one of those come-on sweepstakes notices saying he's won a million dollars, (you've got to read the fine print) he takes it at face value and is determined to make it to Lincoln, Nebraska--even if he has to walk--to collect his prize. When his efforts to convince old dad that he is being lured in by a scam are unsuccessful, son David (Will Forte) agrees to drive Woody from Billings, Montana to Lincoln. 

On the way they will spend some time  reconnecting with folks in Woody's central Nebraska hometown of Hawthorne (a fictional place). When the locals get wind of Woody's apparent good fortune,  they come out of the woodwork--each with a different story claiming Woody owes them dough from long ago. And  then there is Ed Pegram, (Stacy Keach) who's a little more emphatic about what he wants,  and literally threatens father and son with dire consequences if they don't pay up. 

The ubiquitous use of non-actors playing the local townsfolk (they ARE the local townsfolk) who deliver their lines in monotone--as if they were reading them right off the page--hinders one's ability to grant the "willing suspension of disbelief" that allows you to forget that you are watching a movie. 

June Squibb, as Woody's eccentric wife, nearly steals the film right from under Bruce Dern, but it's due to the lines she's been given and not her dubious acting ability. Put some naughty words or sexual innuendo into the mouth of a senior citizen and folks in the audience are going to spew their drink onto the person sitting in front of them. 

Stacy Keach playing the heavy  was not terribly believable for me...he comes off more like a city thug than a small town midwesterner. If there's anything Nebraskans are know for, it's their politeness, and I felt Keach's role required more subtlety.

Then there was the decision to film Nebraska in black and white, which gives the landscape an aura of desolation that seems better suited to a desert setting. Though the season depicted is winter, I feel the film may give those unfamiliar with the area a distorted view of what it's like. If you've ever been there--especially the eastern portion around Lincoln--you know that rural Nebraska in the spring and summer is one of the greenest places in the country--with cornfields and trees extending as far as the eye can see. But director Alexander Payne is making a  point about the winter of Woody's discontent--and maybe about people who live a kind of colorless existence. 

Anyhoo...Nebraska IS a cute, funny, and poignant film, and if you're not from around there and wouldn't notice any of my aforementioned  concerns, you'll probably give it a higher rating than I did.

Grade:  B 

Speaking of which...

JILL'S TAKE

Picky, picky. All I can say is, I'm glad I'm from New England so none of the aforementioned flaws bothered me. NEBRASKA is a delight from start to finish. I'm not surprised Bruce Dern has garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy. You really believe he's that stubborn old codger, determined to get his million bucks. Even if he has to walk from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska. (837 miles) . I particularly liked the way Dern shuffled, all stiff-legged, feet pointing in opposite directions. And the gal who played his gossipy, super critical wife was absolutely brilliant. As we left the theater, Tim insisted she had little or no acting experience. I disagreed. Sorry, Timoteo. You lose! Among June Squibb's credits? Scent Of A Woman, Meet Joe Black, About Schmidt.

As for the film being in black and white. For me, it only accentuated the absurdity of the situation. Those long stretches of highway, the desolation one feels while viewing it. Handled differently, NEBRASKA could have easily turned into something maudlin and depressing. But director Alexander Payne (also a Golden Globe nominee for Best Director) knows how to make funny with audiences. And believe me, this audience was laughing nonstop. Maybe the monosyllabic dialog between hayseed brothers, watching a football game on TV, was exaggerated. But I bet most of the women could relate. I sure could!

GRADE: A+

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