THE FAVOURITE (2018)

Rated:  R

STARS:  Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman
DIRECTOR: Yorgos Lanthimos
GENRE: Drama/ Dark Comedy

It's the early 18th century. England's Queen Anne, in declining health--mentally and physically--reigns during the time of the War of the Spanish Succession. Against this backdrop, we have the story of three women: The queen (Olivia Colman), her close friend and confidante Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), and Abigail Masham (Emma Stone), Sarah's cousin who has fallen on hard times and is looking to land a gig as a nanny or a maid at the palace. 

Sarah starts out as the queen's favourite (I'll stick with the British spelling!) She calls a lot of the shots for the ailing monarch (think Dick Cheney in the Bush White House). But Abigail isn't the sweet thing she comes off as in the beginning. Her ambition is to take over Sarah's position as teacher's pet, and that involves servicing the queen in every way you can imagine. 

 Thus begins the subtle skulduggery and behind the scenes machinations as the two women try to undermine and discredit one another, and they will stop at nothing. The wigged-out (pardon the pun) men of the royal court, who pop up here and there, ineffectively attempting to advise the capriciously cranky queen on affairs of state, are essentially props here as the gals take center stage.

The Favourite could alternately be entitled Lifestyles Of The Rich And The Severely Overdressed. It does nothing to disprove my theory that British period dramas exist primarily to keep costume designers from starving. But don't let the era and all the pretentious get-ups fool you into thinking this is some kind of stuffy historical drama. It's a bawdy and strangely savage movie. The women have ducks thrown into the air and then they shoot them,   just for target practice. Not in one but in multiple scenes. In another scene a pet rabbit is nearly crushed underfoot, deliberately, by one of the petulant primary characters. (What's the point? To reinforce in our minds that these women are cold-hearted and essentially dead inside? We don't need to be hit over the head with the obvious). There are multiple instances of people puking. Boobs, butts, and bitchery. This is what gets nominated for Best Picture at The Oscars in 2019. 

And though The Favourite is set in the 1700s, it effectively gets its contemporary feminist slant of strong women and subservient men across. That's the ticket these days. 

This too shall pass.

 Are commendable performances from Colman, Weisz and Stone, along with some gorgeous cinematography enough on their own to make The Favourite a great film? I think not, old chap. 

Grade:  C

JILL'S TAKE

The best thing about The Favourite are the myriad bunny rabbits hopping about, pooping on every lavish carpet in the Queen's chambers. I kept pitying the film crew having to clean up after them. Yes the sets were breath-takingly opulent and, yes, the women were bona fide bitches. But "Downtown Abbey" it ain't. (I happened to love that series!)

I can't understand why this piece of British history (did the Queen really keep pet rabbits?) has garnered such favor with The Academy. Then, again, I disagree with all the nominations Roma has received, too. It felt painfully long and drawn out. And the woo-woo rabbit-ridden ending left me cold.

Since all three female actresses have been nominated, I guess I'll have to credit them with good performances. Especially Olivia Colman who played the demanding and demented queen to screechy perfection. But who needs to be yelled at for one hour and fifty-nine minutes? Not me.

Grade: D -

DISOBEDIENCE (2018)

Rated:  R

STARS: Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola
DIRECTOR: Sebastian Lelio
GENRE: Drama

Pay close attention to the opening monologue in Disobedience, because the theme of the film is encapsulated there.  Rav Krushka,  the elderly spiritual leader of an orthodox Jewish congregation in London, is pouring it all out--as if these would be the final words he would ever speak. Immediately afterwards, he croaks. This sets up the return of his estranged daughter, Ronit (Rachel Weisz), a New York photographer who was exiled from the community due to her youthful penchant for her own gender--in particular her childhood friend, Esti (Rachel McAdams). Ronit is not welcomed back with open arms into the closed--and closed-minded--community, but she is invited to stay with Esti and their mutual school days chum, Rabbi David Kuperman (Alessandro Nivola), who is now Esti's husband.

It doesn't take long before the repressed passions between Ronit and Esti are rekindled, leading them to consummate their love for each other on the sly, which will set up the inevitable conflict for Esti to choose between desire and duty--whether to flee with Ronit to New York or stay and be the good wife for her husband and support him in his ambition to take over the leadership position that Ronit's father has vacated.

What to do. What to do.

Disobedience is about life in a closed conservative religious community, and it feels as real and authentic as you can get, right down to some great singing in Hebrew that even someone like me can appreciate. It's also about lesbian sex, as there's a really hot lovemaking scene between Weisz and McAdams. Oh wait a minute...it's not between the actors, it's between their characters--Ronit and Esti. Because in real life these two have male partners, and so of course they're just acting. Decide for yourself on that one.

But the central theme of the movie is what lies at the heart of existentialism, and it harkens back to Rav Krushka's monologue at the beginning of the film: Free will. The freedom to choose. The main tenet of existentialist philosophy is that with freedom comes responsibility. This plays out beautifully in Disobedience, as Esti has a lot more to consider in making her decision than just her own happiness. It all leads to a climactic scene (no, not that one) that's as touching as any I have seen on film. And while the first half hour or so of Disobedience is as slow as the molasses in January, the story will draw you in with three remarkable turns from Weisz, McAdams, and Nivola, and you'll be hooked in short order.

For me to reveal more than that just wouldn't be kosher.

Grade:  A

JILL'S TAKE

People who read our joint reviews tell me they much prefer it when our opinions are diametrically opposed. Well, get ready, folks! Maybe it's because I didn't like studying existentialism in college.  Or I have an automatic mad-on for stultifying religious communities.  But Disobedience left me disappointed and disgruntled.  

The film took forever to get started, as director Sebastian Lelio (who also directed A Fantastic Woman) wanted us to understand every little nuance of the plot.  I'm a great believer in bookends, i.e. starting and ending a film with the same visual. Disobedience followed this cinematic premise to the letter. But as a romantic (and a fan of Hollywood schmaltz), I believe love should triumph over anything else. Especially when the other choice is so depressing.  

When Casablanca first came out, the producers aired two separate endings:  one where Bogart and Bergman stayed together; the other where war and duty triumphed. (I didn't like that ending either!)

The acting is superb and that sex scene Tim refers to is tastefully done albeit highly erotic.  For you trivia buffs, it might interest you to know that Rachel Weisz (the wife of Daniel Craig aka "007") is having her first child at age 48. Obviously, she's a rebel in real life, too!

Too much thinking gives me a headache. I like my movies to be entertaining.  They can be violent.  Or scary.  Or even sad.  But when a philosophical  concept drives the storyline it makes me break out in hives.

Grade: C -

DENIAL (2016)

Rated: PG-13

STARS: Rachel Weisz, Timothy Spall, Tom Wilkinson
DIRECTOR: Mick Jackson
GENRE: Docudrama


In 1996, American academic/historian Deborah Lipstadt was sued for libel by British historian David Irving for characterizing him in her book as being a holocaust denier. Among other "Nazi friendly" assertions, Irving had maintained that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz. Despite the damning nature of his stated positions, Irving sued for damage to his reputation, essentially denying that he was a denier.  Denial is the docudrama of the ensuing trial, which took place in Britain in 2000.

Given the subject matter, I was expecting fireworks, but for the most part, Denial is as staid as the British courtroom where most of the "action" takes place. He-said-she-said. The fascination that does exist revolves around the larger issue: By having to defend her statements about Mr. Irving, Lipstadt essentially has to call the holocaust as a witness to prove its own existence.

In preparation for the trial, Lipstadt and her team visit the real Auschwitz--a desolate looking place that time has softened into a haunt for ghosts. You must use your imagination now--not hard to do--to conjure up the unspeakable depravity of what took place there. It's a sobering moment.

It's a pedestrian turn for previous Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, as Lipstadt. When she's pleased, she's bubbly. When she's perturbed, she's frowny. But there's no nuance or subtlety of emotion. And an inordinate amount of time is spent drinking wine with her chief defense strategist, Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson). Maybe it was real wine. Wilkinson gives a more fleshed-out performance as he calls the shots for Lipstadt's defense strategy. Timothy Spall, as David Irving, is pompous and jowly, and comes off as being more obnoxious and annoying than villainous.

Conspiracy theories abound. Social media is crawling with them. 9-11 was an inside job. The moon landing was fake. The Sandy Hook massacre was staged. On and on. Few of them ring of credibility to the logical mind--the JFK assassination notwithstanding. It appears obvious that there was more to that than just a lone malcontent named Lee Harvey Oswald. But compelling evidence is in play there. The holocaust denier is a breed apart. He tries to tell us that we didn't see what we saw in all of the ghastly newsreel, documentary, and photographic evidence that exists. Not only does he insult our intelligence, he aligns himself with a dark energy that needs to fall back into the cesspool of history from whence it came.

I was expecting more HEAT in Denial...something on the order of what I just felt in penning the preceding sentences. But for the most part, it left me cold.

Grade:  C +

JILL'S TAKE

Finally, Tim and I disagree! (But not by much.) I went to this film, curious to know how holocaust deniers rationalize their beliefs. And right at the beginning, Rachel Weisz as Professor Lipstadt points out the four explanations deniers give. The one that really made my eyes pop? It was a publicity stunt promoted by the Jews to promote Israel. (Are your eyes popping now, too?)

I knew going in that Denial would be a courtroom drama but I found the subject matter so preposterously fascinating that I never got bored. I also learned a lot, not just about holocaust deniers but how different the English legal system is from ours. There, you're basically guilty until proven innocent. All of the actors involved did admirable performances but I especially admired how fanatic Timothy Spall was David Irving -- whose rabid intensity out-Hitlered Hitler's.

On a personal note, a few nights later I was having dinner with some friends and mentioned Denial in passing. One of them then told me about an interview she'd read in Hadassah Magazine where Rachel Weisz talked about the fact that all her own relatives perished in concentration camps.

Talk about art imitating life!

Grade: B+