Mini Reviews of Recent Films II

Spotlight: In this film, some investigative reporters report on a major cover-up while working for an editor named Ben Bradlee. But this is not All The President's Men. It's the Boston Globe not the Washington Post, and the reporters are investigating the cover-up of paedophile priests by the Catholic Church. The editor is Ben Bradlee Jr, the son of the famous Washington Post editor. The name of the film refers to a group of investigative reporters at the Boston Globe, played by Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Brian d'Arcy James, who investigate the Catholic Church in Boston when a new Editor-in-chief (Liev Schreiber) is hired. This is a true story about how the Boston Globe reported in 2002 that 249 priests in Boston alone had been abusing children for decades with the knowledge of the Cardinal of the Archdiocese. Spotlight is a good movie with a nice cast and a compelling story to tell. But it lacks the high tension and sense of danger that keeps you on the edge of your seat during All the President's Men.

Creed: You can hear the music in your head. Duh duh dah, duh duh dah. Yes, Rocky is back. And it's great to see him. In case you don't get the title, Creed refers to Apollo Creed. As we know Apollo is dead but his illegitimate son (Michael B. Jordan) is all grown up and surprise surprise, he wants to box and he wants Rocky to train him. So we are back in Philly and Sylvester Stallone as Rocky gets to channel Burgess Meredith and be the crotchety old trainer. Except, Rocky is too sweet to be crotchety. The plot is the same but Creed Jr and his girlfriend are a fair bit more socialized than Rocky and Adrian. I was happy to hear that it still weakens the legs! Creed is a very nice heartwarming movie about boxing. So there's some blood and some shots to the head but Stallone should get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Rocky near the end of road. You should see this.

Suffragette: This is an unusual film, not because of its subject, but because it was written by a woman, directed by a woman, and produced by two women. Suffragette is about the British movement to get the vote for women in the early 20th century. The film tells the true story through a combination of real and fictional characters. The main characters, a young washerwoman with a husband and son played by Carey Mulligan, and a pharmacist and bomb maker played by Helena Bonham Carter are fictional. But the leader of the movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, is played wonderfully by Meryl Streep but unfortunately appears only briefly, and Emily Wilding Davison, who was killed at the Epsom Derby when she ran onto the course, is played by Natalie Press. The non-female characters include Mulligan's husband (Ben Whishaw, better known as the new Q in James Bond), and a police detective (Brendan Gleeson, best known as Mad-Eye Moody) who becomes sympathetic to the cause. Suffragette is very well put together and gives an unvarnished view of the lives of working-class women in London a century ago. Bonham Carter gives a nice low-key performance, and Gleeson is great as always. Mulligan is excellent as the woman who loses everything while fighting for the vote. The whole Suffragette movement is seen through her eyes. I was a bit verklempt at the end.

Brooklyn: This is just the most enjoyable film. I'm sure it appeals to the romantic in me but it is pretty much perfect. Saoirse Ronan is only 21 but she seems to have been around forever. Her first film was Atonement when she was 13, followed by The Lovely Bones, Hanna, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Ronan grew up in Ireland and is perfect in Brooklyn as the young Irish woman who emigrates to America and makes her own life there. The cast is great, including the old pros, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent as the young woman's landlady and priest. Ronan's two suitors in New York (Emory Cohen) and in Ireland (Domhnall Gleeson) are both very appealing. But the thing that appealed to me most in the film was the color palette. The direction, cinematography, art direction, and costume design all conspire to make Brooklyn seem like it was made and set in the early 1950's. And it didn't hurt that Nick Hornby wrote the screenplay. It made me feel good just to watch this movie. 

In the Heart of the Sea: I was very disappointed that this was such a lackluster film. First, because I am a big fan of Ron Howard as a director, and also since I have been going to Nantucket for over 50 years and am well-acquainted with the story of the whaleship Essex. It is a fascinating true story. In a lot of ways it is like another true story brought to film by Ron Howard, Apollo 13. In 1819, the Nantucket whaleships going on voyages to the Pacific that lasted for 4 or 5 years might as well have been going to the Moon, except without radios. And Nantucket, itself, was a unique place in 1819, controlled by Quakers, with no slaves, and a very diverse population which was represented in the crew of the Essex. But none of this really makes it into this film. Only a few minutes are devoted to Nantucket and the preparations for the voyage. The first mate played by Chris Hemsworth (Thor in The Avengers) seems to live right where my house is today. The voyage itself consists of one storm staged to show how the ill-fated Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) is unfit for his post, and then before we know it, the ship has been stove by a whale. The whale is supposed to be some "hound from Hell" like Moby Dick, but it has none of the White Whale's sinister qualities. No spoilers but the crew is trapped in three small boats for a long time and bad things happen. I blame the screenplay for a lack of character development beyond one dimension and for a complete lack of emotion. Ron Howard seems to have mailed this one in. If you compare it to the excitement and suspense of Apollo 13, In the Heart of the Sea is very flat. You don't particularly care whether the crew of the Essex lives or dies, and they don't seem to care much either. I recommend a visit to Nantucket and the Essex exhibit at the Whaling Museum.