The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them **** ½
Short Take: In the wake of tragedy, a young couple struggles to come to grips with life, love and their selves.
REEL TAKE: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is the debut film from writer/director Ned Benson. It’s been met with mixed critical reviews and has probably been getting more notoriety for how the story was executed than for anything else. It was actually made as two films: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him. Each version tells the story of a couple struggling with life and love in the wake of a tragedy, one told from her perspective, one told from his. When the project was brought to Harvey Weinstein, Weinstein had Benson re-cut the film, ergo creating a third film: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them.
The combined film was recently released and there are plans to do a limited release of the other two a little further down the road. For now let’s just focus on Them. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) and James McAvoy (Atonement) are Eleanor Rigby and Connor Ludlow. Their marriage has disintegrated, she’s attempted suicide (which eerily fits when you’re named after the saddest character in the annals of Rock & Roll history) and now she’s ‘disappeared’ from his life. What unfolds uneasily, yet elegantly, is the story of why and what happens next.
I confess I didn’t expect to particularly like this film, let alone be drawn into it. The first twenty minutes were touch and go, but once I settled in I realized I was all in. First and foremost I cared. Credit for that goes to Denson’s writing and excellent lead performances from Chastain and McAvoy. The supporting cast is wonderful as well, including William Hurt and Isabelle Huppert as Eleanor’s parents, Viola Davis as a Professor, SNL alum Bill Hader as Connor’s BFF and chef, and Ciaran Hinds as Connor’s emotionally awkward father. There’s a realness to the dialogue and characters that is emotionally raw and evocative and [for me] transcended the film’s flaws.
Part of the joy of watching this movie was in not knowing a lot about it and in its piecemeal telling. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them stands just fine on its own. I don’t think the other two versions are necessary, but they don’t have to be, to be just as good.
Rated R for language.
Review by Michelle Keenan
The Drop **** ½
Short Take: Based on a short story by Dennis Lehane, Tom Hardy delivers a quietly engrossing performance and leads a great cast in a not so run-of-the-mill crime drama.
REEL TAKE: Based on the short story “Animal Rescue” by Dennis Lehane (and adapted for film by Dennis Lehane), The Drop is a highly satisfying crime drama with a slightly dented moral compass at its center. Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) is a quiet, seemingly dull-witted bartender at Cousin Marv’s, a Brooklyn watering hole and cash drop site for the Chechen mob. Marv (James Gandolfini) still runs the bar, but was muscled out of ownership by the Chechens. Together Bob and Marv run the place and navigate the tension in a neighborhood that seems to wax nostalgically for a bygone era and its glory days.
Bob is the narrative voice and the story’s rudder. He is soft-spoken and reserved. He attends mass daily and lives alone in the house that was obviously his family’s home. When he finds a badly abused [but irresistibly adorable] pit bull puppy in a neighbor’s trashcan one night, it seems his loner routine is about to get sacked by man’s best friend and the pretty neighbor, Nadia (Noomi Rapace / Prometheus, Girl With The Dragon Tatoo).
Soon, however, a neighborhood creep and apparent psychopath lays claim to the dog, to Nadia and to an unsolved murder from a few years back. Meanwhile the bar is robbed one night, leaving Marv on the hook with the Chechens for $5,000. With that, the wheels are in motion, building an intensely simmering drama.
The Drop marks Belgian director Michael R. Roskam’s US debut. Roscam who most notably directed 2011’s Oscar-nominated Bullhead, sets just the right tone to the film. Adding a wonderfully disturbing level of suspense to the proceedings is Bullhead’s lead actor Matthias Schoenaerts as Eric Deeds, the aforementioned psychopath. Naomi Rapace is another unusual but solid casting call.
Tom Hardy as Bob will be a revelation to many. Best known to American audiences as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy will soon be known as one of the best actors of his generation. Fresh off his brilliant turn in Locke, he gives yet another performance (in an ever-growing list of wonderful projects) that shows the depth and breadth of his talent. In true Brit tradition he is a journeyman actor.
Sadly, The Drop marks Gandolfini’s swan song. On the surface Gandolfini seems like just another version of Tony Soprano, but as with everything else in The Drop, the story isn’t about what’s on the surface. Marv is deceptively layered and vulnerable and [as always] Gandolfini brings deceptive nuance to the character.
The Drop is a well crafted, ensemble effort. This was the first time Lehane adapted one of his stories for the screen, and I hope he will continue to do so. The direction, cinematography, editing are tight and effective. Unfortunately Roskam’s subtle directional reserve may have some thinking it’s not as great as it could have been, but it’s exactly that tone that made this movie work for me.
Without a name at the helm like Eastwood, Afleck and Scorsese, The Drop didn’t garner the box office fanfare that other Lehane adaptations have, which is unfortunate. The Drop has warmth at its heart that the others lack. It’s a moody, slow burn that draws the viewer in. Give it time to unfold and it will quietly surprise you.
Rated R for some strong violence and pervasive language.
Review by Michelle Keenan
Love Is Strange ****
Short Take: John Lithgow and Alfred Molina are pitch perfect as a pair of aging gay lovers whose marriage triggers an upheaval in their lives and those of their relatives.
REEL TAKE: While the title of the movie is Love is Strange, it’s actually familiar on a number of levels. Some of the more knowledgeable critics recognized a strong similarity to Leo McCarey’s powerful 1937 domestic drama Make Way for Tomorrow. The plot of that film concerns two aging parents who lose their home and are forced to live apart with their children who are not happy about it.
Update that plot-line to the 21st century with the aging parents transformed into a pair of elderly gay men who have been together for nearly 40 years. When they are finally allowed to marry, one of them loses his job as a Catholic choir director and they are forced to give up their long time apartment and go and live with separate relatives who accept them happily…at first.
It is to writer-director Ira Sachs credit that he doesn’t try to turn Love Is Strange into a statement about gay marriage. By treating his gay characters as regular human beings instead of victims, the gravity of what happens to them has a much greater impact. While important, the fact that they are gay is incidental to the story (which could happen to anybody) and that is how it should be.
Alfred Molina and John Lithgow are simply sublime as long time partners Ben and George. Their portrayals are so honest and true to life that we forget about the well known actors up there on the screen and experience only their characters. Both are worthy of Oscar consideration and that should happen but it probably won’t.
I wish I could say the same about the rest of the movie but I can’t. To be fair the problem lies in Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias’ screenplay. This is domestic drama/family crisis 101 with the distant father, the stressed out mom, and the rebellious teenage son. The other performances are good, just not up to the level of Lithgow and Molina. Marisa Tomei gives it her best shot and has several good moments but when the two leads aren’t there, I quickly lost interest. The “sensitive” Chopin soundtrack didn’t help either.
Of course domestic dramas aren’t one of my favorite genres to begin with so this review is a reflection of that. Many people will likely find it more involving than I did and, if you do, then good for you. One thing that is beyond criticism is that the performances by Lithgow and Molina alone make Love Is Strange worth seeing. I give the film 4 stars because it deserves it. For tackling sensitive subject material and not making it preachy, writer-director Ira Sachs’ latest feature film deserves your support.
Rated R for language.
Review by Chip Kaufmann
The November Man *** ½
Short Take: The familiar spy comes out of retirement for one last assignment. The November Man benefits from Pierce Brosnan’s charisma and solid work on both sides of the camera.
Reel Take: The November Man is another movie in the time honored tradition of the star driven action-adventure film that has nothing more on its mind than showing off its brand name and keeping its audience entertained for a couple of hours.
As a rule that’s all these movies are meant to be and November Man is no exception. It has no real staying power once you leave the theater but while I was there, it held my interest and I focused on it rather than my old school illuminated wrist watch (remember no cell phones during the movie).
Pierce Brosnan is Peter Devereaux, a retired CIA agent now living in Switzerland who is brought back into the game to smuggle a key CIA witness out of Russia. The fact that she is the mother of his child gains added importance when she is killed by CIA agents.
Brosnan’s character is then declared a rogue and, in a plot line lifted from Michael Winner’s Scorpio (1972), the young agent he trained (Luke Bracey) is ordered not to bring him in but to take him out. This leads to the old cat and mouse game between teacher and pupil.
As in any good spy thriller there are a number of plot twists which, if they don’t surprise, do manage to be effective. The one involving the person responsible for all the subterfuge was well handled and scored points with me.
Australian director Roger Donaldson who once upon a time gave us high caliber movies like The Bounty (1984) and Cadillac Man (1990), has been out of the big leagues for a number of years but he still knows how to put together a well made movie full of solid entertainment. He just needs to read his scripts before he signs on the dotted line.
There’s nothing wrong with being a journeyman director (one who’s been around awhile and will take whatever assignment he’s offered) as long as you can still deliver the goods. Donaldson still can but I just wish that he hadn’t copied the Jason Bourne style of hand held chase sequences and the occasional gratuitous bits of slow motion violence.
Brosnan still looks fine in a tailored suit and brings a fair amount of intensity to a well traveled role. He is more than ably supported by the other cast members including Olga Kurylenko, Bracey, and most notably Bill Smitovitch as his long time cohort in the CIA.
It was interesting to note that, at my early afternoon first day showing, the majority of the audience (and it was surprisingly well attended) were well over 40 and they thoroughly enjoyed it. So did I.
Rated R for strong violence including a sexual assault, language, nudity, and brief drug use.
Review by Chip Kaufmann
The Skeleton Twins ****
Short Take: A dysfunctional family comedy-drama featuring SNL alums Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.
REEL TAKE: When long estranged twins Milo (Bill Hader) and Maggie (Kristen Wiig) are awkwardly reunited following Milo’s recent suicide attempt, the two begin a journey of healing and self realization. Milo has unsuccessfully pursued the Hollywood dream for the past ten years, while Maggie has tried to build the ‘perfect’ life they never had as children with her husband Lance (Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums).
When Maggie brings Milo back to their hometown they are forced to deal with some issues which will hopefully mend their relationship. Though suicide is more of a plot device than anything else in the film, mental and emotional health is at the core of the story. Milo doesn’t do much to conceal his flaws and shortcomings, but Maggie is a secret basket case. As we learn the damage and sorrows that have misshapen them, but ultimately bind them together, we also come to know the conflicts that separated them for so long. Modern Family’s Ty Burrell plays well in this plot point as a former teacher who had a profound influence on Milo’s life.
The Skeleton Twins doesn’t break much new ground story-wise, but it is a shining example of how comedy-drama should be done. Screenwriters Mark Heyman (The Black Swan, The Wrestler) and Craig Johnson (True Adolescents) took the Best Writing award at The Sundance Film Festival last January. The fact that Hader and Wiig spent years together on SNL is a distinct attribute. In sketch comedy, they know how to read each other and play off of one another. In this case that elevates the darkly comic moments, but it also transcends comedy, building a more meaningful and emotionally palpable drama. The Skeleton Twins is funny, sweet, sad and sometimes cruel, but ultimately satisfying.
Now that Hader and Wiig have more than proven their comedic and dramatic acting chops, I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s next for both.
Rated R for language, some sexuality and drug use.
Review by Michelle Keenan
The Trip to Italy **** ½
Short Take: British comedians Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan are reunited for another road trip of food, impersonations and romantic poets.
REEL TAKE: In 2010 Michael Winterbottom made a film for British television called The Trip which sent British comedians Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan (playing alternate versions of themselves), as they traipsed about the English countryside reviewing England’s finest restaurants, staying in posh boutique hotels and regaling in the poetry of Lord Byron. Along the way the two endlessly swapped improvised witty banter and non-stop impersonations of famous thespians and icons. If it’s your cup of tea, it’s hilarious.
I was delighted to hear that Winterbottom had teamed up with Brydon and Coogan again for a sequel, The Trip to Italy. As with the first film, there really isn’t much structure, just the fun of watching the trip. The scenery is phenomenal, the food is gorgeous, and they still manage to follow the trail of romantic English poets.
Coogan is somewhat broody at the start of the film, but that theaterssoon fades away as Brydon begins a muffled one-man conversation between Christian Bale’s Batman and Tom Hardy’s villainous Bane from The Dark Knight Rises. Coogan, who is best known to American audiences for Philomena and the Night at the Museum franchise, is a comedic zeitgeist in the UK. Brydon, who is lesser known to Americans, is also a wildly popular comedian and mimic in his mother land. His Michael Caine and Hugh Grant impersonations and ‘small man in box’ voice will make you laugh until your sides hurt (and all are featured here).
The Trip to Italy may not be quite as fresh as the first trip, but it’s actually the better of the two films. Though the confines of the story are slight for the altered versions of themselves, both characters are dealing with professional and personal issues. Even amongst the gastronomic and bucolic bounty of Italy, they share an edge of human fallibility and angst.
One doesn’t need to have seen The Trip in order to see The Trip to Italy, but it certainly helps. Unfortunately The Trip to Italy may be gone from theaters by the time this issue is out. If that’s the case and The Trip to Italy sounds like your cuppa tea, watch for it on DVD soon.
Not Rated
Review by Michelle Keenan
Tusk *** ½
Short Take: An incredibly bizarre offering from Kevin Smith that is full of creativity and dark wit but only about 1 in 100 will probably be willing to sit through it.
Reel Take: Of the group of reviewers that I saw it with at an advance screening, I can safely say that I enjoyed Tusk more than the rest of them which is interesting as they went in with higher expectations than I did. I am not a huge fan of Kevin Smith’s early efforts like Clerks (1994) and Dogma (1999) but his later efforts such as Zach & Miri Make A Porno (2008) and Red State (2011) did make more of a positive impression… the former for its characterizations, the latter for its dialogue.
Red State in particular featured Michael Parks, one of my favorite performers for many years, in a key role. In Tusk he is virtually the whole show as a melancholy, articulate madman whose main objective is to turn a human into a walrus. The human in question is obnoxious podcaster Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) who makes Howard Stern seem positively genteel. He also treats his long suffering girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez) like something you occasionally step in.
Wallace has gone to Manitoba to interview a young kid who cut his leg off with a sword and then posted it online making him an internet sensation. Unfortunately when he gets there, the kid has committed suicide so he’s stuck without a story. After responding to one of those homemade ads that you tear the phone number off of, he’s on his way to meet Howard Howe (Parks) who has this thing for walruses.
After drinking a cup of drugged tea, Wallace passes out and wakes up minus a leg but that is only the beginning. He is then surgically transformed into a human walrus (sort of an Island of Doctor Moreau in reverse) while Howe explains in eloquent language and flashbacks why he has this thing for one particular walrus he named “Mr. Tusk”.
In the meantime, Wallace’s girlfriend and his on-air partner (Hayley Joel Osmont) are trying to track Wallace down with the aid of a spaced out former police inspector from Quebec played by a big name star in heavy make-up and using an alias. He’s funny for the first few minutes but quickly becomes the movie’s biggest liability as the movie stops dead in its tracks to allow him to do his thing.
I enjoyed it because it reminded me of drive-in rubbish like Flesh Feast (with Veronica Lake!) and 2000 Maniacs – films I used to see back in the 1970s – and it brought back memories of such 1940s mad scientist schlock as Devil Bat with Bela Lugosi, only with better dialogue and higher production values. If this sounds like your kind of movie, then go for it, but hurry. You can just imagine the unlimited commercial possibilities.
Rated R for disturbing violence/gore, language, and sexual content.
Review by Chip Kaufmann