Sergio (2020) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Well-intentioned but mediocre

Posted on April 19, 2020 by kaist455

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Netflix film “Sergio” is a well-intentioned but ultimately disappointing biography drama film about one decent real-life figure who deserves a more interesting movie in my trivial opinion. While it certainly depicts its hero with lots of admiration and respect, the movie is often unfocused and superficial in terms of narrative and characterization, and that is a shame considering the commendable efforts from its charismatic lead performer.

Wagner Moura, a wonderful Brazilian actor who drew my attention for the first time via his electrifying turn in “Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within” (2010), plays Sérgio Vieira de Mello, a prominent high-ranking UN official who was sent to Iraq along with his colleagues shortly after the US Army invaded Iraq in 2003. Although de Mello and his colleagues tried their best for stabilizing Iraq, their passionate efforts were unfortunately thwarted by a sudden terrorist attack several months later, and he was one of unfortunate victims who died at that time.

Around the beginning of the film, Sérgio is helplessly stuck inside a heavily damaged building which has functioned as the UN headquarters in Baghdad, and then we see how much he and his colleagues including Gil (Brían F. O’Byrne) have struggled to do their job since arriving in Baghdad. Sérgio believes that the restoration process should be started as soon as possible, but then he often finds himself clashing with Paul Bremer (Bradley Whitford), who functions as the envoy between him and the White House. Although Sérgio does not want to provoke the White House, he is quite concerned when Bremer is going to put those political prisoners in a certain infamous prison facility, and he eventually comes to decide to do something for preventing the situation from getting worse.

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Unfortunately, when Sérgio and his colleagues are about to take the first forward step for their noble cause, that terrible incident happens. While it seems there is still some chance for his survival, the circumstance becomes gloomier because there is no possible way to get him out of the spot right now, and, to make matters worse, his physical condition becomes deteriorated more and more as time goes by.

Along with Sérgio’s fading mind, the movie frequently flashes back to his past memories including the one involved with how he came across Carolina Larriera (Ana de Armas) in East Timor several years ago. While trying to find a peaceful way for the resolution for the longtime conflict between the Indonesian government and East Timor, Sérgio accidentally encountered this beautiful Argentine lady during his usual jogging hour, and she happened to be one of the UN officials working under him. Although they did not know each other much, it did not take much time for them to fall in love with each other, and Carolina certainly brought Sérgio some spirit he needed as struggling to balance his difficult position between the Indonesian government and East Timor.

The movie works best as observing how Sérgio and Carolina approach closer to each other. Carolina knows in advance that Sérgio is an older divorced man with two sons from his first marriage, but that does not stop her at all from getting attracted more to Sérgio, and Sérgio is happy to be with someone as professionally passionate as him. At one point, she shows him her modest but important micro-financing project among the local people of East Timor, and that indirectly inspires Sérgio to think of a simple solution for that complicated diplomatic matter between the Indonesian government and East Timor.

Even after their work in East Timor is over, Sérgio and Carolina remain emotionally attached to each other, and they come to consider living together in Rio de Janeiro, but then Sérgio is requested to handle the post-war status of Iraq. Later in the movie, there is a small but sincere moment between Sérgio and Carolina when Sérgio asks Carolina to go to Iraq along with him, and Ana de Armas, who recently drew more attention from us thanks to her splendid comic performance in “Knives Out” (2019), deftly handles her character’s complex emotions in addition to clicking well with her co-star on the screen.

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However, the screenplay by Craig Borten, which is based on Samantha Power’s nonfiction book “Sergio: One Man’s Fight to Save the World” (the book is also the basis of director Greg Barker’s HBO documentary film “Sergio” (2009), by the way), does not serve the good performances from Moura and de Armas well. While trying to cram many different elements including Sérgio’s estranged relationship with his two sons into its 2-hour running time, the screenplay does not delve that deep into its hero’s efforts and accomplishments, and the movie accordingly comes to lose its narrative focus and momentum from time to time.

In contrast to Moura and de Armas, the other notable main cast members in the film are mostly under-utilized due to their functional roles, and that was another disappointment for me. Garret Dillahunt and Brían F. O’Byrne do not have much to do as stuck with their bland supporting characters, and Bradley Whitford manages to leave some impression while being as smug as required by his obnoxious role.

Overall, “Sergio” is buoyed a bit by the engaging star quality of Moura and de Armas, but it does not have enough human dimension to hold our attention, and I was often distracted by its contrived aspects during my viewing. It was not the total waste of time at least, but I must tell you that I am now considering watching Barker’s homonymous documentary, which is incidentally also available on Netflix at present.

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Midnight Family (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Their nighttime business in Mexico City

Posted on April 18, 2020 by kaist455

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Documentary film “Midnight Family” simply observes its main human subjects and their nighttime activities, but what is vividly captured via its seemingly plain storytelling approach is utterly unforgettable to say the least. As phlegmatically but strikingly presenting how these people in the documentary struggle to work every night on the streets of Mexico City, the documentary lets us emphasize more with their daily hardships, and we accordingly come to reflect more on the deeply flawed system they always have to deal with in more than one aspect.

At the beginning, the documentary briefly informs us on a certain problematic aspect of the public healthcare system in Mexico City. In the city with the population of around 9 million, there are fewer than 45 government ambulances, and many of emergency medical situations in the city have been usually covered by numerous private ambulances out there in the city.

The Ochoa family has driven one of these private ambulances in the city, and the documentary mainly revolves around how they work night by night as coping with various matters ranging from the lack of necessary equipments in the ambulance to police officers demanding bribe. Although Fer Ochoa is the head of their family business on the surface, his 17-year-old son Juan is the de facto leader under many circumstances, and we see how passionate Juan is about his job. For instance, he often eagerly talks to his girlfriend about his latest emergencies, and it seems that he is really proud of doing the job he is born to do in his opinion.

However, things are usually not that good for Juan and his father. Whenever their radio informs them of the latest emergency near them, Juan drives their ambulance to the spot as quickly as possible, but there are always several obstacles for them to deal with. They usually have to compete with other private ambulances, and then they also have to deal with police officers before they are eventually allowed to take injured people to hospital.

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Even as Juan and Per are taking injured people to hospital, there are still some matters to be taken care of. While doing as much as they can for an injured person, they must check whether that person in question has medical insurance or not, and that matter certainly affects where they should take that person. At one point, they cannot go to some big hospital just because its parking space for ambulances happens to be full, so they have no choice but to recommend their injured person a small private hospital instead, and their injured person agrees because, well, there is no other choice under this urgent circumstance.

And then there is the matter of getting paid as enough as possible. Juan and his father try hard for getting paid, but many of injured people they help are poor people just like them, and there is always some struggle even when they can get paid for their service. It is usually Juan who has to take care of this difficult matter, and one brief moment indirectly shows his rather tense backdoor negotiation for getting paid more.

While they sometimes get paid fairly well with some satisfaction from getting the job done well, the situation continues to be difficult for Juan and his father nonetheless. They have more troubles with those pesky police officers who demand more money, and Juan sometimes becomes frustrated with how his father is not so careful with those necessary documents for their business as well as a number of required equipments in their ambulance. In addition, their ambulance later needs to be repaired, and that certainly reminds us of how much their business depends on it every night.

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The documentary also shows us a bit of how Fer and Juan spend daytime in their small and shabby residence, where they live with Juan’s two siblings. In case of Juan’s younger brother Josué, this plucky kid is understandably not so happy with often being short of money, but it is apparent that he enjoys hanging around with his father and older brother at night, and we frequently see him in the ambulance throughout the documentary. When his father and older brother come to decide that they should cut their food budget and then go outside for buying some cheap groceries, Josué gladly participates in this shopping process, and there is a little warm moment when he and his family subsequently enjoy eating what they have just bought.

Although the documentary does not make any direct point at all, director Luke Lorentzen, who also shot and edited his documentary in addition to co-producing it with Daniela Alatorre, Elena Fortes, and Kellen Quinn, wisely chooses to have those vivid moments in his documentary speak for themselves. As often unnerved by how problematic the healthcare system in Mexico City is, I was also touched by Juan and Fer’s professional dedication, and, as musing more on many difficult times of theirs, I became more grateful to the healthcare system of South Korea, which considerably helped me during a regrettable car accident caused by my idiotic mistake around two years ago.

In conclusion, “Midnight Family” gave me an experience both interesting and absorbing, and this little but undeniably impressive work is surely one of the notable documentaries from last year. Although it may be a bit too dry for you at first, it will soon engage you once you give it a chance, and you will not forget its main human subjects after it is over.

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The Kingmaker (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Rotten, superficial, and powerful

Posted on April 15, 2020 by kaist455

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If you are familiar with the notoriety of Imelda Marcos and her rotten family members in the Philippines, you will be often disgusted and horrified as watching documentary film “The Kingmaker”, which presents a very disturbing picture of how she and her family have tried to regain their wealth and political power during last three decades and, unfortunately, have succeeded pretty well. While alternating between her and a number of different figures functioning as the counterpoint to many of her blatant lies, the documentary amuses us with her banal narcissism at first, but then it chills us with her and her family’s evil attempt to erase their dark and horrible past, and you may come to fear for what may happen next to the country which they may soon have under full control again.

At first, the documentary mainly revolves around what Imelda casually says in front of the camera, and we hear a bit about her early years before becoming the wife of Ferdinand Marcos. She emphasizes how poor and difficult her early life was after losing her mother during her childhood period, and then she reminisces about how she came across her future husband and promptly accepted his instant marriage proposal in 1954. Although it seemed that being a politician’s wife was quite a burden to her, she tells us that she managed to get over her fear and anxiety via some psychiatric help, and a number of archival photographs and video clips show us how prominent she was in public as her husband rose to the power in the 1960s.

After becoming the first lady of the Philippines in 1965, Imelda presented herself as the big mother of the country, and she seems to believe that she did many good things to her country as required by her self-styled role. Sure, she was involved in various big government projects including building a certain big bridge, but these projects were strewn with corruption from the start. In addition, she and her husband frequently stole and spent billions of dollars from their government throughout their regime, and, as her close associates frankly tell us, she always got what she wanted – including thousands of expensive shoes for her.

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Not so surprisingly, Imelda does not seem to feel any guilt or remorse on these and many other crimes committed by her and her husband. Keeping insisting on how things were good for not only them but also the people of the Philippines, she becomes quite wistful and self-pitying as talking about what she and her husband lost when they had no choice but to leave the country due to the 1986 People Power Revolution, which was ironically ignited by the assassination of her husband’s biggest political opponent and his following attempt for another re-election. Once she and her husband became exiles, nobody wanted to be associated with them, and it looks like that desperate time still feels hurt to her.

However, after her husband eventually died in 1989, things came to change a lot for Imelda and her family members. Although the Filipino government was still investigating on whatever she and her family stole and then hid somewhere, they were allowed to return to the country, and they were actually welcomed by their remaining supporters. In fact, it did not take much time for Imelda but also several other family members including her son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to become elected politicians, and that certainly alarmed many people in the Philippines who still remember the terrors and horrors of the Marcos regime.

During the second half of the documentary, several interviewees recollect each own terrible experience during the Marcos regime, and it is really chilling to see how willing the country is to forget the past as wanted by Imelda and her family. At one point, the documentary shows a bunch of young students casually saying how things were better during the Marcos regime, and that clearly shows us that the people of the Philippines were bound to another dictatorship as learning nothing from the past.

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And, as many of you know, that did happen in 2016 with President Rodrigo Duterte, who did not hesitate at all to present him as a strongman and did get away with that. Although Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lost in the Vice Presidential election, Imelda and her family supported Duterte in more than one way, and Duterte certainly did not forget what they did for him. Besides frequently insulting and attacking the elected candidate in public, he has abused his political power for Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and he even allowed the body of Imelda’s husband officially buried in a national cemetery despite lots of protests.

Mostly letting her interviewees talk in front of the camera, director Lauren Greenfield, who previously made “The Queen of Versailles” (2012), never overlooks her main human subject’s rotten superficiality, and Imelda eventually comes to us a revolting but fascinating case of the mix of deceit and self-delusion. In my inconsequential opinion, she will continue to look away from her and her family’s evil and corruption, and, unless the people of the Philippines become really sick of her family again someday, she will certainly remain virulent as before during the rest of her life.

In conclusion, “The Kingmaker” sometimes made me wince for good reasons, but it is still a very compelling documentary at least, and I was certainly enlightened more on what has been going wrong in the Philippines these days. Now I come to detest more Imelda Marcos and what she represents, but, boy, she is indeed a piece of work, isn’t she?

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Tigertail (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A low-key immigrant drama from Netflix

Posted on April 14, 2020 by kaist455

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Netflix film “Tigertail” is a modest but engaging immigrant drama to be appreciated for its subtle human moments. As delicately revolving around its immigrant hero’s life story, the movie slowly lets us understand what he has sacrificed and suppressed for many years, and we are touched as observing how he comes to take a few forward steps for not only himself but also a person about whom he still cares a lot despite their estranged relationship.

At the beginning, we get to know the childhood years in the life of Pin-Jui (Tzi Ma), a Taiwanese man who emigrated to US along with his wife Zhenzhen (Fiona Fu) a long time ago. Not long after his father died, young Pin-Jui, played by Zhi-Hao Yang, was sent to his grandparents’ rural home as his mother tried to find a job in Taipei, but his grandparents had to hide him because of some political matter involved with his parents, and there is a brief but tense scene where a couple of soldiers come to search around inside his grandparents’ house.

Anyway, after several years later, Pin-jui, who is now played by Hong Chi-Lee, becomes a good-looking lad, and he is now living along with his mother, who has worked along with him in a nearby factory. Although life is still hard and difficult for them, Pin-jui and his mother are happy to be with each other, and Pin-Jui also has been in a relationship with Yuan (Yo-Hsing Fang), who has been quite close to him since his childhood years. Although they will probably not be able to marry due to their social status difference, Pin-jui and Yuan still find themselves drawn to each other nonetheless, and it does not take much time for them to go to the next step of their growing romantic relationship.

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And then there comes an unexpected change in Pin-jui’s life. After he happens to be noticed by the wealthy owner of the factory where he and his mother work, he is instructed to meet the daughter of the factory owner, and that is none other than Zhenzhen, who is played by Kunjue Li at this point. Zhenzhen’s father wants Pin-jui to marry Zhenzhen and then emigrate along with her to US, and Pin-jui cannot possibly say no to the offer from Zhenzhen’s father. After all, he has aspired to be successful enough to take care of his mother, and emigrating to US surely looks like a golden opportunity for success.

Right from their first encounter, both Pin-jui and Zhenzhen are awkward to be around with each other, but, once Pin-jui comes to accept the offer while leaving Yuan without a word, they have no choice but to accommodate each other. They are still two total strangers as they begin to settle in some neighborhood area of New York City, but they try their best for their new life in US, and we see how they get accustomed to their new world step by step. While Pin-jui gets employed at a local store, Zhenzhen takes care of their small residence, and she also comes to befriend a fellow Taiwanese immigrant, who amused me a bit for mentioning a certain annoying aspect of South Korean immigrants.

However, as time goes by, Pin-jui and Zhenzhen are reminded more of the growing estrangement between them. As Pin-jui becomes more occupied with his work, Zhenzhen feels more loneliness than before, and she starts to consider studying for becoming a certified schoolteacher after discussing with her friend, but then the situation is changed when she gets pregnant.

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Meanwhile, the movie also focuses on Pin-jui’s solitary life at present. He and Zhenzhen eventually divorced when their children grew up enough to be independent some time ago, and now he is living alone in his current residence without much interaction with his ex-wife or his children. Not so surprisingly, his daughter Angela (Christine Ko) has been quite frustrated with his stern and repressive attitude, and there is a painful flashback scene where her younger self does not get much consolation from her father shortly after a very embarrassing moment in the middle of her piano performance on the stage.

Now this looks like a familiar setup for melodrama, but director/writer Alan Yang, who has been mainly known as the producer/writer/director of Netflix TV sitcom series “Master of None”, lets the situation developed slowly via a series of small but impactful moments. Especially after coming to learn of how much his daughter has struggled in her personal life, Pin-jui looks back at his lifelong pains and regrets, and there is a little poignant moment showing his stoic face considerably brightened at one point later in the story.

And everything depends a lot on the subtle nuanced performance from Tzi Ma, who recently appeared as one of the main characters in “The Farewell” (2019). Even when he does not speak anything, his seemingly inexpressive face speaks volumes about what his character has kept to himself for many years, and that is why it is moving to see Pan-jui beginning to open himself up to his daughter in the end. It is just one small confession at first, but that eventually leads to a series of profound moments between him and his daughter, and the last shot of the film is a sublime final touch to their emotional journey along the story.

On the whole, “Tigertail” is an engaging movie thanks to its thoughtful direction as well as the good performances from its main cast members, and Yang makes a solid feature film debut here in this movie. Considering his immigrant family background, this is surely a personal story to him, and I admire how he sensitively presents it with considerable care and attention. He draws my attention indeed, and I guess I can have some expectation on his next story to come.

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Big Time Adolescence (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Still not growing up at all

Posted on April 12, 2020 by kaist455

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“Big Time Adolescence” is about one problematic friendship which seems to be going nowhere even at the end of the story. As observing its two different lead male characters, we come to see that one of them must grow up not only for himself but also his longtime friend, but he never seems to understand what is wrong with him and his pathetic life at all, and I assure you that you will shake your head more over his incorrigible immaturity and inconsideration.

The story is mainly told through the viewpoint of Monroe “Mo” Harris (Griffin Gluck), your average gawky high schooler who has looked up to his older friend Isaac “Zeke” Presanti (Pete Davidson). Mo came to befriend Zeke when Zeke was the boyfriend of Mo’s older sister several years ago, and their friendship has been continued even after Mo’s older sister broke up with Zeke for his thoughtless infidelity. As Zeke allows Mo to experience many ‘cool’ stuffs including booze as they frequently hang around with Zeke’s friends, Mo becomes more attached to Zeke, and his caring parents are understandably concerned more about what is going on between their dear son and Zeke.

Anyway, though he always feels fine and good as being with Zeke after the schooltime, Mo has yearned for being cool and popular around his schoolmates, and then a good opportunity comes to him on one day. After coming to learn that Mo can buy booze via Zeke, one of Mo’s classmates, who also desperately wants to be cool and popular, asks Mo to supply booze to the upcoming evening party to be held at some popular senior student’s house, and Mo accepts this request once he is also invited to the party. While gladly helping Mo getting booze, Zeke also suggests that he should also supply some drugs to the party, and Mo does not mind that at all, especially after realizing how much drug can boost his popularity among other students just like booze.

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In the meantime, Mo happens to meet a female schoolmate named Sophie (Oona Laurence), who seems to like him as much as he is attracted to her. After getting to know her a bit more, he takes her to Zeke’s house on one evening, and he and Sophie eventually take the next step for their burgeoning mutual feeling when she is about to leave. Naturally getting nervous and confused just like any teenager boy around his age, Mo subsequently seeks an advice from Zeke, but, of course, Zeke is definitely not someone to give any good advice on courtship and relationship. While he has been in a relationship with a young woman named Holly (Sydney Sweeney), he is not particularly serious about his relationship with her, and that aspect is clearly exemplified by when he happens to be alone with one of the women from his past.

As Zeke is willfully and hopelessly stuck in his immature status, the screenplay by director/writer Jason Orley keeps generating the moments which are funny but will probably make you cringe from time to time. At one point later in the story, Zeke and Mo come across some obnoxious guy who turns out to be an old friend of Zeke, and this accidental encounter leads to a very uncomfortable moment for Zeke and Mo as this prick becomes more annoying than before. He is more or less than what Zeke will be in the future if he continues to stick to his aimless and carefree lifestyle, and Zeke seems to be aware of that to some degree, though self-awareness is the last thing we can expect from him.

In contrast, Mo’s situation heads toward the inevitable point as already shown to us in the beginning, and the mood accordingly becomes a little more dramatic as required, but the movie does not provide much surprise us in that part. Yes, he surely comes to screw up many good things as facing the consequences of his actions, and he consequently becomes disappointed and disillusioned with his relationship with Zeke, but then the movie steps back from the resulting mess before delivering a rather mild finale.

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Anyway, the movie remains watchable thanks to the solid acting from its two lead performers. Pete Davidson, who also participated in the production of the film as one of its executive producers, effortlessly embodies the laid-back quality of your typical slacker lad, and he balances his character well between amiability and incorrigibility. While Zeke is pretty pathetic to say the least, we can also see why others around him are quite forgiving to him, and we are not so surprised when Mo’s father tries to have a sensible conversation with Zeke instead of blocking Zeke from his dear son.

On the opposite, Griffin Gluck did a good job of holding the center as required while complementing Davidson well on the screen. Although his character is less colorful in comparison, Gluck is engaging in his character’s bumbling attempts toward maturity, and he is amusing especially when Mo clumsily attempts to get closer to Sophie. In case of the other substantial performers surrounding Gluck and Davidson, Sydney Sweeney, Emily Arlook, and Oona Laurence are well-cast in their respective supporting roles, and Jon Cryer and Julia Murney are also effective as Mo’s parents.

Although it is less interesting and successful compared to other similar comedy films about arrested development including “Young Adult” (2011), “Big Time Adolescence” is not entirely without good laughs at least, so you may enjoy it if you just want to kill your free time. Considering that this is his first feature film, Orley probably will move onto better things in the future, and I hope I will be more amused and entertained by whatever will come from him next.

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Rachel Getting Married (2008) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): As her sister is about to marry

Posted on April 8, 2020 by kaist455

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To be frank with you, I usually get bored whenever I attend a wedding ceremony. Usually held at those big halls, weddings in South Korea are pretty much same in terms of routines and procedures, and I must confess that my mind is mostly occupied with how much money I have to give as a complimentary gift (Around $40 dollar at minimum) – and what I can eat at a buffet room. Unless the bride or the groom is someone considerably close to me, I just watch a few minutes of the wedding ceremony after giving the money as required, and I simply go straight to the buffet room for evaluation.

That is why I still vividly remember the wedding ceremony shown in Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married”, which is much more vivid and interesting compared to many plain and mediocre wedding ceremonies I mindlessly attended before. Constantly brimming with life, spirit, and personality, this wedding ceremony is surely one of the most entertaining ones I ever saw from movies, and it is also often poignant as we observe several intimate moments generated between its main characters, who come to put aside their personal issues and then be happy and joyous together for a while.

The movie mainly revolves around Kym Buchman (Anne Hathaway), a young woman who has been in a rehabilitation center for several months due to her addiction problem. She is glad to be allowed to visit her family house for the upcoming wedding of her older sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), but, like many newly recovering addicts, she cannot help but feel edgy and nervous, and her anxiety is not quelled at all even after her father Paul (Bill Irwin) arrives and then takes her to their home.

When Kym arrives at her family house, everyone is busy with preparing for her sister’s wedding, and we soon come to sense the tension between Kym and her family members. Her father genuinely cares about her recovery process, but Kym gets annoyed with her father’s constant attention toward her, and Rachel is not so pleased about Kim frequently drawing attentions from her father and others. While she generously allows her younger sister to be the maid of honor instead of her best friend, she understandably becomes quite displeased when Kym attempts to congratulate Rachel at first but then makes a rambling speech on her recovery process during the wedding ceremony rehearsal.

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Meanwhile, we gradually get to know an emotional wound which still feels hurt to Kym as well as the other family members. Around the time when Kym was at the bottom of her addiction several years ago, a devastating incident happened. It is evident from a few brief personal moments that she has been struggling a lot with her guilt over the irreversible consequence of her reckless action, which probably led to her father’s divorce with his first wife Abby (Debra Winger). When her father happens to come across a certain item from the past at one point, his casually cheerful attitude is suddenly switched off, and we can clearly feel his heart broken again over what was lost forever.

This is surely a familiar setup for family melodrama, but Jenny Lumet’s screenplay freely sways along with its main characters as they go through ups and downs before the wedding ceremony. In case of one tense scene between Rachel and Kym, it is suddenly punctured by what Rachel unintentionally announces to others around her, and we get some little amusement from Kym grumbling about that. During the scene which is actually based on an episode between Lumet’s legendary father Sidney Lumet and Bob Fosse, the mood is vivacious as everyone cheers for an impromptu competition between two main characters, and you may find yourself cheering along with them.

Demme and his cinematographer Declan Quinn took an effective visual approach fitting well to this free-flowing storytelling of Lumet’s screenplay. Because the movie was mainly shot via handheld cameras, its first 20 minutes may be a little too dizzy and rough for you at first, but, thanks to the raw verisimilitude generated from the spontaneous camera movements on the set, we often feel like being there around the main characters in the film. The overall result indeed looks like your average wedding video at times, but it is skillfully presented with several intense emotional scenes including the one where Kym and her mother come to confront the old pain and resentment still churning between them.

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In addition, Demme made an interesting choice on the music of the film for bringing more realism onto the screen. During the shooting, he had a bunch of musicians including Donald Harrison Jr. and Zafer Tawil play music in the background frequently, and everything we hear from the soundtrack is really what was recorded right on the set. When he shot one crucial scene, Demme let one of his main cast members ask the musicians to stop playing music outside, and this small moment of improvisation brings extra spontaneity to this important scene.

Like Robert Altman’s “A Wedding” (1978), which can be regarded as its senior, the movie observes its numerous characters with equal care and attention, and the best example is shown from Kym and Rachel’s stepmother Carol (Anna Deavere Smith). Although she seldom speaks throughout the film, we are always aware of her presence nonetheless, and she comes to us as another small but substantial part of the story just like Rachel’s soon-to-be husband Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe), who exudes warm, gentle decency in his amiable appearance even when he does not say anything.

It is evident that Demme had a pretty good time with his performers. In fact, his close friends and colleagues played some of minor characters in the film, and they and other performers effortlessly mingle together during the wedding ceremony sequence. Spiced with colorful multi-cultural elements, the wedding ceremony sequence pulsates with genuine joy and exhilaration, and I particularly like that sweet moment when Sidney expresses his sincere love toward Rachel as singing a song to her. After so much fun and excitement, there comes a precious moment of comfort and acceptance for Kym and a few others around her, and everything feels fine and perfect for them, though there are still some issues remaining unresolved for Kym and her family.

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To Anne Hathaway, the movie was a major turning point in her career. After demonstrating the serious side of her talent via a supporting role in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), she was ready for more challenging roles, and the movie certainly pushed her into big challenges. Never making any excuse on her character who is often very unlikable as being impulsive and self-absorbed, she ably presents her character as a complex human figure to observe and emphasize with, and you will probably come to wish Kym all the best in the end, even if you still do not want to be around her at any chance.

While holding the center as required, Hathaway does not overshadow several other main cast members at all. As the main counterpoint to Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt deftly conveys to us her character’s conflicting feelings toward Kym, and she is especially touching when Rachel quietly and tenderly handles her younger sister’s another messy situation later in the film. Holding each own small spot well around Hathaway and DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Mather Zickel, Tunde Adebimpe, and Debra Winger are also convincing in their unadorned natural acting, and you may be amused by the brief appearance of Sebastian Stan at the beginning of the film.

Although he has been mainly known for “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), Demme made a series of small but colorful character drama and comedy films such as “Melvin and Howard” (1980) and “Something Wild” (1986) before that. Sadly, “Rachel Getting Married” turned out to be his penultimate feature film due to his recent death in 2017, but it gave him a chance to return to form at least, and, in my humble opinion, it deserves to be mentioned along with those aforementioned works of his. In short, it presents one hell of a wedding, and I am willing to savor that again someday.

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Blow the Man Down (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little crime comedy drama in Maine

Posted on April 1, 2020 by kaist455

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“Blow the Man Down”, which won the Best Screenplay award at the Tribeca Film Festival early in last year and then was recently released on Amazon Prime Video, is a little crime comedy drama packed with enough local mood and personality. Right from the quirky opening scene accompanied with a bunch of singing fishermen, the movie amuses and then intrigues us, and I assure you that it will not disappoint you at all as bringing some fresh touches to its familiar genre territory.

At the beginning, we get to know the melancholic personal circumstance of Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor), two different sisters who have recently lost their dear mother. Priscilla, who took care of their mother for more than an year after their mother got sick, is willing to continue to run their mother’s local shop in their seaside hometown in Maine, but the shop has been on the verge of bankruptcy, and, to make matters worse, their house will be foreclosed by a bank due to delayed payment. Mary Beth, who has just returned from her college, is certainly not so pleased to learn about her family’s difficult situation, and she wants to leave the hometown as much as possible instead of frequently clashing with her older sister.

And then something unexpected happens at one night. After another argument with her older sister, Mary Beth promptly goes out outside for drinking, and then she happens to hang around with some guy at a local bar. While being quite drunk, they decide to go together to the guy’s residence by his car, and, shortly after arriving at his residence, Mary Beth notices something suspicious in the trunk of his car. Quickly coming to realize that she has gotten herself involved with a potentially dangerous man, she tries to get away from him, but then he chases after her, and she inadvertently kills him in the end.

Quite horrified by what happens, Mary Beth hurriedly goes to Priscilla for help. At first, they consider going to the local police, but they eventually decide to cover up the murder instead. After cleaning up the scene, they put the body in a big ice box, and they take the ice box to the beach and then throw it away into the sea.

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Of course, the situation becomes very complicated for Mary Beth and Priscilla on the very next day. The local police begin to search for that man because he is the main suspect of a certain recent case, and Mary Beth and Priscilla naturally become quite nervous when they are approached by two local police officers, who have incidentally known them and their mother well for many years just like most of residents in the town.

As Priscilla and Mary Beth try to deal with their increasingly tricky circumstance, it is slowly revealed that their hometown has a dark side beneath its seemingly peaceful and wholesome surface, and that is mainly represented by Enid Nora Deviln (Margo Martindale), a headstrong middle-aged woman who has run a prostitution organization in the town with the tacit permission from not only the local police but also several influential figures in the town. While everything has been mostly fine for everyone, it looks like Enid crosses the line now, and those influential figures in the town are not going to let Enid get herself off the hook easily.

Meanwhile, Priscilla and Mary Beth come across a bag of money which is certainly not for them, and it does not take much time for Enid to come to have a pretty good idea on what is really going on. At first, she simply approaches closer to Priscilla and Mary Beth as one of their mother’s old friends, but then she eventually makes her position very clear to them once she sees that she should be more active.

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Around that narrative point, the mood becomes more serious than before as expected, but directors/writers Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, who made a feature film debut together here in this film, keeps maintaining the lightweight overall tone of their movie with some morbid sense of humor. As those singing fishermen continue to function as a sort of Greek chorus, we get more amused by a series of plot turns along the story, and the movie also distinguishes itself to considerable degree as having itself mainly driven by female characters in a way not so far from Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” (2018).

In addition, the movie is supported well by the engaging performances from several main cast members in the film. Morgan Saylor and Sophie Lowe are solid as ably complementing each other on the screen, and they are also surrounded by a number of colorful veteran actresses who effortlessly imbue their supporting characters with life and personality to be savored. While Margo Martindale is surely enjoying her every showy moment in the movie, June Squibb, Annette O’Toole, and Marceline Hugot are also a fun to watch as a trio of old ladies who know a lot more than they seem on the surface, and they and Martindale are especially wonderful during one particular night scene later in the movie.

On the whole, “Blow the Man Down” looks modest but succeeds as much as intended, and I still fondly remember its entertaining elements including its distinctive local atmosphere and commendable performances. In short, Cole and Krudy did their job well enough to draw my attention, and it will be interesting to see what will come next from these two good filmmakers.

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Gringo (2018) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A black gringo in trouble

Posted on March 31, 2020 by kaist455

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“Gringo” is supposed to be a wild and crazy crime comedy movie, but it somehow fails to give me enough laugh despite the game efforts from some of its main cast members. While it is not entirely a total dud, it is so predictable and pedestrian that we can clearly see through every twist and turn to be sprung up here and there along its plot, and we only come to observe the absurd struggles of its broad main characters from the distance without much care or amusement.

The story mainly revolves around Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo), a Nigerian dude who has worked for a big pharmaceutical company in Chicago. As the company is about to have a merger with some other big company, Harold is not so certain about his future even though his friend/boss Richard Rusk (Joel Edgerton) assures to him that he will be all right after the merger, and it also turns out that he has a serious financial problem mainly due to the private business activity of his wife Bonnie (Thandie Newton).

Anyway, Richard and his business partner Elaine Markinson (Charlize Theron) soon go to a company factory in Mexico along with Harold, who turns out to be a small but crucial part in running this factory. The company has been developing and manufacturing a special marijuana product which will be released once marijuana is legalized in US, and Harold is officially the one supervising the factory along with his Mexican associates.

Not so surprisingly, some of Harold’s Mexican associates turn out to be linked with a powerful local drug cartel. Richard has been fine with that, but now he wants to end this criminal association with the drug cartel because he does not want any problem which may jeopardize the upcoming merger. Not so surprisingly, the boss of that drug cartel is not so pleased when he hears that news from one of Harold’s Mexican associates, and he surely demonstrates that he is definitely not someone to mess with.

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Meanwhile, Harold comes to learn of how expendable he actually is in the company, and then he is also quite devastated when his wife suddenly notifies to him that she is going to leave him. As discerning more of how life has not been that fair to him despite his honesty and integrity, Harold decides to do something he has never imagined before, but, as already shown to us during the opening scene, the situation soon becomes quite messy and complicated for everyone including him.

Now I have to be more careful for avoiding any spoiler, but I can tell you at least that a number of different characters come to search for our unfortunate hero. Besides several members of the aforementioned drug cartel, there are two Mexican brothers who belatedly come to realize what Harold may bring to them, and there is also Mitch (Sharlto Copley), an ex-mercenary guy who is also Richard’s brother and agrees to be hired by Richard just because he needs the money for his philanthropic activity.

In addition, we also meet Sunny (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman who comes to Mexico along with her boyfriend. As already revealed to us in advance, her boyfriend’s main purpose of visit is the illegal delivery of a certain drug product across the Mexico-US border, but he does not tell anything to Sunny, and she simply enjoys her time in Mexico while still quite oblivious to what her boyfriend has been up to.

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As cheerfully juggling its many characters, the screenplay by Anthony Tambakis and Matthew Stone, which is based on the story written by Stone, tries to generate humor and entertainment for us, but it often falters due to its thin narrative and superficial characterization. While Harold is supposed to be the one we will root for, the movie so futilely swings him back and forth between comedy and drama that he eventually becomes a figure as inconsequential as a pinball bouncing from one corner to another. In case of the other main characters in the film, they are also more or less than broad puppets to be manipulated in one way or another, and that is one of many reasons why the finale does not have much dramatic impact on the whole.

At least, the main cast members of the film try as much as possible with their respective roles, and some of them manage to acquit themselves well. Although he has been mainly known for a number of serious performances including his brilliant lead turn in “Selma” (2014), David Oyelowo surprises us here as showing another side of his considerable talent, and it is amusing to watch how willingly he throws himself into silly comic moments including the scene where his character becomes morosely drunken while not aware of a danger approaching to him. While Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron, who is also the co-producer of the film, gleefully chew their every nasty moment in the film, Sharlto Copley has a small fun with his offbeat character, and Amanda Seyfried is perky as required although she is mostly under-utilized just like Thandie Newton.

“Gringo” is the second feature film from director Nash Edgerton, who is incidentally Edgerton’s older brother and previously impressed me a lot with his previous film “The Square” (2008). While it is clear that he attempts something cheerier than that intensely crime drama movie, the overall result is a minor letdown, so I cannot recommend it to you, but I will not stop you if you simply want to kill your spare time.

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Uncorked (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): Between wine and barbecue

Posted on March 29, 2020 by kaist455

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Netflix film “Uncorked” is a mildly pleasant family drama exuding familiar flavors. Although it is rather predictable to the core, the movie manages to distinguish itself a bit thanks to its mood, details, and performances to be savored for a while, and you may come to forgive its shortcomings to some degree even while recognizing them during your viewing.

Mainly set in the African American neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee, the movie centers on the relationship between Elijah (Mamoudou Athie) and his father Louis (Courtney B. Vance). Since he took over a local barbecue restaurant from his father many years ago, Louis has diligently worked for making the restaurant into one of the most popular spots in his neighborhood, and he has expected his son to succeed him someday, but Elijah has had a different idea on his life and career. As doing a part-time job at a local wine shop in addition to working in his father’s restaurant, Elijah has become quite interested in wines, and he has been aspiring to be a Master Sommelier instead of cooking and serving barbecues.

Understandably, Louis is not so pleased about his son’s growing aspiration. Because he has some reasonable doubt on that, he thinks his son should focus more on working in his restaurant, but, mainly due to his wife Sylvia (Niecy Nash), he does not stop his son when Elijah later announces to him and other family members that he is going to try an entrance exam for the Master Sommelier program.

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Once he is allowed to join the Master Sommelier program, Elijah is ready to study as hard as possible, and we subsequently see him and other students eagerly going through their education process. Because only a few of them will be able to become a Master Sommelier in the end, they must know everything about numerous wines around the world, and, above all, they must be able to recognize each one correctly through merely tasting and smelling it. To me, this is really fascinating because, although I have been fond of wine after watching, yes, “Sideways” (2004), I only know the difference between red and white wines without much knowledge on smell and flavor (How the hell do some of them come to have the aroma of smoked meat, I wonder?).

Busily going between study and restaurant work, Elijah often finds himself overwhelmed by how much he needs to study, so he comes to join a study group. While Richie (Gil Ozeri) is constantly nervous just like I was before many examinations during my undergraduate period, a guy nicknamed “Harvard” (Matt McGorry) is more confident in contrast, and he certainly seems to have more chance than his other study group members because of his considerable competitiveness and knowledge.

Meanwhile, Elijah finds himself accidentally falling in love with a nice young woman named Tanya (Sasha Compere), whom he happens to encounter when she comes into the wine shop where he works on one day. Because she does not know that much about wines, Elijah volunteers to give her a quick lecture, and the mutual feeling between them becomes more palpable to us as he explains to her through an analogy between wines and hip-hop. When they meet again later, it does not take much time for them to move onto the next level, and Tanya soon comes to support Elijah’s aspiration sincerely just like his mother.

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However, Louis remains distant to his son, and their silent conflict gets worse when Elijah tries to join a Sommelier program in Paris as an exchange student. While Sylvia instantly embarks on gathering enough money for sending Elijah to Paris, Louis merely maintains his usual passive-aggressive attitude, and Elijah naturally feels hurt about the growing estrangement between him and his father.

After that narrative point, the screenplay by director/co-producer/writer Prentice Penny takes several plots turns as expected, and the mood accordingly becomes more serious than before, but the movie keeps maintaining its lightweight tone even during that part. Thanks to cinematographer Elliot Davis, the movie is constantly filled with the vivid and authentic sense of locations and people, and it surely does not disappoint us at all in case of wine and barbecue, which appear as frequently as required while, probably, making you a bit hungry or thirsty.

Prentice also draws the engaging performances from his good cast members. Mamoudou Athie gives a likable lead performance, and he is complemented well by Courtney B. Vance, who has been one of the most reliable veteran performers for more than 30 years. As Louis’ no-nonsense wife, Niecy Nash clicks well with Vance during several key scenes between them, and we can instantly sense their characters’ long relationship right from the beginning. In case of the other substantial supporting performers in the film, Sasha Compère has a nice low-key chemistry with Athie, and Matt McGorry and Gil Ozeri are also effective in their small supporting roles.

I must point out that “Uncorked” does not feel that fresh in terms of story and characters, and I am disappointed with its rather weak finale, but I recommend it anyway because it is fairly entertaining at least. Although it could be more distinctive considering its solid gradients, I enjoyed it as much as those middle-range wines I have usually drunk these days, so I will not grumble for now.

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Move the Grave (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Four sisters and their little family matter

Posted on March 29, 2020 by kaist455

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South Korean independent film “Move the Grave” revolves around four different sisters and their little family matter. As humorously observing the rocky interactions among them, the movie also throws some sharp jabs at the main source of their frustration and exasperation, and we come to understand and emphasize more with their conflicting thoughts and feelings while getting to know them more in the end.

As introducing its four main characters one by one, the movie sets up their imminent situation. When she receives a notification on her dead father’s grave which will be soon exhumed and then buried somewhere else, Hye-yeong (Jang Liu) promptly gathers her three younger sisters Geum-ok (Lee Seon-hee), Guem-hee (Gong Min-jung), and Hye-yeon (Yoon-geum Seon-ah) together, but it is clear to us that they do not care that much about this personal business of theirs. As revealed later in the story, their father did not pay much attention or affection to them throughout their life, and they were always pushed aside for their younger brother Seung-rak (Kwak Min-gyoo), from whom their parents expected a lot because, well, he was their only son.

While reminded of how much they have been estranged from each other, Hye-yeong and her three sisters try to reach to their younger brother, but Seung-rak seems to be out of the reach as not answering their phone calls at all, and they are not so surprised. It is implied through their casual conversations that Seung-rank is your typical loser who has been up to no good, and it looks like he has been hiding again after causing some trouble.

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Anyway, Hye-yeong eventually decides that they should just go together to their old rural hometown for meeting her father’s older brother Gwan-taek (Yoo Soon-woong), but, as they expected, they face the strong objection from their uncle, who, as your typical conservative South Korean male, sternly insists that Seung-rak should be present as the head of the family. Hye-yeong and her sisters are certainly exasperated about that, but they have no choice but to locate and then bring their younger brother because they need some cooperation from their uncle.

While Hye-yeong and her sisters search for their younger brother, we observe more of their respective problems. As a single mother who has raised her young son alone, Hye-yeong has struggled with several problems including her recent unemployment, and her young son, who seems to have a serious case of behavioral problem, does not much help her much while quite oblivious to what is going on among his mother and aunts. Geum-ok turns out to be quite discontent with her married life, and Geum-hee has also been dissatisfied with a man she is supposed to marry soon. In case of Hye-yeon, she is more active and outgoing in comparison as passionately fighting for female rights in her college campus, but, as reflected by one brief scene in the middle of the film, she has been frustrated as much as her older sisters.

It is not much of a spoiler to say that our four ladies eventually come to locate their younger brother, but then the screenplay by director/writer Jeong Seung-o gives us several small surprises as slowly rolling its main characters together to the eventual arrive point of his story. The scene where our four ladies confront their younger brother along with a certain supporting character is balanced well between humor and drama, and then we come to see more of how petty and cowardly their younger brother really is. When all of the characters in the story later come to gather at one spot, we can clearly sense the growing tension beneath the seemingly cheery mood, and what is inevitably erupted next among them will not surprise you much.

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Nevertheless, the movie also recognizes the remaining family bond among its characters, and its climactic part is followed by a quieter scene where they come to cool themselves down a bit. I think the finale is rather mild as resolving the main conflict of the story a little too easily, but the movie still handles its story and characters with enough care and humor, and we come to root for Hye-yeong and her sisters more around the final shot of the film.

In addition, the movie is supported well by its solid ensemble performance. While Jang Liu diligently holds the ground as required, Lee Seon-hee, Gong Min-jung, and Yoon-geum Seon-ah are appropriately colorful in their respective roles, and they and Jang are constantly spontaneous in their interactions on the screen. While Kwak Min-gyoo, Yoo Soon-wong, and Kang Seon-sook are believable as the other family members in the story, Song Hee-joon has her own small moment as the aforementioned supporting character, and Kang Min-joon, a young performer who effortlessly stole the show in “The World of Us” (2016), also holds his own small place well as Hye-yeong’s problematic son.

Although it could hit at its main targets harder, “Move the Grave” is still a funny and engaging family drama film on the whole, and I must say that it often reminded me of what I frequently observed from the six daughters of one of my uncles, who incidentally died around six years ago. Because of some personal conflict which caused lots of anger and resentment among them, they will probably not be together for the rest of their life, but I am sure that they will see a lot of themselves from the movie if they ever see the movie together.

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