Movie Review: Something Wild (1986)

Genre: Romantic Comedy Adventure  

Director: Jonathan Demme  

Starring: Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels, Ray Liotta  

Running Time: 113 minutes  

Synopsis: In New York City, Charlie (Jeff Daniels) is a recently promoted corporate VP. On a whim, he jumps into the car of the free-spirited Lulu (Melanie Griffith). After she robs a New Jersey liquor store, they have sex at a cheap motel. In Pennsylvania, Lulu reveals her real name is Audrey and introduces Charlie as her husband to her mother Peaches. But the wild adventure takes a dark turn when Audrey's ex-husband Ray (Ray Liotta), a career criminal recently released from prison, shows up at her high school reunion party.

What Works Well: A companion piece to other mid-eighties men-out-of-their-element adventures like After Hours and Into The Night, Something Wild joins a suit-and-tie corporate type as he jettisons caution and surrenders to the erratic desires of a compelling stranger. Melanie Griffith brings a buzz of energy to Lulu/Audrey, and hints at a complex backstory that deserved more attention. Ray Liotta immediately introduces menace and tension, although he enters the story late.

What Does Not Work As Well: None of the behaviour on display carries any whiff of realism, degrading events into episodes of irresponsible silliness. Given his lack of judgment it's difficult to imagine in what context Charlie becomes a Vice President of anything, and any deep-seated motivations or explanations driving his acquiescence and Lulu's impulsiveness are studiously ignored. The final act veers towards crime and violence inconsistent with the preceding vibe.

Key Quote:

Charlie: Look, if you don't turn around and take me back, you're gonna make me do something that I don't wanna do.

Lulu: I can hardly wait, Charlie.

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Movie Review: Hamnet (2025)

Genre: Romantic Drama  

Director: Chloé Zhao  

Starring: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson  

Running Time: 126 minutes  

Synopsis: In rural England of the late 1500s, Agnes (Jessie Buckley) is a free spirited daughter of the forest. She meets and falls in love with William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), who is tutoring in the area. She gets pregnant and they get married, then Agnes senses that William's creativity is stifled in the countryside. She encourages him to spend time in London, and she raises their three children mostly on her own, before a tragedy tests their relationship.

What Works Well: This mostly imagined recreation of the love and passion in Shakespeare's private life is a showcase for Jessie Buckley, as she carries the weight of believing in her man but on her own terms, giving birth to his children, and raising them on her own and through adversity. Director Chloé Zhao finds several devastating and emotionally charged highlights in the courtship and family-building scenes, Agnes' core connection with nature a source of strength and belief, but also foreboding. The production design merges the idyllic with the organic in creating a muddy peasant milieu.

What Does Not Work As Well: The final act unfortunately displaces all the character investment onto a stage filled with irrelevant actors, immediately robbing the drama of a well-earned payoff. Buckley and Mescal are reduced to unworthy reaction shots as Hamlet plays out with amplified emotions and the intrusion of Shakespeare's dense prose. 

Key Quote:

Agnes: He loves me for what I am, not what I ought to be.

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Movie Review: The Killer Elite (1975)

Genre: Crime Thriller  

Director: Sam Peckinpah  

Starring: James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill, Burt Young, Bo Hopkins, Mako, Gig Young  

Running Time: 122 minutes  

Synopsis: In San Francisco, Mike and George (James Caan and Robert Duvall) work for a CIA-affiliated private company providing protection for foreign political opposition leaders. George goes rogue, assassinating a client and badly wounding Mike but choosing not to kill him. Mike's bosses Collis and Weybourne (Arthur Hill and Gig Young) want him to retire, but after recuperating he is assigned to protect a Japanese leader (Mako). Assisted by his buddies Mac and Miller (Burt Young and Bo Hopkins), Mike's mission uncovers a malicious conspiracy and leads to renewed hostilities with George.

What Works Well: A quality cast elevates this uneven conspiracy thriller, combining two popular mid-1970's cinematic themes: shadowy government machinations and martial arts. James Caan and Robert Duvall ride out the clunky parts with aplomb, the script increasingly relying on sardonic humour as the final act approaches. The investment in Mike's recuperation ordeal is worthwhile, and the climax is well-staged within a unique mothball fleet setting.

What Does Not Work As Well: Other than a basic pursuit of greed to set everyone against everyone, the motivations of the master manipulators are next to incoherent. Director Sam Peckinpah suppresses his blooder tendencies, but the resulting action scenes are clunky, with the ninjas-against-guns confrontations played for laughs in an attempt to mask the mismatched idiocy.

Key Quote:

Mac: Damn it, Mike, you're so busy doin' their dirty work, you can't tell who the bad guys are!

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Movie Review: Pretty Persuasion (2005)

Genre: High School Satire  

Director: Marcos Siega  

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Ron Livingston, James Woods, Selma Blair  

Running Time: 109 minutes  

Synopsis: At a posh Beverly Hills high school, 15-year-old Kimberly (Evan Rachel Wood) aspires to become an actress, but remains sore that her best friend Brittany apparently stole her boyfriend. Kimberly helps new Muslim student Randa adapt to her surroundings, and they navigate around English teacher Mr. Anderson (Ron Livingston), who has a reputation as a molester. Meanwhile, Kimberly's unpleasant home life is dominated by her father Hank (James Woods), a loud-mouthed racist. A school production of the Diary of Anne Frank provides Kimberly an opportunity to achieve multiple objectives.

What Works Well: This snarky high school satire takes aim at multiple targets, and often succeeds with cold-eyed efficiency. Lecherous teachers, catty best friends, self-obsessed wealthy parents, vacuous boyfriends, trophy third wives, attention-seeking journalists, sex-as-a-weapon, and showtime lawyers are all on the agenda. Evan Rachel Wood excels as the psychotically calculating calm in the middle of the storm, Kimberly's genius manipulations revealed with deliberate pacing through well-crafted flashbacks.

What Does Not Work As Well: The tone oscillates sometimes wildly between humorous, hurtful, and plain crude, before veering towards too-dark territory in the final act. 

Key Quote:

Kimberly: So, Brittany, this is Randa. Randa's from the Middle East, but she's really sweet. She doesn't say much, though.

Brittany: Hi! I know all about the immigrant experience, how hard it can be - I'm Canadian.

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Movie Review: And While We Were Here (2012)

Genre: Romantic Drama  

Director: Kat Coiro  

Starring: Kate Bosworth, Jamie Blackley, Iddo Goldberg, Claire Bloom  

Running Time: 80 minutes  

Synopsis: British married couple Jane and Leonard (Kate Bosworth and Iddo Goldberg) arrive in Naples, where viola player Leonard has an assignment with the local orchestra. The couple's relationship is strained by the fallout of an unsuccessful pregnancy. Left alone during the day, Jane listens to tapes of her grandmother (Claire Bloom) recounting World War Two memoires. She also explores nearby Ischia Island, where she meets 19-year-old free-spirited drifter Caleb (Jamie Blackley). They spend time together and start an affair, with Jane questioning her life's trajectory.

What Works Well: The on-location filming in Naples and Ischia is scenic and laid-back. In contrast, the cold corpse of Jane and Leonard's marriage is portrayed with effectively cruel starkness.

What Does Not Work As Well: The sparse content struggles to meaningfully occupy the short running time, resulting in plenty of dreamy montage interludes. Kate Bosworth mostly stares into the mid-distance, and the behaviour of all three central characters is more annoying than convincing. Caleb stalks rather than romances Jane, and Leonard's abject cluelessness about his wife's needs makes him a deserving dumped husband. While central to her psyche, Jane using Caleb as a convenient toy boy adds to the sense of emotional detachment.

Key Quote:

Caleb: You make me nervous.

Jane: You make me calm.

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Movie Review: Night Always Comes (2025)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Benjamin Caron  

Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stephan James  

Running Time: 108 minutes  

Synopsis: In Portland, Oregon, financially stressed food server Lynette (Vanessa Kirby) lives with her mother Doreen (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and brother Kenny (Zack Gottsagen), who has Down syndrome. When Doreen blows a house down payment on a car, Lynette has one night to raise $25,000 to rescue the real estate deal. She turns to a businessman who pays for sex, a work colleague (Stephan James) with criminal connections, and a professional escort who owes her money, and the night quickly hurtles out of control.

What Works Well: This poverty drama explores the thin line between desperation and dark impulses, Vanessa Kirby's electrifying presence crackling with Lynette's grim determination to finally shape her destiny. Director Benjamin Caron creates a Portland-at-night aesthetic beset by homelessness, a fate awaiting Lynette as the hours count down and her choices narrow. Every encounter offers confirmation of societal dysfunction taking advantage of the marginalized, a reality where she participates as both perpetrator and victim.

What Does Not Work As Well: Although Lynette's motivations stem from good intentions, her rapid adoption of questionable and troublesome behaviour results in an unrelentingly dour drama built upon layers of malevolence, and apart from Kenny, devoid of sympathetic characters.

Key Quote:

Lynette: Kenny...look at me. We're in it together. We're going to do it for the family.

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Movie Review: Falling Inn Love (2019)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Roger Kumble  

Starring: Christina Milian, Adam Demos  
Running Time: 98 minutes  

Synopsis: San Francisco-based career girl Gabriela (Christina Milian) loses her job and dumps her non-committal boyfriend in the same week. Through an on-line contest she wins ownership of a dilapidated bed-and-breakfast in rural New Zealand. Gabriela  relocates to the quaint community, gets acquainted with the locals, and decides to renovate the property. She initially clashes with hunky local contractor Jake (Adam Demos), but eventually romance blossoms.

What Works Well: A resident goat is cute.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a tepid, cliché-rich city-girl-in-the-country romance, badly acted, poorly written, chemistry-free, and utterly predictable. From the meet cute (instigate by a runaway piece of luggage) to the obstacles placed in the way of love (a rival B&B owner and the sudden re-emergence of Gabriela's dumped boyfriend), this is the blandest form of formulaic scripting. 

Key Quote:

Gabriela: Never assume anything on the internet matches its profile picture.

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Movie Review: Shadowhunter (1992)

Genre: Modern Western  

Director: J.S. Cardone  

Starring: Scott Glenn, Angela Alvarado, Benjamin Bratt  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: With his marriage imploding, burnt-out Los Angeles cop John Cain (Scott Glenn) is dispatched to retrieve violent prisoner Nakai Twobear (Benjamin Bratt) from the Navajo reservation. Twobear uses mystical powers to psychologically control Cain, and escapes after causing a car crash. Cain teams up with a group of Navajo officers, including tracker Ray Whitesinger (Angela Alvarado), to hunt the fugitive on horseback in hostile desert terrain.

What Works Well: Scott Glenn adds presence and vulnerability as a cop outside his comfort zone, and engages in edgy sparring with Alvarado's tracker-on-a-mission. Evil exploitation of emotional fragility is a worthwhile theme, but only tentatively explored. Director J.S. Cardone captures some pretty desert scenery.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a low budget, poorly written, and clunkily paced attempt at an old fashioned posse chase. The final half hour loses coherence in inky darkness, and the characters are only provided basic sketched-in contexts. The villain Twobear could have emerged as a memorable antagonist, but is reduced to frequent cartoonish maniacal laughter, and of course he pauses his ruthless killing tendencies whenever the script demands that key characters be spared.

Key Quote:

Twobear (to Cain): It's your fear that gives me strength.

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Movie Review: The Swiss Conspiracy (1976)

Genre: Thriller  

Director: Jack Arnold  

Starring: David Janssen, Senta Berger, John Saxon, Ray Milland, John Ireland, Elke Sommer, Anton Diffring  

Running Time: 83 minutes  

Synopsis: In Geneva, former US Justice Department official David Christopher (David Janssen) is hired by bank president Hurtil (Ray Milland) to investigate a blackmail plot targeting five bank clients. The victims include the alluring Denise Abbott (Senta Berger), tough Chicago crime boss Hayes (John Saxon), and shady Texas businessman McGowan (John Ireland). Meanwhile, bank Vice President Benninger (Anton Diffring) and his lover Rita (Elke Sommers) may be suspects with means and a motive. As Christopher investigates, the dead bodies start to accumulate, drawing the attention of Police Captain Frey (Inigo Gallo).

What Works Well: The Swiss locations and slick production values provide scenic backdrops, and the complex story rewards attention by delving into sordid secrets hiding behind anonymous bank accounts and stone facades of respectability. Director Jack Arnold mixes action scenes with plot advancements and a mutual seduction, and throws in a couple of red herrings to extend the guessing game all the way to a decent mountaintop climax. The supporting cast contributes an interesting character actor in every role. 

What Does Not Work As Well: David Janssen lumbers through the action with little finesse but many shirt buttons undone. A few of the chase scenes go on for longer than needed, and the final plot explanations are unleashed in a frantic flurry. A couple of Ferraris engage in a high speed duel that unfortunately has nothing to do with the plot. Seemingly extensively damaged, one of the Ferraris emerges unscathed in the very next scene.

Key Quote:

Denise (to David Christopher): I'll change into something less comfortable.

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Movie Review: Bad Manners (1997)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Jonathan Kaufer  

Starring: David Strathairn, Bonnie Bedelia, Saul Rubinek, Caroleen Feeney, Julie Harris  

Running Time: 88 minutes  

Synopsis: Married couple Wes and Nancy (David Strathairn and Bonnie Bedelia) are both Boston-area professors, but the passion has long since seeped out of their relationship. Their staid home is upturned by the visit of Nancy's former lover Matt (Saul Rubinek), a musicology professor in town for a guest lecture, accompanied by his much younger lover and research assistant Kim (Caroleen Feeney). Wes is jealous of Matt, the free-spirited Kim stirs the pot, and accusations of theft and infidelity are soon rocking both couples.

What Works Well: The adaptation of the David Gilman stage play exposes turmoil between two mis-matched couples, and carries obvious echoes from Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. Strong performances by the four main cast members animate a milieu of crackling discontent hiding beneath a veneer of upper middle class respectability. Selfish motivations, generational gaps, and suppressed frustrations bubble to the surface, driving a steady stream of narrative twists.

What Does Not Work As Well: The stage origins are only partially concealed, and the plot hinges on a couple of logic leaps unworthy of supposedly smart people. A missing $50 bill immediately becomes an accusation of theft, and music notes within a garbled composition are posited as no less than possible proof of God's existence. Elsewhere the incessant lying erodes any sense of belief in what anyone is saying, slowly undermining the investment in already unlikeable characters.

Key Quote:

Kim: You're being a bore.

Wes: I am a bore. I lead a placid life.

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