Movie Review: Run All Night (2015)

Genre: Action Thriller  

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra  

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, Vincent D'Onofrio, Common, Nick Nolte, Genesis Rodriguez, Boyd Holbrook, Bruce McGill  

Running Time: 114 minutes  

Synopsis: In New York City, Jimmy (Liam Neeson) is an aging hitman working for his life-long friend, mobster Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris). Shawn's unhinged son Danny (Boyd Holbrook) instigates a bloodbath witnessed by Jimmy's estranged son Mike (Joel Kinnaman), a limousine driver and family man who wants nothing to do with his father. Over one long night, Jimmy has to protect Mike and his family from Shawn's wrath, a corrupt police force, and a professional assassin (Common), while police Detective Harding (Vincent D'Onofrio) tries to pick up the pieces.

What Works Well: The father-son redemption story is elevated by an exceptional cast in top form. In the interludes between uncompromising action set-pieces, Liam Neeson and Ed Harris share several scenes full of sorrow, lament, the weight of history, and an understanding of a looming fate. Neeson's Jimmy is increasingly unable to hide from the ghosts of his victims, but now finds a purpose in a mission to rescue his son and maybe get a glimpse of family life. Director Jaume Collet-Serra adds style by cutting through the darkness with glistening swoopiness.

What Does Not Work As Well: Many of the action scenes are prolonged beyond what is necessary, including a long-winded car pursuit, a chaotic search-and-escape through a large apartment complex, and a subway station hide-and-seek sequence. In contrast, several interesting secondary characters including Mike's wife (Genesis Rodriguez) and Jimmy's brother (Nick Nolte) and mother (Lois Smith) are short changed.

Key Quote:

Jimmy: It's your regrets that haunt you in your final moments. Everything you've failed to be. Everyone you let down. Everything you'd go back and change, if only you had more time.

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Movie Review: The Face Of Love (2013)

Genre: Romantic Drama  

Director: Arie Posin  

Starring: Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams, Amy Brenneman  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: The happy marriage of Nikki and Garrett (Annette Bening and Ed Harris) ends suddenly when he drowns on their 30th anniversary vacation in Mexico. Five years later Nikki is trying to move on with help from her neighbour Roger (Robin Williams) and daughter Summer (Jess Weixler). She then spots college art teacher Tom (also Ed Harris) who looks exactly like Garrett. She initiates a romance with Tom, without telling him about the uncanny resemblance.

What Works Well: In the central roles, Annette Bening and Ed Harris are reliably excellent, leaning on low key emotions to convey late middle age wisdom being buffeted by unexpected circumstances.

What Does Not Work As Well: A premise in search of a movie, the what-if question posited by writer and director Arie Posin quickly bumps against questionable character choices. The seemingly smart Nikki ignores the obvious dead-end of not telling her new lover about his resemblance to her ex-hubby. Her selfish emotional cruelty sets up inevitable conflicts when daughter Summer and neighbour Roger meet Tom. The drama then withers and dies on predictable meltdowns, made worse by a questionable ending that somehow contrives to misuse tragedy as a celebration of emotional re-birth.

Key Quote:

Tom (to Nikki): I could take a bath in how you look at me.

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Movie Review: Radio (2003)

Genre: Biographical Drama  

Director: Mike Tollin  

Starring: Ed Harris, Cuba Gooding Jr., Debra Winger, Alfre Woodard  

Running Time: 109 minutes  

Synopsis: In suburban South Carolina of the 1970s, Harold Jones (Ed Harris) is a teacher and football coach at the T. L. Hanna High School. He notices the mentally infirm James Robert "Radio" Kennedy (Cuba Gooding Jr.) hanging around the football team's practice sessions, barely able to speak and susceptible to bullying. Harold takes Radio under his wing, welcoming him to practice sessions and the school environment. Radio's social skills improve, but school Principal Daniels (Alfre Woodward) is unsure about his prospects, and the community of football parents worry that Harold is getting distracted.

What Works Well: Inspired by actual events, this is a heartfelt and feel-good story of kindness, priorities, and embracing uncertainty of outcomes. The Mike Rich script is comfortable not over-explaining everything, and respects a small-town culture where stoicism is a virtue and the community revolves around Friday night football. Both Ed Harris and Cuba Gooding Jr. provide affecting performances, well-supported by Debra Winger as Coach Jones' patient wife Linda. A well-contained running time preserves the story's humility.

What Does Not Work As Well: The sentimentality quotient is maintained at a high level, and James Horner's syrupy music score never relents. Coach Jones displays a knack for always jumping to the right conclusion.

Key Quote:

Linda: It's never a mistake to care for someone.

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Movie Review: Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Genre: Romantic Crime Drama  

Director: Rose Glass  

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, Ed Harris, Jena Malone, Dave Franco  

Running Time: 104 minutes  

Synopsis: In rural New Mexico of 1989, gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) falls in love with muscular drifter-from-out-of-town Jackie (Katy O'Brian), who is planning to compete in a Las Vegas body building competition. Jackie accepts a job at the shooting range managed by Lou's estranged father Lou Sr. (Ed Harris), and starts to inject herself with large doses of steroids. Meanwhile Lou's sister Beth (Jena Malone) is being abused by her sleazoid husband JJ (Dave Franco). When the abuse goes too far, Jackie intervenes, triggering a cycle of violence.

What Works Well: Director and co-writer Rose Glass creates a sweaty and gritty genre-melding backwater drama. Against the backdrop of corruption (Lou's father) and exploitation (Lou's brother-in-law), a romance blossoms and hopes for Vegas glory spur optimism, but drug-fueled violence leads to neo-noir shadings and even moments of levity. The cast excels within the economic doldrums (Jackie is effectively homeless; Lou's main task as gym "manager" is to clear clogged toilets), and Kristen Stewart exudes intent as a protagonist emerging from passivity.

What Does Not Work As Well: The final act is buffeted by too many dead bodies and erratic tonal shifts, undermining the more subtle set-up work. The sub-story about the FBI's investigation into Lou Sr.'s shady criminal activities receives only half-hearted attention.

Key Quote:

Jackie: Anyone can feel strong hiding behind a piece of metal. I prefer to know my own strength.



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Movie Review: Pain & Gain (2013)

Genre: Crime Comedy Drama

Director: Michael Bay

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rebel Wilson

Running Time: 129 minutes

Synopsis: The setting is Miami in 1993. Body builder and fitness club personal trainer Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) is inspired by charlatan self-help gurus and obsessed with achieving wealth. He recruits fellow body builders Paul (Dwayne Johnson) and Noel (Anthony Mackie) to kidnap gym club client and shady businessman Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and have him sign over all his assets. Kershaw turns out to be a tough nut to crack, leading to the involvement of private detective Ed Du Bois (Ed Harris).

What Works Well: Based on real events, Michael Bay creates an enjoyably over-blown and vivid story of dim-witted criminals overreaching in pursuit of the crass yachts-and-sportscars lifestyle sold on television. The action is drenched in sweat and complemented by thumping music, allowing the animated cast to play it straight and revel in the stupidity of men mistaking muscles for brains. The kidnappers are provided distinct personalities: Lugo is the scrappy leader, Noel is the easily impressed follower, and Paul is caught in a fragile attempt at reformation. The acidic humour adds crackles of energy, and Tony Shalhoub has the most fun as the indestructible Kershaw spitting venemous fury at his assailants.

What Does Not Work As Well: Criminal acts and victims are treated with marginally off-putting disdain, and the running time is as artificially bloated as the bulging biceps.

Conclusion: The dark side of the American dream in bright, brash colours.



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Movie Review: Cleaner (2007)

Genre: Crime Investigation Thriller

Director: Renny Harlin

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Eva Mendes

Running Time: 88 minutes

Synopsis: In Trenton, New Jersey, widowed ex-police detective Tom Cutler (Samuel L. Jackson) now runs a crime scene cleanup business while raising his 14 year old daughter. After he cleans up a murder scene at an upscale residence, Cutler is surprised that the homeowner Ann Norcutt (Eva Mendes) seems to know nothing about the crime and believes her husband is simply missing. Tom turns to his ex-partner detective Lorenzo (Ed Harris) to uncover what is going on at the Norcutt household. He is drawn into an investigation headed by detective Vargas (Luis Guzmán) and possibly tarnished by police corruption.

What Works Well: The production quality is polished, the cleaner profession opens avenues for wry humour, and director Renny Harlin enjoys staging yucky scenes of Cutler mopping-up post-crime blood and gore splatter. Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris are always worth watching and here bring a tired knowingness to their roles as aging investigators. The running time is refreshingly crisp.

What Does Not Work As Well: The plot gets progressively worse, starting on a high note with a mysterious murder connected with high-level graft but working its way down to much more mundane territory. Eva Mendes struggles to convince at every stage. Plot points related to Cutler's dead wife, his role in a prison yard death, the complex friendship with Lorenzo, and the strained relationship with his daughter all occupy plenty of space but ultimately bump against narrative dead ends. In a relatively sparse cast, the villain of the piece is easy to spot.

Conclusion: The crime scene is intriguing, but the clean-up is sloppy.

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Movie Review: The Way Back (2010)

Genre: Survival Drama

Director: Peter Weir

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, and Colin Farrell

Running Time: 133 minutes

Synopsis: During World War Two, Polish soldier Janusz (Jim Sturgess) is captured by the Soviets and dispatched to a Siberian prison. He meets a mix of political and criminal convicts including grizzled American Mr. Smith (Ed Harris) and scrappy thief Valka (Colin Farrell). Along with other prisoners they escape during a brutal snow storm, heading towards Mongolia. The mysterious Irena (Saoirse Ronan) joins the escapees en route, but the longer-than-expected trek to freedom will be tough to survive.

What Works Well: Inspired by actual events, this is a grim and determined battle for survival, first against the inhumanity of prison conditions, then trudging through an inhospitable natural environment fluctuating from extreme cold to insufferable heat. The long trip on foot is satisfyingly exhausting to watch, and director Peter Weir teases out character traits and the survivors' strengthening bonds. Russell Boyd's cinematography captures nature's dangerous grandeur.

What Doesn't Work As Well: With a limited - and familiar - thematic ambition of the human spirit yearning to live free or die trying, it's difficult to care too much about any of the characters. The less prominent members of the escape party are predictably lined up to expire. Janusz's flashbacks and hallucinations are flimsy, and the running time need not have competed with the actual duration of the journey.

Conclusion: A sturdy but emotionally parched hazard course navigation adventure.



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Movie Review: The Human Stain (2003)

A drama about love and lies, The Human Stain initiates numerous narrative pathways and shortchanges them all.

In New England, literature professor Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) retires from his distinguished college position after being falsely accused of using a racial slur. His wife Iris dies soon afterwards. Embittered, Coleman approaches author Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise) to help write his story. He then starts an affair with Faunia (Nicole Kidman), an angry-at-life janitor. She is living in fear of her psychotic ex-husband Lester (Ed Harris), a psychologically damaged Vietnam War veteran.

Flashbacks to the 1940s reveal Coleman's secret. He comes from a black family, but can pass as white. As a young man (Wentworth Miller) attending college he develops a romance with white classmate Steena Paulsson (Jacinda Barrett), but their relationship is compromised when she meets his mother. Coleman disavows his family and commits to living a lie pretending to be a white Jew. Now in the twilight of his life, the affair with Faunia rejuvenates his spirits.

The Human Stain appears to have no idea what topic to pursue. The disjointed Nicholas Meyer script, adapting a Philip Roth novel, is burdened with enough big ideas and juicy subplots to occupy several movies, and unsurprisingly, director Robert Benton never grabs hold of the material. The production quality is high and each individual social issue holds promise, but the whole is considerably less than the sum of the parts.

The competing themes are wedged into a 105 minute jumble. A career ended by political correctness running amok, a wife dying of a broken heart, a winter-spring romance that also spans the class divide, a secret life hiding true racial identity and resulting in a fractured family, an author dealing with writer's block, a lost romance of youth, and a violent ex-husband who wants to turn a drama into a thriller: every scene steers in a different direction and the movie spins in place.

Benton is not helped by the miscasting of both central characters. Hopkins and Kidman share no chemistry, and misery loving company is the only justification for their characters' romance. Neither Hopkins as an inherently black man nor Kidman as a scrappy white trash woman convince, but of the two, Hopkins seems particularly lost. While Benton is working overtime to make racial origins a centrepiece, Hopkins appears clueless, his focus purely on the unexpected joy of finding a new love. 

Fundamentally lacking discipline, The Human Stain is overloaded and underdeveloped.



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Movie Review: Man On A Ledge (2012)

A dramatic thriller, Man On A Ledge is a wild-enough ride through a too-insane-to-matter plot.

Former police officer Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is serving prison time for stealing and fragmenting a large precious diamond, a crime he denies committing. He escapes, and a month later books a hotel room in Manhattan, writes a suicide note, and steps out onto the ledge. Detective Jack Dougherty (Edward Burns) is first on the scene, but Nick demands to talk with negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks). 

As the expected crowd and media hordes gather at street level, Nick's ex-partner Ackerman (Anthonie Mackie) and Sergeant Marcus (Titus Welliver) follow the drama with interest. They realize Nick's stunt is a distraction to allow his brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and Joey's girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) to infiltrate the vault of corrupt real estate tycoon David Englander (Ed Harris) and steal the diamond for real, proving Nick's innocence. But Englander has many police officers on his payroll, and is determined to hold onto the diamond.

Written by Pablo Fenjves and directed by Asger Leth, Man On A Ledge is a heist movie jazzed up with a needlessly complicated backstory, but also handsomely mounted with a sense of glib bravado. Whether with Nick on a ledge threatening an instant death or with Joey and Angie navigating Englander's alarm systems, the tension of a misstep is always near. Leth finds edgy perspectives and keeps his cameras moving despite the potentially static premise.

The visual gloss is necessary, because the actual plot is well past ludicrous. The holes are large and obvious, starting with not a single police officer in New York recognizing the supposedly notorious Nick, who is keen to buy time by refusing to disclose his identity. A large building rooftop explosion attracts no attention, then Joey and Angie are clever enough to defeat the city's most elaborate security system, but need to radio Nick - on that ledge - to recognize a heat detector. 

The performances are of the adequate variety. Elizabeth Banks benefits from the most depth as her character deals with the trauma of a previous failed negotiation and is now forced to re-test her instincts. Ed Harris phones in a bad guy performance and does not look healthy doing it. 

As typically happens with thrillers tethered to one location, Fenjves starts to clutch at flimsy reasons to keep Nick suspended in place, and it's a relief when he finally abandons the jumper pretense and swings into action during the suitably chaotic climax. Man On A Ledge offers a good view, as long as the details are left unscrutinized.

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Movie Review: Borderline (1980)

A human smuggling thriller, Borderline features routine action in a story of border agents pursuing profiteers exploiting illegal migrants. 

Jeb Maynard (Charles Bronson) is the senior agent in charge of a US border patrol station located in the rough terrain between San Diego and Tijuana. With the amount of human smuggling activity increasing rapidly, agent Jimmy Fantes (Bruno Kirby) arrives to bolster Jeb's team, which also includes veteran agent Scooter Jackson (Wilford Brimley). 

Local rancher Carl Richards (Bert Remsen) hides behind a facade of respectability but is part of an elaborate for-profit human smuggling enterprise. Ex-Marine Hotchkiss (Ed Harris) manages all the dirty field logistics for Richards. Late at night on a desolate stretch of highway, Jackson stumbles upon a truckload full of illegal migrants, and is killed by Hotchkiss. Jeb has few clues to go by, but is determined to bring the murderer to justice.

A modest Charles Bronson vehicle directed and co-written by Jerrold Freedman, Borderline benefits by staying within itself. The action scenes are brief and restrained, with emphasis instead on following the evidence (in this case, distinctive footprints). Jeb tries different angles to uncover the conspirators, including going undercover to join a group of migrants being smuggled across the border.

The lure of profits from shifting "units" across the border is huge, and the plot follows the money to the swanky offices of tycoon Henry Lydell (Michael Lerner). He is interested in maximizing revenues by scaling up the business, pushing Richards to do more in a cold-blooded demonstration of supply and demand dynamics.

Bronson breezes through the drama with his usual unflappable presence, Freedman always finding refuge in his star's craggy face and squinty eyes. In his first notable big screen role, Ed Harris makes for an effective stony-faced villain, a Vietnam veteran now finding a money-making outlet for his military skills. The ever-dependable Wilford Brimley further enhances the cast.

The migrants themselves are reduced to faceless and nameless individuals sprinting across the desert terrain in search of a better future. The sole exception is one bright-eyed teenager who is provided a name and sketch story, but he drops out early to provide Jeb with an interaction pathway. Borderline never claims to possess big answers or narrative sophistication, but does complete the crossing with minimal fuss.



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Movie Review: The Last Full Measure (2019)

A biographical drama retroactively examining battlefield heroics, The Last Full Measure is earnest but veers towards persistent reverence.

In 1999, Vietnam War veteran Tom Tulley (William Hurt) advocates for reopening the case of Air Force Pararescueman William H. Pitsenbarger (Jeremy Irvine) to determine if he posthumously deserves the Medal of Honor. Ambitious Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan) is tasked with conducting the necessary research.

In April of 1966, a US Army platoon is caught in a Vietnam jungle ambush and suffers heavy casualties. Pitsenbarger rappels onto the battlefield from the safety of his helicopter to help evacuate the wounded. He saves many lives before succumbing to enemy fire, but is then awarded the Air Force Cross rather than the coveted Medal of Honor. 

Scott is initially uninterested in the entire file, but is soon drawn into the case as he tracks down survivors and hears the stories of the men involved in the fateful battle, including Billy Takoda (Samuel L. Jackson), Ray Mott (Ed Harris), and Jimmy Burr (Peter Fonda). Pitsenbarger's parents Frank and Alice (Christopher Plummer and Diane Ladd) support Scott's investigation, with Frank's ill health adding a sense of urgency.

Written and directed by Todd Robinson, The Last Full Measure is inspired by real events. The film sets out to salute the heroes of a war gone bad, and achieves this objective with ardent respect. The screenplay carries a nervous yearning for a final polish, but the production values are slick, and the tone is serious, inquisitive, and always searching for the positive instinct within the human spirit. 

As bureaucrat Scott delves into the case, frequent flashbacks from multiple perspectives recreate the ambush at the centre of Pitsenbarger's story. The combat scenes are suitably chaotic, the on-the-ground soldiers trapped by intense enemy fire and gripped by confusion and fear. Into this arena drops Pitsenbarger to help save the wounded, and The Last Full Measure never holds back on representing the medal winner as a mythical saviour. Soaring emotive music augments the square-jawed fearless warrior image, actor Jeremy Irvine encouraged to rise above the mayhem of mere mortals.

The surrounding modern day men-of-war stories enhance the drama. Scott's investigation reopens old wounds, rekindling memories of battlefield mistakes that still haunt surviving soldiers tortured by the belief they should have done better. Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, and Peter Fonda embody veterans living with waking nightmares populated by death, gore, and disillusion. In an elegant gesture, John Savage appears as a sage and healing presence in the post-war Vietnam jungle, 41 years after his seminal ordeal in The Deer Hunter. 

Less effective is a bit of villainy in the form of Scott's boss Carlton Stanton (Bradley Whitford), who pulls on levers of careerism to protect his bosses as the investigation reveals military missteps.

Steering away from wit, cynicism, or broader questions about war, The Last Full Measure succeeds in saluting valour within sacrifice.



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Movie Review: Absolute Power (1997)

A thriller swirling near the pinnacle of politics, Absolute Power features an outlandish plot and uneven pacing but slick-enough execution.

While robbing the lavish Washington DC mansion of billionaire power broker Walter Sullivan (E.G. Marshall), aging professional thief Luther Whitney (Clint Eastwood) secretly witnesses a rough sex session between US President Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman) and Sullivan's much younger wife Christy (Melora Hardin). When the roughness boils over into violence and Christy threatens Richmond with a letter opener, Secret Service agents Burton (Scott Glenn) and Collin (Dennis Haysbert) shoot and kill her. The President's Chief of Staff Gloria Russell (Judy Davis) orchestrates the cover-up.

Detective Seth Frank (Ed Harris) leads the investigation into Christy's death. Luther has a fraught relationship with his daughter Kate (Laura Linney), and is content to leave town before Frank catches up with him. But when Richmond nauseatingly pretends to grieve Sullivan's loss on national television, Luther decides to stick around and expose the President's hypocrisy.

An adaptation of a David Baldacci novel with a screenplay by William Goldman, Absolute Power boasts a strong cast and a glitzy coat of polish. Director and star Clint Eastwood allows the charismatic central character of Luther Whitney to anchor the action, and the aging, laid-back career thief occupies the eye of the storm with veteran ease. Gene Hackman is a welcome foil, but his role as the smarmy President Richmond is almost too easy.

The plot is preposterous and requires a quick surrender to park-your-brain impulses. The peak arrives early: Luther hiding in a secret chamber and watching through a one-way mirror as the President's secret sex liaison starts badly then just gets worse. Eastwood's reaction shots are terrific, and the resulting mess of overlapping crimes is a great jumping-off point for a convoluted cover-up. 

Thanks to the talent involved and high production values, the follow-through is never less than engaging, but also riddled with dead-ends and logic gaps. Richard Jenkins appears as a hit-man then disappears just as mysteriously; the two secret service agents pursue their own agendas leading to nowhere; and Judy Davis' Chief of Staff starts strong then dwindles to irrelevance. Meanwhile, Eastwood unnecessarily prolongs most scenes, then loses rhythmic control in the final 15 minutes. The film ends in a jumbled rush of barely coherent events and actions inconsistent with the careful build-up.

Elsewhere, the father-daughter dynamics between Luther and Kate are decent, Eastwood finding ways to tease out Luther's essence while avoiding most cliches. The stuttering would-be romance between detective Frank and Kate is less impressive and never grinds out of the awkward gear. Absolute Power does not fulfill all its promises, but still provides passable potency.



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Movie Review: The Lost Daughter (2021)

A drama about the travails of motherhood, The Lost Daughter is a study of women's harsh challenges and deep regrets.

Middle-aged literature professor Leda Caruso (Olivia Colman) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, arrives for a vacation in Greece. She takes a room at the hotel managed by grizzled American Lyle (Ed Harris). At the nearby small beach where Will (Paul Mescal) runs the concession, Leda observes vacationing young mom Nina (Dakota Johnson) struggling with her demanding daughter Elena. Nina reminds Leda of her own frustrating days as a young mom (Jessie Buckley) juggling graduate studies with caring for two daughters.

Nina is part of a vacationing family from Queens with roots in Greece. Her shifty husband Toni (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) controls businesses in the area, and is frequently absent, leaving Nina bored and interested in Will. Nina's sister Callie (Dagmara Domińczyk) is pregnant, and her direct conversational style clashes with Leda's desire for solitude. Elena briefly goes missing at the beach, causing momentary panic. Leda intervenes, inserting herself into Nina's orbit while memories of the past continue to haunt her.

An excellent directorial debut for Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter is a soulful treatise on womanhood and the burden of childcare. Gyllenhaal adapted the novel by the anonymous Italian writer Elena Ferrante, and with help from a mesmeric Olivia Colman focuses beautiful lyricism on often neglected topics. 

The intersecting experiences of Leda, Nina and Callie explore motherhood from the multiple prisms of the past, present, and future, resulting in an impressive narrative scope. Mothers' insecurities, unsatisfied desire, and sense of inadequacy, along with the incessant demands of children, husbands getting away with doing less, and the seeming impossibility of juggling parenting with a career, all surface in haunting shadows. Leda observes Nina embarking on a familiar path, then moves from quiet bystander to a version of meddling, driven by a complex mix of caring, selfishness, arrogance, and self-righteousness. The past and present come together, Gyllenhaal interspersing the flashback scenes in just the right doses to artfully round Leda into a genuine and memorably flawed individual.

The drama unfolds through powerful naturalistic behaviours and familiar human dynamics. The vacationing Leda is not much of a people person, and a lot of what happens in Greece is conveyed through silent pauses. Olivia Colman expresses a range of emotions by under-communicating, Leda pulling back into a stern stance when faced with Callie's inquisitions. Her sense of entitlement does erupt in petty self-defeating episodes, first refusing to relocate her beach position to accommodate a family's needs, later picking a fight she cannot win with a group of disruptive youth.

Sexual desire at various life stages is another common theme. Young Leda and Nina are both unsatisfied with their husbands, and as they navigate child care responsibilities, they both seek better male companionship. And now Leda finds men like Lyle and Will potentially interested in her as a project and an enigma, but not necessarily as a person.

At 121 minutes the movie is marginally over-long, some scenes repeating the same notes, others altogether unnecessary. But in the final act, Leda's motivations and self-awareness come into sharp focus. In a moving acknowledgement of frailty, The Lost Daughter couples crushing responsibility with disruption of emotional balance, the consequences rippling into the future.



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Movie Review: The Abyss (1989)

An ambitious science fiction underwater survival adventure thriller with cold war undertones, The Abyss is visually stunning and technically astounding, but sidelines people in favour of machinery. 

The nuclear-powered USS Montana submarine sinks after an encounter with an unidentified object in deep waters near Cuba. With a hurricane moving in, the US Navy launches a rescue attempt. The crew of the nearby Deep Core underwater drilling platform led by Virgil "Bud" Brigman (Ed Harris) is hurriedly recruited to support a SEAL team under the command of Lieutenant Coffey (Michael Biehn). Deep Core's designer and Bud's wife Dr. Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) joins them, although the couple are on the verge of divorce.

Underwater, tensions rise when Coffey starts suffering from the effects of high-pressure nervous syndrome. Then mishaps leave Deep Core stranded at the bottom of the ocean without surface communications. Encounters with alien beings continue, with Coffey attributing the activity to enemy action and unilaterally deciding to nuke the area using one of the Montana warheads. Bud and Lindsey have to set aside their differences and work together to prevent a series of catastrophes and save each other.

Written and directed by James Cameron and clocking in at 140 minutes (an Extended Cut adds another 20 minutes), The Abyss borrows themes from science fiction landmarks including The Day The Earth Stood Still, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. The plot unambiguously stands against military action and nuclear escalation, and argues for protecting the environment and the majesty of the oceans. Meanwhile, technologically superior friendly beings keep watch on humanity's progress (or lack thereof).

To achieve his vision Cameron subjected himself, the actors and crew to a gruelling schedule of almost continuous filming in massive water tanks, with Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio taking the brunt of the physical strain. The effort registers on the screen, the action taking place almost entirely under water, the characters' exertion and exhaustion in battling frigid waters, deep underwater pressure, and the continuous risk of drowning adding to the drama's intensity.

But the film tries to do too much and never latches onto to a cohesive, human-centred direction. Bouncing from rescue mission to natural disaster then a survival ordeal before veering towards a crew-versus-SEALs hostage drama followed by a nuclear device countdown preceding a deus ex machina finale embellished with psychedelia, the narrative lurches from one crisis to the next, barely catching a breath or pausing for an explanation.

Along the way the machines take centre stage, especially in the clumsy and awkward opening 90 minutes, so eager to get wet that character definitions and human emotions are forgotten somewhere on the shoreline. It's late in the day by the time Bud and Lindsey finally break through the stock bickering and round into people worth caring about. Harris and Mastrantonio then deliver a couple of stellar and unforgettable sequences of love, heroism and sacrifice merging in exceptional tests of endurance. The Abyss is a technical marvel, but only soars when human warmth overcomes the frigid hardware.



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Movie Review: Under Fire (1983)

A tense drama set within Nicaragua's civil war, Under Fire captures the bracing chaos faced by journalists trying to make sense of a revolution in progress.

After covering the civil war in Chad, photojournalist Russell Price (Nick Nolte), and reporters Claire (Joanna Cassidy) and Alex (Gene Hackman) relocate to Nicaragua, where a leftist revolution is threatening to overthrow the US-backed regime of President Anastasio Somoza (René Enríquez). Alex then returns to the US to accept a job as anchor, breaking off a strained relationship with Claire and allowing her to pursue a passionate romance with Russell.

The Nicaraguan rebels, inspired by reclusive leader Rafael, are quickly advancing through the countryside and capturing key towns. Russell meets well-connected French businessman/spy Jazy (Jean-Louis Trintignant), as well as mercenary Oates (Ed Harris). American public relations expert Hub Kittle (Richard Masur) tries to burnish the President's reputation, despite Somoza's infatuation with Miss Panama (Jenny Gago) while the country burns. When rumours of Rafael's death threaten the rebels' progress, Russell and Claire are forced to make decisions that could alter the war's trajectory.

Filmed in Mexico, Under Fire recreates a country convulsing under the pressure of a Cold War fueled revolution. The script by Clayton Frohman and Ron Shelton lends sympathy to the rebels at the expense of the Somoza dictatorship, but is also under no illusions. Frenchman Jazy, at the point of losing everything, is blunt in his assessment of the country's prospects, under any regime.

Meanwhile director Roger Spottiswoode brilliantly evokes the horrific sights and smells of a furious conflict consuming the country. Under Fire captures the disorienting reality of deserted streets littered with destroyed equipment and abandoned dead bodies, civilians sheltering from the horror, the warring factions barely in control of opposite sides of small towns, the combatants themselves unsure where the front lines are. In one scene Russell and Claire, desperate to find a path to safety, encounter two rebels stationed at a street corner who just shrug in disinterested ignorance when asked whether the revolutionaries control that neighbourhood.

As the death count rises, Russell and Claire witness increasing atrocities. Their objectivity erodes and they enter the danger zone where the appeal of taking sides rises. With his cameras and photographs emerging as potent weapons, Russell's exhausted psyche is put to the test, seemingly in a position to wield power but also unaware of his status as a pawn. Alex's unexpected return to Nicaragua threatens to elevate all of Russell's risks into disasters, but just like the endless neighbourhood mazes, more twists await. 

At a running length of 128 minutes, Spottiswoode allows the drama to breathe with adequate time and space afforded for both character development and taut on-the-street action. Nolte, Cassidy and Hackman are provided enough context to round their characters into believable war correspondents, although the romantic entanglements are predictably clunky. Ed Harris as the mercenary Oates has a small but chilling role, the misery of nations providing gainful employment for men happy to kill for a living.

Unblinking, harrowing and riveting, Under Fire radiates with the intensity of infernal combat and impossible dilemmas.



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Movie Review: Kodachrome (2017)

A father-son road trip, Kodachrome is confined to expected frames but benefits from a grizzled Ed Harris performance.

Record label talent agent Matt Ryder (Jason Sudeikis) is barely hanging on to his job when he learns his estranged father, celebrated photographer Ben Ryder (Harris), has three months to live. Matt has not seen his dad for 10 years, and is resentful Ben abandoned the family when Matt was a child. Ben's nurse Zooey (Elizabeth Olsen) and business manager Larry (Dennis Haysbert) nevertheless convince Matt to accompany Ben on a road trip to Parsons, Kansas, where the last store processing Kodachrome film is about to close. Ben wants to process four old but recently found rolls of film before dying.

Ben's caustic personality makes for a fraught trip, with Zooey trying to create a truce between father and son. They take a side trip to Cleveland to visit Ben's brother Dean (Bruce Greenwood) and his wife Sarah (Wendy Crewson), who helped raise Matt. At another stop in Chicago Matt attempts to save his career by poaching an up-and-coming band from a rival label. A romance develops between Matt and Zooey, but achieving a thaw between Matt and his increasingly frail dad will be difficult.

Inspired by an A.G. Sulzberger magazine article about the end of the photo development era, Kodachrome defaults to a routine journey of re-acquaintance between a father and son. Barely able to sustain a civil conversation, the two men spar for long periods, Matt's lingering threads of discontent and sense of abandonment obscuring any pathway towards rapprochement.

The script by Jonathan Tropper rarely offers any fresh perspectives on the well-worn themes of broken communication channels across generations and perceptions of failed fatherhood. But director Mark Raso has an ace up his sleeve in the form of Ed Harris enjoying himself as the abrasive dying man who never cared for others to begin with, and now cares even less. Channeling the fatalism of great artists, Ben Ryder classifies himself as a chronicler of human history, and Harris relishes the character's freedom to push all available rankle buttons, secure in his own legacy.

The rest of the plot is familiar in the extreme. The stuttering romance between Matt and Zooey is feeble, and the four film rolls are an obvious and painfully predictable MacGuffin. The patched-on music industry subtext provides the opportunity for some moany soundtrack songs and generic rock band conversations before turning scratchy.

Some sharp dialogue and moments of soft humour do enliven Kodachrome, but this road trip is only saved by one veteran photographer seeking a final exposure.



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Movie Review: Stepmom (1998)

A family drama, Stepmom barely rises above rudimentary levels, wasting a stellar cast on a listless and unfocused script.

New York City fashion photographer Isabel Kelly (Julia Roberts) is the new live-in lover of attorney Luke Harrison (Ed Harris), but struggles to connect with his two children, 12 year old Anna (Jena Malone) and the younger Ben. The kids are still attached to their mother Jackie (Susan Sarandon), a former book editor who can barely contain her disdain and resentment towards the younger Isabel.

Luke attempts to maintain the peace, but Anna is not interested in evolving a relationship with Isabel, and Jackie uses every opportunity to disrespect her husband's new lover. But Luke is determined to marry Isabel, while Jackie receives health news that will alter her life.

Stretching for an interminable 125 minutes and with a schmaltzy John Williams music score over-amplifying the sentimentality at every opportunity, Stepmom steps into a pile of television-level drivel despite movie superstar talent. Christopher Columbus sleepwalks through directing duties as a wayward script steers in every wrong direction, five different writers adding layers of clutter.

The film cannot sustain cohesive focus, starting with a title that refer to no character since Isabel is not even married to Luke. The story initially settles on her struggle to gain the kids' respect, but that idea is abandoned with Julia Roberts effectively sidelined as suddenly a disease enters the picture. Stepmom becomes all about the original mom endlessly prolonging aversion towards her replacement while a death-in-slow-motion narrative extends forever.

Roberts and Sarandon cannot help but rise way above the material, and together they maintain a basic level of watchability despite the wash-dry cycle of cliches their characters suffer through. In an early role Jena Malone is also much better than the film as a woman-in-the-making caught in an emotional purgatory between mother and stepmom-to-be. Her scenes exploring the evolving dynamic with Roberts are among the few bright spots, and Stepmom would have been much stronger investing in that fertile territory.

Instead the film goes for cheap tears and creates a moist mess.

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Movie Review: Geostorm (2017)

A science fiction disaster thriller, Geostorm is laughably inept.

A few years into the future the world unites to create a satellite-based system, nicknamed Dutch Boy, to combat climate change. American Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler) leads the global effort to build the system from the expanded International Space Station, but is then summarily fired for frequent insubordination and replaced by his more politically savvy brother Max (Jim Sturgess).

Three years later Dutch Boy starts to malfunction, causing multiple weather catastrophes and the threat of a globe-threatening "geostorm". President Palma (Andy Garcia) and Secretary of State Dekkon (Ed Harris) turn to Max for answers, and he convinces Jake to go back to the ISS and investigate. Jake and commander Ute Fassbinder (Alexandra Maria Lara) uncover evidence of an elaborate sabotage, while back on earth Max teams up with his lover, Secret Service Agent Sarah Wilson (Abbie Cornish), to identify the conspirators.

While the placement of climate change at the center of a large-scale disaster film is a laudable exercise in awareness-raising, it is worrisome that the solution conjured up by director and co-writer Dean Devlin seems to have nothing to do with curtailing carbon emissions and instead imagines an ability to zap the natural consequences.

Everything else about Geostorm suitably crashes to earth in a mess of bad writing and worse special effects. Both the science and the fiction are ridiculous, as are the overblown and overwhelmingly bad disaster visuals. The script consists of thrice recycled components, the animosity between brothers one of many cringe-worthy elements as Gerard Butler and Jim Sturgess struggle to produce any emotional resonance.

As for the conspiracy, it consists of a barely coherent power grab and weaponization of science by the usual disgruntled suits, although here the scale of global death and destruction unleashed in the name of seizing control of geopolitical destiny is well beyond comprehension and weighed down by juvenile CGI run amok.

Meanwhile back at the ISS the really old "self destruct" cliche is dusted off and trotted out, complete with a countdown clock and robotic warning voice. As massive explosions and fires devour everything surrounding Jake and Ute, somehow enough technology still functions to give them a chance to input "kill codes" to stop the carnage. The system reboot also still works and takes a matter a seconds, much faster than the typical cell phone, proof positive that technology will come a long way even as some movies eject intellect into a vacuum.

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Movie Review: Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

An adaptation of the David Mamet play, Glengarry Glen Ross examines the psyche of frenzied men in an ultra competitive business environment.

In New York, a group of salesmen work at a realty office, using unscrupulous tactics to peddle properties in Florida and Arizona to investors. Williamson (Kevin Spacey) is the office manager and hands out precious leads about potential buyers to the agents.

Roma (Al Pacino) has recently been achieving the best sales figures, and is now wearing down his latest client Lingk (Jonathan Pryce). In contrast the elderly Shelley (Jack Lemmon) is on a long losing streak and getting increasingly desperate, with family health issues adding to his stress. Moss (Ed Harris) is ambitious but unhappy at work, while George (Alan Arkin) feels he is losing his edge.

Blake (Alec Baldwin) arrives from head office and berates the salesmen for their recent poor performance, announcing that most of them will be fired if they don't immediately close more deals.  With Williamson safeguarding a deck of treasured new leads at the office, the men have just a few hours to prove themselves. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and an office break-in adds a new layer of tension to the already strained dynamics between the men.

Featuring a superlative all-male cast and a Mamet script, Glengarry Glen Ross (the title refers to two developments being peddled by the agents) is a profanity-filled high-energy talkfest. The film takes place over just a couple of days, but captures the trauma of alpha males growling at each other to gain every advantage and survive until the next batch of leads are distributed.

All the men are experts at deceit and underhanded sales tactics, and effortlessly flip between smooth talk, pleading and ultra aggressive put-downs depending on the immediate objective. And they are all also pathetic, Glengarry Glen Ross a study of manhood lost to the pursuit of shady profit by victimizing others.

Most of the film takes place at the office and the Chinese restaurant across the street. The theatrical origins are obvious, and some of the overclocked gestures translate poorly to the screen. But director James Foley keeps his focus on the talent-rich cast, often in close-up, and with most of the conversations walking on the edge of hostility, the film rides out the rough patches with ease.

Alec Baldwin's one scene performance as the slick downtown executive berating the sales agents for poor performance and goading them by comparing his success to their pathetic lives has entered into cinematic legend. Mamet added this scene to help extend the short play into feature film length, and while Baldwin's insults are never less than over the top, his unconstrained contempt perfectly sets the stage for the mood of desperation.

In a world where integrity and basic ethics are notably absent, Jack Lemmon shines as yesterday's man, surrendering Shelley to wounded melancholia living on past glories as he frantically seeks to catch a break by any foul means, unaware the sun has set on his career and sales tactics.

Glengarry Glen Ross is where life's dreams of success go to die, submerged in fast talking, subterfuge and self-imposed delusions.

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Movie Review: Snowpiercer (2013)

A dystopian science fiction thriller, Snowpiercer shimmers with the story of human conflict and survival in a frozen future.

In the near future, the release of an experimental chemical into the atmosphere to lower soaring temperatures due to climate change goes wrong. A new global ice age is immediately triggered and all life is exterminated. The only survivors are on-board Snowpiercer, a massive ark-like train designed for human survival by genius scientist Wilford (Ed Harris), who predicted the catastrophe. The train is powered by a perpetual motion engine and continuously circumnavigates Earth.

Seventeen years pass. The tail section of the train contains "undesirable" passengers who clambered onto the train uninvited, and are now living in deplorable and overcrowded conditions. They include Curtis (Chris Evans), his friend Edgar (Jamie Bell), their spiritual leader Gilliam (John Hurt) and Tanya (Octavia Spencer), the mother of a young child. They are kept alive with daily doses of disgusting protein bars distributed by armed guards who separate them from the elites at the front. The train's snotty leaders are represented by the insufferable Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton).

When the elites initiate the latest round of forcible child abductions from amongst the undesirables, Curtis, Edgar and Gilliam spark a violent uprising with the intention of storming the front cars and taking control of the train. To pry open the security gates the rebels will need to work with expert gate control designer Namgoong (Song Kang-ho) and his 17 year old daughter Yona (Go Ah-sung), who are both drug addicts.

The first English language film directed by South Korea's Bong Joon-ho (who also co-wrote the script), Snowpiercer is a stunning cinematic achievement. Mixing human drama with expertly crafted thriller elements and superlative action scenes, the film offers unrelenting entertainment based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige. The set-up is efficient and compelling. Curtis and his cohorts are introduced and framed as oppressed third class citizens of the train, fed-up with mistreatment and confinement. They each have a background and a story to tell, but collectively they are at the end of their rope and ready to risk everything to overthrow the current order.

Once the storm-the-train plot is set in motion, the action is incessant and drives forward in tandem with the rebels as they progress towards the front. Pitched battles are fought in confined quarters, tactical surprises are sprung and acts of heroism abound. The gore is kept to a manageable level, but there is no mistaking the intensity of this fight for control and dignity.

As the fate of the rebellion ebbs and flows in each successive cabin, the internal and external set designs offer a feast for the eyes and the mind. The ragtag rebels are suddenly exposed to the middle class cabins, including the water manufacturing plant, restaurant services (complete with sushi bar), children's school classes, an aquarium for harvesting seafood, and copious quantities of beef. They also unhappily stumble upon the source of their protein bars.

Meanwhile, as the unstoppable train streaks through the landscape, the glimpses of outside scenery are breathtaking. The Earth is reduced to one destroyed and uninhabitable ice field, the beauty of absolute frozen whiteness juxtaposed with the horrific absence of life.

Snowpiercer is an allegory for social structures and interdependencies, visiting the terrain of Animal Farm and 1984. Who gets to lead, who gets to be exploited, the symbolism of the all-powerful godlike leader and how the head and the tail interact - or not - for the greater good are familiar themes, but rarely has a film dealt better with eternal existential questions about the collective human condition.

Chris Evans find one his best career roles as reluctant rebel Curtis Everett. Evans gets to combine brains with brawn as Curtis steps up to the role of frontline leader, and he emerges as a bonafide circumspect protagonist. Tilda Swinton as the conniving Minister Mason is the other standout performer.

Curtis' disruptive actions open Snowpiercer's doors literally and figuratively, and as always, it's up to every individual member of a social order to choose which of the available doors to walk through, with consequences ranging from inspirational to disastrous.

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