The Ace Black Movie Blog

Showing posts with label Jennifer Ehle. Show all posts

Saturday, 17 February 2024

Movie Review: Run This Town (2019)

Genre: Drama

Director: Ricky Tollman

Starring: Ben Platt, Mena Massoud, Nina Dobrev, Scott Speedman, Jennifer Ehle

Running Time: 99 minutes

Synopsis: In Toronto of 2012, Kamal (Mena Massoud) and Ashley (Nina Dobrev) are staffers for Mayor Rob Ford (Damian Lewis). Their boss works hard, but is also frequently drunk and abusive, and enjoys partying with gangsters. Young local reporter Bram (Ben Platt) is offered a sensational scoop: an alleged video of the Mayor smoking crack cocaine in the company of gang members. Bram has to convince his bosses (Scott Speedman and Jennifer Ehle) to let him pursue the story, while Kamal and Ashley confront Ford's increasingly unsavory behaviour.

What Works Well: The behind-the-scenes City Hall machinations carry some interest, and director Ricky Tollman injects dynamism with frequent use of split screens.

What Does Not Work As Well: Tollman the writer stumbles with a wayward script that starts with an awful context-free talky scene and never recovers. Lacking a rational anchor or meaningful perspective, what should have been a compelling true scandal story is fumbled into unfocused observations about millennial angst. Consumed by a urine-soaked colour palette, Kamal, Ashley, and Bram are saddled with dialogue that is much less clever than it thinks it is and remain far from worthwhile characters. Actor Damian Lewis suffers a worse fate inside a hideous fat suit. Ultimately resolving nothing, the hard-stop ending is merciful relief.

Conclusion: A scandalous waste of a juicy story.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Wednesday, 23 August 2023

Movie Review: She Said (2022)

Genre: Investigative Journalism Drama

Director: Maria Schrader

Starring: Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan, Patricia Clarkson, Jennifer Ehle, Ashley Judd, Andre Braugher, Samantha Morton

Running Time: 129 minutes

Synopsis: In 2016, New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) start to investigate decades-long allegations of abusive behaviour by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. They hear from actresses Ashley Judd (as herself) and Rose McGowan as well as ex-employees, who all claim to have been sexually assaulted. But Weinstein's influence and the chilling effect of non-disclosure agreements discourage the victims from speaking on the record. Prodded by their editor Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson), Jodi and Megan doggedly pursue the story while juggling young family responsibilities.

What Works Well: Based on actual events chronicled in Kantor and Twohey's book, She Said provides an eloquent voice for women exploited, suppressed, then ignored by powerful men, their lawyers, and a system eager to sweep away inconvenient stories. Writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz and director Maria Schrader keep the tone low-key by studiously avoiding sensationalistic incident recreations, and instead build the drama by focusing on the victims' harrowing stories in their own simple words. The reporters' ordinarily messy personal lives allow Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan to round them into real women.

What Does Not Work As Well: The film is essentially a series of meetings and conversations, and the many testimonials at times threaten to merge into an unwieldy bundle.

Conclusion: Courage and words can topple malevolent mountains.