Movie Review: Murder Mystery (2019)

Genre: Crime Comedy  

Director: Kyle Newachek  

Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: New York City beat cop Nick Spitz (Adam Sandler) pretends to be a detective to impress his wife Audrey (Jennifer Aniston), a hairdresser. While traveling on a cheap European vacation, they meet the dashing Charles Cavendish (Luke Evans), who invites them to a yacht off Monaco. Nick and Audrey are misfits in the company of Charles' ultra wealthy uncle Malcolm Quince (Terence Stamp), his new young bride, his useless son, his former bodyguard, the bodyguard's bodyguard, a glamorous actress (Gemma Arterton), a racing car driver, and a Maharajah. When a murder is committed, Nick and Audrey are prime suspects and have to solve the crime to clear their names.

What Works Well: A breezy, never-too-serious crime comedy that rides good chemistry between Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. A murder-most-foul Agatha Christie whodunnit ambience, plenty of fish-out-of-water vibes, and a few good laughs complement the two stars. The glitzy European locations are attractive, and the efficient running time keeps the action humming.

What Does Not Work As Well: Killing off most of the suspect list (and they die early and often) is not the most clever way to maintain mystery and investigative momentum. Other than Nick and Audrey, the characters are superficial stereotypes, and of course the plotting is frivolous and less than interested in any logic.

Key Quote:

Audrey Spitz: What's that?

Charles Cavendish: That is the Quince dagger. Chinese steel, jewels from across the Orient. A gift to the family from Marco Polo. Or so the legend says.

Audrey Spitz: God. Nick's grandmother gave us a toaster from Sears. Or so the legend says.

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Movie Review: Midway (2019)

Genre: Historical War Action  

Director: Roland Emmerich  

Starring: Ed Skrein, Luke Evans, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson  

Running Time: 138 minutes  

Synopsis: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in December 1941, but fails to destroy American aircraft carriers. The United States enters the war and Japan's Admiral Yamamoto starts planning an attack on Midway Island to achieve dominance over the Pacific. The US intelligence team headed by Lieutenant Commander Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson) intercepts enemy communications and starts to piece together the Japanese attack plan, allowing Admiral Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) to mobilize a defence. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart) leads an air raid on Tokyo to unsettle the enemy, while Vice Admiral William "Bull" Halsey (Dennis Quaid) and ace Navy pilots Dick Best (Ed Skrein) and Wade McClusky (Luke Evans) are involved in the escalating war in the Pacific. 

What Works Well: This is an unapologetically old-fashioned World War 2 action movie, faithful to historical fact and dedicated to celebrating heroism, sacrifice, and determination under fire. Despite an ambitious scope covering several major battles and culminating at Midway, writer Wes Tooke admirably maintains cohesion in melding strategic Yamamoto and Nimitz-level maneuverings with the front-line exploits of Best and McClusky, among many others, effectively capturing the critical strategic decisions and in-the-heat of the moment actions upon which history turned. Director Roland Emmerich delivers several stirring naval combat scenes, and maintains focus on individual sub-stories within the chaos of attack, defense, and counter-attack at sea. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The CGI effects are impressive but predictably over-done, and the out-of-uniform lives of the characters are essentially non-existent. The cast members do their job with minimum fuss, but quantity defeats quality and none are provided the opportunity to rise above basic representations.

Key Quote:

Edwin Layton (to Nimitz, in reference to Pearl Harbor): Sir, I'm the intelligence officer responsible for overseeing the greatest intelligence failure in American history.

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Movie Review: Angel Of Mine (2019)

A psychological suspense thriller, Angel Of Mine is a story of an unhinged mother surrendering to obsession. The plot bounces between decent, repetitive, and unsatisfying.

In Melbourne, Lizzie (Noomi Rapace) is still grieving her infant daughter, who was among the casualties in a hospital maternity ward fire seven years prior. Now Lizzie's marriage to Mike (Luke Evans) has disintegrated, and she is struggling to maintain even partial custody of her teenaged son Thomas.

At a birthday party for one of Thomas' school friends, Lizzie spots seven-year-old Lola, and becomes convinced she is her daughter. Lizzie surreptitiously befriends Lola's parents Claire and Bernard (Yvonne Strahovski and Richard Roxburgh), and feigns interest in buying their house. Her behaviour becomes more erratic as she stalks Lola at every opportunity, and Claire realizes her family may be in grave danger.

Angel Of Mine is propelled by a mother's profound grief and unshakeable belief - against all logic - that her instincts are correct and everyone else is either wrong or lying. While the drama is naturally potent, co-writers Luke Davies and David Regal don't provide their main character Lizzie with much help. Her ordeal is sustained by nothing more than conviction, tilting the scale towards confirming a descent into madness.

Noomi Rapace tackles the role with lively tenacity despite the occasional dip into bathos, and her desperation finds a good match in Yvonne Strahovski's cool and collected turn as counterpart Claire. The testy battle of the mothers builds up a good head of steam, and despite repetitive scenes of Lizzie making awkward appearances around Lola (in a bedroom, at school ballet show, at a picnic, at a house party), director Kim Farrant keeps the suspense balanced on the correct side of rational.

The production values are glossy without rising much above movie-of-the-week standards, until far-fetched revelations are blurted out without context. Pat emotions triumph over difficult conversations as Angel Of Mine's mix of fire and fury somehow lands at a serenely unsatisfying backyard barbeque.



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Movie Review: Professor Marston And The Wonder Women (2017)

A biographical drama, Professor Marston And The Wonder Women explores the role of psychology, sexuality and feminism in the creation of an iconic comic book hero.

In 1945 Professor William Marston (Luke Evans) is being grilled by a morality committee headed by child advocate Josette Frank (Connie Britton) about the barely concealed scenes of eroticism and bondage in his hugely successful Wonder Woman comics.

Flashbacks to the 1920s reveal Marston teaching psychology at Radcliffe College and developing his theory about the role of Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance (DISC) in relationships, especially between men and women. A staunch feminist, Marston is married to the whip smart and equally blunt Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall), herself studying for a doctorate. The couple take on attractive student Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote) as a research assistant.

Sexual sparks ignite between all three, and soon they have a tool to help disclose their most intimate thoughts: William and Elizabeth invent the lie detection machine, Olive participates as a test subject. and admits to being in love with both Marstons. The trio eventually agree to live together in a polyamoric arrangement, and the combined strengths of both women inspire William to create Wonder Woman.

Based on real events (although this is disputed by Marston's descendents), Professor Marston And The Wonder Women is a story of one man and two women ahead of their time. Director and writer Angela Robinson creates an invigorating human drama fueled by empowered women, equality between intellectually compatible partners, and almost open polyamory, a scandalous proposition for the time.

The threads connecting the graphic comics themes with Marston's psychology theories emerge through his interrogation by self-appointed guardians of morality. Marston's personal kinkiness is certainly reflected in his art, but Wonder Woman's commitment to the truth and her covert integration within the world of men to exert her influence are grounded in his beliefs that women are better leaders, whether they act dominant (Elizabeth) or submissive (Olive).

The film suffers from a few emotional u-turns, Elizabeth in particular instigating more than one head-snapping reversal. Robinson's pacing in the final act also wobbles: many years, children and incidents are crammed into too few minutes. The unconventional family's struggle in a non-welcoming society and Wonder Woman's societal impact both lose in the competition for screen time.

But buoyed by inquisitive performances from Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall and Bella Heathcote, Robinson is free to mix the eroticism of burgeoning love with inspiration drawn from sexual creativity. Wonder Woman's emergence from the bowels of a kink shop harbouring the mixed souls of two strong women is a fitting climax.

A superhero-inspired story for adults, Professor Marston And The Wonder Women revels in real-world heroism: unbound love and curiosity, a quest for truth and honesty, and a celebration of women's varied strengths.



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