Movie Review: Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Genre: Action Drama

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris

Running Time: 130 minutes

Synopsis: More than 30 years after graduating, Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) returns to the Navy's Top Gun academy. He is tasked with preparing a group of ace pilots for a dangerous mission to destroy an enemy facility in mountainous terrain. The trainees include "Rooster" (Miles Teller), who is the son of Maverick's old buddy Goose, as well as "Hangman" (Glen Powell) and "Phoenix" (Monica Barbaro). Maverick reunites with his old rival "Iceman" (Val Kilmer), now an Admiral, reignites a romance with Penny (Jennifer Connelly), and clashes with Vice Admiral "Cyclone" (Jon Hamm). 

What Works Well: After a 36 year wait, the mix of nostalgia and action is potent. The Ray-Bans, the motorcycle, the irresistible boyish grin, some of the music, and all of the non-conformist attitude return with vigor, this time with an added dash of self-deprecating humour. The echoes of Maverick's past carry strong resonance, while the flight sequences, starring F/A-18 Super Hornets, feature real hardware and minimal CGI. Director John Kosinski pays homage to Tony Scott's legendary aerial aesthetics for a mission:impossible requiring canyon flying, gravity-defying climbs and dives, and precision targeting. The final 40 minutes are a non-stop old-fashioned action thrill ride.

What Does Not Work As Well: The inter-character dynamics, rivalries, and dialogue are from the 1980s school of elemental emotions.

Conclusion: The second trip to the danger zone is just as good.



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Movie Review: Spiderhead (2022)

A drama combining pharmaceutical drug experimentation with the search for redemption, Spiderhead abandons interesting themes in favour of mindless thrills.

Located within an idyllic but isolated tropical setting, the low-security Spiderhead penitentiary houses inmates who have agreed to be subjects for experimental drug tests. The suave and confident Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) and his assistant chemist Mark (Mark Paguio) operate the facility, creating and testing drugs that manipulate emotions. Jeff (Miles Teller) is one of the test subjects, still processing the trauma of having caused death by driving while impaired. He starts a friendship with fellow inmate Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett).

Steve has a soft spot for Jeff, and uses him to test a drug that enhances sexual attractiveness. But Jeff balks when forced to participate in tests of a drug that causes rage and pain. Meanwhile Steve carries his own emotional scars from a troubled upbringing, and self-administers experimental drugs to dull the pain. When a test goes wrong and a subject is harmed, the relationship between Steve and Jeff ruptures, leading to a final confrontation.

Spiderhead starts slowly, builds sufficient curiosity to warrant some attention, but then fizzles badly into a quite awful final act. Adapting a book by George Saunders, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick take their time to create a sense of place and purpose. Good work from Hemsworth, Teller, and Smollett helps to create decent momentum by the halfway mark, the science faction exploring what human cravings the pharmaceutical industry may next choose to exploit.

But with many intriguing narrative avenues available to pursue, director Joseph Kosinki steers towards an inane climax involving bingo cards, sloppy safety and security measures, and critical devices placed in the hands of inmates. Revelations tumble out in an irrelevant torrent, and emotions oscillate with no coherence as chaos is allowed to reign. The drama disintegrates from potentially cerebral to plain stupid, and in a late act of desperation, madcap humour is inserted into the previously dour mood.

The set design is slick and sleek, but Spiderhead opts for the rancid juice.



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Movie Review: Two Night Stand (2014)

A slight romantic comedy, Two Night Stand tries something new but is hampered by a lack of substance.

In New York, Megan (Analeigh Tipton) is in a funk after a bad break-up with a long-term boyfriend. She joins an on-line dating site, and prodded by her roommate Faiza (Jessica Szohr), seeks a one-night stand to blow off some sexual energy. Megan connects with Alec (Miles Teller), who is looking for the same thing. They have sex at his place, but the next morning a snow storm shuts down the city and she is stuck at his apartment.

Forced to spend the day together, Megan and Alec are initially judgmental and antagonistic, but gradually warm up to each other.

Jumbling the formula into a sex-fight-love progression, Two Night Stand looks for an edge with two characters willing to just scratch a physical itch and call it one night, but then forced to meet the partner behind the coupling. In a mere 86 minutes director Max Nichols and writer Mark Hammer create two twentysomethings already accumulating adult luggage, and both Megan and Alec are rounded into people worth knowing through insecurities and prickliness.

But by defaulting to weed as a mellow-out agent and conversations dominated by clogged toilets and the mechanics of sex, Hammer demonstrates a limited capacity to stretch. Megan eventually reveals anxieties stemming from dashed expectations, only for Alec to counter with a really late yet de-rigour sucker-punch to derail the emerging romance. The final act involves police intervention and a prison cell, both real downers in trying to build a mood.

Miles Teller and Analeigh Tipton are a notch better than the material and ride the ups and downs with admirable commitment. They find moments of chemistry, but not enough to counter the blizzard of mediocrity.



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Movie Review: Thank You For Your Service (2017)

A drama about soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Thank You For Your Service is an unblinking exploration of the battle to survive after the shooting stops.

While on a tour of duty in Iraq, Sergeant Adam Schumann (Miles Teller) leads his men into an ambush, resulting in a severe injury to soldier Emory (Scott Haze). Another incident results in the death of Sergeant Doster (Brad Beyer). Schumann and his buddies Specialist Tausolo Aieti (Beulah Koale) and Private Billy Waller (Joe Cole) return home suffering from PTSD.

Schumann has support from his wife Saskia (Haley Bennett) but still finds it difficult to talk about his war experience. Aieti is prevented from re-enlisting for another tour due to memory loss issues, while his wife Alea (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is eager to start a family. Waller is unable to cope when he learns his girlfriend has abandoned him. Schumann and Aieti realize they need help and reach out to the Veterans Administration, but an underfunded system is slow to provide support, leaving the men vulnerable.

Inspired by a true story covered in David Finkel's book, Thank You For Your Service ventures into the difficult terrain of mental trauma, exposing a system designed to care for visible injuries but inept at supporting troops suffering from psychological damage. Jason Hall wrote the script and directs with admirable honesty, carrying echoes of movies like Brothers and Stop-Loss but delving deeper into the mechanics of a misfiring bureaucracy.

Schumann, Aieti and Waller are soldiers trained to kill and possess a natural aversion to even acknowledge the need for help. They also have varying degrees of family support, providing Hall with latitude to explore connections between family backing and extent of suffering. Waller arrives home to an empty house, his girlfriend having dumped him without the courtesy of a note. Aieti has a partner but she is preoccupied with starting a family. Schumann has a loving wife and two kids, and Saskia is not only strong and available to help, but unambiguously verbalizes her support.

The quest for help builds to a depressing lowlight: Schumann and Aieti come face to face with an overburdened VA system offering, with a straight face, months-long waiting periods to soldiers on the verge of blowing their brains out. Ill-equipped family members have to bear the brunt of propping up wounded warriors, or watch in horror as they disintegrate and threaten to harm the ones they love.

Miles Teller and Beulah Koale effectively convey the poignancy of proud young men groping in the unfamiliar darkness and disorientation within. In a well-written role, Haley Bennett is the stand-out performer, her Saskia not short of frustration but full of awareness and fortitude to navigate her husband's churn.

Thank You For Your Service never sparkles or surprises, nor does it intend to. The mission is a blunt and straightforward exposé of post-combat agony and systemic failure, accomplished with grim proficiency.



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Movie Review: Only The Brave (2017)

A drama and tragedy based on real events, Only The Brave captures the courage of firefighters willing to risk their lives on the frontlines of natural disasters.

In Prescott, Arizona, Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) is the supervisor for local wildfire Rescue Crew 7. He believes his unit is good enough to earn a "Hot Shot" designation, which would allow front-line deployment, although it is uncommon for a municipal force to achieve the distinction. Eric is married to horse veterinarian Amanda (Jennifer Connelly), and they are dealing with stress related to his frequent absence and her desire to start a family.

Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) joins Crew 7 as a rookie, determined to clean up his life after his ex-girlfriend gives birth to a baby girl. With the help of his friend and mentor Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges), Eric finally proves his unit's ability and Crew 7 becomes the Granite Mountain Hot Shots. As Brendan learns what it takes to fight dangerous fires, plenty of challenges await, including an unexpectedly dangerous fire near Yarnell.

Building up to a sorrowful loss, Only The Brave sets out to portray the quiet valour of men (in this unit they are all men) who march towards raging fires and the sacrifices of their long-suffering spouses. Director Joseph Kosinski treats his subjects with respect by remaining grounded. From the superintendent Marsh to the rookie McDonough, Rescue Crew 7 consists of proud, dedicated but far from perfect guys. Battling old demons including addictions, absentee fathers and squandered opportunities, the men can be mean, rude, and experts at placing the rigours of the job ahead of family responsibilities.

The script by Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer avoids cheap acts of heroism in favour of highlighting discipline, work ethic, long hours, and the drive to overcome exhaustion. The men are rewarded with an invaluable sense of camaraderie built on banter, and in the middle of nowhere, moments of spectacular natural beauty.

Kosinski deploys to the forest fire front lines sparingly, preferring to focus on people instead of action. At 133 minutes, with limited character evolution and pretty basic personal and familial conflicts, the film is quite a bit longer than it needs to be. The visual effects featuring ravenous fires devouring landscapes do provide effective jolts of dangerous energy.

The cast resides in dour manly territory, where scowls often replace conversation. Josh Brolin is suitably stone-faced, his features forged by the heat of countless blazes, his pride in his men equally fiery. Miles Teller accepts a more subdued role, the behavioural dynamics of a fire crew seen through his rookie eyes. Jeff Bridges is given relatively little to do. As the one woman given prominence, Jennifer Connelly represents wives carving out some definition of marriage in the absence of husbands but with the everpresent spectre of death.

An encounter with a snake forever alters the trajectory of McDonough's life. After earning his rightful place as a member of the Hot Shots, he will learn about the various forms of bravery necessary to carry on.

 

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Movie Review: That Awkward Moment (2014)

A raunchy romantic comedy, That Awkward Moment follows three guys on the relationship rollercoaster. Despite a bright cast, the film sputters.

In New York City, Mike (Michael B. Jordan), Daniel (Miles Teller) and Jason (Zac Efron) are twentysomething best buddies. Daniel and Jason are book cover artists and enjoy commitment-free relationships with women, while Mike is a doctor who seemingly has it all. But his marriage to Vera (Jessica Lucas) suddenly disintegrates when she confesses to an affair and demands a divorce. 

In solidarity Daniel and Jason commit to refraining from entering any serious relationships but both are soon falling in love. Jason meets author Ellie (Imogen Poots) and after a rocky start they evolve into a couple, while Daniel develops feelings for Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) who is supposed to be just a friend with benefits. Meanwhile Mike is desperately trying to repair his marriage to Vera.

Featuring a talent-rich cast, That Awkward Moment fails to provide material to match. Director Tom Gormican also wrote the script, and he is firmly stuck in bathroom-level humour where body parts and body functions have to be part of every joke. Some of the humour works and a few laughs are generated, but the overdose of repetitive profanity, bro-level ribbing, insults hurled at the end of every sentence and pure immature behaviour is quickly more tiresome than funny.

The title refers to the pivot point in a potential relationship when a woman wants to know what the future holds, a moment of doom for commitment phobes like Jason and Daniel. But here all the romance elements are contrived, and it remains a mystery why women such as Ellie and Chelsea would ever fall for a couple of douchebags like Jason and Daniel, who luxuriate in their aversion to genuine caring.

The sex scenes are plentiful but short and played for giggles, and at least That Awkward Moment aims for equal representation of coupling as a tool useful for both genders to spice up the single life.

The film clocks in at 94 minutes but feels longer. All the expected relationship ups and downs due to miscommunication and mismatched expectations are triplicated, but three times tedious is still tedious.

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The Movies Of Miles Teller

All movies starring Miles Teller and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Rabbit Hole (2010)



The Spectacular Now (2013)



Whiplash (2014)



That Awkward Moment (2014)



Two Night Stand (2014)

War Dogs (2016)



Only The Brave (2017)



Thank You For Your Service (2017)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Spiderhead (2022)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: The Spectacular Now (2013)

A teen high school drama and romance, The Spectacular Now treats its characters with respect but stumbles on some uneven tones.

Sutter (Miles Teller) is in his last year of high school, half-heartedly applying to colleges. Sutter is popular, but lives for the moment, barely studies, and has no plans for the future. He has a strained relationship with his mother Sara (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and does not know much about his father except that he left the house years earlier. Sutter is also a heavy drinker, keeping a flask handy and gulping alcohol at every opportunity.

His long-term girlfriend Cassidy (Brie Larson) finally dumps him when she catches him in the company of another girl, but Cassidy is really tired of Sutter's overall aimlessness. She starts a relationship with star athlete Marcus (Dayo Okeniyi), but Sutter does not give up hope of winning her back. Meanwhile he meets the down-to-earth Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a hard working low profile student with her own dominating mother. Sutter takes Aimee on as a project to introduce her to the fun life, and gradually they prod each other towards change.

Directed by James Ponsoldt and co-written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Spectacular Now takes a relatively serious look at a teenager as he stands at the crossroads. The film sets out to draw a stark line of contrast between the carefree, live-for-today attitude and the more cerebral, worry-about-the-future stance most young people tend to find natural. Sutter very much belongs in the former camp, to the exasperation of his friends and teachers, but he sees little point in anything except enjoying the current moment.

How Sutter, a seemingly intelligent, caring and capable young man, came to be so indifferent to his own future is revealed slowly, Ponsoldt content to let the story unfold at a relaxed pace. The majority of the film is mostly occupied with Sutter being Sutter, working hard at doing nothing, tentatively exploring the strange and new attraction he senses towards Aimee while at the same time finding it difficult to let go of Cassidy.

The deliberate exposition is both a strength and weakness. While Sutter emerges as a well-rounded and deeply flawed character, the film is repetitive and entrenches his self-destructive behavioral patterns, including uncontrolled drinking, driving while impaired and an inability to motivate himself to study. When the moment of truth comes and Sutter has to evolve or wither, he has precious little time and space to convincingly maneuver.

With the entire film riffing on themes from Say Anything..., Miles Teller channels a more adrift version of John Cusack's Lloyd Dobler. Shailene Woodley is impeccable as the star-struck new possible girlfriend, her quick entry into Sutter's hard drinking orbit one of the film's more disturbing themes. But The Spectacular Now reaches a gut-wrenching cinematic peak and emotional trough when Sutter finally and simultaneously catches up with his past and his future. Suddenly, aiming for the thrill of now does not appear all that spectacular.

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Movie Review: War Dogs (2016)

A dramatic comedy, War Dogs is an unapologetic story of young men profiteering from the business of weapons trading. Brash and vivid, the film passes no judgment: this is digital capitalism as applied to the often hypocritical enterprise of feeding the global death machine.

It's the mid-2000s in Miami. David Packouz (Miles Teller) is a pot-smoking college dropout, making ends meet as a massage therapist serving creepy rich men. David tries his hand at selling high quality bed sheets to retirement homes, and nearly bankrupts himself, just as he discovers that girlfriend Iz (Ana de Armas) is pregnant. Fortunately, David's high school friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) has just moved back to Miami. A fearless, quick-witted entrepreneur, Efraim is dabbling in low-level arms trading as a middle man bidding on official US Army requisitions through a public procurement website.

Efraim is good at what he does and asks David to join his fledgling company AEY Inc, an offer David accepts although he lies to Iz about his sojourn into the arms trading business.  AEY lands an order to supply handguns to the Army in Iraq, but when the shipment is held up in Jordan, the two friends have to personally intervene, resulting in a harrowing war zone experience. Higher stakes opportunities lie ahead, as AEY goes after a mammoth contract to supply the Afghanistan Army. Efraim and David partner with shady international arms dealer Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper), and find themselves in an Albania warehouse where Cold War surplus equipment can be translated into huge profits.

Based on real events chronicled in a Rolling Stone feature article and directed by Todd Phillips, War Dogs picks up the theme and style developed by The Wolf Of Wall Street and The Big Short: young men behaving badly and finding extreme riches in surreal yet factual environments. And War Dogs polishes the formula to a shine, mixing millennial brohood comedy, the ugly yet fearless American prototype, and deadly serious world events into a potent mix. Propelled by an excellent thumping soundtrack featuring plenty of 1970s and '80s rock, the result is a tight dramatic comedy with plenty of punch.

At just under two hours the film contains no flab. Phillips uses the first 30 minutes to draw in the characters of David and Efraim, and they are a classic opposites-attract duo. David is more timid, struggling to find his place in life and reduced to half-baked business ventures doomed to both cause embarrassment and financial failure. Efraim is brash, big, and ridiculously confident, finding opportunities, swinging for the fences and easily able to cast aside the horror of a bad war in search of the capitalist dream. While David frets about profiting from a war he and Iz do not support, Efraim has no such qualms: the war is happening anyway, the weapons have to be sold, and the profit is there to be made.

The heart of the film is then dedicated to the seemingly bizarre world of modern weapons bought and sold to feed war's voracious appetite. It's a wild west but real market where young men can make money by sitting in nondescript offices and clicking their way into the world of go-betweens, connecting idle weapons with active war zones. Phillips captures the anticipation, excitement, and frenzy of dealmaking, with David's character providing engaging narration to fill in the gaps. And when deals go bad and on-the-ground sojourns are needed, War Dogs soars, first to the chaotic Iraq theatre and then onto Albania, a forgotten Cold War front line now waiting to translate ancient surplus hardware into cold hard cash.

The interaction between David and Efraim is maintained at the heart of the film, Phillips guiding the two protagonists through phases of a friendship that morphs into a hazardous business relationship, ultimately revealing some painful true colours. Jonah Hill easily occupies the eye of the storm, giving Efraim a force of nature personality, deploying the same obtuse behaviour whether in glitzy Miami bars or in the world's worst hell holes. The story is told through David's eyes, and Miles Teller delivers a circumspect performance, David's dilemmas shaped by burgeoning family responsibilities both pushing him towards money-making opportunities and pulling him to question his motives.

War Dogs is absurdly serious, the business of war translated into a wild adventure where extreme riches dance with death.

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Movie Review: Whiplash (2014)

A story about talent, training, motivation and ambition in the music world, Whiplash shines the spotlight on what it takes to succeed, and at what cost.

The Shaffer Conservatory in New York is the best music school in the country, and Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is a dedicated student drummer with ambitions to be the best in the business. Andrew is spotted by Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), the legendary leader of the school's senior band. Andrew quickly establishes his credentials and graduates to the lead drummer position, while remaining close with his father (Paul Reiser), and starting a tentative relationship with Nicole (Melissa Benoist), the cashier at the local movie house.

Fletcher's punishing teaching and motivational methods are brutal, and rely on intimidation, humiliation, exhausting repetition and physical exertion. He pushes his students to be their best, at an enormous emotional cost. Andrew proves his talent and helps the Shaffer band to success at music competitions. But despite his best effort, Andrew finds Fletcher impossible to please, and the relationship between teacher and student reaches a dangerous breaking point.

Whiplash is a simple two-character story about raw talent being forged by the fires of fear into potentially exceptional ability. Directed and written by Damien Chazelle, the film explores familiar territory often seen in sports films, where talent alone is not enough, and achievements are only grasped when coaching, motivation and heart come together. Chazelle even throws in a family dinner scene where Andrew goes out of his way to puncture the overglorified arena of sports achievement. In Whiplash, music is all that matters, and the requirements in terms of blood, sweat and tears are as demanding as any other domain.

In expanding to 106 minutes, Whiplash does probably push its points further than they need to go. There are several occasions where Andrew's badly bruised hands are literally dripping blood onto the drum kit, and a couple of the confrontations between Andrew and Fletcher are over the top in their theatrics.

But the two central characters are never less than enigmatic. At age 59 and after a lifetime spent mostly in background character parts, J.K. Simmons lands the role of a lifetime and makes the most of it. Terence Fletcher is a conceited force of nature, a rule-by-terror music teacher, the type of coach hated every day of the year except on the night that awards are handed out. With his politically incorrect bellowing and emotionally abusive behaviour, Fletcher is also the type of employee that a high-achieving school would tolerate due to his unfailing ability to deliver the competition wins that maintain the school's reputation.

Miles Teller gets the more rational and therefore less showy part, and he is also excellent. Teller keeps Andrew balanced as an individual with his own set of issues, and never trips into bland victim or hero status. Andrew is driven, ambitious and carries hard-headed ideas about success, as Nicole will find out. And as much as Fletcher is willing to push, Andrew is willing to push back. Teller creates a believable young man taking on the greatest challenge of his life.

Against the backdrop of a terrific jazz band music score, Chazelle makes his key points with effortless intensity: anything worthwhile has to be earned, unleashing individual full potential is no easy task, and sometimes, worst enemies and essential allies are one and the same. Whiplash's lessons are not necessarily new, but they are delivered with pounding passion.

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