Movie Review: The Lost City Of Z (2016)

Genre: Biographical Drama  

Director: James Gray  

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson  

Running Time: 141 minutes  

Synopsis: In Britain of the early 1900s, the Royal Geographic Society assigns Army Major Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) to map the disputed border between Brazil and Bolivia. He leaves his pregnant wife Nina (Sienna Miller) behind, and is joined on his adventure by Corporal Costin (Robert Pattinson). The expedition is arduous, but exposes Fawcett to the potential for hidden tribal civilizations in the jungle. Intent on finding a mythical city covered with gold, over the years Fawcett embarks on several more dangerous expeditions into the Amazon region, straining his family relationships.

What Works Well: The cinematography and settings are often visually impressive, and some moments of tension are found in the encounters with various tribes. Fawcett's troubled heritage (his father's shortcomings hampered his career) contain the promise of an interesting character, and hiding somewhere in the jungle is the unexpanded theme of men choosing wild adventures to justify a sense of self, oblivious to family damage. 

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a ponderous, meandering, Quixotic, over-long, and ultimately dubious biography that never overcomes a sense of self-inflated importance. Director and writer James Gray finds little drama in repetitive scenes of Amazonian trudging, and errs on the side of excessive padding and distractions, including interludes of anachronistic feminism, a detour to the World War One trenches, a deer hunt, and uninspired family tension. Fawcett starts as a stoic Englishman attached to career responsibility, and 141 minutes later, ends the exact same way.

Key Quote:

Fawcett: If we may find a city, where one was considered impossible to exist, it may well write a whole new chapter in human history.

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Movie Review: The Lighthouse (2019)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Robert Eggers  

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson  

Running Time: 109 minutes  

Synopsis: In New England of the 1800s, Thomas and Ephraim (Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) arrive at a rocky outcrop to operate and maintain a lighthouse for a four week stint. The grizzled and more senior Thomas cares for the lighthouse lamp and orders Ephraim to do all the dirty and menial tasks. After encountering disturbing visions of a mermaid and hostile seagulls, Ephraim starts to lose his mind. When a storm moves in and prevents the two men from returning to shore, full-fledged alcohol-fueled madness sets in.

What Works Well: The black and white cinematography combines with stormy skies, raging oceans, and that incessant foghorn to create a threatening aesthetic. Both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson throw themselves into their roles, pushing theatricality towards the insanity of isolation, disoriented masculinity, sexual frustration, and the dangers of excessive power imbalance.

What Does Not Work As Well: While undoubtedly artistic, the absence of plot results in a tedious two-character drama, and the slippage towards derangement opens the door to a mishmash of anything-goes themes and images. With plenty of verbose and bombastic inspiration drawn from Greek and other mythology, the material may be better suited to a stage show.

Key Quote:

Thomas: How long have we been on this rock? Five weeks? Two days? Where are we? Help me to recollect.

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Movie Review: Good Time (2017)

A crime drama with a mean streak of humourous nihilism, Good Time is wild ride through capricious terrain.

Constantine "Connie" Nikas (Robert Pattinson) yanks his developmentally challenged brother Nick (Benny Safdie) out of a therapy session, and the two proceed to commit a bank robbery. After an attempted escape Nick is quickly arrested, but Connie remains on the loose and turns to ex-girlfriend Corey (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to try and raise the bail bond money to free Nick.

While that plan does not quite work, Connie learns Nick has been transferred to hospital and hatches an audacious breakout. But the night is young, and Connie will soon be involved with 16 year old Crystal, her caustic grandma, hyper parolee Ray, and amusement park nightguard Dash (Barkhad Abdi).

Adopting the principle that every apparent plot direction is worth shattering, Good Time plays by its own rules, and plays well. Co-directors and brothers Josh and Benny Safdie conjure up an adventure through the convoluted mess of a criminal's world, where every action has an unintended outcome, a maze where the walls shift without warning to impose refreshingly disorienting new realities.

With a sleek aesthetic, stylish colours, agile cinematography and brisk pacing, Good Time celebrates improvisation. Connie's tragedy is that he is really smart: faced with every new obstacle he is never short of an idea to try and turn circumstances in his favour, until the next banana peel sends him hurtling into a new predicament.

The film's tone is grim and straight, and blood splatters from bursts of violence, but the dark humour crackles just beneath the surface. The bank robbery turns into a negotiation by handwritten notes. At the office of the bail bondsman, a straightforward transaction disintegrates into multiple overlapping conversations on at least four different phones. Later at Crystal's house a revelation underlines to Connie just what kind of a night he is having, until a buzzed Ray describes his most recent few hours and Connie understands how much worse things are about to become - and the opportunities hidden in the mayhem.

Intense, grimy and nothing if not purposeful, Robert Pattinson excels as Connie, transforming a low-life criminal into a sympathetic character through clever persistence. Good Time is a bad night spiked by an exhilarating determination to do good, at least by one man's definition.



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Movie Review: Remember Me (2010)

A romantic drama, Remember Me creates characters worth caring about, but the pervasive emotional gloom is overwhelming.

In 1991, eleven year old Ally witnesses the murder of her mother in a New York City subway mugging. Her father Neil (Chris Cooper), a police detective, is emotionally devastated.

Ten years later, Tyler (Robert Pattinson) is approaching his 22nd birthday, and struggling with memories of his older brother's suicide at that age. He has a good relationship with his mother Diane (Lena Olin) and younger sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins), but can barely tolerate his cold and aloof corporate father Charles (Pierce Brosnan).

After a street brawl Tyler is roughed up by Neil. Tyler's roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington) learns that the grown-up Ally (Emilie de Ravin) is Tyler's college classmate and Neil's daughter, and encourages Tyler to start a relationship primarily to antagonize her father. But a genuine romance blossoms between Tyler and Ally, although his continued deep grieving will create challenges.

From its opening scene Remember Me carries a high level of intensity built on rage stemming from sudden loss and injustice. Neil and Ally are victimized by muggers, Tyler is in a cloud of fury over the loss of his brother, and the film will join the trio in an unrelenting haze of serious indignation. Director Allen Coulter and writer Will Fetters are all-in on the moping, highlighted by Tyler's narration, and while the mood can be crushing, the film deserves credit for not seeking easy pathways towards happy endings.

Intermittently flickering through the malaise is a sweet and serious romance. Together Tyler and Ally create an appealing if troubled couple, and their scenes of courtship and passion are organic and engaging. Coulter also leans on Tyler's young sister Caroline, a budding artist, to provide some perspective. She also has to deal with a deceased older brother and an absentee father, but without the rebellious adulthood tools available to Tyler. Consistent with the downbeat theme, Caroline has her own personal trauma to deal with in the form of school bullying.

Robert Pattinson carries the bulk of the film's weight with a James Dean-like performance. Brooding in one scene and combustible in the next, cigarette always at the ready, Pattinson floods New York with angry grief. He is convincing, but also seemingly unconstrained by Coulter.

Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan fare worse in more shallow representations, and their resolutions are either omitted or implausible. Meanwhile Emilie de Ravin pulls off a decent imitation of Kirsten Dunst, but Ally is disappointingly underwritten and stays closer to a plot device serving Tyler's journey.

Remember Me introduces a contextual twist in its final 10 minutes that is both unnecessary and effective, but also borderline manipulative. It's yet another layer of sadness to a story already suffocating in sorrow, but if nothing else, the tonal consistency is admirable.

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Movie Review: Water For Elephants (2011)

A classic love triangle set against the backdrop of a touring circus desperately trying to survive the Great Depression in the early 1930s, Water For Elephants succeeds thanks to the memorable setting and committed performance from the three lead performers. It may not be the most original story every filmed, but it is delivered with compellingly grimy panache.

In 1931, Jacob (Robert Pattinson) is a young student about to graduate from Cornell University's veterinary school when his world collapses around him: his parents die in a car crash, and all their belongings are seized by the bank due to a mountain of debt. Left with nothing, Jacob abandons his life and joins the Benzini Brothers Circus. August (Christoph Waltz) runs the circus with a cold heart and an iron fist, including throwing men from the moving train when he can't afford to pay or feed them. His attractive wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) is the star attraction of the circus, with an elegant animal tricks show.

August hires Jacob as the circus vet and because he enjoys the prestige of having a college educated staff member. It does not take long for Jacob and Marlena to develop a mutual attraction that does not go unnoticed by August. With the bad economic times getting worse, August acquires Rosie the elephant from a defunct circus in a final desperate attempt to revive the fortunes of Benzini Brothers. With Jacob's help in training Rosie, Marlena's new show atop the elephant is a huge hit. But August cannot control his mounting fury at potentially losing Marlena to Jacob, and his rage results in a classic circus tragedy involving wild cats on the loose, a crowd stampede, and one vengeful elephant.

Told from the perspective of an elderly Jacob (Hal Holbrook) recounting the story decades later, Water For Elephants thrives in the smelly environs of a travelling circus made up of desperate characters traversing a desperate United States in desperate times made less tolerable by prohibition. As brought to life by director Francis Lawrence, there is nothing attractive about the Benzini Brothers, despite August's efforts to place the occasional gloss of glamour on his life. Christoph Waltz gives August a single-minded survivalist clamp on his circus, justified by the agonizing alternative of starvation for him and his wife.

Reese Witherspoon is almost angelic in both look and behaviour as Marlena, likely an appropriate portrayal since we are seeing her through Jacob's adoring eyes. As for Robert Pattinson, taking a break from the Twilight and Harry Potter franchises to play Jacob, he is earnest to a fault, with a character that is unfortunately less interesting for being almost too honest and too straight.

Water For Elephants may lack the sparkle of originality, but it finds its strength in capturing the anxiety unleashed by misery to deliver a rich experience of romance and sorrow.

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