Movie Review: Close (2019)

Genre: Action Thriller  

Director: Vicky Jewson  

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Sophie Nelisse, Indira Varma  

Running Time: 94 minutes  

Synopsis: After escorting reporters through a Middle East war zone, close protection officer Sam (Noomi Rapace) is assigned to protect mining company heiress Zoe (Sophie Nelisse) on a trip from Europe to Morocco. Zoe has just inherited all her father's company shares, much to the disappointment of her step-mother Rima (Indira Varma). With the company in the middle of critical negotiations to acquire properties in Zambia, Zoe becomes an attack target as soon as she arrives at the family's fortified kasbah in Morocco. Sam has to protect her client in a foreign country, and is not sure who to trust.

What Works Well: The opening sequence featuring an ambush on a dusty desert road is a thrilling introduction to Sam's skill and temperament. Director Vicky Jewson delivers well-staged and coherent action scenes, and Noomi Rapace's moody persona is a good fit for the dour and frequently bruised security consultant operating in a perpetual trust-free zone.

What Does Not Work As Well: The script is too ambitious for the available budget. The business aspects related to stepmom Rima navigating a high pressure mining deal and fending off a rival company are laughably under-produced. The plot is too late sorting out the bad guys from the good guys, leaving a muddle of loose ends and dead-but-anyway-barely-defined characters to be swept into the bargain bin. 

Key Quote:

Zoe: I don't care what you think about me.

Sam: I don't think anything about you.

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Movie Review: The Kid Detective (2020)

Genre: Crime Dramedy  

Director: Evan Morgan  

Starring: Adam Brody, Sophie Nelisse, Wendy Crewson  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: In the small town of Willowbrook, Abe Applebaum (Adam Brody) is a washed-up 32 year-old detective. As a child prodigy he was celebrated for his skillful sleuthing, but his upward momentum was crushed at age 12 when he was unable to solve the disappearance of his classmate (and the Mayors' daughter) Gracie. Now Abe is presented an opportunity for redemption when teenager Caroline (Sophie Nelisse) seeks his help to find out who stabbed her boyfriend. The first serious crime case of Abe's career leads to a complex web of deceit, and reopens wounds of the past.

What Works Well: Beneath a glib exterior, this Canadian production packs surprising depth of character and emotional resonance. The unfulfilled promise of youth, a life drifting sideways, and unmet parental expectations are preludes to an investigation that delves into the dark side of puppy love, drug dealing at school, and ultimately evil hiding in plain sight. Adam Brody allows the burden of disappointment to ride on his shoulders.

What Does Not Work As Well: The material is willing to get quite dark, all the way to heinous crimes and abuses, throwing doubt on the wisdom of committing to humorous undertones. The most serious and impactful revelations meekly settle for telling but not showing.

Key Quote:

Abe: It's difficult to accept the difference between who you are in your head and who you are in the world.



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Movie Review: The Rest Of Us (2019)

Genre: Drama

Director: Aisling Chin-Yee

Starring: Heather Graham, Sophie Nélisse, Jodi Balfour

Running Time: 80 minutes

Synopsis: Children's books author Cami Hayes (Heather Graham) and her teenaged daughter Aster (Sophie Nélisse) live in dream house in North Bay, Ontario. Cami's ex-husband dies suddenly, leaving his second wife Rachel (Jodi Balfour) and young daughter Talulah (Abigail Pniowsky) penniless and facing eviction. Cami invites Rachel and Talulah to stay with her and Aster, an awkward arrangement that leads to new dynamics and unexpected revelations.

What Works Well: This is a compact four-character drama with excellent performances, sharp edges, and a penchant for dark humour. Director Aisling Chin-Yee's concise scenes build a milieu for two women and their two daughters to explore present realities through the glare of a wrecked past. The outcome is an organic collision of unmet expectations, Cami confronting behaviour now reflected in her daughter, while Rachel comes to terms with the hospitality of the woman she wronged. Seething resentment threatens to boil over, but affection and understanding also compete for space.

What Does Not Work As Well: The short length demands a lopsided focus on snarky and selfish behaviour at the expense of demonstrated sympathy.  

Conclusion: An enjoyably jagged journey from inflamed hate to informed humanity.



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Movie Review: The Book Thief (2013)

A coming of age story set against a World War Two backdrop, The Book Thief is earnest, beautiful, and unremarkable.

In Germany of 1938, young Liesel (Sophie Nelisse) is adopted by Hans and Rosa Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson), a couple suffering economically because they refuse to join the Nazi party. Hans is kind and teaches Liesel to read. Rosa is stern, worn down by the responsibilities of keeping the family fed.

Liesel grows up with a love of books and inherits her adopted father's compassion. She develops a friendship with classmate and neighbour Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch), a budding sprinter. The household tension increases when Hans and Rosa provide refuge to Max, a young Jewish man. Liesel witnesses her neighbourhood change as the war drags on, her reading hobby fuelled by an unlikely bond with Ilsa Hermann (Barbara Auer), the mayor's wife.

An adaptation of the book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief is filled with honest intentions to present war from a child's viewpoint, and from behind the windows of a German anti-Nazi household as the storm clouds of a global conflict gather then erupt. Director Brian Percival creates luscious visuals within an idyllic small town (really one cobble-stoned street) where everyone knows everyone, and the regime's iron grip is represented by the Nazi flag draped on every building and an increasing number of uniforms and troop-carrying trucks.

But behind the pretty pictures and purity of perspective, Michael Petroni's script struggles to find a narrative thrust. The Book Thief is episodic, Liesel too young to influence meaningful events and generally swept along according to decisions made by others. The book thievery elements become a minor sideshow to the major incidents rocking the town, the war emerging as the most important character, everyone else a relatively meaningless pawn in the unfolding scope of history.

Which is of course true and probably works well in book format, but other than Liesel's growth from a young girl to a less young girl, the movie lacks requisite character arcs to build drama. Narration by a heaven-occupying voice of death is an interesting addition, but only serves to further underline human insignificance.

The performances are uniformly good but all remain close to pre-established single notes. Young Canadian actress Sophie Nelisse conveys appropriate levels of apprehension, wonder, and growing determination in a world gone mad.

Solemn but emotionally staid, The Book Thief steals sporadic moments of satisfaction.



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