Movie Review: Truth (2015)

Genre: Biographical Political Drama  

Director: James Vanderbilt  

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Dennis Quaid, Stacy Keach, Bruce Greenwood, Topher Grace, Elisabeth Moss, Dermot Mulroney  

Running Time: 125 minutes  

Synopsis: Ahead of the 2004 US presidential election, 60 Minutes television show producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) investigates President Bush's National Guard service record during the Vietnam War era. She works with anchor Dan Rather (Robert Redford) and a team consisting of Mike Smith (Topher Grace), Colonel Roger Charles (Dennis Quaid), and Lucy Scott (Elisabeth Moss). Retired and ailing National Guard member Bill Burkett (Stacy Keach) produces copies of documents that tarnish Bush's record. But after the story airs, doubts are raised about the documents' authenticity, placing Mary's team under intense scrutiny.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Mary Mapes's book unfolds in two distinct chapters: the first half is the lead-up to the broadcast of the 60 Minutes episode about Bush's military service record. The much better second half is the aftermath, as the team of CBS journalists and their managers deal with immediate blowback. Once doubts are cast upon the critical documents, the investigative team switches from offense to defence, and the forces aligned against them prove formidable. Cate Blanchett's powerhouse performance contains space for the murky conflict between personal beliefs and journalistic integrity, while Robert Redford's sage presence invites reflection on the rise and fall of corporate television news. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The opening 45 minutes are occupied with a deadline-driven rush to investigate the President's record, and become cluttered with too many names of too many incidental characters, the search for details getting in the way of good story telling. And while the reporters are scurrying about in a frenzy, no one pauses to ponder the relative insignificance of a story about skipping obscure National Guard duties 30 years prior.

Conclusion: And dare.



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Movie Review: The Calling (2014)

A serial killer drama, The Calling benefits from a frigid rural aesthetic and a good cast, but never quite grabs an enigmatic emotional hold.

In the small community of Fort Dundas, Ontario, hard-drinking Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) is the local Sheriff, suffering from back pain and not over the breakup of her marriage and loss of an unborn child years prior. Hazel and fellow law enforcement officer Ray Green (Gil Bellows) are stunned to confront the community's first murder in years, an elderly woman found nearly decapitated. Soon another murder is committed and in both cases the victims' faces and mouths were contorted post-death.

Detective Ben Wingate (Topher Grace) relocates to Fort Dundas from Toronto and starts researching cases from across the country, uncovering other victims, all terminally ill, Catholic, and poisoned to death. Hazel connects with the elderly Father Price (Donald Sutherland), who suggests the murders may be related to an ancient prayer and the sacrifice of disciples in anticipation of resurrection. Meanwhile creepy fake healer Simon (Christopher Heyerdahl) is roaming the land, promoting his brand of unconventional herb-based medicine.

A Canadian production overlaying echoes of a gloomier Fargo with murderous carnage inspired by twisted interpretations of religious doctrine, The Calling succeeds in creating a chilly evil-roams-the-land vibe. Hazel is a deeply flawed protagonist spurred into action despite the fog of pain and alcohol, while Simon is the personification of the grim reaper cloaked in ancient Catholicism. Together they create two decent bookends, and the film wisely stays away from cheap thrills and instead derives momentum from characters inhabiting an isolated community.

Scott Abramovitch wrote the screenplay as an adaptation of the book by Inger Ash Wolfe, and director Jason Stone recognizes the locale as one of the narrative strong points, capturing the natural beauty and grounded resilience of a snow-covered small town. No one is surprised when every rumour instantaneously spreads through the community, all residents are on a first name basis, and they all know each other's history and emotional baggage.

As much as the film's strengths are apparent, so are the mushier components. Some of the police work falls through plot holes, and pieces of background between Simon and Father Price are sketched-in at best. Hazel's mother Emily (an underused Ellen Burstyn) putters around the house seeking a purpose, while the marriage break-up and baby loss tragedy never evolve past plastic plot devices.

But with Sarandon in the crunchiest of crusty form and Heyerdahl weaving a spell of death with dreamy eyes and marvellous oral delivery punctuated with unhitched pauses, The Calling makes it through the winter.

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Movie Review: BlacKkKlansman (2018)

A biographical police investigation drama, BlacKkKlansman is a slick story of hardened bigotry lurking just beneath the surface of American society.

It's the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is admitted as the first black police officer in Colorado Springs. Smart and ambitious, Ron agitates to join the undercover investigations unit, and is finally assigned to monitor a talk by a former Black Panthers leader. He meets student civil rights activist Patrice (Laura Harrier), and they start a friendship without her knowing his real profession. 

Next, Ron phones up the Klu Klux Klan claiming to be a racist bigot, and local leaders invite him to attend introductory meetings. White and Jewish Detective Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) impersonates Ron for the in-person meetings. Together they uncover the Klan's local activities, including a potential bombing plot. Meanwhile, Ron starts phone contact with the Klan's national leader David Duke (Topher Grace), who is attempting to upgrade the Klan's image and is planning a visit to Colorado Springs.

Directed and co-written by Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman is inspired by real events from Ron Stallworth's career. The film is a smoothly-delivered, hard-hitting and unblinking condemnation of racism and antisemitism persisting in American culture, as revealed through an audacious police investigation. And despite the serious subject matter, Lee makes sure to include a sharp streak of humour, almost in comic disbelief at the prevailing primitive mindsets.

Opening with the sacking of Atlanta scene from Gone With The Wind, Lee draws a straight line to the seething anger among white supremacists over the end of societal segregation and the 1960s civil rights movement, with Blacks perceived as unworthy sub-humans, and Jews thrown into the mix as equally despicable elements of society.

After tolerating menial assignments as a rookie officer and witnessing hidden and overt racism within the department, Ron talks his way to more meaningful assignments. He takes the initiative to open the cover on the sewer of hatred and with Flip's help descends into the filth. One possible side effect of blind bigotry is the inherent stupidity of idiots attracted to the cause, and in next to no time the black Ron (over the phone) impersonated by the Jewish Flip-as-Ron is being invited to join the movement as a card-carrying member of the Klan.

The film stares in disbelief at the unfathomable and sickening level of enmity hiding in plain sight, contrasted with Black students and civil rights movement stalwarts feeling their way towards empowerment. While the film is set in the early 1970s, Lee is blunt about the enduring modern applicability of the struggle for equality and dignity. David Duke's public three-piece suit disguise is presented as the door to political acceptability and future ascent to power, discussed in the film as an absurd outcome until the epilogue suggests otherwise.

For dramatic purposes the film fictionalizes the bombing subplot, allowing Lee to glide to a satisfying climax. A final phone call between Stallworth and Duke is unnecessary, and detracts from the film's postscript impact.

The performances are adequate, John David Washington and Adam Driver getting on with the job and staying out of the way of the narrative juggernaut. Jasper Pääkkönen as Felix, the most ominously deranged local Klan member, is a standout in the supporting cast.

In documenting a society still suffering from pockets of severe asininity, BlacKkKlansman is both authoritative and enraging.

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Movie Review: In Good Company (2004)

A romantic comedy with a backdrop of whirlwind corporate politics, In Good Company competently delivers all the necessary ingredients for harmless entertainment without shining in any of them.

In New York, Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is the middle-aged head of the advertising team at leading magazine Sports America. Dan is happily married to Ann (Marg Helgenberger), and the father of two daughters including Alex (Scarlett Johansson). With Ann unexpectedly announcing  she is pregnant again and Alex heading off to NYU, financial pressures are mounting.

At work, a corporate takeover turns Dan's life upside down. He is demoted and asked to report to 26 year old Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a smug young executive on the fast-track to success. Team layoffs and cutbacks follow, with Dan toiling to adapt to a boss half his age. But Carter himself is also struggling, unsure of what he is doing and with his marriage crumbling. Things get a lot more complicated when Carter and Alex start an intense relationship behind Dan's back.

Directed and written by Paul Weitz, In Good Company is a modestly successful lightweight comedy. A romance mixed with middle-age angst and company intrigue, plenty is going on at any one time, and Weitz invests enough in the characters of Dan, Carter and Alex to keep things interesting. Sparkling New York City locations and plenty of supporting characters provide depth and animation in the corners.

The story is more engaging than expected thanks to Dan and Carter being provided with an almost equal opportunity to occupy centre stage. Carter could have been relegated to a snotty and obnoxious young boss parachuted in by the new corporate parents, and indeed he starts off as just that. But Weitz is also interested in delving into the psyche of a young man and the insecurities eating away at his seemingly perfect life, and In Good Company is a much better movie for it.

Carter builds a romantic relationship with Alex but also, slowly, a working relationship with Dan, and gets to see corporate life from a new perspective. Meanwhile Dan is dealing with too many new things at once, and the film's wackiness and comic moments are derived from the sheer number of simultaneous crises that can be flung at one man.

The performances are steady without being spectacular, Quaid and Grace playing off each other as unlikely older guy-younger upstart competitor-buddies. Johansson, one year on from Lost In Translation, sticks closer to serious tones as a young woman tolerating her father's insecurities. David Paymer, Selma Blair, Philip Baker Hall and an uncredited Malcolm McDowell round out the cast.

In Good Company blows kisses up and down the corporate ladder, delivering a breezy attitude but not a lasting impression.

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Movie Review: American Ultra (2015)

A comedy action thriller, American Ultra aims for a hip and carefree attitude but has limited material to work with.

In the small town of Liman, West Virginia, Mike (Jesse Eisenberg) is a laid back stoner who works at a suburban discount grocery store. He is deeply in love with his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart), and wants to propose marriage, but can't quite find the right moment.

At CIA headquarters, Agent Adrian Yates (Topher Grace) orders Mike's assassination, much to the horror of agent Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton). Mike was part of a failed top secret program conceived by Lasseter to convert petty criminals into trained killers. Now Yates want to mop the program up and not leave any loose threads, although Mike has no memory of his training.

Lasseter gets to Mike first and activates him. He is ready when the assassination team arrives, and is able to fight back. Yates locks down the town and mobilizes a massive effort to corner Mike and wipe him out. Mike has to stay alive, figure out what is going on and still find a way to propose to Phoebe.

Directed by Nima Nourizadeh and written by Max Landis, American Ultra is Jason Bourne for the stoner set. The story of an efficient killing machine oblivious to his own potential suddenly tangling with his mother agency in a take-no-prisoners struggle to the death is extremely familiar. Landis gives it a comic spin with a loose, humorous vibe, allowing Mike's dopey, soft spoken, could-not-hurt-a-fly mannerisms to rub against his trained, kill-with-bare-hands abilities.

The film works as far as Eisenberg and Stewart take it, and the couple stay with the material to the end, despite the plot running out of string. Eisenberg was born to play slightly bemused characters nevertheless happy to dive into the latest mess, and he makes Mike's plight worthwhile. Stewart's dark-behind-the-eyes persona is perfect for Phoebe, a woman seemingly tolerating a loser of a boyfriend but with secrets of her own. Both are surprisingly good when they spring into blood-splattered action.

And that is mostly what American Ultra offers up in its second half. Once the pattern is set with Yates unleashing the might of the CIA and Lasseter doing her best to help Mike, not much more happens beyond a series of set pieces as Mike fights off the latest batch of well-armed killers and tries to inch his way to survival. Nourizadeh injects plenty of style and energy into the combat scenes, and also tries to give the antagonists some menacing personality. But Topher Grace's take on Yates is limited, and Walton Goggins can't do much with the hitman Laugher who, well, laughs a lot. John Leguizamo and Bill Pullman provide support in small roles.

A weird combination of wry humour and hard-edged action, American Ultra is as curious as a secret agent in a perpetual haze, and just as constrained.

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Movie Review: The Big Wedding (2013)

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