Ordinary People (1980)

This is another simple but excellent film.
Here, Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton) is just trying to get through the day. He should be a senior in high school but instead he has to repeat his junior year. His older brother died nearly a year ago in a tragic boating accident and then he tried to commit suicide so he's just out from spending four months in a mental hospital where the poor young man received shock treatment.
He is going through the motions, studying and swimming, but he is still haunted and finally decides to see a therapist, Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch). He wants to be more in control.
His parents are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Calvin (Donald Sutherland) is kind, caring and concerned while his mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore) is still and unfeeling and every time she tries to talk to her son she takes the conversation in the wrong direction.
The film slowly unfolds over the next few months, over the holidays. Conrad quits the swim team while Beth just wants to go away for the holidays like they always do. Oh boy, is she livid when she finds out from her friend that Conrad quit the swim team and she didn't know anything about it.
Conrad always cautiously starts a relationship with Jeannine (a pre-Downton Abbey Elizabeth McGovern), who actually has a personality. He also meets with his old friend Karen (Dinah Manoff) from the hospital who seems to be doing well, busy with the drama club, something that she tells him twice.
Everything comes to a head when Beth and Calvin are in Houston for the new year and Conrad remains in Chicago with his grandparents and he hears that Karen succeeded in committing suicide. He starts screaming and gets Dr. Berger out of bed in the middle of the night and finally the truth comes out. We learn the truth about the accident on the boat. In fact, it's a downright miracle that Conrad didn't die as well. The weather was dreadful and a part of the boat got jammed so the tiny boat overturned. Buck (Scott Doebler) couldn't hang on so he drowned. Instead of going to look for him, Conrad clung to the boat. But he must live with the consequences. His mother doesn't relate to him; she's scared of her own emotions and of caring ever again. She is also cruel enough to say that Buck would have never been in the hospital. She couldn't stand the mess from Conrad's attempt to die. They had to replace the grout in the bathroom. He ruined her towels. And she can't stand how concerned Calvin always is and how he now tries to wrap his life around his last remaining child.
Her best scene comes when she starts to pack her bags and doesn't want to cry but the tears can't help but leak out anyway.
She leaves for awhile which is probably for the best. Conrad and Calvin truly do love each other and they will be okay.
Hutton absolutely deserved an Oscar for this role and Tyler Moore is also brilliant. Sutherland should have at least received a nomination. This film shows that going to a therapist is nothing to be ashamed of, as much as Beth feels that it is a private thing. Talking does help and shutting others out ultimately doesn't do much good. You should be in control of your own life but also be aware of others around you and their feelings. Watching this film makes me glad that I have empathy for others. Grade: A

The Handmaid's Tale: Season One Recap and Reaction

This show is incredibly disturbing. Taking place in a dystopian society in the near-future, birthrates are low and morale is lower. Lower class women are forced to be concubines for the wealthy so there will be children to repopulate the Earth. Now, though that is dreadful and beyond cruel, women aren't allowed to read, write or work outside the house.
The main character is Offred (Elisabeth Moss), stripped of her own identity, taking the name of her master, in this case, Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes, still alive after Shakespeare in Love), who has a high command in the government but that doesn't stop him from breaking the law by allowing Offred to play Scrabble with him as a way to bond. His name is nasty. Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski), who used to have a career and actually wrote some of the laws now in place. Women's focus should be on the home and children.
There are also flashbacks to Offred's life before she became a handmaid. She was married to Luke (O-T Fagebenle) and was happy with him and their young daughter. Lest we forget, when they got together, he was a married man but he divorced his wife to be with June, Offred's real name. Like that happens in real life. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I broke up a marriage.
Perhaps the most disturbing part is when one of the Handmaid's Janine, now known as Ofwarren (Madeline Brewer) gives birth. First of all, you would think in a society where the chance of having a healthy child is a mere twenty percent, she would give birth in a hospital but instead she gives birth surrounded by the aunts (including Ann Dowd's Aunt Lydia), her fellow handmaids and toward the end, the wives. Her appointed mistress, Naomi Putnam (Ever Carradine) goes through all the fake motions of labor with her. It's just well, disturbing. There isn't really any other word for it. And Janine nurses the baby, but isn't allowed any other interaction with her miraculously healthy baby Angela. Once the baby is weaned, she is stationed somewhere else, but runs away and kidnaps her own child and nearly jumps off a bridge with the baby though June talks her off. The baby is safe and then everyone acts all surprised when Janine jumps and nearly dies. Her punishment changes the course of how the world is.
There is plenty to talk about in this show, that's for sure. In this new society, it is a crime to be homosexual and Alexis Bledel's Emily (or Ofglen) is sorely punished for it but is allowed to live because she has two good ovaries. She, quite literally, goes out with a bang, killing a soldier before dying herself.
June has a pregnancy scare early on but it turns out that she isn't pregnant so she is banished to her room for half the month and then Mrs. Waterford says that she should have sex with Nick (Max Minghella), the Waterfords driver so she won't get in trouble. And they basically fall in love, actually having sex with passion.
The finale episode has ups and downs for June. She is smacked by Mrs. Waterford as she discovered that her husband was completely cheating on her with June. She forces June to pee on a pregnancy test, which are illegal. And she's pregnant with Nick believing that he is the father. She witnesses Mrs. Waterford visit her daughter, while she is stuck in the car. She also opens for secret package which is letters of other women taken against their wills and raped and stripped and separated from their children. Janine is also to be punished but all the handmaids refuse to stone her, standing together. As June says in a voice over, if they didn't want us to be an army, they shouldn't have given us uniforms. She will be severely punished but has accepted her fate. The season ends with her being taken away, but Nick told her to just go with them. Who knows what her fate will be.
Her friend, Moira (Samira Wiley) has a whole different fate, finally escaping hell and being welcomed with open arms and a welcome kit in Canada. She is reunited with Luke there. I just hope that June will also get a happy ending.
This show is well-done, with great acting and excellent cinematography and art direction and haunting music that make you feel like you are in that repressive society. I also though that all the voice overs were totally unnecessary and kept you from being confused.
The only problem I had was the subplot of using the handmaids as a trade bargain with Mexico (where women can still have real careers). It is a main plot in one episode and then never mentioned again. I also don't understand how June is only thirty-one with an eight-year-old but was already out of college for some time before meeting and marrying Luke. Those are my only two problems with the show. I can't wait to see what happens to June, you must keep fighting or else they will win and they can't win. Grade: A-

A United Kingdom (2017)

Who would have thought that marrying the person you loved would have caused such an international scandal?
Well, when one of those people is a King of a south African county and the other is a typical white British woman, it can cause quite a problem. Sereste Khama (David Oyelowo) is studying law in London who meets Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) randomly at an event for missionary work. They hit it off and quickly fall in love, though those around them aren't as happy as they are. They are beaten up in the streets and after they become engaged, Ruth's father (Nicholas Lyndhurst) kicks her out of the house.
And once they arrive in Africa, things get worse. There is apartheid but worse, Sereste's own uncle (Vusi Kunene) isn't supportive of the match and wants him to renounce the throne. But he doesn't, and the people of Bechuanaland support him. The British are certainly against him and the country isn't in great shape, with disease, drought and famine. And there is drilling, unbeknownst to the native government.
The British government is also brutal to the couple, inviting them back to officially appoint Sereste as the leader but it is all a lie. He is banished from his own country while Ruth stayed behind to get used to it. Even Sereste's sister, Naledi (Terry Pheto) warms up to Ruth. She has their first child alone, separated from her husband, and then when Winston Churchill is elected, they believed that he would allow Sereste to be sent home, but it is worse, he is banished for life. He does have some good supporters, thank goodness and soon learns that the mineral drilling has yielded diamonds and he has finally obtained the real, previously confidential report which did say that he would be a good leader but South Africa, a country which is vital to Great Britain's economy, would be livid so he was lied to and punished for no good reason.
So they return to tie up loose ends and here, Sereste blackmails the British government representative of South Africa (Jack Davenport) with published the real report. And Sereste abandons his throne so his country can have independence and democracy with free elections instead. Love wins. At least in this film.
While I don't have many problems with the film, there are some nevertheless. The couple's courtship is too short and though Oyelowo and Pike are great in difficult roles, they are at least ten years too old for the parts. It is also incredibly disturbing at how manipulative and cruel the government was to the couple, there was a whole conspiracy against them. Something like that shouldn't have happened. There were certainly some inspirational messages and great scenes. There truly were few things to dislike. I just have to hope that love can still conquer all, because this world certainly needs more love these days. Grade: B+

12 Angry Men (1957)

This film will never stop being timely
Here, we have a young man, with a rough childhood, growing up in a rough neighborhood accused of brutally stabbing his father. His father spent time in prison for forgery and was abusive to his son.
But the jury initially votes for him to go to the chair, save one: Juror Number Eight (Henry Fonda), who feels that the stakes are too high to not have a discussion about the events at hand. This young man's life is also at stake, if found guilty, he will get the electric chair. The film unfolds as slowly and gradually the evidence is picked away until reasonable doubt is established. First, the supposed one-of-a-kind knife is found to be not so unique, then the older man who lived below the murdered is found to have a disability (from a stroke) that wouldn't have allowed him to get to the door as fast as he said it did. Then juror number four (E.G. Marshall) finds himself unable to remember the films he saw with his wife just days before, confirming that the accused could actually have been at the movies when his father was killed. The angle at which he supposedly stabbed his father is also found to most likely be inaccurate and then finally the most important testimony of the witness across the street may not have seen what she thought she saw as she wasn't wearing her glasses or may not have been wearing her glasses when she witnessed the murder.
The men are all different. We have the sadist who literally kills people for a living (Lee J. Cobb) who has a troubled relationship with his own son and sees his son in the accused, the foreman (Martin Balsam) is rather timid and not a natural born leader though he needs to be, the man who lived in the slums and understands street talk (Jack Klugman), the immigrant who is thrilled with the process (George Voskovec) and the bully (Ed Begley), whom eventually the men just stop listening to.
Despite being simple, taking place largely in one room, in real time, the plot has to be interesting, which it is and the acting is phenomenal. Though Fonda gets the star billing, it is really an ensemble cast and they deliver. There are some gaps when not much happens, which slows the film down, but it brings up many good points. And leaves you wondering, who really murdered the father? Certainly the son could have done it, but there is enough doubt to find him not guilty.
Now, while the film is certainly important and necessary and timeless, it is typical Hollywood, with only white men in the cast. So while the film is still relevant in countless ways, it is nevertheless dated, especially with all smoking. Watch it anyway. Grade: A-

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

This film is still as timely today as it was nearly forty years ago when it was first released.
Ted Kramer (the brilliant Dustin Hoffman) comes home from the office with good news but his wife, Joanna (the always excellent Meryl Streep) doesn't care. She's leaving him and their young son, Billy (Justin Henry). Ted has to go from being very career-centric to having to put his child first, and there are plenty of bumps along the way, including Ted losing his job because he can't meet the stressful demands it placed upon him and care for his young child as well.
And then Joanna returns, and wants her son back so a nasty custody battle ensues, tears are had on both sides but the judge picks the mother, ripping Ted's heart out once more.
The plot is incredibly simple and most of the scenes just show everyday life, but they are very realistic, from the tiny apartment kitchen in New York City to the jungle gym on the playground to father and son arranging breakfast together. That doesn't make the feelings that go along with it simple. You feel for Ted, who sacrificed the career of a lifetime to focus on his son and you feel for Joanna, upset and unhappy in a marriage where she wasn't allowed to truly be herself, or even work outside the home. I understand that she had to leave to find herself, but that doesn't mean she had to leave her child especially if she even said that Ted wasn't sympathetic to Billy's needs. Each Streep and Hoffman give steady performances and young Justin Henry should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; he plays the typical kid, upset that he has to leave Daddy's home and has no choice in the matter. Jane Alexander, as Margaret, a friend of Joanna's then of Ted, is also great. Her loyalty switches sides throughout the film. I have just two problems with the film. At the beginning, the street musicians are playing the song that overlaps with when Ted arrives home and Margaret oversteps her bounds when she is on the stand at the trial. I wish they would have had a scene with her and Joanna, begging Joanna to let Ted keep custody of Billy instead.
The scene when Hoffman realizes that he was the reason Joanna left, you can see his heart break inside, the same as when he must tell Billy that Billy will need to live with Mommy from now on. Streep does, in the end, decide that Billy is home with his father and there is at least a chance of her and Ted becoming friends, at least for Billy's sake. You must hope that they will put their differences aside so Billy can have a happy life. This film will make you feel all the feels and you will be better for it, though it leaves you wondering if everything will be alright and if divorce is really the answer. Grade: A

Harlots: Season One Recap and Reaction

Well, this show is something different.
It is London 1767 where a shocking one in five women earn their living by selling themselves.
Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) owns a hostel with several whores but she is also a mother and her daughters drive many of the plot lines.
Her eldest daughter, Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay, dear Sybil from Downton Abbey) is already an estate manager's (Hugh Skinner) keeper (aka mistress) but she is flighty and her attention often strays elsewhere. And she's a horrible gambler. Young Lucy (Eloise Smyth) is still a virgin but her virginity is sold at a high price as men are sick.
Margaret also has a feud with another woman who owns a higher class brothel with elevated and well-trained women, Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville) and their feud also drives the series. In fact, one of Margaret's girls (Holli Dempsey, also a prostitute on one episode of Call the Midwife) switches sides only to regret it as Lydia locks her girls in and keeps them in her debt with the fine gowns she provides for them, plus she doesn't care how cruelly the men (or culls as they are called) treat the girls as long as she gets paid.
Plenty of stuff happens but it all comes to a head in episode six when Lucy stabs her new keeper, formally Charlotte's keeper who forces himself on her as he now owns her. It is inevitable. Poor Lucy is so young and rather reluctant to become what every woman around her is.
There are other characters as well. Probably a stand-out is former American slave, Harriet (Pippa Bennett-Warner) the 'wife' of one of Margaret's former lovers from long ago, who is desperate to get back her children after their father suddenly dies and eventually comes to terms with being a whore and probably the best whore in the house. Margaret's current lover (there is no explanation as to what happened to Mr. Wells) is a freeman, William North (Danny Sapani), forming a rare interracial couple on either television or film. They even have a young son together. Though they are not legally married, Margaret still refers to William as the girls' Pa, though that cannot be the case.
Also from Call the Midwife is the pious, though former whore, Mrs. Scanwell (Dorothy Atkinson) who starts out as a spy for Mrs. Quigley though she soon starts to like Margaret better.
There is plenty more that happens. So watch the show for yourself.
I don't have many problems with the show, as it does create that authentic grimy atmosphere of London in 1767, but that one glimpse of Howard, Charlotte's keeper, in a wig holding a dress up to him, when in reality he was incredibly horny just felt odd, all things considered. And these girls don't understand love. Charlotte doesn't know how to have sex if there is no money in the room. And what sort of mother would force her daughter into that field. Margaret does change her tune after covering up a murder for Lucy, but it was too late by then. Though Margaret has love, more or less, she knows that the only power for women is in money and she loves money.
Another thing that shocked me is that only one of the prostitutes is pregnant and hopefully Margaret won't force her to turn her baby away. It isn't far, Margaret would do anything for her children but her girls cannot keep theirs. Though this is a bizarre show, it is still well done and I need to see what will happen to these characters. Grade: B+

Far From Heaven (2002)

This film truly en-captured the authentic look of those Hollywood classic films from the 1950s.
Kathleen 'Cathy' Whitaker (Julianne Moore, brilliant) is the typical 1950s housewife, juggling the children, husband, household and her philanthropy. She and her husband, Frank (Dennis Quaid) are an It-couple as he has a successful job working in advertising. But he has sort of a drinking problem, but probably no one, though I already knew the basic plot, excepted to see him making out with a man in his office, late at night. Cathy thought she was being sweet, bringing dinner to her husband at work, and that is the sight she sees. Frank is ashamed of feeling that way, and it isn't acceptable to society and is still considered a mental disorder at the time. Frank certainly does try to get help, meeting with a therapist.
Meanwhile, Cathy's life appears in a society magazine and she becomes a minor celebrity and develops a friendship with her new gardener, Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), who happens to be African-American. Fortunately, Cathy is liberal in that regard, not seeing people for color. Unfortunately, everyone around her isn't like that. Raymond understands her, he is the only one she  can talk to about things.
After a dinner party, Frank is drunk and tries to have sex with her, but cannot perform and is upset about the whole thing and accidentally backhands Cathy. She sucks it up but it does draw her closer to Raymond. But the others, both whites and blacks aren't pleased with the relationship and rumors start flying. Frank is also pissed off, though he has no room to be. So she stops seeing him and things somewhat return to normal. It isn't until they go on vacation without the children to Miami that things get interesting again.
In Miami, Frank meets another man whom he falls in love with. And Raymond's daughter, Sarah (Jordan Pulvear) is injured when some white boys through a rock at her, because her father was with that white woman.
A few nights after the Whitakers return to Hartford that Frank has a breakdown and admits that he has fallen in love with someone else. A stoic Cathy merely asks that if he will now want a divorce, which he does. They actually divorce rather quickly.
Cathy is devastated to hear about Raymond's daughter and rushes over right away. She wishes to reconnect with him, especially since her marriage has gone up in smoke, but Raymond is upset at the reactions of everyone, even other blacks, constantly tossing rocks through the windows of his house. He will not attempt to mix the two worlds again and is moving elsewhere so his daughter will be safe.
She doesn't push it though she does go to the train station to see him off, with the scarf from earlier. The scarf had previously blown off her head but Raymond collected it and returned it to her. I was yelling at the screen for Cathy to give him her scarf, but she doesn't keeping it on her head as she keeps the tears inside. She has to rebuild her life as a single woman, when her world previously revolved around her husband.
While the plot is simple and basic, the film is nevertheless excellent, anchored with some universal and timeless themes. This film also shows how repressed the culture could be, with so many tasks needing done. And that phone is always ringing at an inopportune times. In addition to the three leads being superbly cast, Patricia Clarkson and Viola Davis offer excellent support as Cathy's narrow-minded best friend and loyal maid. The setting is breathtaking and the cinematography imitates the traditional cinematography from melodramatic films from the golden age of Hollywood. Though this film doesn't change lives or inspire anything, it makes you grateful that we live in a time where love isn't going to be suppressed if you love someone of your same gender or of another race. I am grateful to live now. Also, for the record, Julianne Moore should have won an Oscar for this role. She was better here than Nicole Kidman was in The Hours, which ironically enough, had Julianne Moore in more or less the same role. Grade: A-

Moonstruck (1987)

This is one of those films that should have been better.
Loretta Castorini (Cher) is a thirty-seven year-old widow who lives with her parents and is a bookkeeper for (it looks like) several businesses owned by either friends or family. Her life is potentially even more boring than mine, but she isn't complaining. She does have a boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), but she has to tell him how to propose to her when he finally decides it's time to get married. He doesn't get down on one knee and doesn't even have a ring for her. But she says yes. This time, she's determined to do it right, actually get married in a church and she insists that her father, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) pay for the wedding which he doesn't want to do because he doesn't like Johnny.
Then Johnny has to fly back to Italy to his mother's death bed and he wants Loretta to invite his brother to the wedding; they have been estranged for the last five years.
Finally, things get a little interesting in her life. Ronnie (Nicolas Cage) is a lonely, bitter baker, pissed off at his brother for an accident that happened five years ago. Ronnie was chatting with his brother while he was slicing bread and got his hand caught and then his fiance dumped him because of his new impediment. However, Loretta doesn't care about that. She wants to take care of him, just like she takes care of Johnny. Ronnie is still upset that Johnny is going to get a happy ending when he isn't, and then he tosses the table aside and plants a huge kiss on Loretta before lifting her up and taking her to his bed. That's right, and then the next morning, he's already decided that he loves her. I don't blame Loretta for slapping him and telling him to snap out of it.
But she still goes to the opera with him, so he can both things that he loves together for one night. His lovely speech on how love ruins things is, well, ruined because he is such a jerk, and won't take no for an answer when Loretta just wants to go home. He wants her in his bed.
The final scene is actually pretty good, when all of Loretta's family is together along with Ronnie and then Johnny shows up. In just two days, his mother made a miraculous recovery when Johnny said that he was getting married which makes him realize that he can't marry her. So instead, Ronnie proposes even though he's only known her for two days. Yeah, pretty unrealistic. And she says yes. Johnny, more or less, gives them his blessing.
Fortunately, there is a subplot that is fairly interesting. Olympia Dukakis is Loretta's mother Rose, a strong character who informs the local restaurant dumpee Perry (Frasier's John Mahoney) to stick to older women, not his students at NYU. And the look on her face when Johnny answers her question as to why men chase women is priceless.
Despite some good, fairly nature and authentic performances in this film, I just can't get behind the romance between Ronnie and Loretta, the age difference is too great and his character isn't good enough for the kind and caring Loretta. Without that good romance, the film suffers. The chemistry might be there but the couple is too oddly matched and the romance happens to quickly to be believed. Cher may have done well, but Holly Hunter was far better in Broadcast News and Glenn Close was better as the despicable character she portrayed in Fatal Attraction. They deserved the Oscar over Cher. Grade: B

Wonder Woman (2017)

This film was very, very good indeed.
We first meet Diana (Gal Gadot) in the present day, city unknown but her thoughts swiftly move to the past as she is given an old photograph.
Then, we go back to Diana's childhood, where she grew up on a secret, secluded island full of women, placed there by Zeus. These are strong women, warriors, all of them and they don't care what they're missing on an island without men. And then, one day, a man breaks through. It is during the stormy, foggy days toward the end of World War I, but he (Chris Pine) is not welcome. The woman aren't happy to see him. Especially since he brings the enemy (German men) with him, but these women fight them off and get the truth out of the surviving man, Steve Trevor. And Diana wants to go with him to kill Ares, the god of war who has put all the evil into the humans on Earth causing wars to exist. Diana's mother (Connie Nielsen) isn't pleased but reluctantly lets her daughter go.
Diana just wants to get to the front lines as soon as possible, not understanding the intricate way of the British militia. And of course, Steve needs to assemble his posse, which he does. His crew consists of Sameer (Said Taghmaoui), who has a rather large crush on Diana; Charlie (Ewan Bremner) who has a lovely singing voice and suffers from PTSD and Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) who trades with men on both sides so he can make a profit.
They get to the front lines with the mission of stopping this nasty new poison from destroying the lives of innocents, but Diana takes matters into her own hands and saves a village, only to have everyone die the following day from the nasty toxic poison the Germans are inventing, devastating Diana. And then Diana meets the German general Ludendorff (Danny Huston), whom she believes is the embodiment of Ares and she kills him, while Steve goes off to his death to destroy the vials of poison from reaching the lives of the people, enemy and civilian alike. But the catch is that Ludendorff isn't Ares, instead it is the British general, Sir Patrick Morgan (David Thewlis) and he is her equal match, finally putting up a nasty fight. But Diana wins out in the end, but her fight is far from over. It is just beginning.
This film really had everything going for it. A great plot, with twists and turns, snappy dialogue, funny moments, very good acting, solid performances, flawless editing, great sets and costumes and excellent special effects. There were some amazingly funny lines and Gadot's innocence finally being in the real world was great. Everything fascinated her. She was very much a feminist, not wanting to listen to any man, but she was thrilled the first time she saw a baby, as though it was actually the first time she had ever seen a baby, not to mention her excellent battle scenes. Every ounce of training that she had put into this role shows on the screen. Pine is also doing his best work here, at least out of all the films I've seen with him in them, even the Star Trek movies; he fakes a flawless German accent. And it is great to see minorities in roles in a major film, especially a Native American, the most underused minority in all of Hollywood, at least in my opinion. This is a film that everyone should see. The message is also something wonderful. Love is the only thing worth fighting for. Diana's right, it is the only thing worth fighting for. Grade: A-

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (2015)

Well, I finally watched it and I don't really know what to think.
I mostly watched it just to see if Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) would pick Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) or Gale (Liam Hemsworth).
But first, to the main plot, overthrowing Snow (Donald Sutherland). Katniss is insistent on helping take him down despite Coin's (Julianne Moore's) chagrin. She sneaks out right after Finnick (Sam Claflin) and Annie's (Stef Dawson's) wedding thanks to the drug addicted Johanna (the always underused Jena Malone, biting into her role). Her mission is simple, to kill Snow. However, her crew with a cast of characters follows the main troops, as they are there for the sole purpose of being filmed by Cressida (Natalie Dormer). Then poor Boggs (Mahershala Ali), their leader is killed by one of the many booty traps laid down by the Capitol. His second in command, Jackson (Michelle Forbes), doesn't want Katniss to be in charge but that is how it is going to be. And the whole time, Peeta's mental condition is fragile as he was conditioned to be evil and hate Katniss at Snow's request so he comes and goes. Sometimes, he is firmly on the resistance while other times, he tries to kill Katniss but he does realize that when he is lucid. But his old memories are slowing coming back so he asks what is real and what isn't. They face challenge after challenge, with plenty of death along the way, including poor Finnick and then, the Capitol asks all the refugees to return and then bombs are dropped on them, killing poor Prim (Willow Shields) and nearly killing Katniss, when she was so close to killing Snow. But just like that, everything is over. The rebels surrendered, Snow is to be killed and Coin has named herself interim president which does not make Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) happy at all. But Coin doesn't want all the killings of Snow's followers to make people restless. So she decides that if the victors vote, the Hunger Games would be reinstated. I'm livid when Katniss votes in favor of the plan, but it was only so she could kill Snow. But then I realized that it was so she could have an opportunity to kill Coin because Snow was right after Coin after all, she was just after the power and was upset that she couldn't control Katniss's actions. So that's what she does and then Plutarch (the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman) helps her escape. She returns home and lives a quiet life, Paylor (Patina Miller) is elected President as leaders of all the districts decided upon it, which is what should have been done in the first place. And she picks Peeta, because she does love him after all. I knew she was going to pick him when she told Gale good-bye when he came to fetch her for Coin. He knew about the bombs killing the children, which was executed by Coin instead of Snow.
So Katniss and Peeta end up together and though in the first film, Katniss said she didn't want children, she and Peeta nevertheless have two and she tells her baby that whenever she has nightmares, she creates a list in her head of all the good things people have done but it is much less tedious than some games.
Okay, it was better than the first mockingjay movie, because this one was far more fast-paced, which was good. The performances, however, were only decent. When Haymitch read the letter Plutarch had written to Katniss, his voice was void of emotion, which just should not have happened. And Katniss showed no emotion until she came home to find Prim's cat. And there truly are too many characters, so you can't get to know them very well, which is just a shame, because they are could be excellent, fully fleshed characters. The characters look depressed throughout the whole film, which I guess also makes sense all there is an epic war going on and people are dying left and right. At least the setting is great and there wasn't an inconsistency in the editing, which is no small feat. That being said, it didn't affect me as the first one did. But Katniss is right, killing is personal and that is something that should never be forgotten. Grade: B