It is certainly nice seeing Paul Rudd in a drama. He is the educated, catcher for the Boston Red Sox, Moe Berg, who has finally been forced to retire from baseball and joins the government in the war effort, though for the most part, that means staying behind the desk, which he loathes.
He finally gets an assignment, to kill Hitler's personal scientist, Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong) who has been tasked with crafting an atomic bomb. But it is 1944 and he hasn't succeeded yet, most believe that he is capable but just hasn't had the heart to do so, thus he is stalling. Besides, will Moe even have the guts to follow through if he needs to actually murder the man.
Despite the great supporting cast, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Sienna Miller, Jeff Daniels and Tom Wilkinson, the film is missing something. In the hands of a different director and screenwriter, this could have been something very special as the story is there but ultimately, some decent performances are wasted, which is the true crime. If you assemble an A-list of actors, they need a director and screenplay worthy of them, which is not the case for this film which is such a shame. Grade: B
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Saturday, January 19, 2019
On the Basis of Sex (2018)
This film tells us the story of Ruth Bader Ginsberg's (Felicity Jones's) early years, from her entrance into Harvard law and Marty's (Armie Hammer's) battle with cancer to her struggling to find a firm who will hire a woman before finally settling to teach law at Rutgers before she finally gets her big break which is unfortunately handed to her by her husband. It is unfortunate that no one else realized her great talent.
One of Ruth's main classes is gender and law and how the law differentiates between men and women and the case Marty hands her is one where a bachelor hires an in-house nurse to help him care for his mother but as he isn't a woman, divorced man or widowed, he was deemed ineligible for the caretaker tax deduction so Ruth and Marty take on his case with the somewhat reluctant help of the ACLU, led by Justin Theroux, who isn't as liberal as he would lead you to believe.
Though it is now 1970, women can still be fired for merely getting married, which is beyond ridiculous. Ruth, though filled with knowledge, hasn't tried a case before anyone before and in her moot court, she does have struggles, which doesn't change when she appears before the appellate court, though she finds her ground, breaking down the laws which have been upheld for more than one hundred years. Most of the men, including many of her law professors, believe a woman's place is at home but she is breaking that stereotype, once and for all.
Though the plot is strong, along with the performances, the film also portrays a strong marriage, with two highly intelligent people, juggling demanding careers and the domestic life, including two children, Jane (Cailee Spaeny) is the challenging one. They survive Marty's near-fatal bout of cancer, during which Ruth attends his classes as well as her own, not to mention caring for him and baby Jane. When he graduates, at least he realizes that he didn't do anything, she did it all, which she did. Ruth basically has two law degrees, a fact which isn't lost on me.
All-in-all, the film doesn't have many missteps, though that sex scene in the beginning could have easily been cut in half, but the acting is great, I've never loved Armie Hammer more, the plot is tight, not to mention the realistic settings, costumes, scenery and music. Grade: B+
One of Ruth's main classes is gender and law and how the law differentiates between men and women and the case Marty hands her is one where a bachelor hires an in-house nurse to help him care for his mother but as he isn't a woman, divorced man or widowed, he was deemed ineligible for the caretaker tax deduction so Ruth and Marty take on his case with the somewhat reluctant help of the ACLU, led by Justin Theroux, who isn't as liberal as he would lead you to believe.
Though it is now 1970, women can still be fired for merely getting married, which is beyond ridiculous. Ruth, though filled with knowledge, hasn't tried a case before anyone before and in her moot court, she does have struggles, which doesn't change when she appears before the appellate court, though she finds her ground, breaking down the laws which have been upheld for more than one hundred years. Most of the men, including many of her law professors, believe a woman's place is at home but she is breaking that stereotype, once and for all.
Though the plot is strong, along with the performances, the film also portrays a strong marriage, with two highly intelligent people, juggling demanding careers and the domestic life, including two children, Jane (Cailee Spaeny) is the challenging one. They survive Marty's near-fatal bout of cancer, during which Ruth attends his classes as well as her own, not to mention caring for him and baby Jane. When he graduates, at least he realizes that he didn't do anything, she did it all, which she did. Ruth basically has two law degrees, a fact which isn't lost on me.
All-in-all, the film doesn't have many missteps, though that sex scene in the beginning could have easily been cut in half, but the acting is great, I've never loved Armie Hammer more, the plot is tight, not to mention the realistic settings, costumes, scenery and music. Grade: B+
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Puzzle (2018)
This is a rather simple film with an ending that ticked me off, though it made a statement.
Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) is a bored housewife whose daily life is filled with menial tasks. Her husband, Louie (David Denham, Pam's ex-fiance from The Office, playing basically the same character) still loves her but takes her for granted and believes that a wife's purpose to do as she's told. He likes only a certain time of cheese but god forbid he has to go get it from the grocery store himself.
The only bright spot in Agnes's sad life is puzzles. She's good at them and she likes doing them and though they are complicated, she excels and even steps out of her comfort zone and meets Robert (Irrhfan Khan), an inventor who had one good invention in his life, which amassed him a fortune, and becomes his puzzle partner. He's different from everyone she's ever met before but he understands her far better than that idiot Louie. Sure, he's using her to, but at least she finally has more control and is happier overall.
However, they predictably fall in love and win the National Puzzle Competition but what I didn't expect is that she doesn't join him for the World Championship. Instead, she does her own thing for the first time in her life, she goes to Montreal, a place where she's always wanted to visit.
Now, I'm glad that she left her husband and I'm glad she's supporting her son's dream to become a chef but I do think she should have gone to Brussels for the championship, but at least she's finally putting her needs and wants before others, for the first time in her life.
The performances are good and it is nice seeing such a simple film that still manages to pack a punch. However, this film did nothing to change my opinion on the male gender and redeem them for me and yes, the gender does need redeeming. Hollywood, please keep trying. Grade: B+
Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) is a bored housewife whose daily life is filled with menial tasks. Her husband, Louie (David Denham, Pam's ex-fiance from The Office, playing basically the same character) still loves her but takes her for granted and believes that a wife's purpose to do as she's told. He likes only a certain time of cheese but god forbid he has to go get it from the grocery store himself.
The only bright spot in Agnes's sad life is puzzles. She's good at them and she likes doing them and though they are complicated, she excels and even steps out of her comfort zone and meets Robert (Irrhfan Khan), an inventor who had one good invention in his life, which amassed him a fortune, and becomes his puzzle partner. He's different from everyone she's ever met before but he understands her far better than that idiot Louie. Sure, he's using her to, but at least she finally has more control and is happier overall.
However, they predictably fall in love and win the National Puzzle Competition but what I didn't expect is that she doesn't join him for the World Championship. Instead, she does her own thing for the first time in her life, she goes to Montreal, a place where she's always wanted to visit.
Now, I'm glad that she left her husband and I'm glad she's supporting her son's dream to become a chef but I do think she should have gone to Brussels for the championship, but at least she's finally putting her needs and wants before others, for the first time in her life.
The performances are good and it is nice seeing such a simple film that still manages to pack a punch. However, this film did nothing to change my opinion on the male gender and redeem them for me and yes, the gender does need redeeming. Hollywood, please keep trying. Grade: B+
Friday, January 11, 2019
Apollo 13 (1995)
This is a great film, about an epic failure.
Jim Lovett (Tom Hanks) is thrilled that he finally has a chance to walk on the moon, after all, this will be his fourth trip into space.
However, his pilot, Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) is scrubbed from the mission just two days before they are scheduled to take off as they fear he was exposed to the measles and could get sick mid-flight. So Jack Sweigert (Kevin Bacon), takes his place and becomes the first bachelor in space.
The takeoff goes well, though Jim's wife, Marilyn (Kathleen Quinlan) is still holding her breath.
The flight goes smoothly until day three when during some routine housekeeping, Jack stirs the oxygen tanks and then everything instantly does haywire. The engine nearly explodes and the men instantly lose the opportunity to land on the moon or even use basic power.
Mission Control, led by the fearless Ed Harris, works tirelessly to bring them home, while the country watches with baited breath. This makes Marilyn livid. After all, the country didn't care when they had the chance to land on the moon but they certainly seem to care now that they can't.
The flight home is precarious. The shuttle is freezing cold as the power is limited and the computers are down. They have to struggle to build a device to stop the shuttle from filling with the toxic carbon dioxide and Mission Control doesn't have a landing plan for them as this has never happened before. And Fred (Bill Paxton), the third man, is very sick, suffering from a fever.
But they land, miraculously so. Jim never flies in space again, neither does Fred because of budget cuts. Those darn budget cuts.
Though the film starts out slow, it builds quickly and is filled with great performances and a tight plot, great scenery, music and editing. It deserved all the awards it received and many more that it didn't get. Though the opening credits spoil the film, the ride is still brilliant nevertheless. Grade: A
Jim Lovett (Tom Hanks) is thrilled that he finally has a chance to walk on the moon, after all, this will be his fourth trip into space.
However, his pilot, Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) is scrubbed from the mission just two days before they are scheduled to take off as they fear he was exposed to the measles and could get sick mid-flight. So Jack Sweigert (Kevin Bacon), takes his place and becomes the first bachelor in space.
The takeoff goes well, though Jim's wife, Marilyn (Kathleen Quinlan) is still holding her breath.
The flight goes smoothly until day three when during some routine housekeeping, Jack stirs the oxygen tanks and then everything instantly does haywire. The engine nearly explodes and the men instantly lose the opportunity to land on the moon or even use basic power.
Mission Control, led by the fearless Ed Harris, works tirelessly to bring them home, while the country watches with baited breath. This makes Marilyn livid. After all, the country didn't care when they had the chance to land on the moon but they certainly seem to care now that they can't.
The flight home is precarious. The shuttle is freezing cold as the power is limited and the computers are down. They have to struggle to build a device to stop the shuttle from filling with the toxic carbon dioxide and Mission Control doesn't have a landing plan for them as this has never happened before. And Fred (Bill Paxton), the third man, is very sick, suffering from a fever.
But they land, miraculously so. Jim never flies in space again, neither does Fred because of budget cuts. Those darn budget cuts.
Though the film starts out slow, it builds quickly and is filled with great performances and a tight plot, great scenery, music and editing. It deserved all the awards it received and many more that it didn't get. Though the opening credits spoil the film, the ride is still brilliant nevertheless. Grade: A
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