King Richard (2021)

 Will Smith is brilliant as Richard Williams, both the hero and villain of the story.

Growing up in the segregated south, abandoned by his own father, he's determined to give his daughters everything in life, but he also wants his daughters to succeed so he can prove to the world that Richard Williams matters. Still, his methods are bizarre, at best. Still, life isn't easy in Compton and he has to deal with men leering at his daughters and god forbid, he tries to defend their honor, he gets beaten up in return. And while he values education above all, he doesn't listen to the advise of the experts who have a proven track record of success, but still, life is hard and Richard isn't the most consistent, making important decisions with the input of his wife, Oracene (the brilliant Aunjanue Ellis), which is unacceptable. However, we all know how his unconventional methods managed to prove successful, and even after Venus (Saniyya Sidney) loses a tough match to the one number ranked opponent in the world, she's still a success and signs a great deal, giving herself and her family more money than they could have ever dreamed. And they make a difference in the community, which also matters.

Now, while we know the end result, the film was great, with solid performances especially from Smith and Ellis, each delivering work worthy of at least an Oscar nomination, and it was great how the film handled the leap in time, making everything as realistic as possible and doing so during a pandemic is no small feat and Beyonce's song over the end credits is a stroke of genius. This film is utterly great, from top to bottom and one I'd consider a must-watch. I'm glad I got HBOMax just for this viewing. Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-That shooting scene toward the beginning of the film, was Richard responsible for that man's death or was it the result of a drive-by shooting?

-Pay attention to Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal in small roles as the girls' coaches.

-It is bizarre that Nike's original deal was a one night only deal, especially before Venus hit a single ball on the court.

-Richard picked tennis just because not many African Americans were playing it. Venus and Serena paved the way for so many.

-I understand why Richard values education and wants his kids to be kids as they will not get their childhood back, but at the same time, he needs to the listen to the advice of others as they've done this before and know what they're doing.

Respect (2021)

 While Jennifer Hudson may have been born to portray Aretha Franklin, this film was not the exact right vehicle for her to do so. 

The prologue of Aretha's childhood is a tad too long but it does create the backdrop of her father's (Forest Whitaker's) abuse and neglect, forcing her to sing for his famous friends and doing nothing when his twelve-year-old daughter becomes pregnant (more on that later), and shows how her career with the civil rights movement and how much of an influence singing truly had own her life from a young age.

Then, we get into the meat of the story, when Aretha's recording career finally begins along with her abusive marriage to Ted White (Marlon Wayans). Her recording career is beyond lackluster, at first, though it does slowly turn around after she marries Ted, though he mostly blows smoke out his ass. Fortunately a manager change to Jerry Wexler (Marc Maron) really make her career take off, but at a price, especially when Ted's abuse is made public (he beat her up in a hotel lobby, like a dumbass) and then she (rather suddenly) falls into alcoholism before being saved, once again, by religion.

Aretha's life was full of both the good and bad and while the script tried to show everything, I felt that it was Aretha's life being told by others, as in the one interview when Ted walks all over her. It isn't until close to the end when she finally finds her voice, alienating her family believing that they are trying to feed off her fame and she's frustrated because she's the breadwinner for the whole family, which cannot be easy, surviving with all that pressure on her which is why she cracks under the pressure. There should have been a few more hints that she was descending into alcoholism before she fell off a stage that she should have never been allowed to go on. S

 However, despite the clunky script, Hudson was great as was Audra MacDonald in the small role of Aretha's mother and a brilliant cameo from Mary J. Blige as one of Aretha's heroes, livid that Aretha is trying to sing her song but she also brings to light an issue that film shows and also sweeps it under the rug, who is the father of Aretha's two older children? The film never says, not even in the epilogue, which is a total shame. The film is also great at blending the songs in with moving the plot forward and the songs are impeccable along with the other dressings (the editing, score, costumes, set design and cinematography) so that makes it even more of a shame that the screenplay is weak. Grade: B

Side Notes:

-If my twelve-year-old become pregnant, I'd be knocking down the door of every man who's ever touched until the truth was out. that man should be in prison. We needed more context as to what happened when Clarence found out, but the film glossed over that part.

-Tituss Burgess was great as the pastor James, who helped Aretha with her gospel record.

-Despite Jerry warning her that a gospel album would never sell, it would become her best selling album.

-Her first manager, John Hammond (Tate Donovan) compares her to Billie Holliday, and says that she's much better behaved. Her father retorts that's because she didn't grow up in a whole house, which may have true and yet she was still the one who had two children as a teenager.

Stillwater (2021)

 Matt Damon is a force to be reckoned with in this film. In his tour de force performance, he stars as Bill Baker, an unemployed oil rigger who somehow scraps together the money to fly out to Marseilles to visit his daughter, Allison (the great Abigail Breslin) who is five years into her nine year prison term for a murder she swears she didn't commit. And when the French judge choices not to investigate some new 'evidence' Bill takes justice into his own hands with the help of his French neighbor Virginie (Camille Cottin) and her young daughter. And the investigate isn't easy and he has no official help and certainly makes things worse, far worse. 

 For a while it appears that he's forged out a good life for himself, working construction, forming a bond with young Maya (Lilou Siauvaud) and spending some time visiting his daughter. He eventually runs into the actual murderer again and handles the situation poorly, by kidnapping the young man, holding him hostile until the DNA results come in. I kept waiting for something to happen though I never would have that would be it. 

By kidnapping this guy, the plot twist finally comes in. Reasonable doubt. The viewer has to believe that Allison is innocent but the murderer, Akim (Idir Azougli) says that Allison told him to kill her roommate. She later reveals that wasn't true, but her roommate was cheating on her and she wanted her out their shared apartment. However, while Virginie covers for him with the police, she kicks him out, deservingly so, but in the end, Allison is freed and able to return to the US so while some might consider this a happy end, it is also a hollow one. 

While it was a slow moving film, the performances were great and I'm a sucker for a solid love story, though it didn't work out for the two likeable leads, and I also love a good third act plot twist, which this film had, and while I liked that it wasn't a thriller in the traditional Hollywood sense, I really wish that we had move of Allison's back story, but maybe they thought we'd be so familiar with Amanda Knox's story that we wouldn't need it, but I still felt that we did. The performances were brilliant and ultimately, the script was solid, all the right ingredients for a solid film, I just wished it was slightly better. Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-So Bill has a criminal record and can't vote because of it, so how is he able to own two firearms? That makes no sense to me. 

-I wonder how Bill is able to get a work visa so quickly. 

-Bill also prays before every meal, that is an unusual sight in any movie or TV show, but it was a nice touch. 

Passing (2021)

 Well, this film was a disappointment, to me at least.

It was an interesting concept, one that's been done before (see below) but now, it seemed that it would finally be done right, only just wasn't very interesting.

Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) seems happy with her life. She has a loving doctor husband, two adorable growing boys and adores her volunteer work. And then she runs into her friend from long ago, Clare Bellew (Ruth Negga) who is now passing for white, seemingly forgetting about her true heritage, feeling that it would be easier and better for her to live her life as white. Irene is both appalled and slightly jealous and protective of Clare's new life and doesn't want her to interfere but Clare finds it freeing to spend time with Irene and not have to pretend she's white. But it's reeking havoc on Irene's life and while her husband, Brian (Andre Holland) claims he loves her, Clare happens to the be the life of her party and soon, Brian's besotted with her too. But everything comes to a sudden, devastating end with Clare's husband, her white husband, John (Alexander Skarsgaard) discovers her truth and Clare falls out a window to her death, though it is Irene pushes her, in a snap reaction, still perhaps trying to protect her from ruining the carefully constructed life she had. And that's how it ends. I kept waiting for something to happen, but I can't say that's what I was expecting.

Despite the lush sets and brilliant performances, the screenplay is slightly chunky, with big gaps in the timeline and the film just failed to be interesting. I hope this doesn't make a bad person, but I felt that Clare should have been the lead character, not Irene. While the ingredients were all there, they were not assembled properly, which is the biggest shame of all. Grade: B-

Side Notes:

-Despite the gross miscasting of Jeanne Crain as Pinky, in Elia Kazan's Pinky, that film was ultimately much better as it was incredibly interesting with solid supporting performances from Ethel Waters and Ethel Barrymore. Yes, casting a white actress to portray a light-skinned African-American woman was just wrong but it was 1949 so Hollywood wouldn't have been able to tolerate an African-American actress kissing a white actor on screen. 

-I wonder why Brian and Irene need to take so many naps.

-Irene knows racist exists but wants it locked away, forever, though Brian doesn't feel the same way, discussing several tragic lynchings to his sons ignoring Irene's cutting glares.

-Irene doesn't pass as white, but rather cleverly hides her true appearance, knowing that's what must be done so she isn't profiled. 

Worth (2021)

 This film shows the unglamorous part of life, trying to figure out how much a person's life is worth, monetary speaking. It's cold, harsh and unfeeling. 

Ken Feinstein (the always great Michael Keaton) is an attorney, former chief of staff for Ted Kennedy and yet still finds time to teach at Georgetown. He opts to take undesired position of figuring out settlements for the families, and it is ugly from the very start. Emotions are high and no one is accepting the moneys thrown at them. Everyone wants more money, especially the upper level earners. 

Ken's biggest opposition comes in the form of fellow opera lover Charles Wolf (Stanley Tucci) who lost his wife who strongly feels that the formula is broken, which it is. And given scope of 9/11, the issues are endless, same-sex partners who are unable to get married via civil unions and those who developed health issues long after the cut off period need to be recognized, and eventually Ken does come to terms with the traditional formula created by the insurance company is broken, and while some families want to sue, the lawsuits will take years and bankrupt everyone in the process, most, far more than needed to sign the paperwork do so. 

Now, there are plenty of twists, including some that you'd never expect. Take the deceased firefighter's Nick Donato's widow, Karen (Laura Benanti), who doesn't think that there enough money in the world to replace Nick. And she lavishes praise on him, not having one ill word to say about him, and despite the fact they had three little boys, he managed to have mistress and two even younger daughters on the side, yeah, I was shocked, and not in a good way. And the mistress (never shown on screen), wants money for her daughters.

The film isn't perfect, as the characters are rarely shown outside of the law firm and you don't know Charles Wolf's background and why he finds so many tempos in the settlement breakdown memo and you do need more background on him to fully understand his character. That being said, for the most part, the screenplay was tight even though the process probably did need more explanation for those not in the industry, and the acting was solid as the conflicted characters, trying both to have a heart and stay within the confines of the formula. And the opera music was a nice, added touch. Grade: B+

Side Notes: 

-Amy Ryan gives good support as Ken's law partner.

-Ken's young junior partner, Priya ( Shunori Ramanathan) was nearly killed, as she was due to start work at the World Trade Center just days after 9/11. She is grateful to still be alive.

-Why are married people worth more than single people? While I understand, it is just another way to bring us down.