Movie Review: A Good Woman (2004)

Genre: Romantic Dramedy  

Director: Mike Barker  

Starring: Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Wilkinson  

Running Time: 93 minutes  

Synopsis: In New York City, professional mistress Mrs. Erlynne (Helen Hunt) runs out of other-women's-husbands willing to fund her lifestyle. She relocates to Amalfi in Italy, and joins a wealthy and gossipy English community including newlyweds Meg and Robert Windermere (Scarlett Johansson and Mark Umbers). The dashing Lord Darlington (Stephen Campbell Moore) intends to seduce Meg, and finds an opening when Mrs. Erlynne occupies Robert's attention. Meanwhile, the exceptionally rich and many-times-divorced Tuppy (Tom Wilkinson) believes he can finally find happiness with Mrs. Erlynne.

What Works Well: This adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1892 play Lady Windermere's Fan benefits from picturesque Italian locations occupied by the idle rich, and attractive 1930s-era sets, costumes, hairstyles, and make-up. Tom Wilkinson as Tuppy delivers a wistful performance as a soft-at-heart man who has everything except a worthy life companion. Director Mike Barker hustles events along at a brisk pace, and the central twist adds zest.

What Does Not Work As Well: The plot only works with a base level of across-the-board obtuse behaviour. Neither Helen Hunt nor Scarlett Johansson appear fully comfortable in their roles, and apart from Wilkinson, the other male actors mechanically go through the motions. Delivered by a hovering Greek chorus of secondary gossipers, the script is over-burdened with Wilde's witticisms, with most landing as self-satisfied clutter.

Key Quote:

Mrs. Erlynne: If we're always guided by other people's thoughts, what's the point of having our own?

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Movie Review: The Best Of Enemies (2019)

Genre: Biographical Drama  

Director: Robin Bissell  
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Taraji P. Henson, Anne Heche, Bruce McGill  
Running Time: 133 minutes  

Synopsis: The setting is Durham, North Carolina in 1970, with the schools still segregated. C.P. Ellis (Sam Rockwell) is the local leader of the Ku Klux Klan, while Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson) is a black rights organizer. When a black school is damaged by fire, a community debate erupts on whether to allow the black students to attend a white school. Bill Riddick (Babou Ceesay) is recruited to organize a community charette and cajoles C.P. and Ann into the co-chair roles, exposing the two adversaries to opposing perspectives.

What Works Well: Based on actual events, writer and director Robin Bissel crafts a tense but hopeful drama of simmering racial conflict. Under the shadow of a virulent white supremacist culture intent on protecting the status quo, C.P. and Ann co-exist in the realm of economic stress, the search for belonging, and caring for family. The school debate becomes a catalyst to seek commonalities, the community's core evolved enough to gather and argue within a civilized process. C.P.'s journey is more profound, Sam Rockwell's every gesture and glance a study in conflicted complexity.

What Does Not Work As Well: The running time would have benefited from a 15 minute trim, and some of the sermonizing is delivered with straight-to-the-camera bluntness. Ann Atwater is often portrayed as just angry, and her backstory is shortchanged in favour of emphasis on C.P.'s reality.

Key Quote:

Ann (to C.P.): Same God made you, made me.

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Movie Review: The Grand Seduction (2013)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Don McKellar  

Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Taylor Kitsch  

Running Time: 115 minutes  

Synopsis: The tiny harbour village of Tickle Head, Newfoundland, is suffering economic malaise due to the closure of cod fishing. Unemployed fisher Murray (Brendan Gleeson), his friend Simon, and banker Henry are desperate to attract a new petrochemical factory to the area, but the deal hinges on securing a resident doctor in the village. When Dr. Paul Lewis (Taylor Kitsch) arrives for a month, Murray mobilizes all the residents to embellish the realities of village life to convince Paul to stay permanently. Postmistress Kathleen (Liane Balaban) is the only local resident reluctant to play along.

What Works Well: This remake of a Quebec production benefits from a laid back attitude, rustic edge-of-the-continent scenery, and salt-of-the-earth characters. The comedy is underpinned by serious issues including the declining traditional fishing industry, erosion of dignity due to living on welfare, and families split apart in search of better fortunes. The running gags are strong, including the villagers pretending to like cricket (Paul's favourite sport), listening in on Paul's phone calls, planting money for him to stumble upon, and artificially elevating his hapless fishing skills.

What Does Not Work As Well: The fundamental premise is, of course, rickety (the factory can surely provide a doctor), and the portrayed process for selecting this village for an investment is amateurish. The longish running length is padded with some repetitive beats and unnecessary scenes, while the ending is both predictable and emotionally truncated.

Key Quote:

Simon (watching cricket on TV): It's like watching baseball, only longer.

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Movie Review: Flawless (2007)

Genre: Heist Drama  

Director: Michael Radford  

Starring: Demi Moore, Michael Caine  

Running Time: 108 minutes  

Synopsis: In present-day London, Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) is being interviewed for a magazine article. In a flashback to 1960, she recalls her time as the only woman manager at the world's largest diamond trading company. Despite her abilities and intellect, Laura is repeatedly passed over for any further promotions. Elderly janitor Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine) exploits her disgruntlement to lure her into a daring heist. The installation of a video security system threatens their plans, but Hobbs' intentions will surprise everyone.

What Works Well: The 1960s London setting, outfits, and hairstyles are attractive, the interior of the London Diamond Corporation building is impressive, and Michael Caine delivers a steely yet subdued veteran performance.

What Does Not Work As Well: Cerebral thrillers require close-to-watertight plotting, and Flawless falls well short. The heist mechanics vary from muddled to incredulous, essential details are skipped altogether (including, just as one example, the number of janitorial cart trips required to move two tons of diamonds), and too many indistinct stuffed bankers' shirts clutter the second half. The primary focus is ultimately misdirected: Mr. Hobbs is the more interesting instigator with a seemingly deep backstory, but he is sidelined by Laura as the bamboozled accomplice.

Key Quote:

Hobbs: Sometimes, to make something right, you have to do something just as wrong.

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Movie Review: 10 To Midnight (1983)

Genre: Crime Thriller  

Director: J. Lee Thompson  

Starring: Charles Bronson, Wilford Brimley, Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Gene Davis  

Running Time: 102 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, disturbed young man Warren Stacey (Gene Davis) murders an office colleague who rejected his advances, and commits the crime while naked. Detectives Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) and Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens) investigate, and Leo realizes the victim was a friend of his daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher), a nursing student. When Stacey kills again, Leo grows increasingly frustrated by the lack of conclusive evidence. He bends the law in an attempt to secure a conviction, and Stacey retaliates by targeting Laurie.

What Works Well: This surprisingly controlled crime thriller finds Charles Bronson in decent form, making full use of a reasonably engaging plot and a moral dilemma in the gap between law and justice. With Gene Davis delivering a disturbing portrait of evil hiding in plain sight, the villain Warren Stacey is introduced early as a worthwhile foe, and his penchant for committing murders while nude injects kink to his sexual deviancy. Lisa Eilbacher adds engagement as Bronson's daughter, while Wilford Brimley provides veteran talent as the police chief.

What Does Not Work As Well: Director J. Lee Thompson's straight-ahead style is consistent with B-movie fundamentals. The dialogue is often either creaky or cringey, a few scenes meander into slasher/horror territory as an unnecessary gateway to gore, and the romance between McAnn and Laurie settles into lukewarm clunkiness.

Key Quote:

Leo: You go in that courtroom and forget what's legal and do what's right.

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Movie Review: Murphy's Law (1986)

Genre: Crime Action  

Director: J. Lee Thompson  

Starring: Charles Bronson, Kathleen Wilhoite, Carrie Snodgress  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: Los Angeles police detective Jack Murphy (Charles Bronson) is drinking heavily to drown the sorrow of divorce. After tangling with mouthy car thief Arabella (Kathleen Wilhoite), Murphy goes after crime boss Frank Vincenzo (Richard Romanus). But his real problems start when psychotic murderess Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress) is released after serving 10 years in prison. She vows revenge on all those who convicted her, starting with Murphy.

What Works Well: Kathleen Wilhoite as scrappy car thief Arabella exhausts the dictionary in search of non-stop colourful insults and innovative vulgarities directed at all-comers, and her best-of-enemies relationship with Bronson's Murphy provides some warmth and wit.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a crass and style-free B-movie, where the characters are flat and someone's head is blown off in a splatter of blood at least every 10 minutes. The plot is full of holes, and director J. Lee Thompson just points the camera and shoots, taking most care to maximize the superfluous nudity. Aside from a few one-liners, Bronson is markedly disinterested, and neither Richard Romanus as a mobster nor Carrie Snodgress as a psycho are given any opportunities to move beyond obvious villainy.

Key Quote:

Joan Freeman: Go to Hell!

Jack Murphy: Ladies first.

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Movie Review: Poor Things (2023)

Genre: Fantasy Dramedy  

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos  

Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef  

Running Time: 142 minutes  

Synopsis: In Victorian London, eccentric scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) reanimates suicide victim Bella (Emma Stone) after implanting the brain of her unborn baby in her head. Bella makes quick progress re-learning to walk and talk, and Godwin recruits medical student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) to monitor her development. Bella discovers sexual pleasure, and Godwin suggests that Max should marry her. Unscrupulous lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) swoops in and lures Bella into joining him on a sex-filled adventure starting in Lisbon, but he gets more than he bargained for.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Alasdair Gray's novel is a fantastical journey into societal what-ifs. Writer Tony McNamara combines macabre humour with serious themes discarding the politeness shaping women's behaviour and allowing unconstrained discovery of the human condition. Uninhibited and unprogrammed, Bella rejects the men attempting to confine and control her behaviour, gravitating instead to what interests her physically, intellectually, and economically. Director Yorgos Lanthimos and his cinematographer Robbie Ryan create stunningly artistic visuals combining surrealism with a cyberpunk aesthetic, mixing colour, black and white, fish-eye lenses, keyhole perspectives, gloomy skies, and impressionist backgrounds into audacious dynamism. Emma Stone's evolution from awkward child-in-a-woman's-body to a confident sophisticate is a delight.

What Does Not Work As Well: A 20 minute trim would have tightened the narrative, while Bella's sexual appetite is allowed to dominate at the expense of other adult pursuits.

Key Quote:

Bella: If I know the world I can improve it.

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Movie Review: Now And Then (1995)

Genre: Coming-Of-Age Dramedy  

Director: Lesli Linka Glatter  

Starring: Demi Moore, Melanie Griffith, Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson, Thora Birch, Christina Ricci  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: Now in their 30s, four friends from childhood re-convene in their small hometown of Shelby, Indiana. Chrissy (Rita Wilson) still lives in her parents' house and is about to give birth. Roberta (Rosie O'Donnell) is a doctor, Teeny (Melanie Griffiths) a Hollywood star, and Samantha (Demi Moore) an author. In a long flashback they reminisce about the summer of 1970, when as pre-teens they became aware of life's complexities, including imperfect parents, societal ills, and burgeoning sexuality.

What Works Well: This girl's equivalent of Stand By Me explores a range of pre-adult experiences ranging from mundane misadventures (the girls have a running feud with a group of boys) to painful awakenings into the adult world. The four young actresses (Ashleigh Aston Moore as Chrissy, Christina Ricci as Roberta, Thora Birch as Teeny, and Gaby Hoffman as Samantha) capably carry the acting load and tease out subtle bonds within the already sturdy quadrangle: Chrissy and Roberta are best friends and as adults remained in Shelby, while Teeny and Samantha share a more adventurous spirit and moved far from their hometown. Brendan Fraser adds era context as a Vietnam War veteran, and Walter Sparrow makes an impact as "Crazy" Pete.

What Does Not Work As Well: The adult Samantha over-narrates with saturated sullenness, and the book-end scenes featuring the grown women appear slapped-on to add marketable star names. Moore, Griffith, and O'Donnell barely mask their disinterest, while Wilson embraces cartoon representations. In the flashback, excessive time is occupied with a side-story involving seances and a community tragedy from years past, while a near-death encounter involving an over-sized catch basin is dramatic overkill.

Key Quote:

Young Roberta: You can't get pregnant from French-kissing!

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Movie Review: Father Of The Bride (1991)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Charles Shyer  

Starring: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short  

Running Time: 105 minutes  

Synopsis: In an idyllic suburban California town, shoe company owner George Banks (Steve Martin) and his wife Nina (Diane Keaton) are surprised when their 22 year-old daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams) announces that she will soon get married. George struggles with the idea that his daughter is all grown up, and has awkward encounters with the groom-to-be, Annie's future in-laws, and wedding planner Franck (Martin Short). But George's biggest concern is the mounting cost of the lavish wedding.

What Works Well: This remake rides an easygoing attitude and a game Steve Martin performance to provide plenty of laughs and reliable entertainment. The script (co-written by director Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers) leans into the chaos of organizing a wedding and the wistfulness of a dad losing his princess to another man. The bathed-in-glowing-white settings are lavish (the Banks family is wealthy; their future in-laws are very wealthy), the pacing brisk, and the conflicts easily hurdled. In his few scenes, Martin Short as wedding planner Franck hilariously mangles the English language.

What Does Not Work As Well: The saccharine ingredients are unapologetically layered on in thick globs. George's inability to think or behave with adult maturity threatens to become tiresome, and his obsession with the cost of everything is allowed to dominate. A couple of gags, including kids-as-valets, miss the mark.

Key Quote:

Nina (to George): I still think you see Annie as a seven year-old girl in pigtails!



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Movie Review: Mothers' Instinct (2024)

Genre: Mystery Drama  

Director: Benoit Delhomme  
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain  

Running Time: 94 minutes  

Synopsis: In the early 1960s, suburban housewives Celine and Alice (Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain) are next-door neighbours and best friends. Celine is mother to Max and cannot have any more children. Alice suffers from anxieties and is constantly worried about her son Theo, who is allergic to nuts. Celine and Alice's husbands both have good jobs, while Max and Theo are best friends. A tragedy interrupts the near-idyllic lives of the two families, testing the women's close bond.

What Works Well: Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are both in fine form, and infuse Celine and Alice with enough ambiguities to initially sustain a mystery thick with opaque motivations and insidious manipulations. The costumes and hairstyles admirably evoke a chic middle-class suburban aesthetic on the cusp of the Kennedy era.

What Does Not Work As Well: The plot progresses on a straight trajectory towards preposterous, leaning hard against subtlety until it suddenly does not. The script raises questions about childhood trauma, motherhood, loss, friendship, and mental health, but miserably fails to actually probe any of the themes, settling instead for a boorish final act unworthy of Hathaway and Chastain. The supporting characters behind the two leads are relegated to irrelevant. 

Key Quote:

Alice (to her husband): You think I'm imagining things?

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