Dark Places (6/10): It's no Gone Girl, but still a decent mystery thriller

“The truly frightening flaw in humanity is our capacity for cruelty - we all have it.”

I have a soft spot for mystery films where the audience is kept in suspense and has to try to figure out who committed the crime. Dark Places is such a film. What drew me to this film however wasn’t the genre nor the fact that Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult were going to be in this movie together again after their success in Fury Road, but that the screenplay was adapted from Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name. Gone Girl was one of my favorite films of 2014 and I loved Fincher’s direction in that film, but above all I thought the screenplay was the best that year. Dark Places was written prior to Gone Girl, and there aren’t as many twists here, but the story still manages to captivate you and leave you in suspense. Dark Places was directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Sarah’s Key) and he also adapted the screenplay. The film is flawed and the voice over narration doesn’t work at all, but the story is what kept me interested along with the strong cast. The cinematography is dark and it helps build the overall atmosphere of the movie as the story jumps back and forth from past (a day in 1985 when a horrible crime was committed) to present. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but I enjoyed the fact that I was continuously guessing who the murderer might be up to the final act. 

Libby Day (Charlize Theron) was only seven when her mother and two sisters were brutally murdered in their Kansas farmhouse. She managed to escape and all signs seemed to indicate that her brother Ben (Tye Sheridan) was the murderer. She even testified in court that her brother was responsible, and now 25 years later she continues to be haunted by her past. She’s lived off the life insurance money and donations that many caring people have donated to her, but that money is all gone now and her depression hasn’t allowed her to move on with her life. When a young man named Lyle (Nicholas Hoult) offers her some money to come visit their club, “The Kill Club” she decides to go. They explain to Libby that they are a group of amateur investigators who like to explore unsolved cases. They are convinced her brother is innocent and they offer her more money to begin investigating what happened that tragic night. It’s not easy for Libby to revisit these dark memories of her past which have haunted her, but she begins by visiting her brother in prison (now played by Corey Stoll). He reminds her of some events that took place during that time and as she begins to investigate we are introduced to several flashbacks of what actually happened. Libby’s mother is played by Christina Hendricks, her father by Sean Bridgers, while Chloe Grace Moretz plays Ben’s love interest during the flashback scenes.       

This is a strong cast for a film directed by a relatively unknown director, but considering Gone Girl was such a success I’m sure they were all excited about being a part of this film. Tye Sheridan and Chloe Grace Moretz are two of my favorite young teen actors working today. Unfortunately they don’t get much to do with their characters here. The stand out for me was Christina Hendricks who delivers a solid performance as this single mother of four who is trying her best to keep up float. Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult are also solid, but their performance doesn’t even come close to what they did in Fury Road. The flashback scenes were the highlight of the movie for me, and I didn’t care too much for the present investigation so that might be a reason why I wasn’t blown away by either of Theron or Hoult’s performances. Dark Places isn’t as tightly constructed as Gone Girl and the characters aren’t as interesting, but the mystery still had me engaged during most of the film’s running time. In a better director’s hand this film could’ve been great, but it still managed to be slightly entertaining. 

Ant-Man (8/10): Surprisingly better than Age of Ultron.

“Imagine a soldier the size of an insect, the ultimate secret weapon.”

I wasn’t too excited about this film considering the premise of a hero who can shrink to the size of an ant and telepathically communicate with them seemed a bit too far fetched even for a Marvel film. That and the fact that Edgar Wright decided to back down from the director’s chair after a dispute with Disney; it looked as if everything was set out for failure. Despite not being a huge fan I’ve enjoyed all the Marvel films, but I have become increasingly weary of them as well. The Thor films and the first Captain America being my least favorites, I was sure this one was going to rank somewhere among them. I definitely wasn’t expecting Ant-Man to be better than Age of Ultron, but I have to admit that the light tone worked here and this movie was much more entertaining. So, how did they pull it off? They got Peyton Reed to fill in for Wright as the director, and continued to build on Wright’s screenplay. If Reed was able to make a film about High School cheerleaders entertaining, than this Ant-Man premise would be a piece of cake for him. By lowering the stakes, approaching the material with a lot of tongue in cheek humor, and aiming at being a crowd pleaser, Ant-Man ended up being a fun and entertaining film. I wouldn’t go as far as saying this was as clever as Guardians of the Galaxy in its approach to humor and pop culture references, but it did come close. Perhaps it helped that I went in to it with very low expectations, but I walked out of the movie with a smile on my face. For once this felt like an origin story that worked on its own and didn’t have to be a gigantic setup for the next Avengers films. The premise is silly and stupid at times, but the film is big on laughs.

One of the main reasons why Ant-Man worked so well was because of Paul Reed’s lead performance as the titular character. Rudd delivers with his usual charm and perfect comedic timing. He embodies the character almost as well as Robert Downey Jr. does with Iron Man. With his smirky and cocky delivery, Downey Jr. makes Tony Stark more entertaining than when he’s wearing the actual suit, and that felt very similar with Rudd here as Scott Lang. He plays a con-man who is trying to make an honest living, but finding it incredibly difficult due to his criminal record. He has a seven year old daughter, Claire (played by the adorable Abby Ryder Fortson), who he isn’t allowed to visit until he can find stability and provide for her. Dr. Hank Pam (Michael Douglas) has kept a close eye on Scott and seems to have big plans for him. Hank has developed a special suit which allows him to shrink a man to the size of an ant and also increase his strength. Hank is too old for the suit now, but he believes Long is the ideal man for the job. He begins mentoring Scott, although his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) believes she should wear the suit. Ever since his wife died, Hank has had a terrible relationship with his daughter, but she has approached him after discovering that his former protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), has developed a similar technology and wants to sell the formula to the wrong people. Scott’s mission is to infiltrate Cross’s building and destroy what he has been working on before it is too late. 

Although it does follow a similar structure as most superhero films, Ant-Man feels at times more like a comedic heist movie. Of course due to the subject matter it also reminded me a lot of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (which also seems to be very fond of ants by the way). These elements gave the film a more breezy and light touch. Even in the final act of the film where the superhero movies tend to go big with a climactic battle scene, there are some great comedic moments involving a Thomas the train track and so forth, which continually downplay the film and lighten the mood. It is definitely a huge change of tone from Age of Ultron and The Winter Soldier, so it manages to stand out on its own as a superhero movie although it still shares some of its generic flaws. Despite the great visual effects during the shrinking scenes, there are still some structural elements that don’t work as well. The family dynamic between Hope and her father and between Lang and his ex (played by Judy Greer) seem to be recycled and silly at times. Hank waits for too long in the film to explain what happened to his wife, which was more of a plot convenience than anything else. However, Paul Rudd’s comedic performance elevate this film, as do the supporting cast. Michael Peña as Rudd’s sidekick, stands out during his scenes (especially during his monologues) and he delivered some of the funniest moments of the film. Lilly also proved to be a strong female character, while Douglas is someone you can always bank on as a solid actor. Stoll wasn’t a very menacing villain, and that seems to be a common flaw in most Marvel films, but considering the stakes were much lower here it wasn’t that much of a letdown. Ant-Man was a pleasant surprise despite its silly premise and I’m actually looking forward to what Rudd can bring to the Marvel franchise.       

The Good Lie (7/10): There's such a thing as a good lie

“I have courage but all you have is strength.”

 

Director Philippe Falardeau’s follow up to his Oscar nominated film, Monsieur Lazhar, centers on a group of Sudanese children who have managed to escape the massacre of their village during the Civil War and walked nearly a thousand miles to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. At the time, thousands of Sudanese were forced to flee out of their country due to the war and find refugee in camps across Ethiopia and Kenya. After nearly thirteen years of living in poor conditions the kids were relocated to the United States along with other  thousands of “lost boys.” Mamere (Arnold Oceng), Jeremiah (Ger Duany), and Paul (Emmanuel Jal) are sent to Kansas where they meet Carrie (Reese Witherspoon), an employment counselor who helps them adjust to their new lives. Mamere’s sister, Abital (Kuoth Wiel) on the other hand is sent to Boston because there was no family willing to take her in Kansas and for some strange reason she wasn’t allowed to stay with the boys. The first 30 minutes of the film take place in Sudan as we follow the children’s journey to safety and experience some of the horrors they had to go through in their long walk. Once the surviving children arrive in Kansas the film centers on their struggle to adjust to this new life. The Good Lie is an uplifting and inspiring story that ends up falling into the classic fish out of water tale once the refugees arrive in America. The film finds a perfect balance in tone mixing comedy with the inspiring and emotional drama and I was completely engaged with the story. 

Contrary to what the poster may lead you to believe, Reese Witherspoon is only a supporting character in this film. The film centers on the four surviving Sudanese refugees, and these newcomers deliver solid performances. Duany and Jal are both former “lost boys’ in real life making the incredible journey from their torn villages to becoming Hollywood actors. Both were even forced to be child soldiers and I’m sure their testimony is even more powerful than this film itself, but knowing where they have come from gives this movie an even more inspiring and uplifting feeling to it. Oceng gives perhaps the best performance in the film, and he too comes from a Sudanese background (his father was a lost boy who was relocated to England). The actors deliver some incredibly engaging performances and the camera many times focuses on their faces which say a lot about how they are feeling. The greatest strength of The Good Lie is that it manages to keep the center of the story on the Lost Boys and not make it all about how the Americans managed to rescue these people. That is why Witherspoon takes a back seat and lets the four Sudanese actors be the driving force of this movie. The title itself has deep significance and is explained later on in a touching scene involving Oceng’s character.

It is almost impossible not to like a film when there is such an inspirational part of history that is being told through the camera lens. The film has many flaws and at times the opening events feel a little rushed, but it works because it allows the audience to fill in the blanks of the many horrors these children must have gone through without forcing the melodramatic moments and being too explicit. Seeing the grief and pain in the actors faces is enough to understand where they are coming from and what they are feeling. The scenes involving the cultural clash may seem a bit too generic because we’ve seen it played out many times before but the formula continues to work nonetheless and there are plenty of humorous moments. It’s a shame not many people watched this story because it is one that is worth being seen. Witherspoon’s strong performance in Wild may have led fans to watch that movie over this one, but I found The Good Lie to be the better movie of the two. The Good Lie is an emotionally engaging and moving film so if you happen to get a chance to see it, I’d recommend it.     

My Review: Non-Stop (6/10)

"We're midway across the Atlantic. How do you kill someone in a crowded plane and get away with it?"

That is the same question I asked myself before going into this new Neeson thriller. The premise sounded a bit silly, but the trailer had me at Liam Neeson. I will watch any action film he stars in nowadays. Neeson plays a very similar character in every one of these films (Taken, Unknown, The Grey) and they simply should've made a franchise with all these movies similar to what they did with James Bond or Mission Impossible so people will stop complaining he plays the same role (and at least this time there is an excuse for his Irish accent). Non-Stop is a fun mindless action film as long as you don't stop and analyze the plot. For the most part it really worked for me because Neeson delivers and keeps your mind off some of the plot holes, but once the final act arrives there is not much he can do to save this film. The final ten minutes are a huge let down and it almost ruined all the fun I was having during the rest of the movie. I still enjoyed this film more than Neeson's previous collaboration with director, Jaume Collet-Serra, Unknown. The cast is strong enough to carry this film past all the plot holes, and I'd rather see Neeson in a mindless action thriller over pretty much any film that has been released this year. 

Non-Stop is John Richardson and Christopher Roach's first film screenplay which stars Liam Neeson as Bill Marks, an air marshall who is going through a depressive and alcoholic stage. What appears to be a routine flight from New York to London ends up being a nightmare for Bill as he begins receiving threatening messages on his secure phone line. The message states that a passenger will die every 20 minutes unless 150 million dollars are transferred to a specific bank account. Bill decides to talk to the other air marshall, Hammond (Anson Mount), who tries to calm him down by telling him it has to be a prank. When 20 minutes go by, Bill realizes this is no prank and with very few people on the plane he can trust he has to enlist the help of the flight attendant, Nancy (Michelle Dockery) and the person sitting next to him on the plane, Jen Summers (Julianne Moore), to help him locate who the terrorist might be. 

The premise might be a bit silly, but for the most part I was still enjoying this thriller thanks to the interesting cast. The action scenes were also entertaining and for a movie that takes place almost entirely in a plane it was engaging. If you aren't demanding a film with logic, you might enjoy this mindless action film as much as I did. It's a shame that Lupita Nyong'o didn't get a heavier role because she proved in 12 Years a Slave to be a very talented actress. In this film she doesn't get to do much, but it's OK because we get to see Liam Neeson doing what he does best for most part of this film. The way its audience receives the weak final reveal at the end is probably what makes the difference in this action thriller. It is very far fetched, but as I mentioned above, it is much better than most January or February releases. I enjoyed this film because despite it not making any sense it was still an engaging and fun ride. The truth of the matter is that Neeson is the one that holds this film together and doesn't allow it to crash.

My Review: Midnight in Paris (9/10)

¨That Paris exists and anyone could choose to live anywhere else in the world will always be a mystery to me.¨

Woody Allen has directed more than 40 films in over four decades and I can honestly say that his last film is one of my favorites. If you think otherwise then you are just probably living in nostalgia and trying to remember the past as being much better than the present. Like Micheal Sheen`s character would say: ¨Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present…the name for this denial is Golden Age thinking – the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in.¨ Woody Allen has directed numerous great films and this is one of them that will be remembered nostalgically in years to come. It is not a romantic film as we are used to seeing, it is more of a nostalgic film; the true romance isn`t between Wilson and McAdams, but between Wilson and Paris, between Wilson and art. The romance is in the city, in the art, in the past. The central theme of this film is clear: nostalgia. Woody Allen manages to deal with these issues in a very comedic way and the dialogue and story is just great. Midnight in Paris is a very funny and nostalgic film. The city of Paris may have never looked as great as it does in this movie. The characters are memorable and it is interesting how Allen intertwines the present with the past and makes fun of some of the stereotypes these artists have. I had a great time with Midnight in Paris; Woody Allen has done it again!

Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams) are an American engaged couple who are visiting Paris with Inez`s parents, John (Kurt Fuller) and Helen (Mimi Kennedy). Gil instantly falls in love with the city and the rich story it has to tell, while Inez on the other hand doesn’t like Paris that much. Gil insists they should move to Paris once they get married, but Inez would rather stay in Beverly Hills where Gil has had success writing scripts for Hollywood films. Gil is unhappy with his Hollywood life and has decided to try his luck on writing a novel. Inez insists he should stick to what he does best. In Paris, Inez runs into some friends: Paul (Michael Sheen) and Carol (Nina Arianda). Paul is a very pedantic sort of guy who always has an opinion on everything and is showing off his great knowledge. Gil can`t stand him, but Inez insists on hanging out with him and his wife Carol, and asks Paul to critique Gil`s novel for him. One night the couples decide to go out and dance, but Gil says he`s too tired and decides to head back to the hotel on his own. While wondering the streets of Paris the clock strikes midnight and a group of French partygoers invite Gil to a party. In this party, Gil runs into Zelda (Alison Pill) and Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), and Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll). Gil realizes that somehow he has travelled to 1920 and is meeting all these artists who he`s admired all his life; he`s in the decade he considers as being the Golden Age. Ernest tells Gil that he can get Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) to proofread his novel for him; but when Gil goes to get his novel he is back in 2010. Gil realizes that he can only travel back in time when the clock strikes midnight, so the adventure begins every night where he meets interesting people like Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo) and his mistress Adriana (Marion Cotillard) who he falls for, and other great artists such as Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody) and Luis Buñuel (Adrien de Van), among others.

The true heart of the film relies on Owen Wilson`s performance. He is great in this movie and reminded me a lot of the younger Woody Allen who used to star in his own movies. The funniest moments of the film have to do with these stereotypes that these great artists of the past have been given. Adrien Brody is great as Salvador Dali, and the rhinoceros scene is extremely funny; Corey Stoll is equally great playing the courageous Ernest Hemingway. His dialogue with Wilson`s character about love and death is powerful and funny at the same time. Marion Cotillard and Owen Wilson also had great chemistry together and it was fun to watch them on screen. McAdams is one of my favorite actresses, and this time she plays sort of the villain, instead of the sweet role she is used to playing. This is a much different role from the one Wilson and McAdams played in Wedding Crashers. Midnight in Paris is just a terrific movie, with a lot of heart, and Woody Allen proves once again that he is a great director and writer. I absolutely recommend this movie as one of the best the year has had to offer.

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