Beyond the Lights (7/10): A character driven romantic film that is rare to find these days.

“Do you want to be a runner up, or do you want to be a winner?”

Fifteen minutes into Beyond the Lights and I was about to dismiss Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film as yet another formulaic celebrity romance trying to be this generation’s The Bodyguard. But after the story and the characters were introduced, I realized there was much more to the simple premise. This is a character driven film and despite the familiar premise the movie is carried by the wonderful performances from the cast and their well written characters. Gina uses a familiar tale but manages to give each character their very own identity and that takes the story to unfamiliar dramatic territory avoiding the common cliches found in modern romance movies. Bythewood made an impact in 2000 with her feature film debut, Love & Basketball and she followed the success of that movie with The Secret Life of Bees. Beyond the Lights is her third feature film, and it made such an impact on me that I want to see her two previous movies now. It’s not easy to find intelligent romantic films nowadays with strong performances, so that makes me appreciate Beyond the Lights all that more for avoiding cheap cliches and deciding to focus on the characters and giving them depth instead of simply trying to deliver cheesy lines and force romantic moments. Every character in this film could’ve very easily played a stereotype, but Gina avoids it by giving each one of them their own moment.

Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a young and talented British R&B singer who is on the verge of becoming an international super star thanks to her collaborations with rapper Kid Culprit (Machine Gun Kelly) with whom she shares a relationship with. On the night in which they win an important music award for their hit single, Noni tries to commit suicide by jumping off from the hotel balcony, but she’s saved by the police officer who was guarding her room. Kaz (Nate Parker) is an honest cop who is trying to make a difference in his community and is aspiring to be a politician by following the advice of his father, Captain Nicol (Danny Glover), a well respected man in the police force. After the balcony incident Noni’s mother and agent, Macy Jean (Minnie Driver) downplays the suicide attempt by telling the media that her daughter was simply drunk and therefore almost fell over the balcony. Kaz isn’t happy about having to lie to the media, but he is more concerned about Noni not trying to get help because it is evident that the pressure has gotten to her, and her mother isn’t helping by downplaying the issue. He gets close to Noni, and it is evident that the two have chemistry, but she doesn’t seem like a good fit for his political aspirations given the latest scandals she’s been in and the sexy image she’s selling. At the same time he realizes that this isn’t who she really is and that her mother and recording label producers are simply creating her image and not allowing her to have her own voice. When he discovers who she truly is, the two become romantically involved and the plot takes off from there. 

Minnie Driver’s character could have easily been one dimensional playing this mean and controlling mom/manager, but Gina avoids those stereotypes and gives her more room to work with despite how easy it is to dislike her for turning her daughter into this sex symbol product. This is just one example of how Gina decides to direct this character driven film giving each one a voice of their own. Another director perhaps wouldn’t of included those small moments or conversations where we get a sense of why the character behaves in such a way. 

Nate Parker delivers a solid lead performance as this credible and likable young man who is trying to  make a difference in his community, but it’s Gugu who steals every scene she’s in. At first she seems to be playing a similar character to Rihanna, but once she finds her own voice her character goes through an impressive transformation. She gives an explosive and emotional performance and wins everyone over with her wonderful voice. There is a scene where she sings a cappella in an outdoor bar in Mexico that is breathtaking and gripping at the same time. My only complaint is that the film does lose some of its steam towards the end of the movie, but the time spent with each one of these characters still made this a very enjoyable experience.

My Review: Ain't Them Bodies Saints (7/10)

"Every day I wake up thinking today's the day I'm gonna see you. And one of those days, it will be so."

David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints was one of my most anticipated films of 2013 after hearing about it in the Sundance Film Festival, but one I never got around to watching until now. Despite having a predictable story, the film was appealing thanks to the strong cast and beautiful cinematography which helped establish a unique lyrical mood to an otherwise familiar tale of love on the run. The script is also well written despite a slow build up, but it includes poetic moments as well that made this feel like a Terrence Malick film at times. The dialogue blended perfectly with the beautiful photographed scenes in the Texas fields which gave the film a more romantic tone. I enjoyed the slow build up and the poetic moments which never hurt the actual pacing of the film. David Lowery has proved with his work here that he is a director we should keep our eyes on. The film is visually stunning and that is what elevates it from other similar films.

The film takes place in the Texas Hill Country during the 70's where we are introduced to a young couple, Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara), who are deeply in love. They also happen to be bank robbers who find themselves caught up in the middle of a gunfight with the police. Ruth wounds one of the officer's, Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster), but Bob takes the blame after they end up surrendering. Bob is sentenced to several years in prison, while Ruth who was pregnant at the time is set free. In prison, Bob writes to Ruth almost at a daily basis worrying about their newborn daughter and promising them that they will soon be reunited. Skerritt (Keith Carradine), the man who had raised Ruth and Bob when they were young kids, gives Ruth a nice house where she can settle and raise her baby. After four years in prison, Bob escapes and tries to return to Ruth to fulfill his promise to her, but the police are searching all over for him. He finds a place to hide out at his friend's, Sweetie's (Nate Parker) bar and writes to Ruth letting her know he will come for her and his daughter, but Skerritt knows that this might endanger the girls lives so he warns Bob to stay away. The question is whether or not the young couple can resist staying away from each other for their daughter's sake.

A lot of credit for the success of this film has to be given to the cast. Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck give convincing performances and share a lot of chemistry together. If there was no chemistry between them the entire romantic drama would've fallen flat because much of the story relies on their connection. Their characters are sympathetic and we are drawn to them as an audience. The supporting turn from Ben Foster and Keith Carradine also adds more depth to the film because they all want the best for Ruth and her daughter. The story is told through their emotions more than through their words and that is what makes this film stand out from other romantic dramas with a similar premise. Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a visually satisfying experience with powerful performances and an engaging climax at the end. 

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.