gilbert seah

Movie Review: THE MEDDLER. Starring: Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne

festreviews 2016 movies, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , ,

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

themeddler.jpgTHE MEDDLER (USA 2015) ***
Directed by Lorene Scafaria

Starring: Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne, J.K. Simmons, Cecily Strong, Michael McKean, Jerrod Carmichael

Review by Gilbert Seah

Just a week after the comedy HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS arrives another film with a senior protagonist. Though the two films are highly different, the target audience might be the same. THE MEDDLER will have tough shoes to fill, as the former film serves up more comedy, commercial style with 2-time Oscar winner Sally Field while THE MEDDLER is a combination of down-to-earth drama and autobiography. The story is fashioned from the writer/director Lorene Scarfaria’s relationship with her own mother.

THE MEDDLER of the film title is Marnie (Susan Sarandon), who after her husband’s death has nothing better to do but to meddle. But her meddling is not bad in any sense as her intentions are genuine. Her ‘meddling’ involves suffocating her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne), not giving her any space, helping a fast-food worker with his law degree and offering as much as underwriting $13,000 for Lori’s friend’s wedding among others.

When Lori finally has had enough of her mother and moves away to sort out her career, Marnie is forced to face the worse – not having her daughter around and to rethink her options. So she falls in love.

The trouble with THE MEDDLER that real life stories like the one based on the director’s mother do not turn out to be that interesting on film.

Another problem is that Marnie has no real obstacles to her life. Her life is actually a total breeze. She is financially more than able, thanks to late husband, and she has a loving daughter and two very eager lovers. These factors lowers the film’s interest even more. Director Scarfaria makes matters worse by having one eager lover, the one played by J.K. Simmons sing to his chickens, thus amplifying the desperation of the film’s story.

But the film contains a few neat surprises. Examples are Marnie’s upcoming romances. The way she ditches her lovers or possible lovers is nothing short of plain hilarious.

Sarandon has a track record of superlative performances in films such as THELMA AND LOUISE, LORENZO’S OIL and my personal favourite, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK. And she is still a knockout at the age of almost 70. She makes the movie.

But the character of Marnie might not necessarily be a senior or mother. A best friend or younger person could have the same charter mould as Marnie. The script could have picked a different aged or even male protagonist to appeal to a wider audience and put some problems in her life to make the film more varied.

The result is a film more close to life (despite Marnie’s too convenient wealth) that it comes too close to home and monotonous. THE MEDDLER contains less humour and more drama, most of it brought on herself by the character. As such the target audience might prefer to watch a more fairy tale of a film like HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS. Only box-office receipts will reveal the fate of both movies.

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Movie Review: GREEN ROOM. Starring: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat

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green_room.jpgGREEN ROOM (USA 2015) ***
Directed by Jeremy Saulnier

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat

Review by Gilbert Seah

Character development is not really important in a slasher horror film. But it helps that the audience can identify with the characters and know something about them so that they are not just numbered victims. An example is the upcoming BODY in which the director spends a considerable amount of time giving each of the three girl victims a distinct personality.

The premise of the film is a simple one. A punk band called ‘The Ain’t Rights’ is dead broke. Their car is stranded and they are so out of cash that they have to siphon gas from other cars to get to their gigs. One of their desperate gigs is a Neo-Nazi skinhead bar headed by a no-nonsense meanie played by Patrick Stewart. After witnessing a stabbing, the band members and the victim’s friend (Imogen Poots) are locked in a GREEN ROOM. The Neo-Nazis want them (the only witnesses) done away with. It is Neo-Nazis vs. punks.

In GREEN ROOM, spending time on characterizations seems useless for two reasons. Firstly, there is no need to know anything about a victim who is no longer there in the film and characterization serves to give a hint as to who will survive. The nasty personalities are usually killed of first, as stated in the spoof SCARE films, a fact only too true. But director Saulnier (BLUE RUIN) cleverly introduces each of the band members at the start of the film through an interview in which each member has their say. Much can also be read from each’s favourite band, a running joke in the film.

The characters are all nasty in their own way. Saulnier makes none of them any less sympathetic. It finally comes down to the question of who is the least nasty.

Atmosphere and mood wise, GREEN ROOM has an extremely scary look – credit to the tech department involved. Whether out in the open or in the green room, the film always has a claustrophobic feel that the victims can never escape.
Performance-wise, the one that stands out is Patrick Stewart as D’Arcy. Stewart appears to have moulded his role out of Rob Zombie (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, HALLOWEEN). Of the cast, all do well in the screamingly best.

Saulnier also teases the audience in number of ways. In one scene he shows a victim with no blood and just a sharp object on the side of her head. No blood. Want blood? The next scene has the object pulled out with lots of blood gushing out flooding the carpet.

Saulnier does have a soft spot for innocent victims. The killer dog in one scene is allowed to survive and is shown sadly putting its head down and mourning its dead owner.

GREEN ROOM finally emerges as an efficient chiller, not suitable for the weak-hearted or even for the strong hearted in the early hours of the day. An entertaining nasty piece of work if one has the stomach for it.

 

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Movie Review: HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS. Starring Sally Field

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hello_my_name_is_dorisHELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS (USA 2015) ***
Directed by Michael Snowalter

Starring: Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Tyne Daly, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Stephen Root, Elizabeth Reaser

Review by Gilbert Seah

The new showcase for two-time Oscar Winner Sally Field (NORMA RAE and PLACES IN THE HEART) places her in the ‘You really like me, you really, really like me” role of an sixty-plus data entry cubicle office worker, called Doris Miller. Begging to be loved, she falls for a much younger office worker, the new art director John Fremont (Max Greenfield). The question of whether she will get the young man to notice and fall in love with her is kept current from the start to the end of the film – a point that writer/director Michael Snowalter keeps as a delicate balancing act, and one that makes the film work.

Films about women falling for much younger men seldom work and end up disastrous. Examples are Genevieve Gilles playing a Baroness falling for younger Michael Crawford in HELLO-GOODBYE and Jean Simmons falling for the younger LEONARD WHITING in SAY HELLO TO YESTERDAY. Even when it is the other way round, with an older male and younger girl as in the Clint Eastwood directed BREEZY with William Holden and Kay Lenz, the idea fails. So, HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS is already quite an achievement.

The film’s premise is simple enough. The film begins with Doris’s mother’s funeral. Her brother and wife wishes her to sell the house she and her mother she had cared had lived in. She declines, being a hoarder. At work, she accidentally bumps into young and gorgeous Max Fremont who ends up being the new guy in the office. She pines for him. She gets the help of her best friend’s 13-year old daughter to make friends on his Facebook account. Doris and Max hang out and Doris falls for him. Of course, the audiences is never sure of Max’s feelings for her and this is what keeps the film interesting – the audience is guessing. And right up to the very last reel.

Snowalter’s film works as both a comedy and drama. Fortunately, he keeps sentimentality at bay. Sally Field is nothing short of marvellous in the role of Doris, proving her mettle at getting both laughs and sympathy. Having won two Oscars for dramatic roles, she expectedly shines in the dramatic parts making a good balance, as in the segment she finally makes her stand against her bullying brother (Stephen Root) and wife (Wendi McLendon-Covey).

But Snowalter film plays more for comedy. The script that he co-wrote has sufficient comedic set-ups – the electronic concert party; the best friend’s Thanksgiving dinner without Doris; the inspirational seminar with guru Peter Gallagher to mention a few.

But it is Field that makes the film work, aided by really apt supporting performances from a superb supporting cast especially from Tyne Daly as her best friend, Roz. Greenfield who plays the young hunk has good chemistry with Field, supplementing Doris as the could be, could-not-be interested beau.

But mostly it is the film’s charm, credibility and humour that makes this film a cut above other films in this genre. Yes, we really, really like Doris!

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BODY, Movie Review. Drama/Thriller

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body.jpgBODY (USA 2014) ***
Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen

Starring: Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina

Review by Gilbert Seah

A low budget horror/thriller that starts off pretty well.

As the opening credits roll, the film screen is all black and a voice, barely decipherable, is calling 911 for help.

When the film opens, three girls, Mel (Lauren Molina), Holly (Helen Rogers) and Cali (Alexandra Turshen) party it up at Mel’s house. They start off with Scrabble arguing about certain words used before Mel’s dad interrupts bringing in food. The three exit the house to smoke weed with Mel’s younger brother Josh only to be caught by Mel’s mother. These kind of goings-on are nothing special but can happen all the time when everyone was a teen or later on when becoming one. Thus, everyone can relate to the incidents and this is the reason the film is so engaging at first. Directors Beck and Olsen do more than the normal slasher movie in investing their time on the three characters and the character development. They party hard, and it is entertaining to see them just do nothing but film themselves on their cell phones, for example dancing around.

But things take a turn when the trio decide to party into the night and visit Cali’s uncle’s mansion. But Cali is lying and it turns out that she used to babysit for the Asian family that lives in the house. Things turn sour when the groundskeeper suddenly shows up and is accidentally pushed down the stairs. The film turns into a slasher thriller.

Though not an exceptional film, BODY does possess certain unique traits not found in other films of this genre. First and most noticeable is the amount of effort put into the development of the character of each girl. Cali is the nasty one, Holly the decent rational one while Mel is the in-betweener. The character of Holly also undergoes a transformation that makes her character more complex. Hers is obviously the most interesting of the three. The character development is not there for show but also integral to the film’s plot. The next thing is that BODY is more of a thriller than a horror movie. There is no slasher that never dies or one that keeps appearing after being killed. Thirdly, there is a good transition from humour to thriller. The first half of the film is mostly the girls partying, which brings the film its lighter moments and a few laugh-out loud parts. There are a few psychological moments such as the ones with a girl screaming into the face of another that evokes horror.

The cast of unknowns deliver their performances naturally. They look like genuine teenagers out for a good time with just things getting bad.

But judging from Cali’s bad behaviour and personality one does wonder the reason the other two hang around or keep her as a friend. However, these are little points that usually go unnoticed in a teen thriller.

The film also briefly deals with conscience and consequences but it is not a message
film. BODY ends up a satisfactory time-waster and a good film to watch with a bunch of friends on a night out or at home. The film also opens on VOD Apr 26.

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Movie Review: THE SAVER (Canada 2015) ***1/2

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the_saverTHE SAVER (Canada 2015) ***1/2
Directed by Wiebke von Carolsfeld

Starring: Imajyn Cardinal, Pascale Bussières, Brandon Oakes

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE SAVER, a small budget little gem, based on the novel by Edeet Ravel opens in the small movie Carlton complex in Toronto, but it is a film that delivers big messages. The film works because writer/director von Carolsfeld who directed MARION BRIDGE, loves her subject, the setting of Montreal and all her characters. And it shows in her film.

The film’s protagonist is a teenager. But this teen is not one who can enjoy parties, go to movies, drink and can have fun.

When the film begins, poor (literally poor) 16-year old native Fern (Imajyn Cardinal) loses her mother. Not only is she poor, she is now an orphan and she is afraid of Social Services. She runs away. But Fern is a resourceful teenager. After finding a book entitled “Fifty Ways to Become a Millionaire”, Fern takes the book to heart and decides to save (hence the film title THE SAVER) so she can get rich and live without having, in her own words, to take shit from anyone anymore. But dreams do not always come true. Not even in movies. And the film, which is set in winter – with the scenes of Fern trudging through the snow – emphasizes her hardship.

Von Carolsfeld’s film is a realistic one. She also allows her audience to think and to figure things out without spoon-feeding them. One is the film setting. It is not stated specifically that the city Fern lives in is in Montreal, as she and her mother speak English. But the others and the street and shop signs are in French. A boy that helps her is an ambiguous character. He even offers Fern a gift with the sweet words: “I got something for you. I thought you might like it.” But a twist then shows him taking advantage of her.

Von Caroldfeld’s camera is often very close to the characters. In the first 20 minutes of the film for example, the camera is always next to Fern (showing her top half and head) pulling back to show the background only a few times. One advantage of this tactic is the audience being forced to really connect and feel for Fern, something the Dardenne Brothers also used to do, with the camera at neck level in a similar film ROSETTA.

The cast of unknowns deliver exceptional performances, especially Cardinal as the lead. Veteran Quebec actress Pascale Bussières lends her hand as a fussy tenant who ends up winning both Fern’s and the audience over.

But von Carolsfled’s film is sweet and winning because she infuses quite a number of really sweet scenes which do not seem intrusive. When Fern’s mother passes away for example, a scene shows Fern pulling a white sheet over the mother’s body in the morgue. When Fern misses a day of work, her boss (Mamidou Savadogo) asks: “Were you too busy with the colour scheme of your castle?” It is thus appropriate that the film ends with another suitable sweet segment (that will not be revealed in the review.)

THE SAVER is the story of a nice girl making good under adverse circumstances. The film shows a varied world with good and bad people, in good an bad situations. This is well-made little feel-good film that is surprisingly based on an unfortunate situation.

 

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Movie Review: BARBERSHOP – THE NEXT CUT

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barbershop_the_next_cut.jpgBARBERSHOP – THE NEXT CUT (USA 2016) **
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee

Starring: Ice Cube, Regina Hall, Anthony Anderson, Cedric the Entertainer, JB Smoove, Common, Nicki Minaj, Sean Patrick Thomas

Review by Gilbert Seah

The fourth instalment of the BARBERSHOP films (counting the spin-off BEAUTY SHOP) has Calvin’s Barbershop in South side Chicago doing their usual shenanigans. Calvin’s Barbershop is owned by Calvin (Ice Cube), of course with his partner Angie (Regina Hall).

This time around, the all male barbershop has incorporated female hairdressers as well. This gives the script an excess to lots of verbal battle of the sexes – all mediated of course by Calvin. The ensemble cast has lots of comedic material here to show their stuff.

As there are many characters in the film, the film includes several parallel stories in the plot, all of seemingly equal importance.
The main one involves Calvin relationship with his coming-of-age son.

Calvin’s son is about to join a gang, obviously not realizing how fortunate he is tom have his parent’s love and care. Another tied-on plot addresses the violence of Chicago. Too many kids are killed everyday due to gang related crimes. The barbershop decides to do something about it by offering free weekend haircuts to create a ceasefire. Other subplots involve Rashad (Common) fooling around with Draya (Nicki Minaj) under the eyes of his suspicious wife. Calvin is also in the process of buying property north and to move his barbershop to a safer place. All these plots are loosely tied together and are intercut as if the director is a traffic cop.

The blend of drama and comedy does not mix well. Ice Cube appears to be in Tyler Perry mode, being too preachy and trying to be goody-two-shoes in the African American community.

It takes a full third of the film to get its footing. The first third clumsily re-introduces all the characters of the barbershop, most of whom the audience have forgotten as the last barbershop film was made about 10 years back. The last part gets too sentimental and preachy and all the good intentions appear a bit too much.

But the film contains a few good comedic set ups. When the film just lets the actors loose and do their thing, it generates the most laughs. One is Nicki Minaj shaking and showing off her booty. The bit where all the employees in the barbershop break out into an impromptu dance is extremely well done with Common stealing the show with his break-dancing. Cedric the Entertainer is always very funny and is the funniest barber in the shop. Ice Cube proves again he can do both serious and comedy.

But the film should cater more to African Americans. For others, the accent is a bit difficult to follow and a few jokes will go above the heads on non-black audiences. But BARBERSHOP fans should not be disappointed with this entry. The film is tagged to be number two this weekend following THE JUNGLE BOOK.

 

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Movie Review: HIGH-RISE, Starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller

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high-rise.jpgHIGH-RISE (UK 2015) ***
Directed by Ben Wheatley

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elizabeth Moss, James Purefoy, Sienna Guillory

Review by Gilbert Seah

HIGH-RISE is a much anticipated film among cineastes. The rights for J.G. Ballard’s (best known for his novel CRASH directed by David Cronenberg) book had been snapped up by producer Jeremy Thomas for decades and a number of directors were slated to make the film, among them Nicholas Roeg. But director Ben Wheatley, British new film enfant terrible snatched the prize after directing two art-house low budget hits A FIELD IN ENGLAND and THE SIGHT-SEERS. Ballard’s book on a dystopian society set up in a 1970’s tower block (film shot in Northern Ireland) where the higher classes occupy the higher floors with better privileges such as parking spots and facilities usage like the summing pool, is a difficult one. The social strata eventually breaks down following a string of building malfunctions.

HIGH-RISE opens with a Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) at his high rise building flat apparently roasting and eating a dog’s leg on the balcony. The film flashes back three months earlier to the events that led to this odd state.

Dr. Lang arrives and occupies in the centre section of the building – reason not given. He meets the building’s architect, Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons) who lives in the penthouse and various other occupants including Charlotte, Royal’s aide (Sienna Miller) and a nasty documentary-maker (Luke Evans) who ends up creating a lot of trouble including wanting to take down Royal. Wheatley’s film charts the downfall of order and the rise of anarchy in the building. Finally, the residents stay in and do not venture out to work, waging wars with each other. Wheatley has directed films with similar themes. THE SIGHTSEERS sees the volatile and violent breakdown of the relationship of a new couple while A FIELD IN ENGLAND featured a battlefield among warring factions.

The Korean film SNOWPIERCER two years back featured a similar premise. The last inhabitants on Earth are stuck on a train travelling around the Earth forever with the lower working classes at the back of the train and the richest at the front. The workers revoke and move up the front of the train.

But HIGH-RISE fails to engage the audience despite the Ballard’s difficult novel. It should be noted that Ballard used to hang around with William Burroughs whose NAKED LUNCH with Ballard’s own CRASH ended up as one of the most unlikeable/difficult films ever made. Given that Amy Jump’s script and Wheatley’s direction make little attempt in tying to make their film more coherent or engaging. When Dr. Laing first meets Chartlotte, her comment is on Laing’s body being almost a perfect specimen implying a detachment of human nature.

The rise of the building’s anarchy is also not well orchestrated. Wheatley appears more interested in the film’s sets and images than anything else. To the film’s credit, the production values look great with the film having a past future feel and a look like the old 70’s futuristic films like Joseph Losey’s MODESTY BLAISE. Whereas films like SNOWPIERCER relied on action to grab the audience’s attention, HIGH-RISE consists of a whole lot of cinematic/dramatic set-ups with too much left to the audience to decipher as to what is happening.

Hiddleston delivers a good nuanced performance appearing out of place and finally connecting with the anarchy just as his confident behaviour at the start of the film breaks down to insecurity. Still Wheatley’s film is an intriguing one and one that shows his ability to set his imprint on a story, whether it be successful or not.

 

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Movie Review: CRIMINAL, 2016. Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Costner

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criminal.jpgCRIMINAL (USA 2015) ***
Directed by Ariel Vromen

Starring: Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Michael Pitt

Action films about the lead character with the past erased make good money at the box office. Examples are THE BOURNE IDENTITY, Liam Neeson’s UNKNOWN and last week’s recently released HARDCORE HENRY. CRIMINAL though not identical in concept, plays along the same lines with the lead character having to piece together a new identity.

Based on a script by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, the film takes the amnesia plot up a few notches. It is an international story dealing with Americans, British, Russians and a Dutchman. The film contains countless London sights in the first 15 minutes, making audiences wonder if the London Tourist Board is subsidizing this film. There are shots of Bank Tube Station, the Thames, Albert Hall, the docklands, Big Ben and the Overground Tube to make the film look more modern.

The film opens with a chase involving CIA agent Ben Pope (Ryan Reynolds). Pope is caught half way through his assignment and killed. His brain needs to be implanted into someone else for the mission to be completed successfully. Or the world will be destroyed. It really does not matter how ridiculous the plot is as director Ariel Vromen (THE ICEMAN) has proven that he can make anything credible and exciting. So, a wanted imprisoned criminal Jericho Stewart (Kevin Costner in super-gruff mode) with zero conscience but meets the surgical criteria is implanted with Pope’s memories by Dr. Frank (Tommy Lee Jones) under command of no-nonsense British chief Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman).

For an action thriller drama, the action segments are handled efficiently, particularly the car chase involving the British police car pile up n the highway and the brief underwater scenes.

The film is aided with an impressive cast that includes no less than the new Wonder Woman, French actress Gal Gadot as Pope’s wife, Brit Oldman and Americans Costner., Jones, Reynolds and the long time unseen Michael Pitt as the Dutchman.

Though I do enjoy a bit of violence in movies, I am not one to condone it. CRIMINAL is exceptionally violent, evident in scenes like the electric torture at the film’s start, the bloodied photo of one of Jericho’s victims the brain surgery and the segment where Jericho beats a number of people up to get food and nab a van. Tools used in fights also include a hammer.

Though there is ample opportunity for the script to moralize, the script thankfully stays aways from it. Jericho is a man with no conscience, a killing machine who is given a chance to have feelings after being implanted with Pope’s memories. Once Jericho begins to feel, he is torn for example between saving one life – Pope’s daughter against sacrificing hers to save many, many more. The main villain has the purpose of creating a software wormhole i order to destroy all the governments in the world as he believes every government is corrupt and that conglomerates rule the world all for money. There is some truth in the villain’s way of thinking and the script leaves it for the audience to debate the issue in their own minds.

CRIMINAL is a good action drama, a good blend between drama and action with not too much ridiculous discontinuous action scenes as in recent films like BATMAN V SUPERMAN and HARDCORE HENRY. For this reason alone, CRIMINAL is a compelling and rather entertaining time-waster.

 

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Movie Review: FRANCOFONIA (France/Germany/Netherlands 2015) ****

festreviews 2016 movies, Documentary, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , ,

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francofonia.jpgFRANCOFONIA (France/Germany/Netherlands 2015) ****
Directed by Alexandre Sukorov

Review by Gilbert Seah

Is the Louvre worth more than all of France?

Alexandre Sukorov made a name for himself directing the excellent documentary on Leningrad Museum years back, the entire exercise shot in one single take. FRANCOFONIA is a mixed documentary/re-enacted drama on the Louvre in Paris, arguably the most visited museum in the world, a museum that made Paris. And in the words of director, Sukorov who voices the film’s narrative, museums make the cities of the world.

The approach taken in this film is different as the idea of the two above mentioned films are different. What is the subject here is the restoration of the art pieces of the Louvre – especially during World War II during the German Occupation. As Germany invaded France, the government, citizens and Louvre officials all escaped south, for safety and stability. All but one, the Louvre Director Jacques Joujart who remained to prevent the treasures of the Louvre from becoming the spoils of the war and from landing in the hands of art lovers like Hitler and his consorts.

FRANCOFONIA is a complex and meditative film. It erases the barriers of time. Napoleon Buonaparte (played by Vincent Nemeth) frequently waltzes into the halls of the Louvre as the boat that transports the museum travels tosses among the strong waves of the ocean. The past and present are drawn together and at the film’s climax the two lead characters are advised of their death in the future.

Though the film delves on several issues, the main one is set in the June of 1940. German troops march into Paris. The two lead characters are Jacques Jaujard, Louvre director and German Count Franziskus Wolff Metternich (played in the film by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing and Benjamin Utzerath). It would seem that they are enemies, but it gradually becomes clear that they are not and that they have a lot in common. The period of their meeting, their confrontation and their cooperation during the Second World War to protect and preserve the treasures of the Louvre forms the bulk of FRANCOFONIA. By telling their story, Sokurov explores the relationship between art and power, and asks what art tells us about ourselves, at the very heart of one of the most devastating conflicts the world has ever known.

As Sukorov is Russian, it is only natural that he brings a Russian slant into his film. The Hermitage in Leningrad is more often than not tied in with the film’s narrative. WWII is also compared to the Russian war with the Bolsheviks. There are some chilling scenes added such as the image of a little girl lying dead on the steps of a building. As the narrative goes… no one to bury them, too tired to bury them. And if you think things cannot get any worse, a frozen child and mother on the street are the next subjects. The child is then taken, probably eaten, and the mother’s leg is missing.

Like RUSSIAN ARK, FRANCOFONIA is a profoundly beautiful film. Sukorov’s love for art is evident from the first to the last frame of his film. At the end audiences around the world will be grateful to Sukorov, who like the great two men in the film, has preserved art, in this case of the Louvre and its treasures, forever on film. Highly recommended to anyone who owns at least one painting.

The film is shot largely in Russian and French with a little English.

 

 

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Movie Review: THE BOSS. Starring Melissa McCarthy

festreviews 2016 movies, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

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theboss.jpg 2016) **
Directed by Ben Falcone

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE BOSS is yet another nasty male comedy in which the male is replaced by the fairer sex. Melissa McCarthy seems to have cornered this market with the nasty girls comedies like BRIDESMAIDS, TAMMY, THE HEAT and her most successful SPY. But SPY, THE HEAT and BRIDESMAIDS were directed by the talented Paul Feig whereas THE BOSS and TAMMY fare into McCarthy’s not-so-successful territory. But she does manage a few laughs though, to her credit.

Michelle Darnell is an orphan. She is returned from adoption to the orphanage just too many times. This gives the girl an incentive to become ‘someone’ and not let anybody drag her down. Orphan Darnell morphs into Melissa McCarthy, super successful female businesswoman and 47th richest (why 47th?) in the whole world. But a former business partner, Renault (Peter Dinklage) takes her down with insider trading. After serving a prison sentence, she forces herself on her former personal assistant, Claire (Kristen Bell) whose daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) she learns to grow very fond of. Michelle ends up starting a new business from Claire’s delicious brownies recruiting Rachel’s schoolmates in the process.

THE BOSS is pure McCarthy comedy. The only character in the story providing the laughs is her character, Darnell. Everyone else, are her straight men (or women as the case may be). Non-fans of McCarthy should stay away. At least in SPY, Jason Statham generated laughs playing against type. The only character that provides a few laughs besides Darnell is the Kathy Bates, Ida Marquette character. Unfortunately, there is not enough of Bates, her character last seen riding away on her horse, Butter.

There are, noticeably no jokes in this film and in her last (SPY) that poke fun at McCarthy’s weight. In fact this point is so obvious that her costume designer has not once allowed McCarthy’s neck to be shown on screen, making McCarthy’s outfits looking a bit weird. Also noticeable is Darnell questioning her prodigy, Claire as to the length of time she had sex. Nothing is mentioned of herself.

THE BOSS does have its hilarious segments such as the girl fight between the Darnell Darlings and the Daffodil Girls or the beginning show when Darnell goes on stage strutting her stuff. The Dardell character is a foul-mouthed, obnoxious and loud person. So, it is not surprising that the film’s best moments has her pitting these qualities against a super-bitch -mother, Helen (Annie Mumolo) who becomes a rival in the brownie business.

But the bits trying to insert some action into the film like the swordfight at the end do not work well. There are a lot of comedic segments (the leg tanning; the bra adjustment/shoving) involving McCarthy spewing vulgarities non-stop. Whether these are funny depends on ones individual taste.

Still, THE BOSS is a film with a lazy script based on a tried formula – obnoxious person making good using his/her bad qualities. THE BOSS is essentially just made up of a series of skits with the loose theme, banging on McCarthy’s draw to make the movie.

 

 

 

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