steiner-sam Reviews

Shenandoah (1965)

A mediocre knock-off of "Bonanza"

[5/10 · 25 May 2024]

It's a Civil War drama set in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1864. It follows a wealthy libertarian widower, Charlie Anderson (James Stewart), who has six sons (Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, Charles Robinson, James, McMullan, Henry Anderson, and Philip Alford), one daughter (Rosemary Forsyth), and one daughter-in-law (Katharine Ross) living under his roof. Charlie is cantankerous, doesn't support owning slaves, and refuses to have anything to do with the Civil War unless it comes onto his farm. His wife, Martha, died 16 years earlier, giving birth to Boy (Philip Alford), making Boy a special favorite. We also meet a young Confederate officer (Doug McClure) who seeks to marry his daughter.

The movie follows events as the Civil War finally impinges on his quiet family life, with some deadly consequences. By the end of "Shenandoah," Charlie learns some of the consequences of his stiff-necked behavior.

"Shenandoah" is a mediocre Western that seems to copy the style of the "Bonanza" TV series. Charlie is the patriarchal head of a family whose children call him "Sir," but there are enough hijinks along the way to display Charlie's mellow side, e.g., a fight with authorities seeking to seize horses that sees the Boy constantly knocked into a water trough.

Charlie Anderson is the only character with any personality; the sons are all ciphers. The two women are meek and submissive. The plot wanders on with no real message except that war seems to decrease family sizes despite anything you might do to protect yourself from it. Some reviewers call "Shenandoah" an anti-war movie, but I think it's just a mediocre knock-off of "Bonanza."

Consenting Adults (1992)

A silly "thriller"

[4/10 · 23 May 2024]

It's a crime thriller set in Atlanta, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1990s. It follows two neighboring couples who become friends over several months. Richard Parker (Kevin Kline) is a musician who writes jingles for advertisements. His wife, Priscilla (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), works with him in the studio. They have one daughter, Lori (Kimberly McCullough).

Eddy (Kevin Spacey) and Kay Otis (Rebecca Miller) move in next door. Eddy is a financial advisor with a reckless edge who constantly pushes the more staid Richard to loosen up. Immediate chemistry is evident between Eddy and Priscilla, as well as between Richard and Kay. Eddy makes suggestive remarks to Richard about swapping partners for a night. Richard initially blows up but eventually comes around.

But things suddenly go south. Kay ends up dead, and Richard is charged with her murder. A convoluted plot reveals that there are even more diabolical layers to the story, and more violent deaths occur by the end.

"Consenting Adults" is a silly thriller. It's a combination of an unbelievable plot and bad direction despite decent acting by some talented people. Kevin Spacey makes a good psychotic, and Kevin Kline is a great unfulfilled musician. Mastrantonio and Miller are less effective but OK. E. G. Marshall is too old for his role as Richard's lawyer. Forest Whitaker is unconvincing as a private eye. It would take some awfully stupid police departments to fall for this plot.

Exotica (1994)

A Canadian psychological drama that holds up well

[8/10 · 22 May 2024]

It's a Canadian psychological drama set in the 1990s in Toronto, Ontario, in a strip club called Exotica and a pet shop selling exotic animals. It follows the interaction between a Revenue Canada tax auditor, Francis Brown (Bruce Greenwood), a young exotic dancer, Christina (Mia Kirshner), the DJ at the strip club, Eric (Elias Koteas), and the gay owner of the store, Thomas Pinto (Don McKellar). Secondary roles include Francis's brother, Harold (Victor Garber), and niece, Tracey (Sarah Polley).

"Exotica" slowly unfolds the relationship of all the characters in the context of past trauma in Francis Brown's life. We don't learn all the pieces until the very end. Atom Egoyan has crafted a very clever story in a highly sexualized atmosphere. Some parts of the narrative are a little too creative (theft of exotic bird eggs by a customs officer), but it works even though it can't be real. And you get to hear Leonard Cohen sing music to strip by.

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Grim and depressing

[7/10 · 20 May 2024]

It's a drug addiction crime drama set in 1971, mainly in Portland, Oregon, and another West Coast town. It follows four drug addicts who sustain their supply by robbing drugstores, not with violence but with subterfuge of various kinds. Bob Hughes (Matt Dillon) is the group's 26-year-old leader. His wife and close friend from childhood is Dianne (Kelly Lynch). Rick (James LeGros) is a slightly younger "learner," whose lady is Nadine (Heather Graham), who is naive and possibly 18.

The film unrelentingly follows a couple of successful robberies, interaction with another young dealer, David (Max Perlich), and encounters with a police detective named Gentry (James Remar). A major failure and a sudden death, combined with Bob's superstitions, lead Bob to seek a different path for a time, but "Drugstore Cowboy" ends without resolution or hope.

"Drugstore Cowboy" is grim and depressing. It's also effective in portraying lives consumed with the next drug source, followed by highs that aren't really high. Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch are good. William S. Burroughs appears as Bob's former drug-addicted priest in an effective cameo role. While effective, it doesn't go anywhere--perhaps like the novel's author, James Fogle, who ended up dying in prison at age 75 after robbing a pharmacy at age 74.

Goin' Down the Road (1970)

An early Canadian classic

[8/10 · 18 May 2024]

It's a Canadian buddy drama set in 1969, mainly in Toronto, Ontario. It follows two guys from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, in the spring of 1969. They're looking for the better life they have heard exists in Toronto. Peter McGraw (Doug McGrath) and Joey Mayle (Paul Bradley) are 30ish and innocent as they enter the big city. They find a series of menial jobs and have casual relationships with Betty (Jayne Eastwood) and Selina (Cayle Chemin).

After a couple of months, Joey and Betty get married because she's pregnant. Difficulties mount until they hit a crisis around Christmas and have to make more decisions about their future.

"Goin' Down the Road" is a budget movie, if there ever was one ($80,000) made on 16mm film. This limitation means jerkiness and handheld close-ups. But there are great shots on location on Yonge Street, including the massive record shops and the crowded nighttime streets. Donald Shebib makes the story of two guys out of their depth flow without sentimentality as they work bottling Wilson's Ginger Ale and shop in a Loblaws grocery store. Much credit must be given to the music that Bruce Cockburn arranged.

"Goin' Down the Road" is an early Canadian classic, but you must see the restored version for the best experience.

The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

Somber and complex

[8/10 · 16 May 2024]

It's a Canadian community tragedy drama focused on a December 1995 school bus accident in a small British Columbia town. Fourteen children are killed. Mitchell Stephens (Ian Holm), a personal injury lawyer from the big city, comes to town to find clients for a lawsuit against the town and the bus manufacturer. Mitchell has tragedy in his own life, focused on his drug-addicted daughter, Zoe (Caerthan Banks).

The film acquaints us with several families in the town just before the accident. They include Risa Walker (Alberta Watson) and her husband, Wendell (Maury Chaykin), who run the local motel, and Dolores Driscoll (Gabrielle Rose), the bus driver, and her husband, Abbott (David Hemblen). There are also Sam Burnell (Tom McCamus) and wife, Mary (Brooke Johnson), and their musically gifted 15-year-old daughter, Nicole (Sarah Polley), and a "hippie" couple, Hartley Otto (Earl Pastko) and Wanda (Arinée Khanjian) and their adopted First Nations son, Bear (Simon R. Baker). And Billy Ansel (Bruce Greenwood) runs the local garage and maintains the bus.

The movie explores the town's troubled lives and Mitchell's initial success finding clients for a class-action negligence suit. Nicole, who survives the accident but is paralyzed from the waist down, is a crucial witness as Mitchell begins to depose potential witnesses. Some dramatic testimony suddenly ends the film.

"The Sweet Hereafter" is somber and complex. The town's secrets are creatively unfolded. Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, and Gabrielle Rose are outstanding. Bruce Greenwood's character seems to change personality after the accident. The other characters are strong. The Mitchell-Zoe parallel story detracts from the main event, especially in Mitchell's lengthy conversation with Allison (Stephanie Morgenstern) on an airplane in 1997. The British Columbia scenery is spectacular.

My Uncle Antoine (1971)

Early Quebec commercial cinema

[8/10 · 14 May 2024]

It's a drama about rural life in the asbestos mining area of Quebec, Canada, in 1945. Two households are featured. Jos Poulin (Lionel Villeneuve) quits his asbestos job sometime in 1945 and leaves town to work as a logger. He leaves his wife (Hélène Loiselle) and five children on a hard-scrapple farm some distance from town.

Antoine (Jean Duceppe) and Cécile (Olivette Thibault) run the general store in town; Antoine is also the town's mortician. Fernand (Claude Jutra) and young teenager Carmen (Lyne Champagne) are working for them. Benoît (Jacques Gagnon), Antoine's nephew, comes to work for them on December 24, 1945, and becomes the film's observer.

Benoît has observed a funeral and then the celebrations after he helps with Christmas decorations at the store. He interacts with the rest of the household, especially Carmen, and sees a number of the town's daily rituals. The Poulin family's oldest son dies suddenly, and he asks Antoine to go along to the countryside to get the body. The movie portrays the challenging events that unfold before Christmas morning.

"Mon Oncle Antoine" is early Quebec commercial cinema and is worthy of the recognition it has received. The townsfolk seem natural and earthy, and the divide between English and French is clear. The cinematography is not as polished as later efforts, but the story's ending is excellent. Gagnon, Champagne, and Villeneuve are the standout actors.

I watched the French-language original with subtitles; you can also watch an English dubbed version.

Walkabout (1971)

A creative part of early Australian commercial cinema

[7/10 · 13 May 2024]

It's an Australian clash-of-cultures survival drama set in the late 1960s in Sydney, Australia, and the Outback. Father (John Meillon) leads a 16-year-old Girl (Jenny Agutter) and her much younger Brother (Luc Roeg) into the Outback where he plans a murder-suicide. The Girl and Brother escape, but their Father dies after burning the car. They have minimal food and a portable radio as they set off on a trek to nowhere.

After two days, they are in dire straits until they are found by an aboriginal Black Boy (David Gulpilil) or Yolngu teenager on his age-16 walkabout, where he is to survive solely on his own. Brother manages to communicate their plight, and Black Boy provides access to water. They follow his lead, hoping he will return them to "civilization."

The film follows their joint trek, including varying levels of communication, several intersections with White Australian "civilization," and the final return of Girl and Brother to their world. A brief postscript underscores the depth of Girl's experience.

"Walkabout" is a creative part of early Australian commercial cinema. It provides no translation for Black Boy's speech, which is as it should be. The film portrays imperfect communication very well. Beautiful photography of animals and landscapes reflects Nicolas Roeg's professional background. The film has a level of sexual tension in an atmosphere of innocence that sometimes doesn't quite work. There should have been more context to explain Father's actions (which are not from the novel). White Australian civilization comes off poorly in "Walkabout"; Yolngu seems somehow purer. Some scenes, like the Italian weather balloonists, seem heavy-handed and gratuitous.

And Justice for All (1979)

Pacino holds it all together; nobody else comes close

[7/10 · 12 May 2024]

It's an "American justice is corrupt" legal drama set in the late 1970s in Baltimore, Maryland. The title comes from part of the American Pledge of Allegiance. It follows an experienced but volatile lawyer, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino), in three legal cases. Kirkland's partners, Jay Porter (Jeffrey Tambor) and Warren Fresnell (Larry Bruggman), intersect with his activities at various times. Kirkland's grandfather, Sam (Lee Strasberg), and girlfriend, Gail Packer (Christine Lahti), provide further context for his impulsive actions. He relates to two judges in the film, Henry T. Fleming (John Forsythe) and Francis Rayford (Jack Warden).

The film shows two of Kirkland's clients suffering at the hands of the justice system, and his internal conflict at taking a case defending Judge Fleming.

Al Pacino provides a dramatic and unforgettable performance in a film with a very uneven script. At times, "And Justice for All" launches into a satire of the justice system, but is never funny enough to succeed. At other times, very crisp and dramatic dialogue is bang on. Some scenes are silly and irrelevant, e.g., the helicopter ride with Judge Rayford, and detract from the film's impact. Other parts are poorly written, like Kirkland's interview with the ethics committee. But Pacino holds it all together. Nobody else comes close.

Rumble Fish (1983)

Experimental cinematography, but derivative script

[6/10 · 10 May 2024]

It's an experimental coming-of-age drama set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the 1960s. Seventeen-year-old Rusty James (Matt Dillon) is four years younger than his brother, The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke). The Motorcycle Boy led a gang for a time but has recently been absent a lot. Rusty James wants to emulate his brother. Their mother disappeared when Rusty James was two, and their Father (Dennis Hopper) is an alcoholic lawyer.

Rusty James hangs out with Steve (Vincent Spano), Smokey (Nicolas Cage), and B. J. (Chris Penn) in a bar run by Benny (Tom Waits). Rusty's girlfriend is Patty (Diane Lane).

The movie follows Rusty James as he gets into a gang fight, a la "West Side Story," that ends with his brother's return. "Rumble Fish" wanders through several days as Rusty James and The Motorcycle Boy explore their past and future and their relationship with their father. The Motorcycle Boy tries to convince Rusty James that gangs have no future, but Rusty, who is not the sharpest tack in the box, resists. A vengeful Police Officer Patterson (William Smith), provides a dramatic conclusion.

"Rumble Fish" (named after betta fish that attack each other) fascinate the colorblind Motorcycle Boy and provide the only color in this black-and-white film. The movie features neo-noir shadows, wet streets, fog, and clocks. The plot is derivative of "West Side Story" and early Marlon Brando and James Dean. It's engaging primarily because of the experimental film techniques used, not for the story or the quality of the acting.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

A frustrating mystery bordering on fantasy

[7/10 · 9 May 2024]

It's an Australian mystery bordering on fantasy, set from Valentine's Day to March 27, 1900, in Mount Macedon, Central Victoria, Australia, and at the nearby geological formation known as Hanging Rock. The widowed Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts) runs a small girls' finishing school with the assistance of Mlle. De Poitiers (Helen Morse), Greta McCraw (Vivean Gray), and Miss Lumley (Kirsty Child).

The students featured in the film are Sara Waybourne (Margaret Nelson), Irma Leopold (Karen Robson), Miranda St. Clare (Anne-Louise Lambert), Edith Horton (Christine Schuler), and Marion Quade (Jane Vallis). Sara, an orphan, is very attached to Miranda, the daughter of wealthy parents. Sara is headstrong, and Mrs. Applegate has forbidden her from joining the picnic.

At the picnic, the other four primary girls strike off on their own to explore Hanging Rock, a mysterious place with many caves, crevices, snakes, and insects. Two young men, Michael Fitzhubert (Dominic Guard) and Albert Crundall (John Jarratt), who has an unknown connection to Sara, observe the girls as they begin their exploration. Edith leaves the exploration and returns to the picnic in panic, where it's found that Greta McCraw is also missing.

The film follows the disappearance of these four individuals, the eventual finding of one of them alive, and the consequences for those remaining when the missing three are never found. The cinematography is stunning but somewhat erratic. Some images of wildlife seem artificially inserted. The story occasionally provides suggestive hints with little or no context, which is frustrating but apparently follows the book. I like my mysteries with more of a resolution.

This enjoyable film was Peter Weir's first big success.

Dogfight (1991)

Remarkably captures 1963's ethos

[8/10 · 7 May 2024]

It's a period piece about finding human contact on November 21-22, 1963, in San Francisco, California. Four young marines (all about 19 years old) who call themselves the "four Bs" are getting ready to ship out to Vietnam. They are Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix), Berzin (Richard Panebianco), Oakie (Anthony Clark), and Benjamin (Mitchell Whitfield). To celebrate their last night in the U. S., they and other Marines plan a "Dogfight," a dance to which they bring the ugliest girl they can find. The winner gets $100. The guys are vulgar and assert their machismo as we see their efforts to get dates, finally focusing on Eddie.

Eddie is having no success until he wanders into a small restaurant and discovers Rose (Lili Taylor) and her mother, also named Rose (Holly Near). Rose is shy but wants to make a difference in the world through her folk singing. Not knowing the nature of the event Eddie has invited her to, Rose agrees to go to the party and gets dressed up.

The movie follows events at the Dogfight, Rose's reaction when she learns the truth, Eddie's embarrassment at what he's done, and his efforts to recover a connection to this girl he realizes he genuinely likes. They spend the night at various places, including a venue where she would like to sing. She breaks through Eddie's hard exterior and shows her strength in the process. They part the next morning.

"Dogfight" remarkably captures 1963's ethos in its portrayal of the era's universal sexism, the naiveté about what was coming in Vietnam, and the vulnerability of two 19-year-olds trying to understand their life situations. Phoenix and Taylor have great chemistry; I thought Lili Taylor was particularly outstanding.

I cared less about sticking the Kennedy assassination into the film's tail end; the film would have been stronger if it ended with the four guys leaving on the bus the following day. The ending used felt tacked on as a political statement that was superfluous.

La haine (1995)

A gritty film about the hopelessness of marginal life in a culture that suppresses diversity

[9/10 · 6 May 2024]

It's a gritty drama over 24 hours of three disadvantaged young men who live in a housing project near Paris in 1995. At the film's beginning, we see TV shots of riots and learn a young man, Abdel, has been seriously injured by the police and is in intensive care. We also learn a police gun has been lost. We then meet three friends of Abdel from the projects. Vinz (Vincent Cassel) is Jewish and hot-tempered. Hubert (Hubert Koundé) is of Black African heritage and operates a boxing gym badly damaged by the riot. Said (Said Taghmaoui) is Northern African. He's small but is the glue that holds the three volatile friends together.

The film follows their lives from 10:30 a.m. On the morning after the riot until 6:00 a.m. The following morning. The three wander through the day with no purpose. We learn Vinz is the person who found the gun. They encounter many people and frequently tangle with police--some who are sympathetic, more who are not. The three go into Paris to get money from a drug dealer (François Levantal), meet a Gulag survivor (Tadek Lokcinski), crash an art gallery opening, and have a run-in with skinheads, including one played by the director, Mathieu Kassovitz. The movie ends in a stunning but believable fashion.

"La Haine" is a gritty film about the hopelessness of marginal life in a culture that suppresses diversity. The black-and-white cinematography is stunning. The story stays in your face throughout without allowing escape and has almost a documentary feel. It has the force but not the flamboyance of a film like "Taxi Driver."

The Fall Guy (2024)

Gosling fits this kind of role like a glove

[7/10 · 4 May 2024]

It's an action comedy set in the present day, mainly in Sydney, Australia. It follows stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), who, at the film's beginning, is seriously injured after a fall gone wrong in an action movie starring Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Colt had been romancing Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), a camera operator in the film in which he was injured. The film then picks up 18 months later. Colt's ghosted Jody during his recovery and is working as a valet at a restaurant when Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), a movie producer, tells him that Jody, now a first-time film director, wants him on the set of an action movie she is making in Australia, again starring Tom Ryder.

Colt shows up and tentatively interacts with Jody, but the storyline shifts to a missing Tom Ryder and Gail's request that Colt find him. The film then launches into a series of spectacular chases, battles, and stunts as Colt finds himself in the midst of a murder mystery even while he tries to rekindle his relationship with Jody. The stunt coordinator, Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), helps Colt at critical times.

"The Fall Guy" is an OK comedy, even though action movies that rely on a lot of CGI aren't my cup of tea. The chemistry between Gosling and Blunt is good, although all the characters are quite superficial. Gosling fits this kind of role like a glove. Seen as a spoof, "The Fall Guy" provides a pleasant two-hour experience, though I did check my watch before it ended.

The Old Oak (2023)

Who is your neighbor?

[8/10 · 3 May 2024]

It's a refugee drama in a declining English village near Durham, England, set in 2016. It follows the experiences of the owner of the last little pub, The Old Oak, in a dying former mining town. T. J. Ballantyne (Dave Turner) is divorced, and his distant son no longer speaks to him. His pub is slowly dying along with the village when some Syrian refugees move into the town. T. J.'s only companion is a dog called Marra (Lola). Some of his regulars, like Vic (Chris McGlade), Charlie (Trevor Fox), and Eddy (Col Tait), are vicious racists, but T. J. provides some assistance to Laura (Claire Rodgerson), the woman heading the local refugee assistance efforts.

One of the refugees, Yara (Ebla Mari), is a skilled photographer who has learned good English in a refugee camp. Her mother, Fatima (Amna Al Ali), and three younger siblings are with her but speak little English. Her father, a tailor, is missing back in Syria is unknown.

The film follows the tension between the locals and newcomers and T. J.'s evolving relationship with both sides. "The Old Oak" contains no highly dramatic events, but relationships and thoughts about hope change as the story unfolds.

"The Old Oak" is a primarily gentle film about human relationships in an economically challenged community. Turner and Mari are outstanding, though Mari's character is a bit too saintly. Occasionally, the script gets a little didactic, slowing the pace. But it's a great story about refugee engagement in a small traditional village.

Hidden Figures (2016)

A feel-good film about three brave women

[7/10 · 3 May 2024]

It's a NASA biopic of three African American mathematicians set in Hampton, Virginia, in 1926 and 1961/62. The movie begins by showing the young Katherine Gobel Johnson (Lidya Jewett/Taraji P. Henson) as a precocious student with exceptional mathematical skills. We then meet Katherine, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), who work as "computers" at the Langley Research Center operated by NASA in Hampton, Virginia. They do mathematical calculations related to NASA's early efforts at space travel before computers took over this work.

The three women face severe hindrances in Virginia's still-segregated work environment. Katherine works in an all-male Space Task Group run by Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) and Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons). Dorothy does the work of a supervisor but is not recognized as such. To stay employable, Dorothy learns Fortran to program the soon-arriving IBM computer. Mary works on the heat shield team and wants to attend university extension classes at an all-white high school.

The film follows each of them in their quest, with particular emphasis on Katherine, who becomes a key figure in planning John Glenn's (Jim Powell) first trip into space.

"Hidden Figures" is a PG feel-good film about three brave women. It significantly exaggerates conflicts to make them more impressive. Dorothy was already a supervisor by 1949. Katharine never had to go to another building for a colored washroom; she used "white" washrooms from the beginning. Katharine was a permanent member of the Space Task Force by 1958, co-authoring reports and attending meetings. Mary Jackson did not have to go to court to take the courses she wanted. These are only some of the historical liberties taken.

Henson, Spencer, and Monáe work well together in their characters. Some subplots and characters are extraneous. Kevin Costner plays, as usual, Kevin Costner.

Away from Her (2006)

Pinsent and Christie are outstanding

[8/10 · 1 May 2024]

It's a drama about the impact of Alzheimer's on a retired couple living in Brant County, Ontario, Canada, in 2003. Grant (Gordon Pinsent) is a retired university professor who married a young 18-year-old student, Fiona (Julie Christie), over 40 years ago. Fiona is displaying symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's even though she's only about 60. As her behavior becomes more erratic, she decides to check herself into the Meadowbrook Nursing Home, which cares for people with dementia at various stages. Grant resists but finally agrees.

At the nursing home, they deal with Madeleine (Wendy Crewson), the officious administrator, and Kristy (Kristen Thomson), one of the nurses. The home has a rule that a new dementia patient has no visitors for the first 30 days, including family, ostensibly to assist the patient in adjusting to the new environment. When Grant finally visits after 30 days, he discovers Fiona has developed an intense attachment to Aubrey (Michael Murphy), a mute resident, and treats Grant almost as a stranger.

The film follows Grant's efforts to deal with this emotional morass, which includes interacting with Aubrey's wife, Marian (Olympia Dukakis). The movie has an inconclusive ending.

The story and the characters are generally outstanding, especially Pinsent and Christie. I found the Crewson and Thomson characters less believable, as the nursing home staff made no effort to reinforce Fiona's memory with things like photographs. The 30-day no-visit rule also stretched real life. But "Away from Her" is a well-done movie by a then-young Canadian filmmaker, Sarah Polley.

Ordinary People (1980)

A superb family-in-crisis drama

[9/10 · 29 April 2024]

It's a family-in-crisis drama set in 1980 in Lake Forest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It unfolds the dynamics within a family after the accidental boating death of the older teenage son, Bucky (Scott Doebler). Calvin Jarrett (Donald Sutherland) is a very successful tax attorney who lives with his perfect wife, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), and his surviving younger son, Conrad (Timothy Hutton), now in grade 11, in a big house. The story begins after Bucky's death and Conrad's return from four months in a psychiatric hospital after he attempted suicide.

The movie develops all three characters as Conrad struggles to connect with his family and high school friends on the swim team. Conrad begins to work with psychiatrist Tyrone Berger (Judd Hirsch), but things go slowly. Father Calvin is more emotionally linked to Conrad; Beth has erected emotional walls. We meet some of Conrad's friends, especially Karen (Dinah Manoff), who was also at the psych hospital, and Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern), who sings in front of Conrad in the school choir. We also meet Beth's parents and brother.

"Ordinary People" does a superb job of portraying a family potentially collapsing under the weight of an accidental death. Timothy Hutton is outstanding in his first feature film. Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore work against typecast. He is emotionally vulnerable, and she is an ice cube. Elizabeth McGovern is excellent in her first movie role. Robert Redford won an Oscar for his direction.

This movie has aged well.

High Plains Drifter (1973)

A metaphorical cartoonish Western that doesn't age well

[5/10 · 28 April 2024]

It's a metaphorical cartoonish Western set in 1882 in a small fictional mining town of Lago somewhere in the West. It follows a Stranger (Clint Eastwood) who wanders into a conflicted town, anticipating the arrival of three gunmen (Geoggrey Lewis, Dan Vadis, and Anthony James) seeking vengeance in the town after a year in prison. They whipped to death an earlier marshall while the citizens watched.

When the Stranger shows his gun skills, the town leaders, Dave Drake (Mitch Ryan), Morgan Allen (Jack Ging), Jason Hobart (Stefan Giersach), and Lewis Belding (Ted Hartley), seek his assistance. The Stranger raises Mordecai (Billy Curtis), a little person, to leadership to the annoyance of the current leaders. He also shows kindness to Native Americans and Mexicans. However, the Stranger asserts his dominance by sexually attacking two partners of the town leaders, Sarah Belding (Verna Bloom) and Callie Travers (Mariana Hill).

The film follows the Stranger's preparation of the townspeople for the coming conflict and the three outlaws as they travel to the town. The Stranger's symbolic actions and directives are included. There is a final battle after which we may or may not learn the Stranger's name.

"High Plains Drifter" is a pretty standard spaghetti Western. A Lone Ranger figure saves a town despite its failings. Women have no agency in Eastwood's Western world, and the sexual ethics portrayed are disgusting. Any lesson to be learned from the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York, that inspired this movie is totally absent. This film has not aged well.

Irena's Vow (2023)

An engaging story of a creative young woman negotiating complicated moral terrain

[7/10 · 26 April 2024]

It's a Canadian-Polish World War II drama set in Radom, Poland, from 1939 to 1944. It follows a pious young Polish woman, Irena Gut (Sophie Nélisse), who is training as a nurse in 1939 when Germany invades Poland. She works in a factory for a time but catches the eye of Major Rugemer (Dougray Scott), the senior Wehrmacht officer in the area, because she has German physical features and speaks good German. First, she works in a hotel serving German officers and supervises some Polish workers, including some Jews. She then becomes Major Rugemer's housekeeper in a large villa where he lives and entertains.

Irena uses her position to hide twelve Jews with whom she had worked in the factory in a hidden part of the villa's basement. The film follows her process of hiding the Jews, the threats posed by SS Officer Rokita (Maciej Nawrocki), and the consequences when Major Rugemer finally discovers she is hiding Jews in his villa.

"Irena's Vow" tells an engaging story of a creative young woman negotiating complicated moral terrain. The script smooths out some realities and likely exploits and exaggerates some incidents. Nélisse and Scott are both very convincing in their characters, but the story does seem to drag a bit from time to time and some dialogue seemed canned. Perhaps it could have been 15-20 minutes shorter.

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

An important historical piece of cinema; its content is appalling

[5/10 · 26 April 2024]

It's an American Civil War and Reconstruction drama set from 1860 to 1875 in Washington, D. C., and Piedmont, South Carolina. It follows two families connected by their sons' friendship in a pre-Civil War boarding school. Austin Stoneman (Ralph Lewis) is a political leader in Washington. His children are Phil (Elmer Clifton) and Elsie (Lillian Gish). His right-hand man is Silas Lynch (George Siegmann). Lynch's last name is no mistake.

Dr. Cameron (Spottiswoode Aitken) and his wife (Josephine Crowell) head the South Carolina family. They have three sons and two daughters. The oldest son is Benjamin Cameron (Henry B. Waithall); the elder daughter is Margaret (Miriam Cooper), and the more vivacious younger daughter is Flora (Mae Marsh).

In the film's first half, we see the children's friendship before the war, the potential for romance between the families, and the impact of the Civil War on both families. The story is told mainly from the Southern perspective; slavery is not mentioned. The war is described as resistance to losing states' rights, i.e., the "Lost Cause" argument.

The movie's shockingly racist second half deals with the Reconstruction period in South Carolina. It describes most African Americans as out of control and manipulated by Northern Carpetbaggers. The Southern whites' salvation is the formation of the Ku Klux Klan, supposedly founded by Phil Cameron, with the primary goal of protecting white women from African American men. The two main stories in the movie's second half deal with this theme, one of which ends with a lynching.

"The Birth of a Nation" is notable for its early technological advances in battle scenes and story flow in numerous places. The intercards are mostly scene-setting; their use in dialogue is not as developed as it might be. The movie is an important historical piece of cinema; its content is appalling.

Civil War (2024)

There is no context and no plot

[4/10 · 23 April 2024]

It's a modern-day American Civil War road movie set in New York City to Washington, D. C., and points in between. It follows four journalists hoping to reach the President (Nick Offerman) for an interview before the rebel Western Force reaches him.

Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) is a renowned photojournalist traveling with Joel (Wagner Moura); they're probably in a relationship. Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is an older reporter with "what's left of the New York Times" who begs for a ride to D. C. with Lee and Joel. Jessie Cullen (Cailee Spaeny) is a neophyte photojournalist who wants to ride along after interacting with Lee. Along the way, we also meet some foreign reporters (Sonoya Mizuno, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai) and a racist military man committing a war crime (Jesse Plemons).

"Civil War" was one disappointing movie. Contrary to the Roger Ebert reviewer, "Civil War" it is no thought experiment about journalistic ethics. Instead, it's a stream of war images with no context from the perspective of journalists who take no notes, report to no one, and constantly put themselves in danger with whatever military group they latch on to. There's no plot except taking dramatic photos reminiscent of past wars.

The lack of context is terribly frustrating and leaves "Civil War" with no core, leaving it more of a Marvel movie than anything else. Yes, there are a few engrossing relationship events, especially around Jesse Plemon's character. But otherwise, "Civil War" has little reality.

On Golden Pond (1981)

The chemistry between Hepburn and Henry Fonda is the film's best feature

[7/10 · 22 April 2024]

It's a drama about aging and relationships set in 1980 on a resort lake in New England called Golden Pond. It follows Norman (Henry Fonda) and Ethel Thayer (Katharine Hepburn) returning to their summer cottage to celebrate Norman's upcoming 80th birthday. Their only daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda), her boyfriend, Bill Ray (Dabney Coleman), and Bill's 13-year-old son, Billy (Doug McKeon), join them for the celebration. The only other character of note is Golden Pond's longtime postal worker, Charlie Martin (William Lanteau).

Norman, a retired professor, is crotchety and has some significant memory problems that scare him. Ethel is more outgoing. Chelsea has never felt loved by her father. Chelsea and Bill are off to Europe for a month and wonder if Billy can stay with Norman and Ethel at the cottage. They agree, and the movie works through the developing relationship between Norman and Billy.

"On Golden Pond" is a simple relationship movie in many ways. There's some excellent dialogue at several points, and the chemistry between Hepburn and Henry Fonda is wonderful, which is the film's best feature. The changing relationship between Norman and Billy is predictable but still heartwarming. The scenery glows too much from time to time. It's a nice story that feels more relevant as I am close to within a couple of years of 80 myself!

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Not fall-down-laughing funny but has solid performances

[8/10 · 20 April 2024]

It's a legal courtroom comedy set in about 1990 in a rural Alabama town. Two New York City college students, Bill Gambini (Ralph Macchio) and Stan Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield), stop in a small Alabama convenience store for supplies. Soon after they leave, the clerk is robbed and murdered. Bill and Stan are arrested and charged with first-degree murder after three witnesses identify them and their unique-looking convertible.

Lack of funds forces them to turn to Bill's cousin, Vinny Gambini (Joe Pesci), a new lawyer with six weeks of experience, for help. He arrives with his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei), and his New York attitude and runs into an old-school Judge Haller (Fred Gwynne) and Prosecutor Jim Trotter (Lane Smith).

The trial begins badly, and the witnesses are convincing until Vinny's native skills emerge with some essential last-minute help from Mona Lisa, who has an unusual skill set.

"My Cousin Vinny" is not fall-down-laughing funny but has solid performances by Pesci, Tomei, Gwynne, and Smith. Some of the locals are typecast yokels, but not exceptionally so. The pace and chemistry of interaction between the primary characters are good. Macchio and Whitfield fade away after their arrest and the arrival of Pesci and Tomei.

The Pianist (2002)

"The Pianist" exudes authenticity

[9/10 · 19 April 2024]

It's a Warsaw Ghetto World War II survivor biopic of Wladyslaw Szpilman set from 1939 to 1945. The film begins with 28-year-old Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) playing live on Warsaw radio in September 1939 when the German invasion begins. He is already well-known in Polish cultural circles. We meet Szpilman's family; he appears to be the oldest child. Wladyslaw is somewhat aloof; his brother Henryk (Ed Stoppard) is much more politically aggressive. His parents, Samuel (Frank Finlay) and Edwarda (Maureen Lipman), are upper class and hardly know how to respond.

"The Pianist" follows Szpilman's pivotal experiences over the next six years. The family first lives in the "Little" part of the Warsaw Ghetto. Szpilman is separated from his family and becomes a slave laborer before escaping the ghetto and living with the help of non-Jewish friends in increasingly difficult circumstances. In the last months of 1944, he is even saved by a German officer (Thomas Kretschmann) who learns Szpilman is a skilled pianist.

What is remarkable about "The Pianist" is that it does not portray Wladyslaw Szpilman as a hero. He is primarily passive and survives on the generosity of others. He sees many heinous atrocities and sometimes tries to help others, but mainly reacts when danger is imminent. "The Pianist" exudes authenticity because of this approach.

Although I wish Polanski had faced a criminal trial in the United States, he is a brilliant director. The pacing and visuals are excellent. Adrien Brody is superb.