The latest film to take a satirical bite out of the wealthy and privileged comes from Swedish director Ruben Östlund (“Force Majeure”, “The Square”). It’s “Triangle of Sadness”, the Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. This is Östlund’s first English-language feature film, and after navigating several COVID-19 delays, this biting dark comedy is all set the hit theaters. NEON has dropped the first trailer and it looks every bit as wild as advertised.
The movie stars Harry Dickinson as an aspiring model vacationing with his girlfriend played by Charlbi Dean. The couple win a trip aboard a luxury cruise captained by none other than Woody Harrelson. The other guests are a collection of snobbish one-percenters. But as the puke-soaked trailer reveals, things aboard the lavish yacht go terribly wrong, and Östlund has us sit back and watch as the privileged get some healthy doses of humility. I can’t wait to see what all Östlund has up his sleeve.
“Triangle of Sadness” hits theaters October 7th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
When it comes to Aubrey Plaza, most people immediately think of her quick-witted poker-faced style of humor. And rightly so. The 38-year-old Delaware native has mastered the art of dry deadpan comedy, and her steely stare along with her pitch-perfect comic timing have become signatures. For that reason it may be easy to forget that Plaza is also a really good dramatic actress. Her lights-out performance in “Emily the Criminal” is a nice reminder than she is far from a one-dimensional talent.
“Emily the Criminal” marks the impressive and assured directorial debut for John Patton Ford. He writes and directs this thoroughly compelling crime drama that takes a hard look at a slice of the Los Angeles underworld. By centering on Plaza’s character, Ford is able to offer us a unique perspective, not only into the inner-workings of the LA crime scene, but also into the societal ills that can drive a smart and talented young woman to the point of breaking the law.
Plaza plays Emily Benetto, an aspiring artist in LA who was forced to put aside her love for painting in order to make ends meet. Buried under $70,000 of student debt, Emily is stuck working for a food delivery and catering service just to pay the monthly interest on her loan. She’s tried to get a better job, but two blemishes on her permanent record keep coming back to haunt her. Liz (Megalyn Echikunwoke), Emily’s old high school friend who loves talking about her own successes, keeps promising she’s going to pull some strings to get Emily an interview at her ad agency. But like every other potential lead in Emily’s life, that has yet to happen.
Frustrated with her inability to get a “real job”, Emily takes the advice of her coworker Javier (Bernardo Badillo) and texts a number that he says will score her an easy $200. She followers the address she’s given to an old dry cleaners where a smooth-talker named Youcef (Theo Rossi) and his cousins run a ‘dummy shopper’ scam.
It goes like this: the ‘shopper’ is given a credit card and a fake ID. They then go into a designated store and purchase a flat-screen television with the fake card. They drop off the merchandise to Youcef and collect $200. Here’s the catch – the information on the card is stolen. “You won’t be in danger. You won’t endanger another person. But you will be breaking the law.” You have to give him points for honesty.
After some very brief hesitation, Emily pulls off the job, collects her money, and impresses Youcef in the process. He introduces her to some riskier but higher paying scores before hooking her up with her very own racket. Before long Emily has fully reached ‘small-time criminal’ status, but when she accidentally breaks one of Youcef’s cardinal rules, it brings the dangerous side of the criminal world to her doorstep.
From there “Emily the Criminal” plays out like part crime drama and part character study. The genre conventions work well in large part because Ford keeps things grounded. But the character study element, laced with some well-handled social commentary, gives the film a sharper than expected edge and places the characters within a world than will resonate with many viewers who will see glimmers of their own experiences.
The movie does lean on a few hard-to-miss tropes in the final act as it reaches its eventual climax. And there is an element of Emily and Youcef’s relationship that needed more attention. But there is a steady tension throughout the second half that keeps you locked in. And I can’t say enough about Aubrey Plaza’s performance. Not only does she keenly capture Emily’s vulnerability but also her toughness – both pivotal ingredients to this fascinating character. And while some of her choices are unquestionably dishonest, Plaza earns our empathy and helps us to see Emily’s many layers. “Emily the Criminal” is out this Friday in select theaters.
I swear, there must be 100 movies with titles similar to “Rogue Agent” (and I bet I’ve watched and/or reviewed half of them). But generic name aside, this new British drama/thriller very much has a feel all its own. It’s a slow-burning yet meticulously paced fact-based story that takes its time setting up its pieces. But once you get a sense for what’s happening, it’s hard not to be gripped by this appalling and kinda crazy true account.
“Rogue Agent” is co-directed by Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn from a screenplay the duo co-wrote with Michael Bronner. It’s based on a magazine article Bronner wrote titled “Chasing Agent Freegard” which spotlighted Robert Hendy-Freegard. He was a con-man who masqueraded as an MI5 agent to lure in and manipulate numerous people, often separating them from their families and stripping them of their money. The true details are astonishing, and the film pulls pieces from several real accounts to craft a story that gives us a good grasp of Freegard and his shameless deceit.
Image Courtesy of IFC Films
The movie opens in 1993 where Robert (played by James Norton, with his natural good looks and deceptively tender smile) works as a bartender in a small college town. We’re told in voice-over about Robert’s cunning. About his keen ability to read people and persuade them. We watch him stealthily target three students and later convince them that he is an undercover agent with MI5. We see him dupe them into believing an Irish Republican Army cell was embedded at the university (during the volatile 1990s the IRA waged a bombing campaign in England. So his claims would get attention). And we watch as he recruits them to be freelance spies for MI5 who report only to him.
I know it sounds unbelievable – like an absurd movie storyline no one would ever buy into. In reality, this is exactly the kind of game Robert Freegard played, and the emotional, psychological, and financial damage left in his wake remains immeasurable. Patterson and Lawn do a good job emphasizing the harm done to Robert’s victims, many of them young women.
Nine years pass and we’re introduced to Alice Archer (Gemma Arterton), a litigation solicitor for a big law firm. While walking to work she meets Robert who now works as a luxury car salesman (fitting). Despite her cautious nature, Robert’s charm does its work and the two begin a romantic relationship. But when Alice begins to notice inconsistencies in his stories she must decide whether to go with her heart or trust her instincts.
Inevitably the true account removes some of the suspense, but I still won’t spoil where the story goes. While much of what we see is fictional, most of it is inspired directly from the real-life encounters victims had with Freegard. And that’s what makes “Rogue Agent” work. Nothing about the story feels false. It remains grounded and avoids all temptations to turn itself into a full-on genre film. It has its slow patches, but it never loses its authenticity and it never loses our interest.
Image Courtesy of IFC Films
The film is also helped by strong performances from Norton and Arterton. Norton brings some fascinating layers to Robert. Some of them help us understand why so many people could be seduced by his wiles. Others give us deeper looks at the depths of his duplicity. Meanwhile Arterton makes Alice a solid protagonist who’s always walking uphill in her male-dominated world. But she’s hardly a damsel in distress, and Arterton frequently shows us Alice’s strength and resilience in their many forms. There’s also a really good performance from Marisa Abela who plays Sophie Jones, one of Robert’s early victims who ends up having a big part to play in the story.
It’s truly hard to fathom Robert Freegard’s extraordinary guile but also his shocking callousness. “Rogue Agent” paints a vivid and fittingly diabolical portrait of the scam artist and all his deceptive layers. And by putting a heavy emphasis on Arterton’s character, we’re allowed to see things from the victim’s perspective. The deliberate pacing may push away some, but it’s key to presenting to us the overall picture of this unthinkable story that would be impossible to believe if it weren’t true. “Rogue Agent” opens Friday in select theaters and streaming on AMC+.
Ron Howard returns to the director’s chair for the new biographical survival thriller “Thirteen Lives”. The film is a dramatization of the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue. That’s when twelve members of a junior soccer team, their ages ranging from 11 to 16, along with their assistant coach were trapped deep within Tham Luang cave in Northern Thailand following some intense flooding. The film chronicles the fact-based rescue attempts to get the thirteen out alive.
“Thirteen Lives” is a gripping account of an incident that grabbed the attention of the entire world. Howard goes to great lengths to emphasize the gravity of the danger the soccer team faced and the sheer scope of the international rescue operation that included more than 5,000 people from 17 countries. He also spotlights the many shades of humanity that play a big part in the story – the fear and anxiety; the empathy and kindness; the contentions and frustrations; the bravery and sacrifice.
And it should be said at the outset that “Thirteen Lives” is a technical marvel and a glowing example of the creative magic in cinema. The movie splits itself between the riveting action inside the cave and the human drama outside, and both are brought to life through some truly brilliant creativity. Howard and his team of artists pored over the actual schematics of the cave, watched hours of archived news footage, tapped into the knowledge of real divers, and surrounded themselves with Thai advisors and crew members so that the Thai culture would be respectfully represented.
Image Courtesy of Amazon Studios
Some of the most jaw-dropping work took place in a Queensland, Australia warehouse. Howard, production designer Molly Hughes, acclaimed Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, five-time Oscar nominated sound editor Oliver Tarney, and countless others recreated specific sections of Tham Luang cave. The crew built highly detailed tunnels and submerged them into four 100-foot-long tanks. The results are scenes of hair-raising realism as divers navigate the cramped and claustrophobic tunnelways.
The film is written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Nicholson (“Gladiator”, “Shadowlands”) who’s tasked with juggling an astonishing number of moving parts. He starts his story on June 23, 2018 in Ban Chong, Thailand as the Wild Hogs junior soccer team are finishing up practice. A big birthday party for the team’s youngest member Chai (Pasakorn Hoyhon) is planned for later. But before they go, the boys convince their coach (Teeradon Supapunpinyo) to take them to the nearby Tham Luang cave. So the group hops on their bikes and make the scenic ride to Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park where the mouth of the cave lies at the base of a lush mountain.
The boys and their coach enter the cave at 3:07 PM. As they venture deeper in, a storm gathers outside. Eventually the clouds open up and torrential rain sets in. Shifting to Chai’s house, after none of the team shows up to the party, the parents head to the cave worried the boys will get drenched riding back home in the downpour. But when they arrive to find the bikes parked near the entrance but no sign of their sons, the parents quickly and understandably begin to fear the worse.
We don’t see the Wild Boars again for a while, as Howard and Nicholson move their focus to the growing rescue effort. Family and media gather near the entrance, the Thai Navy SEALS arrive, and engineers begin pumping water out of the submerged cave. Meanwhile, the politicians, Governor Narongsak (Sahajak Boonthanakit) and Minister Anupong Paochinda (Vithaya Pansringarm), butt heads over the best course of action.
As days pass and situations worsen, the Thai government bring in a pair of elite divers from England who specialize in cave rescue – Rick Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell). They’re later joined by an Australian doctor and fellow diver Harry Harris (Joel Edgerton). They eventually find the boys and their coach huddled in a small dark corner some 2500 meters deep into the cave. But that’s hardly the end of the story.
Image Courtesy of Amazon Studios
The second half of the movie focuses on the tougher challenge – finding a way to get the thirteen out alive. There’s no way they would survive the arduous five and a half hour dive back through narrow crevices and against strong and shifting currents – a challenge for even the best divers. So Rick, John, and Harry must devise another plan. But with oxygen levels in the chamber dropping, they’ll need to come up with something quick.
One of my favorite things about “Thirteen Lives” is Howard’s intense focus on realism. His reliance on authenticity strips the film of artifice and keeps melodrama at a bare minimum. For that reason its tension feels organic and its emotions are earned. Even more, the sense of peril is palpable. For example, every time we get a scene of divers underwater there’s a genuine sense of danger.
If I had a gripe, it would be with how little we see from the boys’ perspective. But at the same time, it’s hard to knock the movie’s linear focus when it’s this well executed. It’s such a thorough and soundly paced account of the rescue, and even at two and a half hours there’s never moments that feel wasted. Of course Mortensen, Farrell, and Edgerton make for a terrific trio and each give firmly grounded performances. But the movie doesn’t get locked in on its three big-named stars. Howard spreads the attention around and stresses the local dynamic as much (if not more) than the international presence. It’s one of many strengths that makes this real-life study of heroism and sacrifice so moving and immersive. “Thirteen Lives” is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Primed and ready for its festival circuit run, “The Banshees of Inisherin” has released its first trailer. This is a film from Martin McDonagh, his first since 2017’s shaky but beloved “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”. His latest sees him reteaming with his “In Bruges” partners Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell. This first look at the film gives us lots to look forward for.
The story centers around two friends and the consequences that follow after one (Gleeson) suddenly and without explanation ends their friendship. As with the best trailers, this one is cryptic. It gives us a basic intro to the story while leaving the details under wraps. I love that. To no one’s surprise, both Gleeson and Ferrell look great in this. And while I’m a little mixed on McDonagh’s films, I’m pretty excited for this one.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” opens in theaters October 21st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
After co-directing the terrific franchise launcher “John Wick”, director, producer, actor, and stuntman David Leitch has put together a filmography of big action spectacles of varying quality. And while I may not be a fan of his “Deadpool 2” and “Atomic Blonde” romps, there’s no denying that his movies have their fanbases and have made good money at the box office. Those are big reasons why Leitch was brought on to helm the star-studded action-comedy “Bullet Train”.
Maybe he did some convincing. Perhaps he called in a favor. Either way, Leitch was able to get Brad Pitt to lead his rapid-fire over-the-top actioner that pretty much runs at one speed. Based on the Japanese pulp novel “Maria Beetle” by Kōtarō Isaka, Leitch and screenwriter Zak Olkewicz reshape the original story and characters, leaning on the charm and charisma of Pitt and the talent-rich cast to keep us locked in.
But Pitt and company can only carry the movie so far, and it quickly becomes evident that there’s nothing of substance underneath the flimsy veneer of steady quips and non-stop action. You can see Leitch and Olkewicz working so hard to be cool, stylish, and edgy. But all they manage is a Tarantino knock-off that operates under the idea that all you need is forced humor, endless f-bombs, a few needle-drops, and over-cranked violence to capture QT’s success. And as the storytelling more and more takes a backseat, this exhausting endurance test becomes almost unbearable.
Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures
The story itself is pretty inconsequential. Basically you have an assortment of assassins who board a bullet train in Tokyo bound for Kyoto. Each are onboard for their own reasons, but they soon discover their individual missions (some professional, some personal) are all connected and it’s no coincidence that they’re all on the same train. That’s a sound enough premise, especially for a movie with action as its centerpiece. Unfortunately, the story barely goes an inch deeper.
While the movie bounces around from character to character, Pitt gets top billing playing a hitman called Ladybug. Sporting a bucket hat and black-rimmed glasses, the notoriously unlucky Ladybug recently took some time away from contract killing to find inner peace or something silly like that (it’s a reoccurring joke the movie never gets tired of). But now he’s back at the behest of his handler, Maria (Sandra Bullock). She has the newly zen Ladybug an easy job – a simple snatch and grab. Yeah right.
Also on the train are two quarrelsome “twins”, Lemon and Tangerine (Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who are escorting a mob boss’ son and a briefcase full of cash back to a mysterious crime lord known as White Death. There’s Prince (a good Joey King), a calculated killer who plays the “poor innocent girl” card to deadly perfection. Then there’s Yuichi, a Japanese assassin looking to pay back the person who put his 6-year-old son in the hospital. There are a few others like The Hornet (Zazie Beetz) and The Wolf (rapper Bad Bunny), but they mainly show up for a quick action scene each and that’s it.
Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures
The biggest problem with these characters is that none of them feel real. None of them give you anything to latch onto or any reason to care about them. The cast puts in the effort and seem to be having a good time. But aside from their surface appeal, every character feels hollow. And once their cartoonish coolness wears off there’s nothing left. Now that may sound like nitpicking especially for a movie that clearly aims more towards style than story. But I can’t help it. I like characters with at least a few layers.
Muddying things up and bloating the runtime are a plethora of irrelevant flashbacks framed to have more meaning than they really do. Add to them several snooze-worthy exposition drops that play like vain attempts to add story depth. When you combine all of that with the juvenile dialogue and the slew of jokes and gags that aren’t nearly as clever or funny as the filmmakers think they are, you’re left with a tedious and frankly numbing experience.
As the story barrels forward, the filmmakers choose louder over smarter and end up sending the film right off the rails (sorry, it’s a cheap pun but I couldn’t resist). We’re left with a movie that doesn’t bother with logic and that believes piling on more stylized action, more shallow humor, and a few cheap cameos in enough to get by. And maybe they’re right. Maybe the film’s furious pace will offer enough misdirection to keep audiences from looking at its glaring flaws. And maybe some will see this as one of those films where you just turn your brain off and have a good time. But even throw-away popcorn movies need a soul. And no matter how hard I looked, I never found one in “Bullet Train”.
Keith & the Movies 