REVIEW: “Where the Crawdads Sing” (2022)

August 2, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Based on the wildly popular 2018 novel by Delia Owens, “Where the Crawdads Sing” is a romantic coming-of-age murder mystery set in the marshes of North Carolina. Directed by Olivia Newman, this big screen adaptation stars the immensely talented Daisy Edgar-Jones (so good in the deliciously wicked horror thriller “Fresh” from earlier this year). I haven’t read the book, but the premise is rich with potential. And Edgar-Jones is a young actress with a big future ahead, assuming she’s given the right roles to shine.

Unfortunately, “Where the Crawdads Sing” doesn’t give Edgar-Jones the kind of material that really emphasizes her talent. To be clear, there’s nothing at all wrong with her performance. In fact, she’s a big reason why certain parts of the movie work as well as they do, But she’s handcuffed by a role that has her spending too much time as an observer, often looking on with a doe-eyed innocence and naivety. Her character is the story’s centerpiece and she definitely evolves over the course of the movie. But I can think of several ways a story like this could have better utilized its lead.

However, despite those limitations, Edgar-Jones’ ability to pick up the movie and carry it on her back is a testament to her acting prowess. She quietly conveys both vulnerability and resilience; a deep longing and a strong female spirit. Most importantly, she’s able to make us care for her character, Kya Clark, a resourceful young woman who has grown up in a world of rejection and abandonment. It’s a heartbreaking story, and although it relies too much on soapy melodrama and dutiful box-checking, Edgar-Jones is a strong anchor who keeps us invested even as we’re questioning much of what we see.

Written by Lucy Alibar (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”), the story unfolds across two timelines. In 1969, Kya is arrested and charged with the murder of Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson), the son of a prominent family in the small North Carolina town of Barkley Cove. His body was found at the base of fire tower where he had fallen several stories to his death. Despite an alarming lack of evidence, Kya is apprehended and put on trial. While the townsfolk in Barkley Cove are quick to brand Kya guilty, she finds an ally in a sympathetic retired lawyer named Tom Milton (the always reliable David Strathairn) who takes her case out of the goodness of his own heart.

The second timeline sets out to explore Kya’s past, beginning with her turbulent childhood and continuing up to the events just prior to her arrest. As a child, she and her family lived in a shack deep in the marshlands some five miles from Barkley Cove. Kya’s father (Garret Dillahunt) was an abusive man who routinely beat her mother (Ahna O’Reilly) and her siblings. One by one starting with her ma, her family members left, leaving her alone with her father. One morning she woke up to find him gone too. Left to fend for herself, Kya leans on everything she has learned living in the marsh to survive.

Kya’s resourcefulness helps her build a quiet reclusive life for herself in the marsh. Her lone contacts in the ‘real world’ are Jumpin (Sterling Macer, Jr.) and his wife Mabel (Michael Hyatt), a kindly black couple who own a dockside general store. Though routinely confronted by the not-so-subtle prejudices of the Barkley Cove folks, Jumpin and Mabel maintain a quiet dignity. Kya trades them freshwater mussels for sacks of grits, candles, and gas for her boat motor. They may not always need what Kya brings in, but they never let her know it. Kya certainly doesn’t get that kind of compassion from the other locals. To them she’s know as “marsh girl” and they’ve built an entire area legend about her out of gossip and lies.

Things seem to take a turn for Kya when she connects with an outgoing neighbor named Tate (Taylor John Smith). The two hit it off and soon a sweet but cheesy room-temperature romance blooms. That is until Tate heads off to college in Chapel Hill. He pledges he’ll return soon. But as Kya watches him ride off in his boat, you get the sense that she knows he’s not coming back. Months pass and Kya catches the eye of Chase Andrews, a popular cornball preppy from town. And is where the movie takes a serious dive.

Kya and Chase haven’t a spark of chemistry, and their scenes together are dry and flat. Even worse, Chase is such an obvious slimeball that Kya’s willingness to so easily toss aside her self-sufficiency and discernment is frustrating. Again, it’s an issue with the writing that undermines the characters, especially Kya. Of course we know from the earliest scene that Chase ends up dead which leads to the courtroom scenes that, despite Strathairn’s earnest and convincing presence, fail to serve up any real suspense.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” has as much tragedy (and water) as a Nicholas Sparks movie (not necessarily a good thing). It’s too mushy in spots and some of the second half story mechanics are hard to buy. Yet there are still bright spots in Newman’s direction, in Edgar-Jones’ performance, and in the film’s visuals which pictures the marshland setting through a more romanticized lens. But when all squashed together, the results are uneven, stripped down, and too squeaky clean. It’ll leave you wishing for the kind of movie this could have been. “Where the Crawdads Sing” is out now in theaters.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

First Glance: “Till”

August 1, 2022 by Keith Garlington

The new biographical drama “Till” tells the real-life story of educator turned activist Mamie Till Mobley. The film comes from director Chinonye Chukwu whose last feature was 2019’s terrific “Clemency”. The first trailer recently dropped ahead of its upcoming premiere at the 2022 New York Film Festival, and it gives us a good sense of Chukwa’s approach to this sincere and utterly heart-shattering true story.

Danielle Deadwyler plays Mamie Till Mobley, the mother of 14-year-old Emmett Till (played by Jalyn Hall). Emmitt was abducted, tortured, and brutally murdered on August 28, 1955 while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. His killers were put on trial but quickly acquitted by an all-white jury. After his body was returned to Mamie in Chicago, she insisted that his casket be left open so the world could see what they had done to her son. Afterwards she became a diligent activist in the Civil Rights movement. That’s a lot of ground to cover, but it’s a story that deserves to be told. And from what we see in the trailer, Chukwu looks to be a good choice to tell it.

“Till” lands in theaters October 7th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “DC League of Super-Pets” (2022)

August 1, 2022 by Keith Garlington

The new animated superhero comedy “DC League of Super-Pets” has a lot of star power in its voice cast. But I wasn’t drawn to it by the two leads, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. Instead, it was the thought of John Krasinski as Superman and Keanu Reeves as Batman that had me giggling all the way to the theater.

Ok, so that may be exaggerating a bit. It wasn’t just Krasinski and Reeves. I’m actually a proud DC fan so that alone offered some allure. And I do like several other names in the cast including Diego Luna, Daveed Diggs, Keith David, Alfred Molina, and Lena Headey, But while I do sometimes get a kick out of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a little of Kevin Hart’s brand of comedy goes a long way with me. And the tendency of modern-day, big studio animation to follow the same general formula always leaves me a little hesitant.

But I decided to give “DC League of Super-Pets” a try, and I ended up leaving the theater straddling the fence just as much as I was going in. This is the definition of an ok movie – one with as many ups as downs and strengths as weaknesses. It’s the kind of film that will probably have enough to please kids and tried-and-true animated fans. But for anyone looking for something outside the box, “Super-Pets” doesn’t have much fresh to offer.

**Image Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures**

Following a delightful opening that does a little rewriting of Superman’s origin, the story settles down in Metropolis where the Man of Steel/Clark Kent’s faithful pet and best friend Krypto (Johnson) has grown jealous of his owner’s growing relationship with ace Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde). Believing his canine buddy could use a friend, Clark visits an animal shelter. Among the rescue pets inside is an outspoken boxer named Ace (Hart), an insecure potbellied pig PB (Vanessa Bayer), an antsy squirrel Chip (Luna), a nearsighted turtle Merton (Natasha Lyonne), and a hairless guinea pig Lulu (Kate McKinnon).

But before Clark can pick out a new companion for the clingy Krypto, he spots his nemesis Lex Luthor (Marc Maron) pulling a meteorite full of orange kryptonite from the sky. Supposedly, rather than draining powers from heroes, orange kryptonite imbues its wielder with super-human abilities. Superman and Krypto set off to stop Luthor, but in the ensuing fight Lulu (Lex’s former lab rat and pupil) manages to secure a shard from the orange kryptonite granting her superpowers which she uses to capture Superman and the rest of the Justice League. What she doesn’t notice is that the shard also grants the other animals in the shelter with new powers.

A helpless Krypto, zapped of his abilities after being slipped some green kryptonite by Lulu, seeks the help of the newly empowered rescue pets to save Supes, the misanthropic Batman (Reeves), Wonder Woman (Jameela Jamil), The Flash (John Early), Cyborg (Diggs), and Green Lantern Jessica Cruz (Dascha Polanco). Meanwhile, the megalomaniacal Lulu puts together a super-powered guinea pig army (What’s the deal? This is second straight animated movie I’ve watched featuring a guinea pig army) leading to the inevitable big final-act showdown.

While “Super-Pets” has its moments, it’s ultimately little more than another Johnson/Hart vehicle. The movie leans too heavily on the duo’s well-worn schtick often at the expense of their characters. I get they’re big names and having them on the poster draws a lot of eyes. But this is a case where more seasoned voice actors with lower profiles would have helped. This is most glaring with Johnson. Too often when watching Krypto all I could sense was the Rock voicing a pup. It’s hard to shake.

Then there is the story itself. Directed and co-written by Jared Stern, “Super-Pets” has its sweet touches such as PB the pig’s Justice League fangirling or the flashback to Ace’s sad puppyhood. There are also some genuinely funny bits like Krypto’s conversations with a hologram of his late father, Dog-El (Keith David) and anytime Batman is on the screen. How is this the first time Keanu Reeves has voiced the Caped Crusader? Not only is Bats the film’s best written character, he’s also the best voiced. Sadly, he’s barely in the movie.

But not everything with the story works. Take its near mechanical structure which hops from point to point, hitting its predestined marks and painting characters in broad strokes rather than giving them any meaningful depth. Some of the jokes land, especially those poking fun at the traditional superhero formula. Others feel lazy, like the occasionally potty-mouthed Merton having to be bleeped-out for no other reason than the writers think its funny. And the humor really dries up during a rather tedious middle stretch where it becomes evident that there isn’t much underneath the film’s clever conceit.

While “Super-Pets” often feels like an attempt to cash in on the superhero craze, it still touches on some worthy themes such as friendship, teamwork, and finding one’s self-confidence. And while the hyper-smoothed textureless animation is hardly wow-worthy, the film still manages to pull you into its world. If only there was more to it for us to take in. Oh, and more of Keanu Reeves’ Batman. “DC League of Super-Pets” is now playing in theaters.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

First Glance: “Samaritan”

July 29, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Sylvester Stallone re-enters the superhero genre in his upcoming film “Samaritan”. We’ve seen him in the Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and as a scene-stealing talking shark in DC’s “The Suicide Squad”. But this is a totally different take on the genre. Directed by Julius Avery (“Overlord”), the film is based on a Mythos Comics graphic novel that was written by Bragi Schut (who also happens to be the screenwriter for the film). The new trailer gives us a taste of what Avery, Schut, and Sly (who also produces) are up to.

The story of “Samaritan” goes something like this: a young boy named Sam (Javon Walton) discovers that an aged garbage man (Stallone) is actually Samaritan, a famed superhero who disappeared twenty-five years earlier. Everyone believed him to be dead. But Sam’s discovery and their eventual friendship forces the super-powered Samaritan to come out of retirement. Admittedly, its a fun trailer to watch if for no other reason than to see Stallone. Realistically, it’s kinda hard to tell what to expect. It could be a fun-filled surprise or a forgettable snooze. I’ll definitely be checking it out to see.

“Samaritan” premieres August 26th on Amazon Prime streaming. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Vengeance” (2022)

July 29, 2022 by Keith Garlington

(CHECK OUT my full review in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Culture clash comedies can be hit-or-miss, but writer, director and star B.J. Novak gives us a good one with his new film “Vengeance”. What makes this surprisingly rich and textured movie stand out is its blend of influences. It’s a black comedy. It’s a murder mystery. Parts of it has a Western flavor while other parts feel like a neo-noir. It has a can’t-miss satirical bite and offers some timely commentary on the Red State/Blue State divide that’s not-so-silently ripping our country apart. The movie isn’t overtly political. Instead, it’s interested in how we as Americans burrow into our own groups and are quick to judge anyone who doesn’t fit within them.

Novak (“The Office”) plays Ben Manalowitz, a newly hired writer for The New Yorker and an aspiring podcaster. We first meet him at a Brooklyn rooftop party where he and his equally flakey buddy (John Mayer) tout their skewed views on monogamy while questioning what constitutes a “meaningful relationship”. To these guys, hook-up culture allows them to satisfy their self-absorbed needs without putting in the effort of viewing people as more than fixtures. They’re a rather insufferable pair who seem to revel in their big city smugness yet are oblivious when it comes to the shallowness and real-world detachment in their worldview.

You would think that writing for The New Yorker would make a guy like Ben happy. But his complacency is only outdone by his ambition. He’s enamored with the idea of having something profound to say and a podcast would give him that platform. He has the support of his friend and producer Eloise (Issa Rae) who runs a podcast company. But he needs a theme and a story that people want to follow. He finds one in the most unexpected of places.

Ben gets a phone call in the middle of the night from a stranger named Ty Shaw (Boyd Holbrook). He’s the older brother of a young woman named Abilene (played briefly in recordings by Lio Tipton). Turns out Ben and Abby hooked up a couple of times when she visited New York. While he didn’t bother to get her last name, she went back home to West Texas telling her family they were a couple. A heartbroken Ty informs Ben that Abby is dead from an alleged opioid overdose. In one of the more far-fetched bits, Ben is guilted into flying to Texas for Abby’s funeral despite not knowing her nearly as well as the family believes.

When Ben arrives he’s picked Ty, a well-meaning yokel who firmly believes his sister was murdered. “She never touched so much as an Advil,” he attests. Of course he doesn’t have any evidence nor has he taken his suspicions to the local authorities. But he’s determined that Ben join him after the funeral to help “avenge” her death. Now to Ben, Abilene is just a name in his phone; nothing more than a wannabe singer who overdosed in a Texas oilfield. But she’s also a potential story and she could be Ben’s much desired ticket to fame.

So with as much faux compassion and sincerity as he can muster, Ben convinces Ty and the rest of grieving family that he’ll get to the bottom of what happened to Abilene. What he’s really doing is shaping his podcast by recording conversations with family members and other locals and sending them to Eloise in New York. But (of course) the more he gets to know Abilene’s family and gets acquainted with dusty rural living, the more he begins questioning his own motivations.

“Vengeance” is full of laugh-out-loud exchanges as Ben makes his best efforts to fit in. Whether Novak is poking fun at small-town Southern quirks or picking away at his own character’s big city sensibilities, the movie finds a lot to laugh at from both cultural camps. That said, it’s clearly country-fried Texas that takes most of the ribbing. It doesn’t reach the point of full mockery, but the movie does have its share of broad Southern characterizations. But many of them are genuinely funny, and the movie never lets Ben and his city-boy condescension off the hook.

While comedy runs throughout “Vengeance”, the second half sees Novak veering away from formula and carving out a few trails of his own. He takes many of the stereotypes he leans on early and shatters them, using the pieces to pose some compelling questions. But it’s the character twists that surprise the most. Holbrook’s Ty is a fascinating character – a striking balance of hayseed caricature and clear-eyed revelation. But the most intriguing character comes from a scene-stealing Ashton Kutcher. He plays record producer/small town philosopher Quinten Sellers. He has the look of a snake-oil selling goof. But once he begins speaking, you can’t turn away.

While I’m still not sure if I fully buy the final ten minutes, I do buy B.J. Novak as a feature filmmaker. “Vengeance” is a movie made with confidence and even the few bits that don’t entirely work show a willingness to bend the rules and take some big swings. Overall, “Vengeance” is a film that entertains us, engages us, and indicts us all at the same time. It’s hard not to be impressed with Novak who turns his nerd-out-of-water comedy into something weightier and with more punch. “Vengeance” opens in theaters today (July 29th).

VERDICT – 4 STARS

First Glance: “Blonde”

July 28, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Andrew Dominik’s much talked about Marilyn Monroe biopic(ish) “Blonde” is set to premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival. With it only weeks away, Netflix has given us our deepest look yet with a brand new trailer. Prior to this our information has mostly consisted of some images, a teaser, and Dominik’s rather haughty defense of his film’s NC-17 rating. This new trailer looks terrific, but whether it steers clear of exploitation and indulgence remains to be seen.

Ana de Armas takes on the demanding role of Marilyn Monroe in a movie that’s said to be more of an “experience” than a full-on biography. Some have compared its approach to Monroe’s story to what “Spencer” did with Princess Diana. I’m not sure how I feel about that. But de Armas looks to be a compelling fit for the part and the cinematography looks to be exquisite. The biggest question centers around how well Dominik captures Monroe’s life. Will it feel authentic or exploitative? We’ll know soon.

“Blonde” premieres September 28th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.