REVIEW: “Topside” (2022)

March 24, 2022 by Keith Garlington

For New Yorkers, the new film “Topside” may cover some pretty familiar ground. But this cutting drama from the filmmaking duo of Celine Held and Logan George has a lot for the rest of us to chew on and it should open the eyes and touch the hearts of anyone with a soul. Held and George both co-wrote and co-directed this hard-hitting indie with Held also starring in one of the film’s two lead roles.

“Topside” actually premiered way back in 2020 at the Venice Film Festival and now is finally set for its release here in the States. The movie brings to mind a number of other terrific independent films from the past several years. It’s kinda like “Beasts of the Southern Wild” but minus the fantasy element. It’s a bit like “Room” but without the hostage angle. Yet it’s also very much its own thing, and it has a powerful real-world story to tell.

The movie opens with a quote that stayed in the back of my mind for the duration of the movie. It’s from Jennifer Toth’s 1993 book “The Mole People: Life In The Tunnels Beneath New York City”. It reads “J.C. told me initially that his community had no children. After a moment he added, ‘We have adults as young as five.’” It doesn’t take long for the quote’s relevance to be realized.

**Image Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment**

Much of the film’s first act is spent on setting up its world. Held and George do a great job visualizing the subterranean homeless community living deep underneath the concrete jungle of New York City. In a dark deserted dead-end section of the subway system, a small group has made homes out of shipping pallets, sheets of tin, and tarp. It’s in this world where we meet 5-year-old Little (played by the remarkable young actress Zhaila Farmer).

“Topside” is mostly told from Little’s unique perspective. Early on we watch her innocently soaking up the few rays of sun beaming through a couple of gaps in the concrete above. It’s all she’s ever seen of the outside world. She’s never been “topside”. Her mother Nikki (wonderfully played by Held) tells her she has to wait for her wings to grow. It’s one of several made-up stories Nikki tells her daughter in order to shield her from their real-life situation.

Nikki is very well aware of their condition. She slips away while Little sleeps and goes topside to get what money and supplies she can. We get the sense that Nikki’s time above is more complicated than she lets on, but it isn’t until later that the film really shows where desperation has led this single mother. While Nikki is gone, Little is looked after by a fellow dweller named John (Fatlip). He’s a mysterious character but buried within his short temper is genuine concern for Little.

While Nikki and Little seem settled into their circumstances, we know that it’s doomed. Glimpses of trespassing notices and warnings to evacuate go unheeded by the community and sets up what’s to come. And it comes to a head early one morning when a group of city workers surprise the community with strict orders to leave. Knowing she’ll loose her daughter to Social Services if they’re caught, Nikki takes Little and runs.

As everything she has told her daughter about the topside crumbles under the weight of reality, Nikki frantically scrambles to shield and protect Little despite having no money, no food, and no place to go. In the meantime Nikki’s above-ground connections begin painting a clearer picture of this loving yet troubled mother. Interestingly, the movie doesn’t get lost in Nikki’s backstory or explaining how she ended up in the situation she’s in. It stays fully focused in the present. That willingness to stay centered in the here-and-now is a key reason the story packs such a punch.

As the mother and daughter flee, the movie takes a heart-shattering turn. Nikki escapes topside, exposing Little to the real world for the very first time. The young child’s fear is palpable as she’s overwhelmed by the city’s blinding lights and assaultive collection of sounds. DP Lowell A. Meyer’s visceral camerawork is constantly shooting from the little girl’s point-of-view, conveying a real sense of terror and anxiety. It’s harrowing stuff.

“Topside” embodies everything I love about independent cinema. It tells a fiercely intimate story without any obligations to studio guidelines or genre expectations. It features an unflinching authenticity that comes through the fantastic cinematography, the moving script, its crisp editing, and two phenomenal performances from Held and Farmer. At times it plays like a hellish thriller. But that’s a testament to the film’s ability to draw us closer to the uncomfortable themes it’s dealing with. And while it can be troubling and hard to watch, it’s also honest and straightforward, which is exactly what this kind of material needs. “Topside” premieres Friday in select theaters and on VOD.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

First Glance: “Where the Crawdads Sing”

March 23, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Coming off of her stellar performance in “Fresh”, Daisy Edgar-Jones stars in “Where the Crawdads Sing”. The small town drama/thriller is an adaptation of the best selling 2018 novel by Delia Owens and sees Edgar-Jones given a meaty role as a resilient young woman from the North Carolina marshes. The film is directed by Olivia Newton and written for the screen by Lucy Alibar who co-wrote 2012’s superb “Beasts of the Southern Wild”.

Edgar-Jones plays Kya. Abandoned as a child and shunned by most of the local townsfolk, Kya mostly survived in the marsh on her own. But when a young man she was involved with suddenly ends up dead, she becomes the chief suspect in what festers into a witch hunt. The cast also includes the always terrific David Strathairn who instantly elevates any movie he’s in. I like the setting and I like the premise. I also like what I’ve seen of Edgar-Jones, and I’m anxious to see what she does with this role.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” opens in theaters on July 15th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it and taking a pass.

REVIEW: “The Sky is Everywhere” (2022)

March 22, 2022 by Keith Garlington

(CLICK HERE to read my full review in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

At first glance, “The Sky is Everywhere” looks like your standard-issue teen romantic drama or YA novel-inspired weepy. Its trailer drips with tropes and character types. And even the story itself (based on a 2010 young adult novel written by Jandy Nelson) seems custom-made for this kind of soapy genre treatment.

But if you take a deeper look, you’ll find several reasons to be intrigued by this movie which just premiered on AppleTV+. First, there’s the unexpected visual touches which interrupt the more routine bits and hint at something fresh and original. Second, it comes from director Josephine Decker whose last two features, “Madeline’s Madeline” and “Shirley”, were both unique and audacious projects. And third, it’s co-produced by A24, a respected distributor with a well-established history of backing smart and inspired independent films.

“The Sky is Everywhere” joins the parade of recent movies dealing with the heavy and deeply human subject of grief. Here it focuses on the loss of a sibling from a teenage girl’s perspective. Grace Kaufman plays Lennie Walker, a bright and talented high school senior with a love for music and big plans for her future. Everything was looking up for Lennie. She was First Chair in her school’s honor band, and her dream of being accepted into the Juilliard School in New York City seemed within grasp.

But then tragedy struck. While rehearsing the role of Juliet for an upcoming stage production, Lennie’s outgoing older sister Bailey (Havana Rose Liu) suddenly collapsed and died instantly from a fatal arrhythmia. Lennie was shattered. She and her sister were intensely close. They shared the same room, the same books, and (as Lennie puts it) “the same thoughts at the same moments“. They were inseparable.

The movie begins a short time after Bailey’s death. Overwhelmed by grief, Lennie has had a hard time picking up the pieces, and she’s struggling to hold her life together. She finds herself constantly calling Bailey’s phone just to hear her voicemail. She leaves Bailey’s clothes scattered around their room just to feel as though her sister is still there. There’s no more music in her heart; no more dreams of the future. For Lennie, time just stopped when her sister died. “I lost the one person on earth who understood me.“

Early on, Decker and Nelson (who wrote the screenplay) lean on narration to fill in the details of Bailey’s death and on Lennie’s fruitless attempts at coping. Voiceover can be tricky, but here it works as a nice introduction. It also moves the story to the place Decker and Nelson are most interested in examining – a critical juncture in the lead character’s life where the choices she makes will forever impact her future, yet an intense and consuming pain keeps her anchored to the past.

From there, Decker puts a lot of effort into developing this tight-knit world Lennie exists in. Much of it comes through the eclectic blend of side characters, each affecting Lennie’s life in different ways as she navigates her various stages of grief. In terms of family, there’s Lennie’s grandmother (Cherry Jones) and her Uncle Big (Jason Segel). “Gram” is well-meaning but a bit aggressive in her insistence that Lennie gets on with her life. Uncle Big is like a good-hearted reject from a hippie commune – puffing weed, studying bugs and occasionally adding a fatherly presence.

On the less convincing side is Lennie’s best friend Sarah (Ji-young Yoo) who doesn’t get the time or attention she needs to develop. As a result, her relationship with Lennie never feels the slightest bit authentic. And I could’ve done without Rachel (Julia Schlaepfer), the obligatory high school ‘mean girl’ and Lennie’s arch rival in band class. She’s more of a thinly sketched plot device than a real person.

But the two most important supporting players are Toby (Pico Alexander) and Joe (Jacques Colimon). Both are potential love interests who represent two very different sides of Lennie. Toby (Pico Alexander) was the love of her sister‘s life. And while he and Lennie never got along, their shared grief and mutual heartache gives them a special bond. Joe is charismatic and full of energy. He looks at life the way Lennie once did – the way she hopes to again one day.

These characters fill out Lennie’s world, but Decker’s camera does a better job making us feel a part of it. Take the way she shoots the rustic country home Lennie shares with Gram and Big – surrounding it with a colorful array of rose bushes and towering California redwoods. Or the way we’re pulled inside Lennie’s head with these vibrant fantasy-like flourishes that range from corny to surprisingly poignant.

But the camera can only do so much, and the story begins to unravel the further it goes. It’s no fault of Kaufman who puts the movie on her back and carries it the best she can. But the supporting cast can’t match her, namely Alexander and Colimon who struggle when it comes to showing stronger emotion. And by the third act the movie is struggling too, knee-deep in cheese and unable to see its early potential through to the end. “The Sky is Everywhere” is now streaming on Apple TV+.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Windfall” (2022)

March 21, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Now here’s an interesting trio: Jason Segel, Lily Collins, and Jesse Plemons. The three come together in the Charlie McDowell directed “Windfall”, a new thriller that premiered this past weekend on Netflix. Written for the screen by Justin Lader and Andrew Kevin Walker, “Windfall” is a typical COVID-19 era production – the tiny cast, the single location setting, etc. But like several of these films, “Windfall” starts strong but cant keep its momentum. It runs out of steam in the middle before picking it up in the final 15 minutes.

The movie opens with a man (Segel) lounging outside of a secluded vacation home that’s nestled among a quiet sun-soaked orange orchard. A long swimming pool stretches across the cozy back patio; beautiful mountains are painted across the horizon. He sits, enjoying the view and a big glass of orange juice. He strolls through the orchard; he relaxes by the pool. And then things get weird.

The more we watch this guy the clearer it becomes that he doesn’t belong in this house. He slings his glass across the back yard without a care. He pees in the shower. He wipes his finger prints off of the door knobs. As you might have guessed, he’s actually robbing the place. But just as he’s about to split, he’s caught by surprise when a vehicle pulls up outside. It’s the home’s owner – a billionaire tech company CEO (Plemons) and his wife (Collins). The burglar attempts to slip out unnoticed, but he’s spotted leading to the film’s central tension.

The remainder of the movie sticks with the three on the property as the borderline inept robber holds the well-to-do couple hostage while trying to figure a way out of his mess. Along the way we get to know these three dramatically different people to varying degrees (interestingly, none of them are ever given names). The robber remains mostly a mystery, and for better of worse his identity and his motivations remained veiled. The wife seems to love her pampered and privileged life. But over time, as layers of her character are peeled back, there’s another side to her that eventually comes to the surface.

That leaves the pompous, self-absorbed, and condescending CEO. He’s the kind of guy whose mug is plastered on the covers of magazines like “Wealth” and “Front & Center” which he mounts on the wall of his vacation home just so he never forgets his “importance”. He’s clearly the movie’s villain, and he’s clearly who McDowell wants us to hate. He also checks off many of the boxes for the kind of social commentary the movie tries to speak on.

So far so good, but after the introductions McDowell has a hard time keeping up the energy. The movie sort of sits in neutral, waiting for the inevitable ending which you can kinda see coming if you watch close enough. But it’s the slow build towards that ending that holds “Windfall” back. The performances are good as Segel, Collins, and Plemons make the most of what they’re given. But the commentary is uninspired and barely explored. And the vague hints of tension aren’t enough to make this throwback thriller as good as it could have been. “Windfall” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “The Outfit” (2022)

March 18, 2022 by Keith Garlington

(CLICK HERE for my full review in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

“The Outfit” brandishes a double-edged title with the most obvious reference being to a suit of clothes. But it’s also a reference to a mob network from the Al Capone era, connecting gangs from around the country. It’s a coveted yet mysterious fraternity that many crime families aspire to be a part of. First time director Graham Moore uses the title’s dual meanings in a number of entertaining ways as his gangster chamber piece moves from slight simmer to a violent boil.

Who better to play a mild-mannered and self-effacing English tailor than the gentle and affable Mark Rylance? His character, Leonard Burling, learned his craft on central London’s famed Savile Row. But after a devastating personal tragedy he came to Gangland Chicago with nothing but his beloved sheers. Now he quietly runs his shop, making suits for gentlemen and unsavory types alike. “If we only allowed angels to be customers soon we’d have no customers at all,” he rationalizes to his receptionist Mable (Zoey Deutch), a dreamer with hopes of leaving Chicago behind and traveling the world.

But outside a neighborhood gang war is steadily intensifying. Throughout the day a number of serious looking men in well-tailored suits and fedoras walk into Leonard’s shop. Without uttering a word they head to the back room, drop small packages into a lockbox mounted on the wall, and are quickly on their way. At the end of the day, Richie Boyle (Dylan O’Brien), the hot-headed son of a local mob boss Roy Boyle (Simon Russell Beale), enters the shop with his right-hand heavy Francis (Johnny Flynn) to collect the packages. Meanwhile the unassuming Leonard goes about his business, never asking questions and keeping his nose clean.

But late one night, the turf war spills into Leonard’s world after a gut-shot Richie and a gun-waving Francis burst into his shop following a run-in with the rival LaFontaine gang. It would be a disservice to reveal much more, but lets just say the rest of the story uncoils over the course of one long night as Leonard tries to outwit all the various underworld players who factor into the film’s mazelike story. Along the way we learn there’s a rat in the Boyle family’s ranks. There’s also a tape containing damning information that could take the Boyles down if it falls into the wrong hands. And what of the Outfit? How do they fit into all of this?

There are several touches Moore brings that can make his film quite attractive. For example, there’s an exquisite early montage showing Leonard crafting a suit from scratch. It’s well edited, well shot, and accompanied by a well-oiled voice-over from Rylance. There’s also the way two-time Oscar winner Alexandre Desplat’s score pulls us into the period during some scenes while effectively ramping up the tension in others.

Yet even with top-notch production design from veteran Gemma Jackson and great interior work from DP Dick Pope, “The Outfit” is far more theatrical than cinematic. In fact, throw in a printed program and an intermission and you would swear you were watching a stage play. That’s not a bad thing especially when the knotty story really kicks into gear. But there are moments when the staginess sticks out and certain limitations become more apparent. Still, a good script can overcome such constraints, and that’s mostly the case here.

But much of the movie’s success rides on the back of the poker-faced Rylance. His character is a man of few words, but the actor and the screenplay (written by Moore and Johnathan McClain) deftly keeps us fixated on everything he says. We learn there’s more to Leonard than meets the eye, but Rylance never tips his hand. I also have to give props to Nikki Amuka-Bird who has a small but riveting role as Violet, the boss of the LaFontaine gang. She has charisma to spare, and I could watch an entire movie dedicated just to her.

“The Outfit” may be a movie with noticeable limitations, but it mostly overcomes them and in many ways utilizes them to the benefit of its story. Wily first-time director Graham Moore weaves a nostalgic and gnarly web with enough twists and turns to keep his audience engaged. And it helps to have a seasoned and steady actor like Rylance who always seems perfectly in tune with the characters he plays. Here he’s a good anchor and is handed a role custom fit for his strengths. “The Outfit” hits theaters today (March 16th).

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

First Glance: “Memory”

March 17, 2022 by Keith Garlington

After last month’s bland and thrill-free “Blacklight”, it’s not a stretch to wonder if the Liam Neeson action thriller era has finally reached its end. But not so fast. The first trailer for his new film “Memory” just dropped and it gives a little hope that the great Irish actor still has a few good movies left in them. Directed by Martin Campbell, “Memory” teams Neeson with Monica Bellucci and the often underappreciated Guy Pearce.

In some ways, “Memory” has a lot of the same flavor as every other Neeson flick. But this one has an interesting twist. This remake of a 2003 Belgian film sees Neeson playing a hitman-for-hire who is suddenly targeted after refusing to carry out a job involving a kid. The catch is Neeson’s aged assassin, though still lethal, is showing signs of early dementia. This adds an intriguing wrinkle and both Pearce and Bellucci have some interesting roles to play. How will it all turn out? I have no idea. But I’m genuinely curious about this one.

“Memory” is set to hit theaters April 29th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.