Sundance Review: “A Love Song” (2022)

January 21, 2022 by Keith Garlington

I’ve always had a deep admiration for Wes Studi and what he brings to his movies. Whether it was his role as the brutal yet complex Magua in Michael Mann’s “The Last of the Mohicans”, his often underappreciated portrayal of Geronimo in Walter Hill’s “Geronimo: An American Legend”, or playing a police detective alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in “Heat”. There’s an unmistakable sincerity and gravitas Studi brings to every film he’s a part of.

So what better way to start my 2022 Sundance Film Festival than by screening a new drama that sees the 74-year-old Studi given a nice meaty role. The film is “A Love Song”, written and directed by Max Walker-Silverman. As the title suggests, this isn’t the kind of movie Studi is most known for. But for fans of his work, it’ll come as no surprise to hear that he, much like the film itself, is a joy to watch.

But the real star of “A Love Song” is Dale Dickey, an outstanding character actress who may be best remembered for her scene-stealing work in 2010’s “Winter’s Bone”. This is a rare leading role for Dickey whose name you may not remember, but whose face is impossible to forget. It’s a remarkable face chiseled out of real life and with bone-deep honesty found in every look and every expression. She’s a perfect choice for Walker-Silverman’s film which sees him working on the same lyrical meditative wavelength as Kelly Reichardt and pre-“Eternals” Chloé Zhao. But Walker-Silverman brings enough of himself to “A Long Song” to give the film its own special identity.

In “A Love Song”, Dickey brings her signature quiet intensity but this time to a much different character. Here she plays a widow named Faye who hitches her small camper trailer to her Chevy S-10 and drives it to a remote Colorado campsite. She sets up next to a small lake with the Rocky Mountains sitting in the distance like a watercolor painting still wet on the canvas. This is where she’ll stay for the rest of the film’s lean 80-minute running time.

At first, it may be tempting to get caught up in Faye’s similarities to Frances McDormand’s Fern from last year’s Best Picture winner “Nomadland” or to Robin Wright’s Edee from Sundance 2021’s “Land”. But while all three woman unquestionably have things in common, Faye has several distinctions that separates her from the other two. Those distinctions also set this movie on a different course which I was delighted to see.

We don’t learn a lot about Faye or where she came from, but that actually serves the minimalist storytelling perfectly. We do find out she once flew planes for the forestry service. She’s also one heck of a mechanic. And she loves listening to music on her Longines Symphonette World Traveler AM/FM radio. “It always plays the perfect song,” she says in a tender scene later in the film, “even if in the moment you ain’t sure why.” Faye birdwatches (poorly) during the day. Then it’s Busch beer and crawfish for dinner as she watches the sun set over the mountains. After dark, she searches the starry sky for constellations. And that’s her routine.

As you watch Faye, it’s hard to miss her melancholy gaze; the sense of loneliness; the shallowly buried heartache. The source of her sadness is the death of her husband Tommy. He’s been gone for seven years, yet you can tell she’s still carrying the weight of grief. But unlike Fern, who finds contentment in unplugging and living on the road or Edee, who disconnects from society altogether, Faye is at the lake for a specific reason. She’s waiting for someone she hopes will come.

That someone is Lito, an old classmate and crush who Faye hasn’t seen in decades. Much like Faye, Lito has recently lost his spouse, Shirley. It’s not really a spoiler to say that Lito does come and the two wounded souls reconnect. Walker-Silverman’s script allows for all of the awkwardness, uncertainty, and even guilt to bleed through. And the restraint of two performances feels as natural as the painterly surroundings that adorn nearly every frame. Their conversations are simple but true, and it’s often what goes unsaid that resonates the most. And while nothing about their reunion is assured, Faye and Lito long so deeply for companionship that it’s worth a shot.

While the theme of loneliness reverberates throughout the movie, Walker-Silverman also makes it a point to show us the essential nature of human connection. Faye has reoccurring encounters with an assortment of quirky side characters. My favorite is a well-mannered young cowgirl and her four significantly older brothers (the little sister clearly runs the show). They would feel right at home in a Coen brothers comedy. There’s also the camp’s courteous postman and a couple camped out on the other side of the lake. Their appearances may seem inconvenient, but they always pop up when Faye seems at her lowest. And their presence takes her mind off of her sadness.

With “A Love Song” Max Walker-Silverman has given us a delicate, honest, and soulful study of loss, loneliness, and navigating grief. It’s a beautiful and touching exploration, handled with keen instincts, remarkable control, and a clear affection for the story being told. Not only does the film showcase an exciting emerging voice, it also gives starring roles to two exceptional veteran actors. And that’s something all too rare in movies these days.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

Sundance Film Festival 2022

January 20, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Today kicks off the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the United States. The event was founded in 1978 by Sterling Van Wagenen under the name the Utah/US Film Festival. It was originally a festival to showcase and celebrate American cinema. But over the next several years, Sundance grew and evolved into the premiere film festival in the country, expanding its vision to include movies from all over the globe.

Over the next several days I’ll be covering some of my most anticipated films from this year’s program. I have a pretty hefty slate of movies and (barring life’s interruptions) hope to have several Sundance reviews and impressions on the site. I hope you’ll follow along.

Here are JUST SOME of the films I’ll be seeing over the next several days. Let me know what you think.

“892” (Director: Abi Damaris Corbin, Starring: Jon Boyega, Michael K. Williams, Nicole Beharie, Connie Britton)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “Living in a cheap motel in Atlanta and separated from his wife and child, former U.S. Marine veteran Brian Easley is desperate. Driven to the brink by forces beyond his control, the soft-spoken, kind man decides to rob a bank and hold hostages with a bomb. As police, media, and family members descend on the bank and Brian, it becomes clear he’s not after money — he wants to tell his story and have what is rightfully his, even if it costs him his life.”

“A Love Song” (Director: Max Walker-Silverman, Starring: Dale Dickey, Wes Studi)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “After unhitching her camper at a lakeside in the mountains, Faye finds her rhythm cooking meals, retrieving crawfish from a trap, and scanning her old box radio for a station. She looks expectantly at the approach of a car or the mailman, explaining to neighboring campers that she’s waiting for a childhood sweetheart she hasn’t seen in decades. When he does arrive, Lito and Faye, both widowed, spend an evening reminiscing about their lives, losses, and loneliness.”

“After Yang” (Director: Kogonada, Starring: Colin Ferrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Haley Lu Richardson, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “When Yang — a lifelike, artificially intelligent android that Jake and Kyra buy as a companion for their adopted daughter — abruptly stops functioning, Jake just wants him repaired quickly and cheaply. But having purchased Yang “certified refurbished” from a now-defunct store, he’s led first to a conspiracy theorist technician and then a technology museum curator, who discovers that Yang was actually recording memories. Jake’s quest eventually becomes one of existential introspection and contemplating his own life, as it passes him by.”

“Fresh” (Director: Mimi Cave, Starring: Sebastian Stan, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jonica T. Gibbs, Charlotte Le Bon, Dayo Okeniyi)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “Frustrated by scrolling dating apps only to end up on lame, tedious dates, Noa takes a chance by giving her number to the awkwardly charming Steve after a produce-section meet-cute at the grocery store. During a subsequent date at a local bar, sassy banter gives way to a chemistry-laden hookup, and a smitten Noa dares to hope that she might have actually found a real connection with the dashing cosmetic surgeon. She accepts Steve’s invitation to an impromptu weekend getaway, only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual appetites.”

“Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” (Director: Adamma Ebo, Starring: Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown, Nicole Beharie, Austin Crute)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “As the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, Trinitie Childs carries immense responsibility on her shoulders. Her church, Wander To Greater Paths, once served a congregation in the tens of thousands, but after a scandal involving her husband, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs, forced the church to close temporarily, Trinitie is struggling to manage the aftermath. Now Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must rebuild their congregation and reconcile their faith by all means necessary to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.”

“Living” (Director: Oliver Hermanus, Starring: Bill Nighy, Tom Burke, Alex Sharp, Aimee Lou Wood)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “A veteran civil servant and bureaucratic cog in the rebuilding of Britain post-WWII, Williams expertly pushes paperwork around a government office only to reckon with his existence when he’s diagnosed with a fatal illness. A widower, he conceals the condition from his grown son, spends an evening of debauchery with a bohemian writer in Brighton, and uncharacteristically avoids his office. But after a vivacious former co-worker, Margaret, inspires him to find meaning in his remaining days, Williams attempts to salvage a modest building project from bureaucratic purgatory.”

“Resurrection” (Director: Andrew Semans, Starring: Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Angela Wong Carbone, Josh Drennen, Rosemary Howard)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “Margaret leads a successful and orderly life, perfectly balancing the demands of her busy career and single parenthood to her fiercely independent daughter Abbie. But that careful balance is upended when she glimpses a man she instantly recognizes, an unwelcome shadow from her past. A short time later, she encounters him again. Before long, Margaret starts seeing David everywhere — and their meetings appear to be far from an unlucky coincidence. Battling her rising fear, Margaret must confront the monster she’s evaded for two decades who has come to conclude their unfinished business.”

“When You Finish Saving the World” (Director: Jesse Eisenberg, Starring: Julianne Moore, Finn Wolfhard, Alisha Boe, Jay O. Sanders)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “From his bedroom home studio, high school student Ziggy performs original folk-rock songs for an adoring online fan base. This concept mystifies his formal and uptight mother, Evelyn, who runs a shelter for survivors of domestic abuse. While Ziggy is busy trying to impress his socially engaged classmate Lila by making his music less bubblegum and more political, Evelyn meets Angie and her teen son, Kyle, when they seek refuge at her facility. She observes a bond between the two that she’s missing with her own son, and decides to take Kyle under her wing against her better instincts.”

“You Won’t Be Alone” (Director: Goran Stolevski, Starring: Noomi Rapace, Alice Englert, Carloto Cotta, and Sara Klimoska)

SUNDANCE SYNOPSIS: “In an isolated mountain village in 19th-century Macedonia, a young girl is taken from her mother and transformed into a witch by an ancient, shape-shifting spirit. Left to wander feral, the young witch beholds the natural world with curiosity and wonder. After inadvertently killing a villager and assuming her body, she continues to inhabit different people, living among the villagers for years, observing and mimicking their behavior until the ancient spirit returns, bringing them full circle.”

I hope you’ll follow along and share your thoughts along the way.

REVIEW: “Delicious” (2021)

January 20, 2022 by Keith Garlington

The French period drama “Delicious” is (pardon the corniness) a mouthwatering mix of character, country, and cuisine. Written and directed by Éric Besnard and featuring some of the most exquisite cinematography you’ll see, “Delicious” pulls from real history to help tell its largely fictional but utterly compelling story of France’s very first restaurant. At the time, Inns and lodges provided small meals for weary travelers, but the idea of a walk-in restaurant as we know it today didn’t yet exist.

The film is set in 1789 with France on the eve of a Revolution. It’s a time of growing unrest as commoners scrounge for food across the famine stricken countryside. Meanwhile France’s nobility fill their bellies with lavish, meticulously prepared gourmet meals, even using their gastronomical overindulgence as a symbol of power and to flaunt their status.

The film opens with one such extravagant meal being prepared. The camera and the sound design vividly captures the energy and bustle of chef Pierre Manceron’s kitchen. Pierre (a terrific Grégory Gadebois) is the personal chef to the haughty Duke of Chamfort (a wonderfully pompous Benjamin Laverhne). He and his team of cooks rush to put the finishing touches on a lavish dinner he’s preparing for the Duke and his blue-blooded guests.

After the meal Pierre is summoned to the dining area for “comments”. What follows is a scene that highlights both the absurdity as well as the hypocrisy of the aristocracy. At first Pierre is showered with compliments from the table. But then one particularly grumpy friar takes a shot at his lovingly manicured appetizer. “That is your only false note,” he grumbles. It immediately sets off a barrage of insults and ridicule from the very people who were just singing his praises. An embarrassed Duke demands his humiliated chef apologizes. When Pierre refuses, he is promptly fired.

With his Rousseau-quoting son Benjamin (Lorenzo Lefèbvre) in tow, a dejected Pierre retreats to a ramshackle old inn once ran by his late father. There he’s content with letting his dream die. “I’ve lost the taste for cooking,” laments the defeated master chef. Instead he fixes up and reopens the inn, providing a rest place for travelers to stop, stretch their legs, and feed their horses. And for those hungry, there’s no Duck à l’Orange, Braised Pork, or Boeuf Bourguignon. Nope, it’s lukewarm broth over a piece of bread. Bon appétit!

Soon after, a mysterious woman named Louise (Isabelle Carré) arrives on a passing stagecoach asking to be Pierre’s apprentice. “Sorry, I don’t cook anymore,” he grumbles. When she refuses to leave he tries discouraging her with his chauvinistic barbs. “Cuisine is a man’s affair,” he chides. “Women don’t understand it.” Yet Louise stays and over time not only earns Pierre’s trust, but inspires him to look beyond his own self-pity and vainglorious goals.

“Delicious” avoids any dewy-eyed and mawkish trappings by throwing us a few curveballs in its final act. They don’t exactly feel in tune with the rest of the story, but the twists (mild as they are) allow the film more time to dig into the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Food proves to be a good tool to do it. Where the Duke and his ilk arrogantly believe that “common people” aren’t capable of properly appreciating cuisine, Pierre and Louise set out to create a place where everyone, regardless of status, can enjoy the happiness and comfort of good dining.

Through it all DP Jean-Marie Dreujou’s breathtaking images go well beyond the sumptuous dishes. The rolling hills, the grassy meadows, the autumn colors – they are all shot with a painterly beauty and would make for a stunning coffee table book. And there are several visual tricks that really impress. Such as one scene where the camera sits outside of Pierre’s inn and we watch a seasonal transition sped up for affect. That sequence is a pure delight, as are several other memorable visual moments.

History says that the first restaurant was actually Le Grande Taverne des Londres which opened in Paris several years before “Delicious” takes place. While the movie creates its own fictionalized origin story, it feels so much a part of that era that you would never question its authenticity. There are some other touches that really enhance the story. For example, there’s a genuine warmth in watching Manceron and Louise inevitably grow closer. And with the French Revolution knocking on the door, having young Benjamin as the voice of the people reminds us that change is on the way. It will come at a sobering cost, but change is coming nonetheless. “Delicious” is now available in select theaters and on VOD.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

Retro Review: “The Getaway” (1972)

January 19, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Sam Peckinpah’s star-powered crime thriller “The Getaway” sees Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw on the run along the U.S./Mexico southern border. McQueen was a huge movie star at the time and had a say in most aspects of the film. He fired director Peter Bogdanovich due to creative differences. He disliked the music by Peckinpah’s long-time composer Jerry Fielding and hired Quincy Jones to completely rescore the movie. And to Peckinpah’s chagrin, McQueen used his final cut privileges to change several of the director’s chosen takes. How’s that for creative control?

For some, “The Getaway” is just as much remembered for what happened behind the scenes. MacGraw was riding high having just starred in the big hit “Love Story”. Though at first intimidated by McQueen’s presence, the two quickly hit it off and began an affair. McQueen was in the process of divorcing his wife of 15 years, Neile Adams. MacGraw was married to Robert Evans, the head of Paramount Pictures who actually suggested she take the role in “The Getaway”. While some feared a possible scandal could hurt the film, it ended up being a box office success.

Written for the screen Walter Hill, the film is an adaptation of a novel by pulp writer Jim Thompson. McQueen plays Carter “Doc” McCoy who we first meet in a Texas prison where he’s serving ten years for armed robbery. Four years into his sentence Doc comes up for parole but is denied. He tells his wife Carol (MacGraw) to contact Jack Beynon (Johnson), a crooked San Antonio businessman. Beynon uses his political influence to get Doc out but with one stipulation – Doc is to knock off a local bank that’s holding $500,000 of an oil company’s money.

Doc wants to pick his own men for the job, but Beynon insists on his goons, Rudy (Al Lettieri) and Frank (Bo Hopkins). Needless to say the robbery goes bad. A security guard is shot and killed, there’s an expected double-cross, and soon Doc and Carol are on the run across south Texas with both the law and Beynon’s hoods on their tails. The wild card in it all is Rudy, who Lettieri plays with equal part slime and menace. He too is after Doc, but his journey is far darker and more sadistic.

Despite having plenty of violent and often bloody action, there’s a strangely uneven pace to “The Getaway”. Peckinpah has a tendency of dragging scenes out and making them longer than they need to be. Normally I like this kind of patience, but here it zaps certain scenes of their energy. Then you have the lead performances. McQueen nails the cold, tough-as-nails part of his character. But he shortchanges the other side of Doc – the softer side needed if we’re to believe in his relationship with Carol. As for a miscast MacGraw, she seems uncomfortable for much of the film. Her performance comes across as dry and often far too mechanical.

Still, the combustible story at the heart of “The Getaway” is pretty gripping. The action is well done, especially the terrifically shot finale which takes place in a border town hotel. The film is also helped by a fine supporting cast that includes Johnson, Lettieri, Sally Struthers, Slim Pickens, and Jack Dodson. There ends up being enough good ingredients to make for a tasty crime thriller. Perhaps not as good as it could have been, but tasty nonetheless.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

REVIEW: “The Free Fall” (2022)

January 18, 2022 by Keith Garlington

While the highest profile horror movie of the year so far (“Scream”) was another all-too-familiar ‘been there, done that’ experience, there have been some smaller films from the genre that have really hit their mark. First there was the crafty period chiller “The Wasteland” that’s out on Netflix (see my review HERE). And now you can add “The Free Fall” to that list, a sharp and savvy slice of psychological horror that keeps you guessing all the way up to its wallop of an ending.

A brief but really well done prologue begins with Sara (Andrea Londo) talking on the phone to her sister Julie (Elizabeth Cappuccino) about an upcoming party for their parents who are planning to renew their wedding vows. Julie drops the news that she’s too busy to make it, but sends some flowers in her stead. Her folks must be proud.

That evening Sara arrives at her parents’ home and finds the place empty. The front door is unlocked, the lights are on, and the table is immaculately set for dinner. Her calls for her parents go on answered so she eases upstairs where she makes a grisly discovery. In the bedroom she finds her mother draped in a blood-soaked wedding gown, repeatedly thrusting a knife into the chest of her dead father who lies on their bed. Her mother then walks towards her saying “Don’t be scared. Everything‘s going to be different now.” She then cuts her own throat in front of her traumatized daughter.

One scene later Sara wakes up in a strange bed in a strange house with a strange man. His name is Nick (a turtleneck clad Shawn Ashmore) and he reveals that he’s her husband. He hesitantly tells her the reason for her memory loss. It turns out Sara attempted suicide by slitting her wrists shortly after her parents died. She and Nick now live in her parents’ old home where he works on his new book while she rests and recovers. And while Nick pecks away on an old typewriter all day, their housekeeper Rose (an appropriately creepy Jane Badler) helps “looks after things”.

All of that sets the table for this slyly layered horror story. Adam Stilwell directs from a script by Kent Harper and the two make the most of their film’s lean 82 minute running time. They way they create atmosphere, their tone management, their use of Joseph Bishara’s haunting score – it all creates a level of immersion that’s essential to a story like this. And they do a good job of never tipping their hand. We question everything we see from Nick’s doting compassion to Sara’s reliability as a narrator. That level of mystery ensures the ending packs the punch it’s going for.

Perhaps the film’s biggest strength is Stilwell’s use of perspective. His keen ability to convey the confusion and fear in Sara’s head infuses his film with an ever-present sense of unease. The haunting chimes of a grandfather clock she hears that aren’t really there. Her terrifying dreams which are more like cryptic memories hiding fragments of truth. The conflicting voices that fill her mind and slowly intensify. The further we get into the movie, the more frightening (and at times downright macabre) these things get. Yet Stilwell always keeps us in Sara’s head.

“The Free Fall” remains engaging from its shocking opening right through to its big surprise finish which really highlights the movie’s cleverness. Hitchcock vibes run all through this crafty and at times deliciously bizarre feature while themes of trust, trauma, and mental health all simmer underneath the movie’s harrowing surface. I never knew where the story was going which (for me) was simply icing on the cake. “The Free Fall” is now available of VOD.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “Brazen” (2022)

January 17, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Alyssa Milano plays a crime novelist helping police find her sister’s murderer in the new Netflix thriller “Brazen”. Based on the 1988 novel “Brazen Virtue” by Nora Roberts, this by-the-numbers murder mystery makes an effort, but it’s never able to get above room temperature. Admittedly, some of the unintentional silliness is actually kinda fun. But ultimately it plays like a movie that would get mixed reviews on the Hallmark Channel.

“Brazen” is directed by Monika Mitchell from a script co-written Edithe Swensen, Donald Martin, and Suzette Couture. Early on the movie resembles a relationship drama with glimmers of promise. But you quickly begin to wonder if Mitchell and the film’s trio of writers watched A LOT of television crime mysteries for inspiration. Their movie follows the formula beat for beat before coming unglued in a ridiculous third act where the thing crumbles under the weight of absurdity.

Milano’s Grace Miller is a popular novelist promoting her latest book when she gets an urgent call from her sister Kathleen (Emilie Ullerup) who she hasn’t seen in five years. Grace flies to Washington DC where Kathleen lives in their old family home. After some initial petty bickering, they get down to the reason Kathleen called.

Turns out Kathleen has a troubled past where she left her husband and son after becoming addicted to pain meds. It led to an ugly divorce. But now that she’s off the pills and has a steady job teaching at a prominent private high school, she wants custody of their son. But she’s worried that her rich, well-connected, and fittingly scummy ex-hubby Jonathan (David Lewis) will smear her in court as the ‘bad mother’. But she has an ace up her sleeve. She has information proving Jonathan has been stealing from his family’s trust. Should she use the information as leverage? She has a lot of decisions and she needs some sisterly advice.

What Grace doesn’t know is that her sister has a kinky internet alter-ego, a dominatrix named Desiree. Kathleen dresses up and performs for online “clients” from a secret studio hidden behind a padlocked door in her closet. Her virtual one-on-ones are hosted by a company called Fantasy Inc. Not much subtlety in that company name.

Enter muuuurder. After finishing up an evening performance, Kathleen is attacked and strangled to death in her bedroom. Immediately, hunky homicide detective Ed Jennings (Sam Page) is put on the case. He also happens to be Kathleen‘s next-door neighbor. As you might expect, Grace and Ed hit it off, leading to a lukewarm (at best) romantic angle.

And then things really get ridiculous. After two more Fantasy Inc. performers are attacked, Grace’s “instinct for motive” is all it takes to convince the police captain to put her on the case with Ed, granting her full access to all the department’s evidence, witnesses, and resources (is it really that easy?). It all leads to a preposterous final 30 minutes as the movie’s bland and utterly forgettable mystery is reveal. Call it a fitting finish for a movie that you will have forgotten before the end credits finish rolling. “Brazen” is now streaming on Netflix.