REVIEW: “Mama Weed” (2021)

July 15, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Tell me if this brief synopsis grabs you: Isabelle Huppert plays a meager police interpreter who seizes an opportunity that transforms her into one of the biggest dope suppliers in Paris. Sounds wacky, right? Yet that’s all I needed to be onboard with “Mama Weed”, an upcoming film with a title that really says it all. It’s such a peculiar match of actress and story. At the same time I don’t know how any fan of the ever reliable Huppert couldn’t be intrigued.

“Mama Weed” is an adaptation of Hannelore Cayre’s 2019 crime novel “The Godmother”. It’s directed by French filmmaker Jean-Paul Salomé who clearly understands what he has in Huppert. He leans on the veteran actress and wisely lets her carry the bulk of load. And as she usually does, the Oscar-nominated Huppert (one of most effortlessly natural actresses in the business) slides into her role and gives a thoroughly entertaining performance; one that manages to make this amusingly eccentric story believable.

Huppert plays Patience Portefeux, a French-Arabic translator who oversees phone surveillance for the Paris Police Department’s narcotics division. The demanding workload has her monitoring tapped phone lines both at the precinct and at home, yet she barely gets paid enough to scrap by. Patience already owes her steely landlord Colette (Nadja Nguyen) two months of back rent and the €3200 a month nursing home is ready to send her ailing mother (Liliane Rovère) to a cheaper facility if she doesn’t catch up on her payments.

While listening in on some Moroccan traffickers Patience learns that one of their drivers is the son of her mother’s favorite nurse Kadidja (Farida Ouchani). Instead of passing the intel to the cops, a sympathetic Patience tips off Kadidja who then warns her son just in time for him to ditch his truckload of hashish before the police bust him. It’s here that Salomé goes full “Breaking Bad” meets “Jackie Brown”. With the help of the police’s resources and her newly adopted drug-sniffing dog, Patience tracks down the hidden hash and secretly moves it to the storage room in her apartment building. She then decks out like Arab royalty, dupes two low-rung pushers (Rachid Guellaz and Mourad Boudaoud) into moving her product, and just like that she has her own lucrative trafficking network.

Now if Patience’s sudden turn to crime sounds a little abrupt and out-of-the-blue, the movie (mostly) has it covered. There is a passing mention of her late husband being involved in some kind of criminal racket. And when she was a child her parents did some things “that a cop wouldn’t have approved of” just to put food on the table. So you could say crime is in her blood. Are a few lines of dialogue enough to setup such a dramatic change in her character? Maybe not, yet the movie has a sly way of getting you to look past it.

The funniest part of it all is how believable Huppert makes it. Middle-aged and unassuming – her character is hardly the person you would expect to become a drug kingpin. And she uses that to her advantage, along with her insider connections and her lukewarm ‘romance’ with the police chief Philippe (Hippolyte Girardot), to constantly stay one step ahead of the cops. She’s also a woman pushing back on the hand she’s been dealt, not quite as full of confidence as she leads on, but bold enough to literally risk everything for some degree of independence.

While undeniably catchy, the movie’s American title “Mama Weed” isn’t the most accurate (Patience is actually pushing hash, not weed and I learned there is a difference). It’s French title “La daronne”, translated “The Mom”, is much more fitting. It more directly speaks to the demure and unsuspecting presence that Patience utilizes to great effect. And Huppert is the perfect actress to pull it off. Mixed with Salomé’s light but engaging touch, she gives the movie a firm anchor and provides us with a character who is easy to latch onto. “Mama Weed” opens in select theaters this Friday (July 16th).

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Movie Poster Spotlight: “The French Dispatch”

July 14, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Fresh off its enthusiastic premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, “The French Dispatch” now gets in preparation mode for its upcoming release. Wes Anderson fans rejoice and enjoy this very Wes Anderson poster.

DIRECTOR – Wes Anderson

WRITER – Wes Anderson

STARRING – Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Elizabeth Moss, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Christoph Waltz, Jason Schwartzman, Rupert Friend, Willem Dafoe, Jeffrey Wright, Lyna Khoudri, Stephen Park, Liev Schreiber, Cécile de France, Anjelica Huston, Henry Winkler

RELEASE – October 22, 2021

REVIEW: “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” (2021)

July 14, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Morgan Neville takes a revealing look into the fascinating yet complicated life of chef, travel guru, television host, and author Anthony Bourdain with his new documentary “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain”. Neville doesn’t set out to do an exhaustive dive into the man’s life story. Instead he hones in on Bourdain’s rise from discouraged executive chef at Manhattan’s Brasserie Les Halles to full-blown cultural celebrity. But through it all Neville’s focus remains intently on the man underneath the brash and snarky exterior; the man who sadly took his own life on June 8, 2018. He was 61.

Neville unpacks the enigma that is Anthony Bourdain through his subject’s own words and those of friends, creative partners, his brother, and his second wife among others. Bourdain had an unmistakable physical presence – a tall and slender frame, a thick curly crop of hair, a big toothy smile. Outspoken and often unfiltered, he was more than happy to share his opinions and he didn’t shy away from talking about his drug-riddled past. Throw in his love for punk rock and his two-pack-a-day smoking habit and you have a bad-boy image that would stick with him, whether it was deserved or not.

But as we quickly learn, Bourdain’s larger-than-life persona was hiding the troubled and brittle psyche of a man who never felt comfortable in his own skin. Neville’s film reveals a man struggling in his ill-fated pursuit of true happiness. He gets tastes along the way – meeting and marrying his second wife Ottavia Busia; becoming a father for the first time at age 50. But as one of Bourdain’s long-time television collaborators puts it, reality could never live up to his romanticized view of it.

“Roadrunner” pulls from an assortment of never-before-seen video including private recordings, behind the scenes television footage, etc. They allow us to see the man friends called “Tony” both flourish and struggle in the various stages of his professional life. We get old video showing his love/hate relationship with the kitchen. We see him overwhelmed by the success of his lawless memoir “Kitchen Confidential”. And of course there are countless clips from his wildly popular television shows where he would travel the globe exploring culture and cuisine; introducing American audiences to exotic places and exotic foods.

And of course the film chronicles his final years which Neville handles with a thoughtful yet unflinchingly honest touch. Leading up to his second divorce, it almost seems as if Bourdain had given up on the prospect of a normal life. “I want to be normal. I want to be like everyone else,” he laments only to later admit “I don’t even know what (normal) is anymore.” Then Neville leans on the words of Bourdain’s colleagues and friends to unwrap his unhealthy infatuation with girlfriend Asia Argento. Filming his show became a chore especially for his long-time crew who were finding him harder and harder to work with. And of course it only got darker from there.

Anthony Bourdain was a fascinating figure with a robust and sometimes in-your-face personality that made him easy to love or hate. “Roadrunner” doesn’t try to rewrite the man or soften his jagged edges. In many ways it attempts to make sense of his mystique while also shedding light on the person himself who inspired millions to live their lives to the fullest even as he struggled to find contentment in his own. There’s a bleakness to the film that Neville doesn’t hide from, but that comes with the honesty he brings. It’s what ultimately sets the movie apart from so many other by-the-book celebrity retrospectives. “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” opens in theaters this Friday (July 16th).

VERDICT – 4 STARS

First Glance: “Blue Bayou”

July 13, 2021 by Keith Garlington

From its earliest frames the new trailer for the upcoming immigration drama “Blue Bayou” shows us a movie that has a lot on its heart. From Korean-American actor and filmmaker Justin Chon, the film is inspired by heartbreaking personal stories and is clearly meant to be a conversation starter. “Blue Bayou” was picked up by Focus Features and had its premiere today at the Cannes Film Festival.

At the heart of “Blue Bayou” is the story of a unique American family struggling to make ends meet. Chon and Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander play Antonio and Kathy LeBlanc, a loving couple raising their young daughter in a small town in south Louisiana. Their lives are plunged into chaos when Antonio, born in Korea but adopted and raised in America since he was 3-years-old, is arrested is set to be deported from the only home he has ever known. The trailer really hits its mark and packs a powerful punch. The film looks to be a timely exploration with deeply human consequences. It’s biggest risk is being too forward. Regardless, this has all the markings of something really special.

“Blue Bayou” hits theaters September 17th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Gunpowder Milkshake” (2021)

July 13, 2021 by Keith Garlington

A killer cast (bad pun absolutely intended) leads the way in the upcoming Netflix film “Gunpowder Milkshake”, an action/black comedy packing plenty of girl power and one of the best titles of the year. It comes from director and co-writer Navot Papushado who puts together a stylish shoot-em-up that borrows from an assortment of action movies that came before it. That proves to be both part of the fun as well as the film’s biggest weakness.

It’s impossible to watch “Gunpowder Milkshake” without thinking about “John Wick”. The similarities are just too pronounced to miss. The key difference is this is a female-driven version of that world. Here Karen Gillan plays the John Wick character, a lethal assassin named Sam. She had no choice but to grow up in the killing-for-hire business after her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), also an assassin, left her 15 years earlier. Now she takes contracts from a shadowy underworld outfit called The Firm (you gotta love the comically vague names these organizations come up with).

The movie kicks off with Sam finishing up her most recent contract. She takes out her target but is quickly confronted by a horde of armed thugs on her way out. She kills them all but leaves a pretty big mess behind. The Firm’s not too happy with the results even though they’re the ones who sent her in with bad intel. And little do they know, among the dead is the son of an Irish gangster named Jim McAlester (Ralph Ineson). And as these mob bosses are prone to do, McAlester wants revenge. “Now bring me the heads of the men who killed my boy”, he snarls.

Sam’s mentor Nathan (Paul Giamatti) is able to smooth things over with The Firm, even securing her a new contract. It sounds like an easy enough job – an accountant has stolen a satchel full of cash from the Firm. They want her to kill him and get their money back. But once again the job gets messy after Sam learns an innocent 8-year-old girl named Emily (Chloe Coleman) is caught in the middle. Refusing to leave her behind, Sam saves Emily but loses the Firm’s money in the process. You can probably see where this is going. Soon she finds herself on the run from both the Firm and a revenge-fueled McAlester. And as you might expect, lots of bullets, blood, and dead bodies follow.

Sam and her self-anointed “apprentice” Emily seek help from a sisterhood of assassins consisting of the bitter and brash Anna May (Angela Bassett), the soft-spoken but deadly Florence (Michelle Yeoh), and the hilariously genteel Madeleine (Carla Gugino). It’s a bummer, but this lethal sisterhood isn’t given much of a backstory. We learn there’s some bad blood between them and Sam’s mom. We see they operate out of a beautiful bygone-era library. Oh, and they’re extremely efficient killers. But thats about it. Thankfully the actresses inject the group with enough personality to get by.

Rather than focusing on story Papushado goes heavy into style both visually and in his choreography. We get a lot of sequences bathed in neon especially early on. He also does some clever things with his camera, specifically with different angles, perspectives, and movements. When it comes to the action the fight sequences and shoot-outs can be a little too tightly scripted but for the most part are still fun. And some are completely absurd (which I say as a compliment). My favorite may be a bloody hospital sequence between a partially paralyzed Sam and three hitmen who are high on laughing gas. It’s so ridiculous you can’t help but love it.

Yet there are moments of indulgence that seem utterly pointless. Take the occasional slow motion shot that seems to be there just to have a slow motion shot. Do we really need to see some enter a diner and then suddenly start walking to their booth in slo-mo? Also the frequent nods to movies like “John Wick”, “Kill Bill”, and even “Sin City” keep this movie from having an firm identity of its own. Sure, there is the all-female protagonists and the mother/daughter dynamic. But story-wise there isn’t much to set it apart and you get the sense that you’ve seen it all before.

Thankfully the action and the cast carry most of the load. Gillan pours herself into the role and really shines in the fight sequences. She’s a bit stiff and cold in the handful of dramatic scenes (partially by design), but she makes up for it with her grit and physicality. Headey is tough as nails and the sisterhood have some good moments despite seriously lacking depth. And that’s ultimately the movie itself. There just isn’t enough story to sink your teeth into. Instead it puts all its money on its eye-catching action and some fun performances. Thankfully that’s enough to keep the film afloat. “Gunpowder Milkshake” premieres on Netflix tomorrow (July 14th).

VERDICT – 3 STARS

First Glance: “Sweet Girl”

July 12, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Netflix continues it’s steady stream of new trailers with its upcoming action thriller “Sweet Girl”. The film stars Jason Momoa and marks the feature film directorial debut for Brian Andrew Mendoza. The new trailer reveals a story laced with big corporate conspiracies and government cover-ups. Oh, and there’s also quite a bit of action which is something Momoa should be able to handle with ease.

He plays Ray Cooper, a shattered and grieving husband who has just lost his wife to cancer. He finds out that in an effort to drive up prices a shady pharmaceutical company pulled a drug off the market that doctors believe could have saved his wife. Ray sets out to hold them accountable but discovers a far deeper conspiracy. He also learns that both the government and the corporations will do ANYTHING to keep it quiet. Ray’s priorities quickly turns to protecting his daughter (Isabela Merced) and he will do ANYTHING to keep her safe. I like the look of this and Momoa can be a force. I’m not sure it needed the Guns N’ Roses needle drop but that’s okay.

“Sweet Girl” premieres August 20th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.