REVIEW: “The Secrets We Keep” (2020)

October 28, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Director and co-writer Yuval Adler’s “The Secrets We Keep” is one-half period thriller and one-half domestic drama. Set in small-town America during the late 1950’s, the movie embraces the implausibility of its premise while touching on post-war anxiety, revenge, the fragility of the American Dream, and (as the movie’s title eludes to) keeping secrets from loved ones and then dealing with the consequences once they inevitably come to light.

The aptly titled “The Secrets We Keep” opens with a woman named Maja (Noomi Rapace) sitting in the grass at her neighborhood park watching her young son play. She’s rattled when she hears a distinct whistle coming from a man calling his dog. It’s a familiar whistle; one she’s convinced she has heard before; one that instantly triggers traumatic memories from her past. She follows the man as he gets into his car, never seeing his face but certain their paths have crossed.

Photo Courtesy of Bleeker Street

A day or so later Maja sees the man again (he’s played by Joel Kinneman), this time at a hardware store. Still unable to get a good look at him, she follows the man to his house where he is greeted by his wife and two young children. Maja sneaks across their yard, peers through a window and finally sees his face.

Her next move is far more calculated. As the man walks home from work he stops to help Maja who fakes car trouble. With his back turned she clubs him with a hammer, throws him in the trunk, and drives home. There she reveals to her stunned husband Lewis (Chris Messina) that she has abducted one of the Nazi soldiers who raped her and murdered her sister during the final days of World War II. How’s that for a revelation? And all of that happens in the first 15 minutes or so.

The fast setup and little buildup is a bit jarring, but you certainly can’t accuse Adler of dragging his feet. At least not in the first act. But once his pieces are in place the film slows down and lets the characters open up and take over. It still has the big (and small) genre moments you expect. But it’s at its best when it lets the triad of Rapace, Kinnaman, and Messina navigate the thorny psychology, volatile emotions, and the dubious morality that hangs over the film like a ominous cloud.

Rapace is terrific, giving a strong two-sided performance that requires both physicality and emotional heft. Her Maja is a woman full of repressed sorrow and painful secrets. Seeing this man again forces her to relive all of her past horrors. But the question lingers, does she have the right guy? There is no evidence and nothing to go on other than her feelings and flashes of old memories. He insists she’s mistaken and his name is Thomas. He says he is Swiss not German, and that he moved to America to start a family with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz). Kinnaman’s sincerity and restraint make a strong case.

Photo Courtesy of Bleeker Street

That leaves Messina’s Lewis, a man utterly in the dark who wants to believe his wife but understands the ramifications of her being wrong. He’s still processing the slew of secrets hidden by his wife for 15 years – her family’s Gypsy background, her time in a war camp, the rape, the murder of her sister. More urgently, he has the determine whether to go with Maja’s instincts or stop her from crossing a line and making a mistake she will come to regret. This ends up forming the central conflict of the entire film.

Shot mostly in Louisiana, Adler and his production designer Nate Jones nail the look and feel of the late 1950’s and of small-town America. It was a time when aftershocks from the second world war were still being felt all over the world. “The Secrets We Keep” taps into that yet on a more personal level. But it’s still very much a genre film albeit one that is well acted, consistently entertaining, and that dabbles in its themes more than explores them. Overall it’s not a bad way to spend 97 minutes. “The Secrets We Keep” is now showing in select theaters and on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

First Glance: “The Midnight Sky”

October 27, 2020 by Keith Garlington

George Clooney makes his return to movies as star and director of Netflix’s upcoming science-fiction film “The Midnight Sky”. The last time Clooney appeared in front of the camera was in 2016’s “Money Monster”. The last film he directed was the 2017 disaster “Suburbicon”. His latest works from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith and features an intriguing cast including Felicity Jones, Kyle Chandler, David Oyelowo, Demián Bichir, and Tiffany Boone.

The post-apocalyptic story sees Clooney playing a scientist in the Arctic. The Earth has become inhabitable following some unknown global calamity. Clooney gets word that a team of astronauts are returning to Earth but they are unaware of the planet’s state. If he doesn’t warn them in time they will surely die, but sending a message would require him to venture into the icy contaminated unknown. I love the premise and there is still plenty we don’t know about the story. The first trailer gives us a really good taste. Clooney has called it “Gravity” meets “The Revenant”. I’m sold.

“The Midnight Sky” premieres December 23rd on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Honest Thief” (2020)

October 27, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Despite all of the uncertainty in 2020 one thing is for sure. No crummy pandemic is going to keep us from getting our annual Liam Neeson shoot-em-up action thriller. While I always get a kick out these films on a very loosely entertaining level, this year’s Neeson escapism is more welcomed than usual. Not only does it give us something new to see on the big screen, but it comes at a time (especially here in the United States) where ‘escaping’ the divisive and vitriolic news cycles is something many of us can appreciate.

So does all of that mean Neeson’s latest “Honest Thief” is a great film? Well “great” is a bit of a stretch. But it is exactly the kind of movie you would expect it to be and it delivers precisely what it advertises. In many ways these Neeson films have become their own genre. Obviously some of them are better than others and this one lands solidly in the middle. Fans of the previous flicks will have fun with “Honest Thief” while those hungry for something fresh shouldn’t expect to find it here. Me? I had a good time with it, flaws and all.

Photo Courtesy of Open Road Films

The 68-year-old Neeson plays Tom, a former Marine (aren’t all of his characters ex-military of some kind) who has taken up robbing banks across the country. The FBI has tagged him the In-and-Out Bandit (a name Tom abhors), but he’s not one of those bad thieves. No, his safecracking and bomb-making talents are never used to hurt people (well, not physically). He sneaks into well-scouted banks during the dead of night, avoids the security systems, breaks into the vault, grabs the cash and skedaddles without a trace. Oh, and he hasn’t spent a dime of the $9 million he has stolen. See! A thief with principles!

But that’s not why the film is called “Honest Thief”. Tom moves to Boston and since you gotta store all that loot somewhere he rents a storage unit from a grad student and recent divorcee named Annie (Kate Walsh). The two share a flirty scene of not-so-convincing love at first sight and within moments we’re hit with the “One Year Later” card. Now the two are in a committed relationship even planning to move in together. Tom can’t stand the thought of keeping his big secret from Annie any longer. So he decides to come clean, first to the feds and then Annie. There’s your honest thief folks.

Tom calls the FBI, agreeing to confess and turn in the $9 million in exchange for a minimum sentence in a prison near Boston. FBI agents Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos) are sent to check out his story but instead they steal the money for themselves and attempt to erase Tom from the equation. Things unravel and one dead agent later, Tom finds himself framed for the murder and on the run from the Bureau and from the two crooked G-men intent on covering their tracks. But once Nivens and Hall make Annie a target, let’s just say it may be time for Tom to pull out his “very particular set of skills“.

Photo Courtesy of Open Road Films

From there the movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game across Boston, complete with fisticuffs, shoot-outs and several entertaining chase sequences. Director and co-writer Mark Williams bumps things along at a snappy pace, creating a fair amount of tension and raising the stakes just enough to get by. Jeffrey Donovan is a nice presence playing an FBI agent who shares a mutual respect and a mutual distrust with Tom. And of course you have the rock-solid Neeson, a seasoned actor working in his comfort zone who by now can do these roles in his sleep.

There’s no denying that “Honest Thief” uses genre tropes galore. You see them in the characters, in plot points, even in some of the action. And while the romance at the film’s center is incredibly sweet, you can’t help feeling that much of what would have given it heft happened in that “one year later” window. Still, Neeson has once again delivered what his film promised – light, breezy entertainment for fans of these fun getaway thrillers. I completely understand if these films have ran their course for others. Me? I’m still enjoying the ride. “Honest Thief” is now showing in theaters.

VERDICT- 3.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (2020)

October 26, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Whether you call it “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”, “Borat 2”, or go by its official title “Borat: Gift of Pornographic Monkey to Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence to Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation of Kazakhstan” (and that’ll be the only time I’ll type it in its entirety), Sacha Baron Cohen finally got around to doing a follow-up to his 2006 box office smash. The first Borat movie was better at creating hilarious YouTube clips than actually gelling as a feature length movie. But people loved it and I’m sure many will fall for its sequel.

Yet there is something about “Borat 2” that has felt a little icky from the start. Purchased by Amazon mere weeks ago, rushed to their streaming platform ahead of the 2020 election, now getting loads of free publicity via major news outlets. It makes sense considering how politically motivated this film is compared to its predecessor (it even ends with the tag “Now Vote, or You Will Be Execute“). The first film offered a more rounded cultural, political, and social critique by holding up a mirror to American society. Cohen’s agenda-driven latest feels about 80% politics which doesn’t leave a lot of time for much else.

Obviously there is nothing wrong with having an agenda. Throughout cinema history there have been great movies built on agendas, many of them political. But “Borat 2” is what happens when your agenda becomes too transparent and it screams so loudly that it drowns out anything else your movie may want to say. Clearly in a country this bitterly divided Cohen’s film is sure to be candy for some. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating, especially when you see glimmers of the first film’s strengths.

Photo Courtesy of Amazon Studios

The movie opens with Cohen’s Borat Sagdiyev in a Kazakhstan gulag serving a life sentence for humiliating his homeland with his first film. The country’s new Premier summons Borat and offers him a chance at redemption. Since he knows America, Borat is tasked with delivering a gift to Vice President Mike Pence in an effort to redeem Kazakhstan’s tarnished image. That gift – Johnny the Monkey, Minister of Culture and the country’s top pornstar (don’t ask). So Borat sets out on a cargo ship and 22 days later arrives in Galveston, Texas.

Once back in the States Borat quickly learns he has become a celebrity. Wishing to keep a low profile, he buys several costumes at a local Halloween thrift shop and then sets out to do his patriotic duty. In a twist too stupid to waste time on, Johnny the Monkey doesn’t survive the trip from Kazakhstan. Instead Borat discovers his 15-year-old daughter Tutar (played by 24-year-old Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova) stowed away in the monkey’s crate. Borat scrabbles and comes up with a new plan. He’ll give his daughter as a gift to America’s Vice Premier. This thrills Tutar who has long dreamed of belonging to a powerful man much like her idol Queen Melania. Yep.

This sets in motion a number of ‘encounters’ with unsuspecting victims as Borat prepares his daughter for her new “owner”. They include trips to a dress shop, a hair salon, and getting tips from an Instagramming “sugar baby”. Actually Cohen and Bakalova’s best moments are when it’s just them and the half-baked mockumentary gives way to the daddy/daughter story. But these movies are all about fooling unaware people and capturing it on camera. This time these supposedly unscripted scenes (and some are quite dubious) don’t land nearly as well as they did in the first film and some fall completely flat.

Photo Courtesy of Amazon Studios

Take one of the movie’s biggest scenes where Cohen, dressed in a fat suit and a Trump mask, throws Bakalova over his shoulder (or is it a doll) and barges into an arena interrupting Mike Pence’s CPAC speech. It could have been memorable, but it’s too poorly shot and ends with an uneventful thud. Then you get a scene like the debutante ball which starts out funny but ends with a disgusting gross-out menstruation gag. It’s not the only low-brow shock jock ‘humor’ we’re forced to endure. Whether it’s Cohen’s lazy fixation on genital jokes or him running around in his underwear. He’s constantly repackaging and rehashing the same crass material.

And again, it’s frustrating because there are laughs that can be mined out of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”. There’s also a pieced-together semi-inspiring story of Tutar’s self-liberation that begs for more attention. You also have to admire Cohen’s ability to lure people into exposing their own bigotries through some of the most ridiculous conversations and interactions, his boldness in infiltrating a den of alt-right conspiracy theorists, and his crafty commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course most people are talking about the film’s finale featuring a prominent politician in compromising position, a scene made more salacious by what may be some rather strategic editing. Unfortunately there’s isn’t much else worth talking about. When in comes down to it “Borat 2” just can’t get out of its own way. Cohen’s work at exposing racism and misogyny is too often undercut by his insistence on overusing juvenile crudity. And this time around everything feels far more manufactured than with the first film. Ultimately you can’t help but wonder how many of the people on screen are actually in on the joke. “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is now streaming on Amazon Prime”.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

First Glance: “News of the World”

October 23, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Tom Hanks meets the Western genre – what a combination! Few things excite me more than seeing this almost perfect union which we’ll be getting in “News of the World”. Another interesting tidbit – the film will reunite Hanks with director Paul Greengrass. The two previously worked together in 2013’s “Captain Phillips”. And wouldn’t you know it Hanks plays another Captain in their new film. So many cool connections!

Hanks plays a traveling newsman telling real-world stories in towns all across the west. He encounters a traumatized 10-year-old girl (Helena Zengel) who’s lost and all alone. The Captain decides to make the trek across the treacherous frontier to return the young girl to her family. But it won’t be easy in a land full of violence, conflict, and peril. The new trailer strikes all the right chords and it has the potential to really shake up awards season.

“News of the World” is set for a Christmas theater release. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Jacinta” (2020)

October 22, 2020 by Keith Garlington

There have been countless movies, both documentaries and feature fiction, that have spoke to the issue of drug addiction. Few have packed the same raw and visceral punch as Jessica Earnshaw’s “Jacinta”, the winner for Best U.S. Feature at this year’s Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. With its crushingly intimate and unflinching perspective, “Jacinta” spares nothing in its depiction of dependency, capturing a painful reality that’s all too familiar for many Americans.

From the very start you can’t help but recognize the unprecedented access Earnshaw was given. Her film starts inside the walls of the Maine Correctional Center. There we meet 26-year-old Jacinta who’s serving the final days of a nine month sentence. We learn a lot about this young woman through her own words. She has been in and out of prison since she was 15. At 16 she had her darling daughter Caylynn. Jacinta is bright, spirited, and engaging. She’s also a heroin addict, the result of a deeply troubled upbringing.

During the early prison scenes we’re introduced to Jacinta’s mother Rosemary who’s serving a much longer sentence in the same facility. She has lived a hard life and many of her daughter’s problems can be traced back to her. Yet the two remain intensely close. We learn that Rosemary was pregnant at 14 and had three children by the time she was 18. An addict herself, she too has been in and out of prison, but it’s her vices within her family that are the most unsettling.

Jacinta and Rosemary at Maine Correctional Center, 2016. Photo © Jessica Earnshaw.

Photo Courtesy of Jessica Earnshaw.

Over the course of the film revelations come to light concerning Rosemary’s relationships with her children. Earnshaw doesn’t set out to paint her as the villain. Everything we learn comes from the people on screen and we are allowed to come to our own conclusions. One thing is certain, Rosemary loves her daughter in her own unhealthy way. But their codependent mother/daughter dynamic proves to have devastating effects especially for Jacinta, a young mother herself who is already at a dangerous crossroads.

After an emotional good-bye to her mother, an anxious Jacinta is released from prison. Earnshaw’s camera follows her as she’s greeted by her compassionate father Rick who helps her get settled in a sober house. There is an air of hope throughout these scenes especially when Jacinta reunites with 10-year-old Caylynn. The two spend a wonderful day together, connecting as if they had never been apart. All the pieces seem to be in place for an uplifting redemption story.

But we quickly learn that happiness is a brittle thing for an addict, and the lure of old hometown acquaintances is palpable. In one of the film’s most devastating scenes Jacinta tells her daughter she’s leaving the halfway home. Caylynn earnestly replies, “What if the sober house is the only thing that’s keeping you going where you’re supposed to?” Sometimes it’s kids who see things the clearest.

Photo Courtesy of Jessica Earnshaw

Within 90 minutes of dropping off Caylynn (who lives with her paternal grandparents in New Hampshire) Jacinta is high and the feelings of hope evaporate right on our screen. It’s one of several uneasy situations for Earnshaw who also serves as the film’s cinematographer. No stranger to a camera, Earnshaw shoots each of these moments up close and with brutal honesty. Take when Jacinta is picked up by her friend at a shopping mall immediately after shoplifting a laptop. Earnshaw sits in the backseat filming as the two young women up front discuss the crime. Before they’re out of the parking lot Jacinta pulls out a syringe and shoots heroin. It’s harrowing and heartbreaking.

But nothing is as shattering as pre-teen Caylynn, mature beyond her years and acutely aware of her mother’s condition. Seeing her wrestling with her feelings and trying to understand her mom is hard to watch. Seeing her later resign to the belief that she has lost her mother for good is even harder. Like the bond between Jacinta and Rosemary (but in a much different light) it again highlights the intense bond between a mother and daughter. It also leaves us praying for the cycle of addiction to be broken and for Caylynn to have the life she’s longing for.

Despite all of her faults, there is never a moment we don’t root for Jacinta. The film never condones her actions, but it does offer perspective by plowing deep into her family history. Ultimately what the film provides is a raw, real-world observation of a young mother in the throes of addiction, her face often overtaken with sadness and defeat, yet yearning to be the mother she never had. It’s far from easy viewing, but it’s sure to open a lot of eyes. And many will be left thinking about Jacinta and her family for days afterwards. “Jacinta” is appearing in several film festivals across the country.