First Glance: “Sputnik”

July 23, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Science-fiction, horror, suspense all rolled into one terrific looking movie. That’s my first impression of the new Russian thriller “Sputnik” from director Egor Abramenko. It was originally slated to debut at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival before joining the slew of other films pushed back due to the coronavirus. But thanks to IFC Midnight “Sputnik” is set to premiere in just a few weeks.

The first trailer looks like an intriguing mixture of “Aliens” and “The X-Files” set in the Soviet Union, 1983. A young scientist (Oksana Akinshina) is recruited by a top-secret military facility to study a mysterious parasite found in one of their cosmonauts (Pyotr Fedorov). Obviously that doesn’t turn out well at all. The trailer does a great job setting up the tone and atmosphere of what could be a chilling sci-fi treat.

“Sputnik” is set to premiere August 14th in select theaters and on VOD. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Fisherman’s Friends” (2020)

July 22, 2020 by Keith Garlington

You almost always know what you’re going to get with movies like “Fisherman’s Friends”. They’re pretty reliable when it comes to sticking to formula and rarely will you find a surprise moment or unexpected twist. Most of the time they either sink or swim based on their heart, charm, and ability to make you care about their characters. Director Chris Foggin’s tale of shanty-singing sea dogs turned Top 40 music sensations has those necessary ingredients plus some.

Based on a true story but incorporating a lot of fiction, “Fisherman’s Friends” is a small-town drama, romantic comedy, musical biography, and underdog story all neatly wrapped into one movie. The writing trio of Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth take the bare basics of the true account and build their own story around them. Their by-the-book plotting squash any chance of originality, but the colorful characters, the rich personality of its setting, and the film’s warm-hearted center more than makes up for it.

Photo Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films

Set in 2010 Daniel Mays plays Danny, a hotshot London music executive on a weekend getaway with his three obnoxious buddies. While passing through the small village of Port Isaac they overhear a group of ten Cornish fisherman singing shanties for the locals. One thing leads to another and soon Danny is trying to convince the Fisherman’s Friends (as the seamen affectionately call themselves) to let him be their manager and negotiate a record deal.

In order to get the group onboard Danny will have to convince their spokesman Jim (James Purefoy). He’s a fisherman who also owns the town Bed and Breakfast with his daughter Alwyn (a terrific Tuppence Middleton). Despite leaving a rotten first impression, Danny soon finds himself more interested in winning over Alwyn than her father. So the big city guy becomes the proverbial ‘fish out of water’, soon finding himself lured in by the small town’s charm (and by one particularly lovely single mother). And he grows even more committed to seeing the shanty crooners strike it big.

From that brief snippet alone you can probably guess how things play out. And the Hallmarkian predictability really kicks in during a final act which you’ve seen a million times before – the guy gets in good with the girl, royally screws things up, realizes he can’t live without the girl, and then sets out to make things right. Plotwise you literally see everything coming a mile away.

Photo Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films

Yet there is an endearing warmth that Foggin captures, both from the characters and the village itself (it was filmed on location in Port Isaac). The fun and delightful cast are essential to the film’s tight-knit communal feel. Middleton avoids numerous trappings and gives us a woman with real mettle. Purefoy brings emotional depth and is more than just an overly protective father or surly sailor. And you can’t help but love veteran Scottish actor David Hayman playing the gravelly-voiced but tender-hearted Jago.

With its irresistible mix of feel-good vibes, infectious musical numbers, great rapport and playful humor, “Fisherman’s Friends” makes the formulaic storytelling pretty easy to overlook. It ends up being a smile-inducing pleasure built around a genuinely remarkable true story. And I’m still giggling at “Reservoir Sea Dogs“. I’ll let you watch the movie and discover that nugget for yourself. “Fisherman’s Friends” premieres this Friday on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Blow the Man Down” (2020)

July 21, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy’s black comedy/thriller “Blow the Man Down” debuted a year ago at the Tribeca Film Festival. It took a while but this slyly biting and ever so slightly offbeat neo-noir has finally received its proper debut (thanks to Amazon Studios). It’s a movie full of surprises and made by a fresh filmmaking duo with a deft handling of both style and story.

In the seaside fishing village of East Cove, Maine sisters Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor) mourn the recent death of their mother. After the funeral Priscilla plans on running the family fish market and living in the house where they grew up. Mary Beth, bitter about having to leave college to help care for her mother, is already planning her way out of the town she despises.

Photo Courtesy Amazon Studios

The siblings learn their mother left them with a lot of debt meaning they could potentially lose the house. It leads to a heated argument that sends Mary Beth storming off to the local tavern. Once there she starts tossing back drinks with an unsavory type named Gorski (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). The two get drunk and she not-so-wisely agrees to drive him to his house just outside of town. An attempted assault, a harpoon to the neck, and a brick bash to the head leaves Gorski dead and Mary Beth in a panic.

You could say that what follows is a shining example of how not to cover up a crime. Mary Beth rushes home to Priscilla and tells her what happened. Uncertain whether she acted in haste or in self-defense, the sisters decide not to call the police and go back to Gorski’s place to clean up the mess. As for disposing of the body, let’s just say Cole and Krudy give us a grisly yet darkly funny sequence that had me thinking “Fargo” but with a stout feminine kick.

But there is another layer to the story altogether. Gorski’s disappearance cracks the door to East Cove’s deep dark past. It turns out Priscilla and Mary Beth’s mother was the linchpin holding the town’s matriarchal rule together. So with her gone, old wounds fester between a brothel owner named Enid (played with a devilish wit by Margo Martindale) and three busybody widows (June Squibb, Annette O’Toole, Marceline Hugot). All are connected by the sordid town secrets and each has their own self-interests and motivations.

Eventually the two story threads weave together to form a prickly, suspenseful mystery told through a myriad of fun and fleshed-out characters. The best may be Martindale’s Enid who operates like an organized crime boss, running her operation in plain sight but with enough clout to get away with it. Packing more snarl than smile, Enid defends her enterprise while at the same time showing the emotional toll it has taken on her. She’s a complex character and far more than some one-note villain.

Photo Courtesy of Amazon Studios

I can’t talk about this film without spending a few lines on its style and setting. Cole and Krudy had me onboard from the very start. The movie opens to the sound of a shanty being sung by a grizzled fisherman and his salty-dog chorus. It’s amusing, subtly haunting, and adds to the New England coastal flavor. They pop up a few more times in brief smile-inducing musical interludes. And then you have the atmosphere and vivid sense of place the directing duo and their DP Todd Banhazl are able to create. You can almost smell the scent of raw fish or feel the chill of the icy sea breeze.

Cole and Krudy don’t stop there. They add more to their mystery by throwing several other ingredients into the pot: a missing knife, a second body, a young by-the-book police officer (Will Brittain) and a disgruntled call girl (Gayle Rankin). It doesn’t all flesh out perfectly but the twists keep you guessing and the film really sticks its finish. Ultimately it feels heavily inspired by the Coen brothers especially in its melding of crime and humor. But its flipping of genre roles and the female-driven story gives it its own welcomed identity. It also introduces us to two exciting new filmmakers who already show a tremendous understanding of their craft. “Blow the Man Down” is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

First Glance: “Project Power”

July 20, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Streaming giant Netflix is taking a pinch of action, a dash of science-fiction, and a sprinkle of superhero flavoring and mixing it all together in their new Original film “Project Power”. It comes from the directing duo of Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost and stars the interesting pair of Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Perhaps most intriguing is screenwriter Mattson Tomlin who is co-writer of the much anticipated Matt Reeves film “The Batman”.

The first trailer hints at a pretty wild story. Apparently a pill has been created that imbues whoever takes it with his or her own unique superpower. “You never know what your power is until you try it.” The catch is it only lasts five minutes meaning people are always wanting more. Of course there are some ugly side effects and of course dealers look to get rich off of abusers. Enter Foxx and Gordon-Levitt each playing characters with their own particular motivations.

“Project Power” premieres August 14th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “The Rental” (2020)

July 20, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Dave Franco makes his directorial debut with “The Rental”, a surprisingly nimble horror-thriller that leads you in several different directions before fully revealing itself to be something I wasn’t expecting. The story (co-written by Franco and Joe Swanberg) makes some things a little too obvious, but the high-energy final 15 minutes comes out of nowhere and left a pretty big smile on my face.

The story follows two couples who rent a beautiful oceanside home for a weekend getaway. The first couple is Charlie (Dan Stevens) and his wife Michelle (Alison Brie). The other is Charlie’s brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White) and his girlfriend Mina (Sheila Vand) who also happens to be Charlie’s close-working business partner. If that sounds a little icky to you then you’re right where the movie wants you. In fact the very first scene firmly plants a suspicion in the your head that sticks there for much of the film.

Photo Courtesy of IFC Films

The four arrive at the remote yet picturesque vacation home and are greeted by the property’s slimy caretaker Taylor (Toby Huss). He gives them the tour, says several creepy things, and then leaves them to their fun and relaxing weekend. Or so they think. Franco takes his time uncoiling his story, putting a ton of early focus on his characters. They prove to be a pretty flawed bunch.

You could say “The Rental” inadvertently makes a strong “Say No to Drugs” case because things really go south once the four decide to take ecstasy. I won’t risk spoiling things by elaborating, but suffice to say most of the bad stuff that follow comes from the group’s ill-advised decision to get high. Secrets are unearthed, jealousy erupts, bad decisions (as they’re prone to do) lead to bad consequences. Soon this fun celebratory getaway is boiling with tension.

Photo Courtesy of IFC Films

But then Franco adds another layer to his film once Mina discovers a hidden camera in the house. “The Rental” goes into full psychological thriller mode as we and the characters wonder who’s watching them? Why are they watching? Even more, what have they seen? And just when you think you’ve figured the movie out Franco hits you with one more change of direction that kinda turns the whole movie on its head (in a good way).

“The Rental” has a lot going on yet it clocks at just under 90 minutes. Franco’s economical storytelling keeps things rolling while giving a surprising amount of attention to his characters. Yet there are instances where he channels things a little too clearly, robbing some story threads of their suspense. It may be an unfair criticism considering we’ve been conditioned by the genre itself to expect certain things. But the film gets it right where it counts most – it’s entertaining, it keeps you locked in and it ends in a fun and unexpected place. A solid first feature behind the camera for Dave Franco. “The Rental” premieres this Friday on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

REVIEW: “The Outpost” (2020)

July 17, 2020 by Keith Garlington

In 2006 during Operation Enduring Freedom the United States put together a counterinsurgency plan which included setting up a series of outposts in northern Afghanistan. The aim was to connect with the locals and win their support in stopping Taliban fighters from crossing over from Pakistan. Combat Outpast Keating was precariously nestled in a remote mountain valley and near the town of Kamdesh. It’s vulnerable location left it under constant threat of a Taliban assault.

Director Rod Lurie’s “The Outpost” tells the true story of the inevitable Battle of Kamdesh. More importantly it highlights the incredible heroism and valor shown by the soldiers who fought against insurmountable odds. The movie is a tale of two halves. The first, a wobbly attempt at introducing characters that leans too heavily on oozing machismo and relentless frat-boy jabber. And the second, a visceral and intense portrayal of combat anchored by a deeply human perspective that puts fear and bravery hand-in-hand.

Photo Courtesy of Screen Media Films

The film is based on the 2012 book “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor” by Jake Tapper. The screenplay by Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy begins by introducing us to the troops of the ill-fated outpost. They’re led Cpt. Benjamin Keating played by Orlando Bloom sporting a Southern-ish accent (that mostly works) and a surprising gravitas and stoicism. Keating is a soldier admired by his men and committed to his duty. “We’re going to win by getting their hearts and minds” he says of locals.

Scott Eastwood plays Sgt. Clint Romesha with toughness and grit while Caleb Landry Jones gives an eye-opening performance as Spc. Ty Michael Carter. Both were Medal of Honor winners for their heroics on October 3, 2009. That’s when the Taliban surrounded the outpost with over 300 men and began their attack. Previously it had only been the occasional stray gunfire. This was a full scale assault against the vulnerable outpost and the 54 soldiers defending it.

But getting to that point in the movie is a bit maddening as endless locker-room prattle takes the place of meaningful character development. Think “Porky’s” goes to the military. It’s unfortunate because there are some good scenes showing negotiations with local villagers and conversations questioning the wisdom of their overall mission. But the first half can push your tolerance level especially if you’re hungry for deeper, fleshed out characters.

Photo Courtesy of Screen Media Films

But it’s the second half which saves the movie as it thrusts these soldiers into the heart of combat and anchors their desperate experiences in authentic human emotion. A key reason it works so well is that Lurie doesn’t shy away from showing unbridled fear. These aren’t 54 Rambos standing in the open blasting machine gun fire while barely breaking a sweat. The last hour presents these men as real people, as scared and on edge as anyone else would be, but with an uncommon valor and willingness to sacrifice themselves for the men next to them.

While the first half of “The Outpost” is a borderline disservice, the second half is a fitting tribute to the soldiers who fought the Battle of Kamdesh. It takes too long to hit its mark, but once it does the film immerses you in the sheer ferocity of combat. And while the action is intense and kinetic, it never feels like your watching an action movie mainly because Lurie never loses sight of the human element. If only the first half had the same convictions. “The Outpost” is now available on VOD.