REVIEW: “Project Power” (2020)

August 14, 2020 by Keith Garlington

In a crazy year that has been essentially devoid of big action-packed tentpole movies, it’s kinda nice to see something like “Project Power” come along. This stylish Netflix banger from the directing duo of Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman has the look and feel of a big screen summer blockbuster. And it has two catchy names as top draws – Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Both have fun bringing their signature charisma while successfully jumping a few narrative hurdles along the way.

“Project Power” is written by Mattson Tomlin who is also busy co-writing Matt Reeves’ new Batman film. It took winning a bidding war with several big studios for Netflix to snag the rights to Tomlin’s script. It’s a dark-sided superhero tale of sorts, not without moments of levity, and with some social commentary sprinkled in for good measure. The concept is undeniably silly on the surface, but Tomlin does some interesting things with it and says some meaningful things along the way.

A new drug is introduced onto the streets of New Orleans by Teleos – a shady defense contractor secretly operating with government sanction. Once taken the pill triggers a single unique superpower that lies dormant in every person. But they only have it for five minutes. And while many powers are good, some can be instantly fatal to the user. As a slimy broker tells a potential investor during a sales pitch, “Results may vary“.

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

Needing a test run before mass production, Teleos hires a handful of local pushers to get their drug into the bloodstream of urban New Orleans. Among them is a well-meaning teen named Robin (Dominique Fishback), an aspiring rapper who sells the power pill as a means of taking care of her sick mother. One of her buyers is a New Orleans police detective named Frank (Gordon-Levitt). He secretly uses the pill as a way of combating the recent wave of super-powered crime across the city.

Enter Art (Foxx), an ex-Army Ranger who rolls into town intent on tracking down the supplier of the new drug. His trail leads to Robin who he kidnaps and forces to help him. But the two form an unexpected bond after Art reveals to her his intensely personal reasons for being there. Meanwhile the police have been informed that Art is a powerful drug dealer who is setting up shop in the city. Frank is sent to apprehend him while Art continues his hunt for Teleos.

As you can expect, paths cross, truths are revealed, and alliances are formed. There’s also plenty of action, much of it easily exceeding the gore limit of the normal superhero movie. In one scene alone a thug is impaled through the neck with an ice sculpture. Another has his hand shot off. And one goon simply explodes after popping a power pill (I warned you about those side effects). And that’s not counting what is ‘chillingly’ going on in the background of the scene (I’ll leave it for you to discover). There are a couple of instances where they shaky cam and frantic editing are too much. But for the most part DP Michael Simmonds puts together some thrilling compositions and some of his camera tricks really pay off.

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

Joost and Schulman move from scene to scene with a propulsive energy, but they still make room for their characters to develop. There isn’t a lot of time wasted on backstory, most of which comes through haunting flashbacks inside of Art’s head. Instead it’s the interactions between the characters that inform us the most. To be clear, this isn’t a movie of complex relationships or deep dives in psychology. Still, the three main characters are well-served by Tomlin’s script and the good all-around performances from Foxx, Gordon-Levitt, and Fishback.

And while “Project Power” is far from a deep contemplative think piece, it does place itself in a setting rich with issues to speak on. Inner-city drug use, poverty, corruption, government neglect – its all addressed in some form or another. And perhaps more than anything, the movie explores the notion of the haves and the have-nots specifically in the area of power. As Art succinctly puts it, “In the real world power goes to where it always goes – to the people who already have it.”

“Project Power” comes along during a time when we all could use a little escapism. It ends up being a fun, high-energy offering of big screen caliber action, timely dashes of humor, and a lively chemistry between its three stars. I also admire it for being a superhero(ish) movie that doesn’t adhere to any genre formula nor does it waste our time with yet another origin story. The film doesn’t quite cover all of its story angles, but it’s still solid ‘kick back and enjoy’ entertainment and a nice getaway for those looking for one. “Project Power” premieres today on Netflix.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

REVIEW: “The Birdcatcher” (2020)

August 13, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Director Ross Clarke’s World War II era drama “The Birdcatcher” is built on a tough-to-sell premise that needs practically all of its creative parts to work perfectly. Unfortunately they don’t all quite gel leaving us with a movie full of good intentions but shaky execution and storytelling that’s never as convincing as it needs to be.

Set in 1942, the movie centers around a 20-ish young lady named Esther (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), the daughter of a Jewish barber in Trondheim, Norway with aspirations of going to America and becoming a movie star. She’s a sweet, starry-eyed dreamer who like many has her innocence stripped away by the Nazi occupation. During a Jewish roundup Esther is separated from her parents but manages to escape into the snowy hills.

Photo Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

A lost, hungry, and freezing Esther runs into a sympathetic disabled teen named Aksel (Arthur Hakalahti). He’s the son of a brutish, Nazi-sympathizing farmer Johann (Jakob Cedergren) and obedient but secretive mother Anna (Laura Birn). Aksel hides Esther in the loft of their barn out of his parents’ sight, sneaking her food and taking a liking to her. Meanwhile his father frequently entertains and kisses up to a Nazi officer named Herman played by August Diehl (so good in last year’s “A Hidden Life”).

Knowing she’ll eventually be discovered, a resourceful Esther cuts off her hair and poses as a wandering lost boy named Ola. In a particularly ridiculous sequence Esther/Ola is caught by Herman who takes her to the family’s farm and encourages Johann to take her/him on as a farmhand. What could go wrong, right? Esther ends up tangled in a festering family drama that sends the story toward its inevitable climax.

Photo Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

Despite the sincere feeling behind it, “The Birdcatcher” is simply too hard to buy into. There’s no doubting that true stories similar to this actually exist and that realization give the film some weight. But it’s hampered by some needless clutter such as Aksel’s drunken abusive uncle (Johannes Kuhnke) and a poorly defined forbidden romance that may be a romance or may be something else (I still don’t know for certain).

Yet strangely despite its frustrations “The Birdcatcher” has an earnestness about it that makes it easy to digest. Much of it comes through Boussnina’s sensitive and committed lead performance. There’s also a touching epilogue that effectively knocks home the themes of empathy, compassion, and forgiveness. It doesn’t save the movie from it’s flaws, but it does stress the sincerity of its convictions. “The Birdcatcher” is now available on VOD.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Sputnik” (2020)

August 11, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Mere seconds into the trailer for the new film “Sputnik” I immediately felt strong “Alien” meets “The X-Files” vibes. That’s all I needed to be onboard with this Russian sci-fi horror picture from first-time feature film director Egor Abramenko. Originally slated to debut at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, “Sputnik” joined many other movies in seeing its big premiere postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully IFC Films is dropping it this Friday on VOD and it deserves an audience.

The story (co-written by Oleg Malovichko and Andrei Zolotarev) opens with a prologue set in outer space. In 1983 two cosmonauts heading home from an orbital space station encounter something mysterious just outside the earth’s atmosphere. Their space capsule eventually lands but the retrieval team finds the mission commander Konstantin Veshnyakov (Pyotr Fyodorov) suffering from short-term amnesia and his co-pilot in a coma.

Photo Courtesy of IFC Films

The cosmonauts are taken to a secret research faculty in Kazakhstan ran by Colonel Semiradov (Fedor Bondarchuk). He is under pressure from Moscow to figure out what happened to the crew, specifically their “national hero” Konstantin. But it’s soon discovered that there is more at stake than just propaganda. Turns out Konstantin is host to an alien parasite that is using his body as an incubator of sorts. He doesn’t know it’s inside him, but Semiradov does and the potential benefits to the government could prove invaluable.

Semiradov recruits Tatyana Klimova (Oksana Akinshina), a neuropsychiatrist who is in hot water with the Health Ministry for using some controversial methods to save a young boy’s life. Semiradov needs someone willing to “take risks” to save a national hero for the government’s propaganda machine and save a potential weapon for the Soviet military. But to do so she’ll have to navigate through the facility’s numerous secrets in order to find out what’s really going on. And some of her discoveries have dramatic (and potentially fatal) implications.

“Sputnik” is built upon a surprisingly rich attention to character. It’s spends much of the first half uncoiling the people we meet almost exclusively through Tatyana’s point of view. Even as the action intensifies in the second half, the characters are always front and center. The performances are well-tuned for a Cold War era thriller. Akinshina brings a needed steely grit to Tatyana while Bondarchuk’s Colonel Semiradov is an enigma – cold, emotionless, and impossible to read.

Photo Courtesy of IFC Films

One of the film’s biggest strengths is found in the eerie atmosphere it maintains from start to finish. Abramenko makes great use of both visuals and sound to create a chilly and unwelcoming environment. Cinematographer Maxim Zhukov shoots in moody washed out color tones and with a slight grain to his images. It effectively looks cut from its time. Meanwhile the ominous score from Oleg Karpachev cuts in at the just the right moments, reenforcing the sense of dread.

I’m almost certain that “Sputnik” will be too much of a slow-burn for some. Yet at the same time Abramenko is constantly moving his story forward whether it’s through the chilling mystery or character growth. I love his patience in allowing his crafty genre brew to play out. And while the influences of “Alien” and “The X-Files” are all over it, “Sputnik” etches its own identity that feels fresh in this day of stale rehashes. “Sputnik” premieres this Friday on VOD.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

First Glance: “A Call to Spy”

August 10, 2020 by Keith Garlington

The upcoming movie “A Call to Spy” looks to be a fascinating historical drama from a uniquely female perspective. It’s directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher with Sarah Megan Thomas writing, producing, and starring. This World War II espionage thriller dropped its first trailer over the weekend and it appears to have a powerful and timely story to tell.

Early into the war a desperate Winston Churchill organized a new task force to recruit and train women as spies for a fledgling resistance. The film follows a group of recruits, each with their own unique strengths, as they prepare and carry out missions against Nazi occupiers. It also stars Stana Katic and Radhika Apte. The period design looks sharp and the story looks to have some real meat on its bones.

“A Call to Spy” opens October 2nd in select theaters and On Demand. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Made in Italy” (2020)

August 7, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Liam Neeson has hunted down bad guys and utilized his “very particular set of skills” all across the globe. His latest film “Made in Italy” sets him down in the heart of sumptuous Tuscany. But this time he isn’t up against terrorists, human traffickers, or rogue cops. Instead he’s forced to face a dilapidated estate, a ton of pent-up grief, and a brittle relationship with his estranged son. The terrorist were puny by comparison.

“Made in Italy” is the directorial debut for British actor James D’Arcy and I have to admit, I’m a sucker for these kinds of movies. It’s a well-made family drama with a dash of humor and a misty-eyed final act that may be predictable but that justifies its emotional payoff. That’s because D’Arcy gives us characters we can care about. Yes, sometimes they do stick too close to conventional scripting, but they earn our empathy through grounded portrayals and a keen sense of humanity.

Photo Courtesy of IFC Films

Micheál Richardson (Neeson’s real-life son) plays Jack, the manager of a bustling London art gallery owned by the parents of his soon-to-be ex-wife Ruth (Yolanda Kettle). As a result of their messy divorce, Ruth’s parents decide to sell the gallery leaving Jack high and dry. Desperate to buy it for himself, a cash-strapped Jack will have to convince his jerk of a father Robert (Neeson) to sell their Tuscan country villa left to them by their deceased mother/wife. The problem is they aren’t what you would call ‘close’.

So father and son head to the beautiful Tuscan countryside and find the once stunning estate, neglected and vacant for 20 years, in desperate need of repair. Their delightfully snarky real estate agent Kate (Lindsay Duncan) informs them that if they don’t fix the place up they’ll never turn a profit. So Robert and Jack begin restoring the house, unpacking (predictably) years of emotional baggage along the way. Buried grief resurfaces and cloudy memories are brought into focus as the family’s history with the house is revealed.

D’Arcy smartly keeps things from getting too heavy until they need to be or too whimsical therefore undercutting the drama. And while the Tuscany backdrops are easy on the eyes, D’Arcy doesn’t milk them dry. DP Mike Eley admires the scenery without gawking, even having some fun with the notoriously arresting locations.

Photo Courtesy of IFC Films

It’s impossible to watch Neeson and Richardson and not think about the real-life reverberations. In 2009 their wife and mother Natasha Richardson died in a tragic skiing accident. This material has to hit home for both of them and you sense it in several scenes. But instead of fully tapping into those true experiences, the movie relies too heavily on a handful of clichés. Many of them come through Jack’s budding romance with a local restaurant owner named Natalia (Valeria Bilello). She adds some needed local flavor and is a welcomed presence. But Natalia never rises above being your standard love interest.

Rough patches aside, James D’Arcy’s behind-the-camera debut works where it needs to the most. I had no problem latching onto the two lead characters, believing their feelings of loss, and rooting for their inevitable reconciliation. Yes, some scenes are woefully overwritten and everyone (and I do mean everyone) has their moment to unload their past sorrows. But D’Arcy still manages to deliver a satisfying heartwarmer while Neeson reminds us he has more to offer than just headshots and hip tosses. “Made in Italy” opens this weekend on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

5 Phenomenal Michael Keaton Movies

August 6, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Few actors have the wild-eyed charisma and off-beat charms possessed by screen vet Michael Keaton. His career took off in the early 1980’s, dried up in the late 1990’s, and got its second wind in 2014. I’ve always loved seeing Keaton on screen so what better actor to highlight in a new Phenomenal 5. Narrowing down his film roles to the five best was as tough as I expected, but those are the rules. So while I wouldn’t call this the definitive list, there’s no denying that these five Michael Keaton movies are nothing short of phenomenal.

#5 – “The Dream Team”

Ok, so you could call this a more sentimental choice but I absolutely love “The Dream Team” flaws and all. It’s a 1989 comedy about four mental patients loose in New York City after their field trip to Yankee Stadium goes bad. Keaton is great as the snarky and mischievous self-appointed leader of the patients as they set out to save their doctor/chaperone from some crooked cops. “The Dream Team” wasn’t a huge hit, but it was a great showcase for Keaton’s explosive personality.

#4 – “Beetlejuice”

If you could have seen the look on my children’s faces when I first told them about a movie called “Beetlejuice”. Tim Burton’s 1988 horror-comedy is just as wacky as its name suggests. And despite its fun and completely game cast, the film works so well because of Michael Keaton. This is one of those roles where you can’t imagine anyone else being able to pull it off. He’s utterly ridiculous, weirdly charming, and an absolute riot from the first moment he hits the screen.

#3 – “Spotlight”

Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight” was my #1 movie of 2015 and it still stands as a powerful reminder of the importance of free, unbiased journalism. Michael Keaton plays the leader of a small team of investigative journalists working for the Boston Globe. The film follows the Spotlight team as they slowly uncover and ultimately blow the lid off of a massive wide-spread sex abuse scandal within the Catholic church. Keaton gives a perfectly calibrated dramatic turn as an editor fighting for his team’s right to publish their story regardless of the costs. A much different performance from the earlier two films on this list, but a pivotal one nonetheless.

#2 – “The Founder”

Easily the most underrated role on the list and arguably the most underrated role in his entire filmography. Michael Keaton’s starring work in “The Founder” went largely unseen by audiences and apparently by awards voters, but it’s easily one of his best. The film tells the story of Ray Kroc and how he created the multi-billion dollar fast food juggernaut McDonald’s. It’s a meaty role for Keaton, blending his skills with straight drama and dry humor. Chances are you missed this one when it came out in 2016. It’s definitely worth catching up to it.

#1 – “Batman”

If for some reason you needed more evidence of Michael Keaton’s enormous range as an actor, I present to you 1989’s “Batman”. Yet another collaboration with Tim Burton that sees Keaton playing the Dark Knight before superhero movies were all the rage. I remember being a bit unsure about his casting, but that didn’t stop me from standing in line for over an hour anxiously awaiting an opening weekend viewing. And Keaton didn’t disappoint. “Batman” is very much a Tim Burton take on the Caped Crusader, but Keaton brings his own wit and charm. You never doubt him either as Bruce Wayne or the crime-fighting vigilante in a cape and a cowl. Jack Nicholson received most of the attention for his sparkling work as Joker, but Keaton proved to be crucial to the film’s massive success.

So those are my Michael Keaton movie picks. What say you? See something you agree or disagree with? Please let me know in the comments section below.