Say what you want to about the film, but you can’t deny that the man behind it certainly went with an attention-grabbing title for his feature film debut. Robert D. Krzykowski’s  “The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot” screams low-budget pulp. Who knew it was actually a meditative character study full of deep feeling and pathos. Don’t let it’s peculiar title fool you.

The film had a much different shape when Krzykowski begin writing the script some twelve years ago. His original concept was more of a playful exploitation film that fell in line with the quirkiness of its title. Over time it took on a more pensive form in large part due to real-life emotions Krzykowski was dealing with.

It instantly makes a good impression by casting Sam Elliott as its lead. He has always been an actor who could instantly grab the audience’s trust. He’s effortlessly charismatic and consistently great. Krzykowski hands him a role tailor-made for his down-to-earth and quietly rugged strengths.

Elliott plays a melancholy World War 2 veteran named Calvin Barr. He’s a man coming to terms with his old age and still reckoning with past choices that he either made or in some cases didn’t make. Krzykowski gives us several of Calvin’s simple day-to-day moments. To be honest I would enjoy watching Sam Elliott walk his dog or get a haircut for a full 90 minutes. But these moments actually give some meaningful insight into his character and what makes him tick. He’s a lonely man who has an occasional conversation with his little brother Ed (Larry Miller) or his bartender friend George (Alton White). But his closest confidant is Ralph, his faithful Golden Retriever.

Interestingly there is a second timeline which follows young Calvin (Aiden Turner) both during and surrounding WW2. Several of the things we see there get to the roots of old man Calvin’s state of mind. They include him falling for a charming young school teacher named Maxine (Caitlin FitzGerald) and of course the covert military mission alluded to in the title. Krzykowski clearly wants to give both timelines space to have their own identity but it’s almost unavoidable that we find ourselves wanting to getting back to Elliott. Still the flashback timeline works.

While the film is fully aware of the absurdity it dangles in front of its audience, it manages to take itself seriously mainly because it takes Calvin seriously. It treats him in a way that both demands and earns our empathy. Whether he’s sifting through his feelings of remorse and regret or wrestling with the ideas of heroism and being an unheralded legend. So when Calvin in approached by government agents seeking his help in hunting down the plague-spreading Bigfoot, we strangely care about his decision despite the sheer nuttiness of it all.

That gets to what I love most about “The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot”. It’s unashamedly preposterous yet so earnest where it counts most. There is a crazy yet fascinating harmony to these two seemingly opposites and the movie has a much deeper core than you might think. And it doesn’t hurt to have a fabulous Sam Elliott performance at the center. It’s a movie certain to clash with some people’s expectations, but once I got in with its unusual rhythms I was completely hooked.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

Filmmaker Bing Liu grew up in Rockford, Illinois a struggling city of approximately 150,000 people. At 14 he was given his first video camera and almost immediately he began making his first short films. At age 19 he began a project concentrating on growing up in the skateboarding community. This would become “Minding the Gap”, now an Oscar-nominated documentary which is anything but ‘another skateboarding movie’.

For Liu “Minding the Gap” is a deeply personal exploration. He serves as director, cinematographer, co-editor, and co-producer, but his deeper connection is with the subject matter itself. The film revolves around three friends: Keire, Zack, and Bing. The film’s deftly shot opening shows the friends skateboarding across a seemingly vacant downtown Rockford. We quickly learn this is more than just social time. It’s their time to release and escape from the hands life has dealt them.

A heartbreaking through-line becomes evident the more we get to know these three young men. Keire is African-American and sports a million dollar smile and an infectious personality. But beneath the surface he struggles with troubling memories of his late father who, despite their complex past, Keire misses greatly. He’s such an endearing person and your heart aches for him.

Zack is a bit of a wild-child with an unhealthy love for alcohol. His edgy and reckless lifestyle was his response to growing up with a cruel and oppressive father. But he smacks headfirst into reality after his girlfriend Nina finds out she’s pregnant. Liu’s camera careful documents Zack’s attempted transition from rebellious rowdy to responsible father.

Later Liu brings his own personal story into focus revealing that he too was the victim of an abusive father. For Liu making the film is a means of catharsis and it opens up an opportunity for him to reckon with his painful childhood. His story seamlessly intertwines with the others making each feel distinct and personal yet all part of a single powerful and moving theme.

You can’t say enough about the film’s subtle transformation from an observational study of young adulthood to a piercing examination of domestic abuse and its lasting effects. Liu displays such control of his vision and a good sense of how to bring it all together. He shows it most in the editing room (alongside co-editor Joshua Altman) where they cut through nearly twelve years of footage yet still create something strikingly intimate.

I doubt “Minding the Gap” would be as effective without fully embracing the cinéma vérité approach. The rawness of Liu’s images and the bare, unrestrained conversations are purely organic and sole-baring. There are instances where Liu is perhaps so dedicated to allowing things to play out naturally that people suffer as a result. It poses an interesting question of how much a filmmaker (particularly a documentarian) should get involved when he/she knows something bad has happened. And how much (if any) responsibility lies at their feet? This was a question I still struggle with concerning a couple of the film’s darker moments.

Still, there’s no denying the emotional gut-punch “Minding the Gap” packs. It’s all about the heart-breaking struggles of Keire, Zack, and Liu and the different life paths each of them travel. Will they be able the mend the wounds of past abuse? Will they repeat the sins of their fathers? It can all be pretty tough to watch. But just when we need it, we’re given one of those freeing skateboarding sequences – beautifully shot and full of smiles, laughter and energy. They offer us glimmers of hope for these young men, so full of life yet burdened by their pasts and uncertain of their futures.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

I found the very concept of “Miss Bala” to be promising. It’s a female-driven crime-thriller with a predominantly Latino cast and crew built around an interesting story premise and with plenty of big action. I found myself genuinely hopeful and rooting for the movie to offer a new and unique point of view.

We certainly get glimpses of that as director Catherine Hardwicke tries to walk the line between fresh and conventional. For the most part she succeeds. To my surprise “Miss Bala” isn’t wall-to-wall action with story beats only meant to move us to the next set piece. Instead Hardwicke and writer Gareth Dunnett-Alcocer give more attention to storytelling than to bullet-soaked bravado. If only the script had covered all its bases.

The film stars Gina Rodriguez who gives a truly eye-opening performance. She plays Gloria, an ambitious make-up artist working in Los Angeles. She heads to Tijuana, Mexico to visit and help her best friend Suzu (Cristina Rodlo) prepare for the Miss Baja beauty pageant. The trouble starts when the two friends go to a swanky nightclub in hopes of making connections with some of the pageant bigwigs. A shootout breaks out, Suzu disappears and Gloria finds herself in the clutches of a ruthless boy band…..errr… drug gang.

The leader of this young and often shirtless band of hoodlums is Lino (Ismael Cruz Córdova). He tells Gloria he’ll help her find Suzu but first she has to do some jobs for him (not that she really has a choice in the matter). At the same time the DEA gets wind of her and demands she works as their mole in Lino’s gang in exchange for their protection. Gloria ends up a pawn between two warring groups and must play both sides in order to stay alive.

“Miss Bala” is most effective when it centers on Gloria’s quest to survive in a world dominated by devious, power-hungry men. Rodriguez sells fear and dread at the perfect temperature. Her emotions ring true and every action she takes feels as though they are coming from a real place. In other words she is no female take on John Rambo. Hardwicke’s perspective always keeps her humanity in focus.

Where the film falls short is in its characterization of its villains. First off it never goes as deep as it should in describing who these violent baddies are. Does the strangely dreamy Lino and his goons work for a cartel? Are they middlemen or do they run the show? The other group is just as undefined – generic corrupt politicians somehow linked to a sex trafficking ring. It also doesn’t help that most of them are as smart as a bag of rocks.

“Miss Bala” lacks the edge you would expect from this type of movie, and its story plays out in the most implausible way. I also think you could argue that the film comes a little to close to glamorizing gang life. But Rodriguez is really good and she’s given just enough to keep us invested in her and her survival despite the pieces around her sometimes falling short. She ends up being enough for me to recommend the film while at the same team fully realizing it could have been a lot better.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS