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The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
An oddly comedic take on greedy sleazeballs
It's a black comedy biopic about Wall Street criminal Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) from 1987 to 2003, mainly in New York City. We meet his two wives in the film--Teresa (Cristin Milioti) and Naomi (Margot Robbie) and his father, Max (Rob Reiner). We meet Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), the first stock broker to give him a job, and then the old pals with whom he developed a pump and dump brokerage house under the name Stratton Oakmont. The pals include Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), Nicky Koskoff (P. J. Byrne), and Chester Ming (Kenneth Choi). Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) is the FBI agent who finally brings him down.
"The Wolf of Wall Street" is an oddly comedic take on greedy sleazeballs who survive on illegal drugs, objectify all the women they meet, including their wives, and justify their financial tactics as the American Way. Leonardo DiCaprio gives a performance that reminds me of Ray Liotta in "Goodfellas," also directed by Martin Scorsese. DiCaprio is mouthy and entertaining while portraying a despicable character. It's DiCaprio's film; everyone else is in the shade, especially the women. At three hours, it's at least a half-hour too long.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
A less stylized version of a James Bond movie
It's a spy drama about the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) within the CIA. The film is set in the 1990s in Kyiv, Prague, Langley, Virginia, and a train heading from France to the Chunnel. Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) heads IMF. Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) heads the task force, which includes Claire Phelps (Emmanuelle Béart), Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas), Hannah Williams (Ingeborga Dapkünaite), and Jack Harmon (Emilio Estevez). The basic plot aims to identify a mole within the IMF structure, especially after Ethan Hunt's group is wiped out, except for Ethan. He gets the help of two "disavowed" agents in his search for the truth--they are Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames). Arms dealer Max (Vanessa Redgrave) is the non-IMF villain in the film.
"Mission Impossible" has a thin but convoluted plot, but makes its impact through chase scenes, apparent technical wizardry, and scenes of daring-do, especially by Tom Cruise. It felt like a less stylized version of a James Bond movie, more action-oriented and less tongue-in-cheek. That makes it less satisfying, albeit enjoyable, at a basic level. It was amusing to watch computer gimmicks that clearly date from the mid-1990s.
Anna Karenina (2012)
The highly stylized approach only works part of the time
It's a romantic tragedy set in 1874 Imperial Russia and based on Leo Tolstoy's 1878 novel. The film has two primary storylines. The first is the affair of the married Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) with Count Alexei Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Her much older husband, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law), is willfully blind until she finally confesses when she becomes pregnant.
The second, less developed storyline follows rural aristocrat Konstantin Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) and his pursuit of Princess Ekaterina Shcherbatskaya (Alicia Vikander). The stories connect through Prince Stepan Oblonsky (Matthew Macfadyen), Anna's brother with his own subplot and Konstantin's good friend. "Anna Karenina" is a Russian drama, so it ends in tragedy for some, happiness for others, and stiff upper lips for others.
Director Joe Wright takes a highly stylized approach to "Anna Karenina," frequently placing it visually within a theater. This only works part of the time and sometimes only distracts. Wright also emphasizes costume and theatrical tricks, e.g., Anna and Vronsky dancing when everyone else on the dance floor is frozen. I always opt for fewer tricks.
Keira Knightley is gorgeous and does an excellent job. Alicia Vikander also had a quality performance. I thought Jude Law was better than Aaron Taylor-Johnson, though maybe that's because I disliked Taylor-Johnson's character.
Gladiator (2000)
One of the dumbest movies I've seen in a long time
It's a pseudo-historical drama set in the Roman Empire in about 190 CE. Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a glorified Roman general favored by Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) but hated by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the Emperor's son. After Commodus murders his father, he goes after Maximus, who survives through anonymity as a gladiator owned by Proximo (Oliver Reed).
When Maximus surfaces in Rome, Commodus doubles his efforts to kill Maximus while Commodus's older sister, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) tries to save him in concert with various Senators.
"Gladiator" is one of the dumbest movies I've seen in a long time. I have no idea how it won so many Academy Awards. All the actors are one-dimensional, stuck in whatever personality a dreadfully thin script gives them. The dialogue is endlessly predictable, and the storyline is not all that creative. There are huge battle scenes and dramatic fights in the Colosseum, but they do little to salvage the film.
Les Miserables (1952)
The Law vs. Justice
It's a historical drama set in France from 1815 to 1832, presenting a truncated and revised version of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel. Jean Valjean (Michael Rennie) is serving a 10-year sentence in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread. He's a large and physically imposing man who is finally released with a yellow passport that labels him an ex-convict. The yellow passport makes it hard for him to get work or even food and lodging until he encounters Bishop Courbet (Edmund Gwenn), who shows him respect even after Valjean steals silver from him.
After six years, under a different name, Valjean is the wealthy owner of a pottery manufacturing firm in company with Robert (James Robertson Justice). However, Police Official Etienne Javert (Robert Newton) is still looking for Valjean since he never showed up in Orleans where he was supposed to go after release. The film follows the ongoing search by Javert even as Valjean tries to protect a woman dismissed from his factory, Fantine (Sylvia Sidney), who falls ill and dies. Valjean takes over care of Fantine's daughter, Cosette (Debra Paget), and raises her. Later, in Paris, Marius (Cameron Mitchell), a law student connected with the republican rebels, falls in love with Cosette. However, Javert again recognizes Valjean, and they have a final confrontation.
This version of "Les Miserables" takes significant liberties with the story in order to make a coherent, shorter version. Michael Rennie does a nice enough job as Jean Valjean, but the film has a barebones feel about it. The characters are sharply delineated with minimal nuance. Victor Hugo is contorted into a Western-style plot.
His Three Daughters (2023)
Lyonne, Coon, and Olsen are all outstanding
It's a drama about three daughters facing their father's death in New York City over four or five days in modern times. Vincent (Jay O. Sanders) is in hospice care at home, drifting in and out of consciousness. He lives at home with his stepdaughter, Rachel (Natasha Lyonne), the daughter of his second wife. Katie (Carrie Coon), the oldest daughter from his first wife, lives in Brooklyn and has visited maybe once a month. She has two children, including a teenage daughter with whom she's in constant tension. The second daughter from Vincent's first wife, Christina (Elizabeth Olsen), is actually younger than Rachel. Christina lives on the West Coast, is married, and has a young daughter. Katie and Christina have moved into the home apartment awaiting Vincent's death. We also meet hospice workers Angel (Rudy Galvan) and Maribella (Jasmine Bracey). Rachel's current boyfriend, Benjy (Jovan Adepo), also makes a crucial appearance.
A longer-term conflict between Rachel and Katie surfaces quickly- Katie is controlling, and Rachel defensively smokes weed. Christina struggles to be the mediator. "His Three Daughters" brilliantly portrays the tension between three very different personalities caught in a suspension of time controlled by a mostly unseen Vincent.
There are emotional explosions and recognitions of common perspectives. The film has a low-budget feel with a high level of human reality. Lyonne, Coon, and Olsen are all outstanding and relatable in their characters. The only part that felt artificial was Vincent's monologue. It lost a point in rating for me.
Vanskabte land (2022)
Odd mixture of Iceland Tourism cinematography and incomplete storyline
It's a competition-in-narrowmindedness drama set in Iceland in the 3rd quarter of the 19th century. Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove) is a young Lutheran priest sent from Denmark to a small Danish settlement in Southeastern Iceland. Unmarried, Lucas is woefully unskilled in practical matters except for a passionate interest in collodion process photography used in portraiture in the 1860s and 1870s. He is also socially insecure and stiff.
Ragnar (Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson) is a native Icelander who leads Lucas's trip across part of Iceland to his destination. Ragnar professes not to speak Danish. Lucas has a translator (Hilmar Guojónsson) with him, but he has an unfortunate accident, and Lucas also becomes ill.
When they finally reach the Danish village, Lucas recovers his health at the home of Carl (Jacob Lohmann) and his two daughters, Anna (Vic Carmen Sonne) and Ida (Ida Mekkin Hlynsdóttir). Ragnar stays to help build the new church. Lucas relates well to the two daughters, but Carl is skeptical about Lucas, whose personality continues to do him no favors. By the end of "Godland," there are three deaths.
"Godland" is an odd mixture of Iceland Tourism cinematography (which is beautiful but unrelated to the plot) and a storyline with gaping holes and unexplained contexts. What happened to the second body? What's the context for Carl's animus? Ragnar's refusal to admit he knew Danish seems on thin grounds.
Small Things Like These (2024)
A religious, psychological drama about resisting theocracy
It's a religious, psychological drama about resisting theocracy set in the 1985 Christmas season in New Ross, Ireland. Bill Furlong (Louis Kirwan/Cillian Murphy) is the local coal merchant. He lives with his wife, Eileen (Eileen Walsh), and five daughters. The family makes a modest living, but money is tight. Their two oldest daughters attend the local school run by a Catholic convent, which also runs a Magdalene Laundry. Sister Mary (Emily Watson) is the mother superior of the school and convent.
Throughout the film, we get flashbacks to Bill's difficult childhood with a single mom (Agnes O'Casey), which helps to explain Bill's psychological stress when he begins to see signs of abuse of young women in his town.
Suddenly the psychological stress when Bill discovers the physical abuse of a pregnant teenager (Zara Devlin) at the convent and has a confrontation with the Mother Superior. Bill must decide what to do.
"Small Things Like These" is slow-moving but beautifully filmed. Cillian Murphy is brilliant as a quiet but troubled man struggling with his past and sense of justice. I will always remember his obsessive hand-washing. Eileen Walsh is also effective. Emily Watson is pretty much a stereotype.
I wish the flashbacks had been a bit more obvious and the strong Irish accents of most of the actors had been easier to understand. I also wish the story had extended a little further, but I guess the movie stops where the book does.
Ladies in Retirement (1941)
A comedic noir drama that has aged well
It's a comedic noir drama set in 1890s rural England. It follows a 40-ish woman, Ellen (Ida Lupino), whose family fortunes have fallen, forcing her to serve as a housekeeper to a wealthy retired society woman, Miss Fiske (Isobel Elsom). Leonora's young maid, Lucy (Evelyn Keyes), also lives in the home, which is furnished with many possessions formerly owned by Ellen's family.
Ellen has two very eccentric sisters, Louisa (Edith Barrett) and Emily (Elsa Lanchester), who have been evicted from their home in London for their behavior. Ellen convinces Miss Fiske to allow them to visit, but their behavior leads to increasing conflict. Then, a young conman, Albert Feather (Louis Hayward), who is distantly related by marriage to the sisters, arrives. Ellen's conflict with Miss Fiske escalates to violence.
"Ladies in Retirement" then spins out Ellen's efforts to explain Miss Fiske's absence, and Albert's efforts to learn what happened while he tries to find a way to stay in the luxury in which he sees the sisters.
"Ladies in Retirement" is quite fun, though that may not have been the original intent. It has an Agatha Christie feel to it. The primary actors work well together. The story's pace and the cinematography are also effective.
The Big Heat (1953)
Fritz Lang could have made better creative use of the tory
It's a twist on a standard noir crime movie set in 1953 in a fictional American city. The film follows single-minded and honest Police Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), who has a young wife, Katie (Jocelyn Brando), and daughter, Joyce (Linda Bennett). Bannion resists his lackey Lt. Wilks (Willis Bouchey), and corrupt Police Commissioner Higgins (Howard Wendell) after investigating the suspicious suicide of a fellow officer.
Bannion knows that gangsters led by Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) and Vince Stone (Lee Marvin) control the city. After a bomb meant for him kills his wife, Bannion doubles down on his efforts despite efforts by the thugs to sidetrack him. Bannion has encounters with the dead officer's widow, Bertha (Jeanette Nolan), and girlfriend, Lucy (Dorothy Green), as well as Vince Stone's girlfriend, Debbie Marsh (Gloria Grahame). Bannion's interest seems to have fatal consequences, but the bad guys fail by the end.
As other reviews have pointed out, no typical femme fatale exists in "The Big Heat." Indeed, all the important women end up dead partly because of Bannion's bull-headed investigation. Fritz Lang could have made better creative use of this angle. Gloria Grahame is the best of the female actors, and Lee Marvin is a great villain. Glenn Ford is an actor with minimal range.
Experiment in Terror (1962)
The FBI is one step behind a not-very-bright villain until the end
It's a crime drama set in San Francisco in about 1960 (Dwight Eisenhower's picture is on the wall in the local FBI headquarters). The plot is established early. A hidden, menacing man (Ross Martin) threatens a young bank clerk at her home. Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) lives with her younger sister, Toby (Stefanie Powers). The man, who we later learn is called Red Lynch, tells Kelly to steal $100,000 from her bank on a Friday when major commercial deposits take place. He threatens to kill her and her sister if she involves the police and does not cooperate.
Kelly does call the FBI, and Agent John Ripley (Glenn Ford) leads the investigation. Several meandering plot threads involve possible female accomplices (Anita Loo and Patricia Huston), and a shady informant named Popcorn (Ned Glass). There are threats, murders, shootouts, kidnappings, and a climactic confrontation at Candlestick Park during a baseball game between the L. A. Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. Oddly, Vin Scully is broadcasting the game for the Giants.
"Experiment in Terror" has been labeled neo-noir, and it does utilize noir-like cinematography, but the story isn't noir in its execution. The unfolding of events frankly casts the FBI in a poor light as one step behind a not-very-bright villain until the end. Investigative procedures and victim protection are atrocious. Lee Remick is fine; Glenn Ford is not.
A Real Pain (2024)
Well acted, especially Kieran Culkin, but I found it ultimately depressing
It's a relationship drama of a Holocaust tour in Poland in modern times. It focuses on two 30-something Jewish cousins, David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin). Their grandmother has recently died and left them money to learn more about her background in Poland, where she survived the Holocaust before moving to North America. David and Benji join a small, six-person tour led by James (Will Sharpe), an English academic immersed in the Jewish experience in Poland, even though he is not Jewish. The other tour participants are a Rwandan Jewish convert, Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan), a recently divorced Marcia (Jennifer Grey), and a couple from Shaker Heights, Ohio, Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and Diane (Liza Sadovy).
The film follows the tour of the disparate personalities, especially those of David, who is married with a child, and Benji, who still lives in his mother's basement. On the last day, David and Benji leave the group to see the home where their grandmother grew up.
"A Real Pain" is billed as a comedy. I didn't find it all that funny. Maybe I identified too much with cautious, methodical David, and not the erratic, almost bipolar Benji, who suffered from a lack of filters. There is awkwardness as everyone relates to Benji, resulting in both amusing and cringy scenes. "A Real Pain" is well acted, especially Kieran Culkin, but I found it ultimately depressing.
Heretic (2024)
A horror movie about religious faith
It's a horror movie about religious faith over 12-16 hours in a house at an indeterminate location. The film begins on a light note with two seemingly naive young Mormon missionaries sitting and discussing pornography. Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) have a list of homes to visit where someone has inquired about the Mormon faith. Sister Paxton grew up in the faith in Utah, while Sister Barnes, who comes from a slightly more cosmopolitan background, converted with her mother after her father died. They visit the spooky home of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who charmingly invites them.
It soon becomes clear that Mr. Reed, a very theologically sophisticated atheist, is preparing to shake Sisters Barnes and Paxton's world and faith. He begins with verbal explication and moves to more chilling methods. In the end....
In "Heretic," Mr. Reed expresses some familiar critiques of the Abrahamic religions before careening toward his true religion. The cinematography is well done, though I can't really compare it to other horror movies since I don't generally watch them. I watched this one because of the faith angle. "Heretic contains gruesome scenes that renew my desire to avoid such movies.
Grant, Thatcher, and East provide excellent performances. The religious issues raised are interesting and worth discussion, and Mr. Reed's final expression of true religion is intriguing in a 21st-century, primarily secular world.
The Getaway (1972)
A formulaic Western transposed into the 1970s
It's a crime escape drama in Southwest Texas in the early 1970s. It follows an armed robber, Doc McCoy (Steve McQueen), and his beautiful young wife, Carol (Ali MacGraw). Doc, who is in prison, is up for parole but is denied. He gets Carol to approach a corrupt businessman, Jack Benyon (Ben Johnson), to ask for his influence on the board and promise to help in a criminal act.
Doc, Carol, and two of Benyon's henchmen, Rudy Butler (Al Lettieri) and Frank Jackson (Bo Hopkins), pull off the robbery, but things immediately go off the rails. A guard is killed, and then the robbers turn on each other. Plus, Doc learns that Carol satisfied some of Benyon's baser instincts to get his help. Bodies start to pile up as Doc and Carol try to head for Mexico, encountering obstacles like a garbage truck, observant store and fast food clerks, a con man (Richard Bright), and Jack Banyon's crooked bank manager brother, Cully (Roy Jensen). A mild-mannered veterinarian, Harold Clinton (Jock Dodson), and his lusty wife, Fran (Sally Struthers), also become enmeshed. Finally, a nameless old cowboy (Slim Pickens) provides the solution.
"The Getaway" is a formulaic Western transposed into the 1970s. The script is thin, as is the acting level. Everybody plays their stereotypes, and most of the actors seem to repeat their lines rotely. "The Getaway" is not one of Sam Peckinpah's memorable films.
John Adams (2008)
Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney provide full-orbed personalities
It's a biopic of John Adams (Paul Giamatti), the second President of the United States, and his wife, Abigail (Laura Linney), from 1770 to 1826, mainly in Quincy and Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, various European cities, and with some in the new White House in Washington City. The series takes a chronological approach, beginning with Adams as a youngish lawyer at the time of the Boston Massacre, proceeding through the Continental Congress, Adams's time as a diplomat in France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, ending with his time as Vice President, President, and retiree.
All the major Revolutionary characters are present, including Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane), George Washington (David Morse), Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson), Alexander Hamilton (Rufus Sewell), Samuel Adams (Danny Huston), and Benjamin Rush (John Dossett). Likewise, all of the Adams family is present, including children John Quincy (Steven Hinkle/Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Nabby (Madeline Taylor/Sarah Polley), Charles (Michael Hall D'Addario/Kevin Trainor), and Thomas (Thomas Langston/Samuel Barnett). The spouses of the children also figure prominently, especially William Smith (Andrew Scott) and Sally Smith Adams (Mamie Gummer).
I loved this series. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney provide full-orbed personalities to John and Abigail, and their mutual love story is well crafted. Stephen Dillane is a fine Thomas Jefferson. Sarah Polley is excellent in her brief role as the adult daughter, Nabby. The script takes some liberties with history to compress the number of characters and the story's breadth. The range of years covered in the series occasionally leaves some characters inappropriately aged, especially in the last, retirement, episode. But overall, I think "John Adams" is a masterful presentation of an imperfect, conflicted political leader moderated by a wise spouse.
Blitz (2024)
Style is featured more than content, which is a rotten shame
It's a story of a young biracial boy and his mother during the German Blitz of London over several days in late 1940. Rita (Saoirse Ronan) is a working-class single mom working in a munitions factory who lives with her musician father, Gerald (Paul Weller), and nine-year-old son, George (Elliott Heffernan). After the Blitz begins, Rita sends George together with a group of children on a train to the safer countryside. George is resistant, partly because of the racism he has faced in the past. He escapes from the train about an hour out of London and tries to return to his home.
The film follows George's spectacular adventures, both positive and negative, over the next several days and Rita's desperation when she learns that George is missing. A flashback to around 1930 briefly introduces George's father, Marcus (CJ Beckford).
"Blitz" features some great acting by Ronan and Heffernan. However, the script and the cinematography are overwrought and unbelievable. Computer-generated imagery makes it seem like half of London is aflame in three days. The script contains many partial stories with inadequate context and resolution. Style is featured more than content, which is a rotten shame, given the quality of the acting.
Anora (2024)
It becomes interesting when Toros and his henchmen get involved
It's a comedic drama about a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch set in New York City and Las Vegas, Nevada over a couple of weeks in modern times. Anora (Mikey Madison), an early 20s sex worker, goes by Ani when doing lap dances and such in New York City. She meets Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the 21-year-old son of Russian oligarchs. He's supposed to be studying in the USA, but plays video games and goes clubbing and drugging while living alone in his parents' New York City mansion. His parents, Nikolai (Aleksei Serebryakov) and Galina (Darya Ekamasova), have hired Toros (Karren Karagulian), a leader in the local Armenian community, to look after Vanya. In turn, Toros has hired Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan), another Armenian, and Igor (Yura Borisov), a Russian strongman, to help with the task.
Vanya and Ani hit it off so well that Vanya hires her as his "girlfriend" for a week in his mansion. Impulsively, he asks her to marry him. She finally accepts, and they go to Las Vegas. Soon, word gets back to Vanya's parents about this, and Toros panics as he tries to get the marriage annulled before Vanya's irate parents arrive from Russia. There are many complications and missteps as Toros tries to resolve the issue. There is a somewhat telegraphed ending.
The first hour of "Anora" is essentially explicit sexual foreplay between two uninteresting characters. Only when Toros and his henchmen get involved does some impressive character development occur. Mikey Madison has a very challenging physical and emotional role and pulls it off very well. Mark Eydelsteyn's character remains uninteresting throughout. Karagulian, Tovmasyan, and Borisov bring good physical and comedic energy to the film. Madison's interaction with all of them is memorable.
Path to War (2002)
One of the more nuanced portrayals of the Vietnam War
It's a partial biopic of Lyndon Johnson (Michael Gambon) from January 1965 to March 1968, set mainly in Washington, D. C., with a few scenes in Texas and South Vietnam. Lady Bird Johnson (Felicity Huffman) is prominent, and the two daughters, Luci (Sarah Paulson) and Lynda (Gina-Raye Carter), are less so. "Path to War" shows Johnson's increasing preoccupation with Vietnam despite his dreams of a Great Society. All the major advisors are present, especially Robert McNamara (Alec Baldwin) and Clark Clifford (Donald Sutherland). Dean Rusk (John Aylward), McGeorge Bundy (Cliff De Young), Nicholas Katzenbach (Francis Guinan), and Walter Rostow (Gerry Becker) also have roles. The generals include Earle Wheeler (Frederic Forrest) and William Westmoreland (Tom Skerritt).
The only Great Society profile in "Path to War" is the Voting Rights Act, with cameos by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Curtis L. McClarin) and George C. Wallace (Gary Sinise).
"Path to War" is an insider's perspective, mostly focused on Johnson's conversations with his advisors and their changing and competing perspectives. Michael Gambon remarkably portrays Johnson's vulgar and sometimes volcanic personality while still displaying genuine ambivalence about his decisions. His hatred of, and preoccupation with, Bobby Kennedy is clearly present. Alec Balwin is powerful as the assertive and initially very confident McNamara. Donald Sutherland's Clifford is more challenging to pin down. Most of the other advisors are interchangeable in the script, though James Frain, as Richard Goodwin, does a nice turn as an advisor who turned on the war.
"Path to War" is one of the more nuanced portrayals of the Vietnam War that you will see.
Wilson (1944)
Partly successful biopic by a fan
It's a partial biopic of Woodrow Wilson (Alexander Knox) from 1909 to 1921, beginning when he was President of Princeton University. We soon meet his family--wife Ellen (Ruth Nelson) and three daughters, Margaret (Ruth Ford), Jessie (Madeleine Forbes), and Eleanor (Mary Anderson). We also meet a close friend, Henry Holmes (Charles Coburn), and the man who became his personal secretary, Joseph Tumulty (Thomas Mitchell). After his first wife dies, his second wife, Edith (Geraldine Fitzgerald), becomes a significant character.
The script follows Wilson's life chronologically, spending little time on policy matters and more on his family life and relationship with particular politicians, especially Henry Cabot Lodge (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), a prominent Republican Senator who opposes Wilson on war neutrality and the League of Nations. This approach makes Wilson a more attractive personality. Still, it obscures some of the innovative political ideas Wilson put into effect, like a federal income tax to reduce tariffs and the creation of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Trade Commission.
"Wilson" addresses the President's health crisis in his second term but posits that his intellect and personality were unaffected. The film avoids any mention of Wilson's intense racism and his early opposition to women's suffrage. Given the film's production in World War II, it also inserts a patriotic rant by Wilson against the German Ambassador and the German nation. Patriotic music recurs frequently throughout.
Nonetheless, it is a modest rendition of Woodrow Wilson's life and times by a big fan, Darryl F. Zanuck.
The Missiles of October (1974)
The Cuban Missile Crisis day-by-day from Robert Kennedy's perspective
It's a docu-drama about the Cuban Missile Crisis over 13 days in October 1962. It focused on internal decision-making in the White House during that time, with representations with additional settings at the United Nations in New York and Soviet leadership in Moscow. We meet all the White House luminaries, including President John Kennedy (William Devane), Attorney General Robert Kennedy (Martin Sheen), Defense Secretary McNamara (Dana Elcar), Secretary of State Rusk (Larry Gates), Secretary of the Treasury Dillon (William Prince), as well as advisors like George Ball (John Randolph), McGeorge Bundy (James Olson), Ted Sorensen (Clifford David), etc. There are the Joint Chiefs of Staff, UN Ambassador Stevenson (Ralph Bellamy), and others.
On the Russian side, the film depicts Nikita Khrushchev (Howard da Silva), Andrei Gromyko (Nehemiah Persoff), Ambassador Dobrynin (Albert Paulsen), and others. Some civilians also become involved; the list of credits is very long.
"The Missiles of October" takes a day-by-day approach from the first reports to John Kennedy, the internal arguments between the diplomats and the military types about response (bombing/invasion or blockade), and the increasing tension as the conflict escalates between Washington and Moscow, and the mutual guessing on the other side's red lines. It's effectively presented. William Devane is a dead-ringer as John Kennedy. Martin Sheen is fine as Robert Kennedy. Both come off well in the drama, but it is based on Robert Kennedy's memoir. The other dead-ringer is Michael Lerner as Pierre Salinger. To its credit, "The Missiles of October" does not characterize Khrushchev as the bumpkin that Western writers often do; here, he is a wiley but politically realistic antagonist.
Unfortunately, the digital reproduction on the DVD I viewed was not excellent.
Here (2024)
Holiday movie about lives lived in a single house
It's an epic historical drama of a single geographic spot, probably in New Jersey, from prehistoric times to the present. It quickly deals with the dinosaurs and the Ice Age, and then in a jumbled fashion, addresses the pre-European era with an Indigenous couple (Joel Oulette and Ddannie McCallum), colonial times with William Franklin's (Daniel Betts) new home, then in the living room of the house built in 1900 across the street from the colonial house. We meet the various families who lived in the house, including John (Gwilym Lee) and Mrs. Harter (Michelle Dockery), an aspiring airplane pilot until 1918. Later, we meet Lee (David Fynn) and Stella Beekman (Ophelia Lovibond), the fictional inventor of a reclining chair, who lived there until the 1940s. After the war, the story's primary subjects are Al (Paul Bettany) and Rose Young (Kelly Reilly), their son, Richard (Tom Hanks), and Tom's girlfriend and later wife, Margaret (Robin Wright). Later, the African American Harris family, Devon (Nicholas Pinnock) and Helen (Nikki Amuka-Bird) live in the house.
Robert Zemeckis utilizes a single camera position that looks through the living room to the outside picture window once the house is built. We see joy, sorrow, disappointment, conflict, comfort, nostalgia, and pathos in the various lives lived in that space. Sometimes, multiple eras are on the screen at the same time in framed screen segments.
Contrary to some critics, I thought Robert Zemeckis's approach worked reasonably well for a holiday movie. There is no climax, but "Here" sympathetically observes lives unfolding. Not everything in the film was great. The prehistoric stuff felt pasted on. The Indigenous segments needed more significant development or omission. The movie could have started with the house being built in 1900. I would have liked to know more about the Harris family. But this was vintage Tom Hanks as everyman, and Robin Wright was a good match.
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
A hagiographic comedy-drama about Abe Lincoln
It's a hagiographic historical comedy-drama about Abe Lincoln (Henry Fonda) from 1832 to 1837 in Illinois, where he decides to become a lawyer and soon begins his practice. We meet some historical figures in the film, including Ann Rutledge (Pauline Moore), Stephen Douglas (Milburn Stone), and Mary Todd (Marjorie Weaver). The other characters are fictional, though the murder trial that forms the film's second half is loosely based on one Lincoln won in 1858.
"Young Mr. Lincoln" makes much of Lincoln's folksy style that masks a highly clever mind near that of King Solomon. His physical strength is also demonstrated. He undertakes a criminal case in which Matt (Richard Cromwell) and Adam Clay (Eddie Quillan), the 20-something sons of Abigail Clay (Alice Brady), are accused of murdering Skrub White (Fred Kohler, Jr.). A jovial judge (Spencer Charters) and a short, arrogant prosecutor (Donald Meek) provide foils for Lincoln's wit.
"Young Mr. Lincoln" is a cute story with a thin veneer of historicity, not what you would use to teach someone about Abraham Lincoln. The hagiography is really nailed at the movie's end, with Lincoln climbing a hill as a storm approaches, followed by the Battle Hymn of the Republic played over images of the Lincoln Memorial.
John Ford managed to make Henry Fonda look very tall. Most of the other characters come straight out of the John Ford Western.
Nixon (1995)
Overly long pop psychology biopic
It's an over three-hour pop psychology biopic about Richard Nixon (Anthony Hopkins) from 1962 to his resignation in 1974, with flashbacks to earlier times. Although his children are present, the family connections are primarily to his wife, Pat (Joan Allen), his mother, Hannah (Mary Steenburgen), and his younger brother, Harold (Tony Goldwyn).
We meet all the major political players. They include J. Edgar Hoover (Bob Hoskins), H. R. Haldeman (James Woods), John Ehrlichman (J. T. Walsh), Henry Kissinger (Paul Sorvino), John Mitchell (E. G. Marshall), Ron Ziegler (David Paymer), Chuck Colson (Kevin Dunn), and John Dean (David Hyde Pierce). The "plumbers" are all present in more minor roles as well.
The big problem with "Nixon" is the overly-emphasized psychological analysis that overly colors the narrative that would have made a decent film. Anthony Hopkins has Nixon's smile and speech syntax down cold, but he looks nothing like Nixon. Others fit better, like David Hyde Pierce as John Dean. Paul Sorvino is almost a caricature of Henry Kissinger. James Woods is a good H. R. Haldeman. There are some great scenes in "Nixon," but they are interspersed with introspective assumptions about Nixon that seem made of whole cloth. Richard Nixon's dark side comes through clearly and unendingly, with nods to his political smarts. "Nixon" is less engaging than Oliver Stone's "W." about George W. Bush.
W. (2008)
Enlightening on presidential abuse of power themes
It's a biopic of President George W. Bush (Josh Brolin) from 1966 to 2004, made in 2008 while Bush was still the sitting President. It begins with Bush's alcohol-infused party days as a young adult and his clashes with his straight-laced father, George H. W. Bush (James Cromwell), and mother, Barbara (Ellen Burstyn). He discovers his life direction after meeting Laura (Elizabeth Banks) and finding an evangelical Christian faith.
The movie then follows Bush's political rise, always focused against the backdrop of the Iraq War that began in 2003, two years after 9/11. We meet all the main political characters, including Karl Rove (Toby Jones), Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss), Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), Condoleezza Rice (Thandiwe Newton), and George Tenet (Bruce McGill). Scenes around decision-making in launching that war are interspersed throughout.
"W." suffers a bit like "The Reagans" in trying to cover so many years. This creates gaps and thinly explored relationships. But the tension between George W. And his father undergirds a well-told story. Josh Brolin, Toby Jones, and Richard Dreyfuss are all first-rate. Elizabeth Banks and Ellen Burstyn, especially, have underdeveloped roles. Oliver Stone uses a couple of dream sequences at the end that are not helpful.
However, "W." is very enlightening on presidential abuse of power themes, especially noted in an additional bonus item on the Blu-ray called "Dangerous Dynasty."
The Reagans (2003)
Contains much reality, but skims the surface
It's a three-hour TV biopic of Ronald and Nancy Reagan from 1949 to 1987. It begins with their meeting in Hollywood in 1949 when studio actor Nancy Davis (Judy Davis) met Ronald Reagan (James Brolin), head of the Screen Actors Guild, recently divorced, and ten years her senior. We meet their widely divergent children--Michael (Todd Fennell/Tom Barnett) and Maureen (Ashley Honey/Carolyn Dunn) from Reagan's first marriage, and Patti (Lindsay McClean/Tanya Trombetta/Alicia Bacile/Zole Palmer) and Ronnie (Matthew Rothpan/Brandon Blue/Shad Hart).
"The Reagans" soon jumps to Reagan's increasing political activities in the 1960s, including the Governorship of California and his early attempts at the presidency before focusing more specifically on his years in office in Washington, D. C. We meet many of Reagan's assistants, especially Michael Deaver (Zeljko Ivanek), as well as more high profile figures like Alexander Haig (Bill Smitrovich), Edwin Meese (Vlasta Vrána), Don Regan (Frank Moore), James Baker (Don Allison), and William Casey (Frank Fontaine).
The movie's focus is on Nancy's and Ronald's relationship, portraying her as the force behind the throne and Ronald with genuine conservative political views built on a thin depth of detail. His basic amiability made it hard for Reagan to deal with conflict in his office. The four children are all one-dimensional in different ways, except in being dominated by Nancy. "The Reagans" contains much reality, but skims the surface too often because of the range of time it tries to cover.