Tag: Anna Gunn

BEING FRANK – Review

In their near never-ending quest for box office gold Hollywood studios (in this case we’re talking about an “indie” upstart), another stand-up comedian is plucked from the clubs (in this case it’s arenas and stadiums) and plunked in front of a motion picture camera. That was the case of vaudeville and nightclub stars back in the “golden age”, but the idea of fashioning a flick around a comic’s “schtick’ really took flight forty years ago with Steve Martin as THE JERK. He became an enduring movie star, much like Rodney Dangerfield and later Tim Allen. A more recent example would be Amy Schumer breaking through with TRAINWRECK, though her follow-up flicks have struggled at the multiplex. Now comes a (hope to be) quirky lil’ low budget flick that stars a comedian who has certainly “paid his dues” over the last 22 years, bouncing between TV shows and supporting film roles. But he’s in the lead this time in a project that exploits the “family man” themes of his more popular stand-up bits (well, it would be hard to make “Hot Pockets: The Movie”). Yes, Jim Gaffigan is BEING FRANK.

That Frank (Gaffigan) in question isn’t a “fun” guy. When he’s not rushing off to an overseas business trip, Frank’s squelching the dreams of his eighteen-year-old son Phillip (Logan Miller). While his kid sister Lib (Emerson Tate Alexander) adores her daddy, long-suffering, over-worked, under-appreciated mom Laura (Anna Gunn) just tries to keep things peaceful during the latest battle of wills between father and son. Phillip has been accepted to NYU, but Frank insists that he’ll go to the local state college. When Frank leaves for his latest “trip”, Laura and Lib decide to take a trip themselves, with Phillip promising to join them after he studies with his BFF. Instead, he and pal Lewis (Daniel Rashid) drive to a lakeside town an hour or so away, since Lewis’ uncle Ross is away they’ll crash at his pad. Surprise, stoner Ross (Alex Karpovsky) is still there. But a much bigger surprise awaits them when they hang out at the public pool. Phillip sees Frank there! He observes his pop giving a warm hug to the cute snack shop waitress. Keeping out of sight, Phillip has Lewis, who owns the wheels, follow Frank. The guys are shocked when Frank and the girl enter a house were Frank kisses a more age appropriate woman. And then he hugs a teenage boy who is around Phillip’s age. Could the extended business treks be a way for Frank to visit his “other family”? The one with second mom Bonnie (Samantha Mathis), free-spirited daughter Kelly (Isabelle Phillips) and jock son Eddie (Gage Banister), where Frank is a “fun guy”. Phillip quickly hatches a plan. While Frank is out, he shows up at the house introducing himself as the son of one of Frank’s co-workers. This way his pop will foot the bill for NYU to ensure his secret is kept (what’s a little blackmail between family). Can he possibly pull this off? Caution: wacky hijinks ahead!

Gaffigan certainly has the acting skills to carry a film, though his considerable talents can’t make the abrasive Frank a hero worthy of having the audience in his “corner”. We believe him to be a soul-crushing prig in the opening scenes (with “fam #1”), so we buy into Phillip’s shock when he (and we) see him as the “laid back” nurturing papa (with fam #2). Gaffigan delivers a few chuckles as the “flop sweat” pours when his secret is discovered, and his eyes show us that his brain is in “hyperdrive’ as he scrambles to deal with a new threat that may involve his “lives” colliding. It’s just that the big laugh ‘payoff’ isn’t there, despite Gaffigan’s energetic efforts, since this type of comic panic has been such a film and TV (sitcom) staple. Miller nails the frustrated anger of Phillip, particularly in the first act, and we can buy him as an opportunist who’ll make his pop foot the college bill or be busted. But his envy of “fam #2” (particularly Eddie) doesn’t jibe with his sudden turnaround into Frank’s enabler/partner in deceit, which isn’t helped by Miller’s more snarky, “eye-rolling” line delivery. The pairing just falls flat. The actresses don’t fare much better, though the two “Mrs. Franks” have distinct separate personas. Gunn’s Laura suppresses her bubbling frustrations as the constant servant/ negotiator of fam #1. While Mathis (who has eased gracefully from her 80s and 90s “teen queen” roles) is the more ethereal, “Earth mother”, welcoming Phillip as she pursues her “art” (countless canvases of the same nearby house). And making a strong impression is Phillips as the black-haired (a bit goth and a tad punk) smart and mellow siren Kelly who becomes a best ‘bud’ to Phillip while igniting incest anxiety in Frank.

First-time narrative feature director Miranda Bailey makes an effort to give them film a light tone, going for “family farce” rather than “bigamist tragedy”, but the often sophomoric script from Glen Lakin thwarts her at nearly every turn. The trite stoner antics of Uncle Ross just seem to bring everything to a dead halt as he drifts through his mental fog. And why the 1992 setting? Maybe the thought is that Frank could pull this off during a fairly pre-digital time (few cell phones and no quick internet access). Then there’s the sexual “coming out” of pal Lewis which pops up out of the blue in the third act, perhaps in hopes of surprising us enough to be invested in the meandering story. Nothing really happens with Phillip’s long-time lust for a schoolmate, while the tentative romance between him and Kelly is an uncomfortable way to wring laughs from Frank’s ever-increasing mania. Oh, and his confession to his son about his decision to lead a double life just distances us even more from the selfish manipulator. That’s an attempt at empathy and pathos that totally backfires. The lakeside locales are pretty lovely, but they’re not enough to make this nearly laugh-free flick compelling. Gaffigan and his castmates deserve better than BEING FRANK, frankly.

One Out of Four Stars

BEING FRANK opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

EQUITY – Review

7 equity

EQUITY is a film about Wall Street but not the usual kind. For one thing, it is about women working on Wall Street. The film is also not about the economic meltdown or other famous scandal, but instead is just about an investment banker, Naomi Bishop (Anna Gunn), who has risen to the top, playing the investment game with the big boys, in what is predominately a man’s business world. The title refers more to the kind of equity one means when you say “pay equity.”

This is a remarkable film for what it is not – the usual financial drama with men in the lead roles. Not only is the main character a woman but all the major characters are women. In this financial drama, all the really central roles filled by women, and men are in the supporting and romantic interest parts, the movie roles to which women are too often consigned. And these are smart, ambitious women, in a tough competitive business.

There is just something inherently cool about that. To boost that coolness, the film is also directed by a woman, Meera Menon, and written by a trio of women, Amy Fox, Sarah Megan Thomas, and Alysia Reiner. There are plenty of women among the producers and the crew but even better, women on financed the film, real “Wall Street women,” as a way to bring their real work and lives to the screen.

That is a lot of authenticity and all that “woman power” revvs up anticipation for the film itself. The story develops a kind of psychological/political thriller (financial thriller?) edge, with the women navigating the power games of the financial world, while dealing with the particular challenges of being a woman (and therefore an outsider) in a male-dominated business.

The story focuses on ambitious investment banker Naomi Bishop (Anna Gunn), who is trying to orchestrate a successful IPO for a tech company called Cachet. Although Naomi is experienced and very good at her job, having successfully launched IPOs for many Silicon Valley companies, her last IPO did not do as well as hoped. Although the poor opening happened after she left the project, it left a false impression she had somehow mishandled it. In an industry where you are only as good as your last job, Naomi now needs a hit with her next launch to win promotion in her firm this year.

Assisting Naomi is her young assistant Erin Manning (Sarah Megan Thomas, one of the script’s co-writers), who is also hungry to advance. Naomi’s job brings in big bucks but fitting a personal life into this hectic life is difficult. Naomi puts her career first and so is uneasy about romantic involvements. Still, she has managed to connect with Michael Connor (James Purefoy), who works in a different department of her firm, handling hedge funds.

At an alumni mentoring event sponsored by her alma mater, Naomi runs into a former college classmate, Samantha Ryan (co-writer Alysia Reiner), an attorney trying to make her name for herself  in the Department of Justice. The old friends reminisce and chat about their salary gap, government work versus the private sector. Samantha chats about her same-sex partner and their two children and how she has recently switched from drug investigations to white-collar crime on Wall Street. Unknown to Naomi, Samantha is investigating a hedge fund company that has contact with Michael.

While Naomi scrupulously avoids “talking shop” with Michael, to the reduce the risk to insider trading, ambition can make seeing the line between right and wrong more difficult. Plus, this is Wall Street where high ethical standards can be in short supply.

As the date for the IPO approaches, things get complicated. One complication is the tech company’s egotistical, hoodie-wearing founder, Ed (Samuel Roukin), who is proving difficult to control. But Naomi is a pro, and brings serious skills to the task.

With real Wall Street types behind the film, it strives to paint a real-world picture of women working on Wall Street, which is to its credit. The bones are there for a taut thriller but director Menon takes a decidedly low-key tone. That might be more realistic but that commitment to realism may impede the film’s success as drama. Although life is sometimes stranger than fiction, at other times it is duller. The cat-and-mouse game at the center of this film, its missteps and betrayals are played a bit more low key than a thriller demands for dramatic impact. Everything is about nuance – the fine line and that shady area between ethics and wrongdoing, the lies of omission, betrayals just short of outright, the choice of ambition over loyalty, and of course, the disconnect between the good and the rewarded. Even the sets and costumes are restrained, muted tones and pared-down modern design.

Anna Gunn is superb, painting Naomi as a shrewd character who is long experienced in playing the game but leery of the particular traps women face in the corporate world. Having a personal life is especially complicated for a woman at the top of the corporate ladder, and all the female characters are cautious about bringing the personal into the office. Both Samantha and Erin have more of a home life than Naomi – Samantha has a same-sex partner and two kids, and Erin is married – but they both work to keep their private lives separate from their work lives, for strategic reasons if nothing else.

One of the things that is surprising in this film is how often these women turn the tables on men who would rather treat them as sex objects. It is about using the tools at hand, without crossing boundaries. When the situation calls for it, none of them hesitate to turn on some feminine charm, if that softens men’s attitudes towards them or gets the information they need. These are smart women, skilled at their work, but sometimes exploiting men’s attraction to them does the job, while avoiding crossing a line.

EQUITY is not a perfect film, but it does use its story to explore a number of issues facing women in this competitive industry. We never really get inside these characters’ heads, although we come closest with Naomi, and the pace of the film is so restrained that it never builds the kind of dramatic tension one would like. Still, this is such a rare bird, a film that turns the tables on some many movie conventions, that it is still worthy of recognition just for the attempt, if nothing more.

RATING: 3 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS

EQUITY opens Friday, August 26th at the Plaza Frontenac

Equity_27X40_OS_Final_061416.indd