Category: Review

Reviews from all of the movies we have seen lately, including everything in theaters and on DVD.

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES – Review

And just a week after the highly entertaining reboot of the web-slinger, here comes another franchise reboot, but rather than a first entry, here’s the third chapter, the rumored final one (only the grosses will tell) of a trilogy launched six years ago. But its roots go back nearly 50 years (we’re getting into Bond territory). Oh, and this is really the second reboot (first one didn’t…take). That original ancestor is that 1968 classic PLANET OF THE APES, the movie that gave Charlton Heston an iconic role not from biblical times, rather it established him as a science fiction star (mainly in dour futures as with THE OMEGA MAN and SOYLENT GREEN). Sure Chuck brought the adults in and made it “respectable”, but for the younger set, the flick was all about the fabulous simian make-ups enveloping some great character actors. Those John Chambers designed prosthetics continued on through four sequels and a prime-time live action TV series, along with countless toys, comic books, trading cards, and a Saturday-morning cartoon. By the late 70’s the fans had moved on to STAR WARS and their ilk, so “Ape City” was shuttered until Fox decided to bring them back for a new generation, guided by the director who made Batman a mega movie star, Tim Burton. But this was not a match made in movie heaven, despite the imaginative make-up work by Oscar-winner Rick Baker. After a lukewarm box office reception, the apes would go into hibernation for ten years, until director Rupert Wyatt helmed a reboot that was actually a “prequel” to that 68′ original. It was about “the beginning of the end”, focusing on the man-made virus that caused the RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. The other big change was in the looks of the apes themselves. Computer technology backed “motion capture” (mo-cap) had brought the creature Gollum (along with many other ‘beasties’) to vivid life in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. That new effects innovation, rather than foam and latex, could turn human actors into virus-enhanced simians. And who would play the chimp Caesar, the ape leader? None other than Gollum himself, Andy Serkis. Matt Reeves took over the series reigns in 2014 with DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, which had Caesar leading the charge against the human military out to eradicate them. Those battles led right into the final battles for Earth, as Reeves now delivers the final curve of the ‘arc’ , the WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.

The film begins with quiet, not chaos. A band of heavily armed human soldiers are quietly converging on a densely wooded area in the American Northwest, not long after sunrise. But, what is this? There are a number of apes helping them?! But how? Before we learn the answer, the group is attacked by a huge band of apes. They capture a few of the humans and the traitor apes. One soldier talks, saying that they were sent by the infamous ape-hating human soldier known only as “The Colonel” to track down the long-in-hiding ape ‘king’ Caesar. And suddenly the simian ‘phantom’ appears, the enigmatic chimp himself (Serkis). Despite pleas from his ape brothers, Caesar decides to release the humans (“Apes not kill”), but their gorilla helpers will stay behind (later they revealed that the humans offered them mercy, protection, and food). The peace doesn’t last a day. Under the cover of darkness, the hidden cave home of the apes is attacked by forces led personally by The Colonel (Woody Harrelson). After the soldiers retreat (with their ape helpers), Caesar must deal with the tragedy left in their wake. He will track down The Colonel and his troops, not for revenge, but to start a ‘dialogue’. But he won’t be alone, as several apes, including Rocket (Terry Notary) and the orangutan Maurice (Karin Konoval). join him on the trail. Along the way they befriend a young mute human girl (Amiah Miller) and enlist an ape who escaped a human research facility, one who has mastered speech much like Caesar (the others converse in sign language), who refers to himself by the name given to him by his captors, “Bad Ape” (Steve Zahn). Reluctantly ‘BA’ guides them to The Colonel’s fortress, where he has taken all the apes from the caves, including Caesar’s tiny son, and enslaved them. They work to exhaustion building a wall around the compound. To keep something out? To keep them in? Caesar and his crew will not stop until they free their ape family and prevent The Colonel from continuing his mad plan of ape extinction.

Despite their CG “jumpsuit” the actors still manage to convey the most subtle emotions, saying volumes with through their eyes and punctuated with superb body language. This newest work proves why Serkis is the “go to guy” when it comes to ‘mo-cap’. This is not to short change the immense contributions of the artists and technicians behind all the spectacular simians, but Mr. S makes Caesar one of the most charismatic, dynamic action heroes of this or any other blockbuster summer movie. He commands our attention, much like one of the classic, tormented royals of the Shakespeare plays. But, there’s a scene-stealer in the midst, a “Bad Ape’ that’s very good indeed, portrayed by the comically gifted Mr. Zahn. As he scurries about in his frayed “ski bum” attire, Zahn brings a manic, edgy energy to every scene, but he still let’s us see his shattered soul. BA seems scared of everything, with very good reason, even as he’s hilariously possessive of the most useless junk (“Put down! Mine!”). I’d also single out the understated work of Ms. Konoval as Maurice, the lumbering, sad-eyed consultant who’s a Buddha-like conscience to Caesar. Thankfully, this hero has an equally interesting villain in Harrelson, who is banal, dead-eyed evil incarnate as The Colonel (perhaps a nod to the mad Kurtz of Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”). He’s nearly impossible to ‘read’, never giving you a warning to his next deadly action. When his agenda is finally revealed, Harrelson’s matter-of-fact delivery will send a chill up your spine. Also of note is the delicate performance of Miller as the apes’ “pet” who is a reminder to them that there still may be some humanity left in those violent, aggressive humans.

Reeves keeps the pace taught with dread and suspense, only lightening the atmosphere with the welcome comic relief of BA. In the film’s last act, it goes from a journey right from THE SEARCHERS to a prison or POW escape thriller, that loses a bit of the tension with one too many “test of the wills” between ape and man. The action sequences are riveting, though some of the quickened editing tricks make for some confusion (all those camo clothes and fur, I suppose). Still the flick is a technical marvel, with the apes looking and moving much better than they did in the two previous installments. Like Gollum, and more recently Kong and Groot, they’ve gone beyond playful pixels and become truly compelling dramatic characters. Fans of the series will be dazzled by the apes and should find a most satisfying conclusion to a world turned upside-down in WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. They may just go ‘bananas’ for it (aw, just couldn’t resist, darn’ it).

4 Out of 5

TONIGHT SHE COMES – SLFS Review

TONIGHT SHE COMES screens Sunday, July 16 at 9:30pm at the Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis) as part of this year’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase. Ticket information can be found HERE

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Finishing TONIGHT SHE COMES is like a marathon for your tolerance of gore and sex on film, and that is about the highest compliment that I could give the film. The film plays like the best homage to the ideas that Sam Raimi set up in The Evil Dead, since Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods, and while it lacks the overall polish and cleverness of that feature, it’s low-budget grindhouse aesthetic provides the audience with plenty of amazing gore.

TONIGHT SHE COMES also isn’t scared to be obnoxious at times, with the opening minutes quite intentionally setting up our expectations to expect the typical exploitative horror film through airheaded female characters and an almost sickening focus on sexuality, but soon you realize that these features are  just there to sober you to the film’s world before it actually cuts the hell loose.

When it does, and boy does it, the film becomes one of the funniest and engaging pieces of exploitation to be crafted in the past few years. TONIGHT SHE COMES eventually starts to become so crazy and absurd that you can’t help but sit back and enjoy the ride. The light comedic tone to the cluelessness of the protagonists and their quick-witted dialogue makes for some of the craziest conversations on screen, with each new progression of the conversation and the situation offering a new “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” moment for both the audience and the characters. The escalation of the film from kind of boringly toxic to wickedly absurd and intelligent, parallels the characters own transition from the normality of their lives to the gory events of that the night and soon the film dissolves into a feeling of pure surrealism (not that it really is surreal) just because of the flurry of blood, guts, and insanity that is offered to the audience. To reach that level of gory absurdity, you need gore, and TONIGHT SHE COMES has lots and lots of gore. If the phrase, “Bring a Barfbag” sounds like the most entertaining thing in the world to you (and who can imagine it not being), then TONIGHT SHE COMES is going to be a wonderful ride for you.

Writer/director Matt Stuertz has a strong handle on the tone of his movie, even when it is obnoxious and he goes all in making the experience, unlike anything you’re going to see at this year’s festival. TONIGHT SHE COMES is a nasty, excellent package, and it’s definitely one to check out at this St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.

SLFS Review – LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL

LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL screens Monday, July 17 at 7:00pm at the Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis) as part the Narrative Shorts 3 Program that is part of this year’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase. Ticket information can be found HERE

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Sometimes a film just needs to leave an impression. An image, a sound, an emotion, anything, and LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL while certainly seeming a bit less than the sum of its parts, leaves you with quite an impression. The opening moments are beautiful, drawing in the eye with an ease that is almost unseen in films of this tier. It looks professional and it works to wrench you into the sublime chaos of a Civil War battle.

As the film continues, it sets up another wrenching situation. The question as to what a man of such nationalistic pride must do to participate in the war but not leave his daughter alone. The film’s best trick is to build up a nasty, wrongheaded mentality for its characters before revealing their slight nobility. The drama comes from the reality that there is no right way to reply the situation at the feet of the characters, there is only a dangerous option and a terrible option. The moral conundrum at the center here is as elicit as they come, leading the audience through a roller coaster of exploitative fear, relief, and sublime terror.

LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL, as mentioned before, also just looks great. The color grading gives the film a bit too much of a teal and orange look, but it looks professional and helps draw the audience into the world. There is an obvious care put into the filmmaking here and that along with the emotionally wrenching script makes LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL a treat.

For a list of all of the films screening at this year’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase, go HERE

THE MOTH DIARIES – The Review (and a Tribute to Video Watchdog)


As part of my post duty orders here at We Are Movie Geeks I am tasked with reviewing movies on DVD and Blu ray that may not have found an audience. Movies with little or no theatrical release, did not play very long, escaped attention, what have you.

I am proud to direct your attention to a little known film from 2011 called The Moth Diaries. First I have to say that I, like many millions of movie goers, reveled in the new screen incarnation of Wonder Woman, not only starring Gal Gadot as the original female super hero and masterfully directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins, and also starring Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen and a whole crew of the most righteous Amazons ever seen on a movie screen, wonderful!


I have a confession to make, at the age of 10 I was obsessed with the legend of the Amazon Empire. Fully aware that they did not allow boy children to live (allegedly) I loved the idea anyway. I saw Wonder Woman three times on the big screen, so far. I wanted the whole movie to take place in the Amazon’s Kingdom. But I digress; I’m here to talk about The Moth Diaries.
My point being that Wonder Woman is a celebration of Woman Power (I would say Girl Power but that would be more than a bit condescending.) Moth Diaries is even more of a celebration of Girl Power (here that fits, this is a movie about a girl’s boarding school. )

Directed and screenplay by a woman, Mary Herron (American Psycho) based on a novel by a woman, Rachel Klein, produced mostly by women including Sandra Cunningham and several others and starring an almost all female cast Sarah Bolger, Lily Cole, Sarah Gadon and many others, this is far from being a “Chick Flick” (whatever that really is!) No my friends The Moth Diaries fulfills every fan boys, and girls, requirements for a “scary movie” and raises a lot of questions about life in general.


Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) is one of many young ladies attending a prestigious all girls school in Canada (Moth Diaries was filmed in Quebec but the movie is never location specific.) Her best friend is Lucy (Sarah Gadon,) Rebecca keeps a diary of daily events and is haunted by the death by suicide of her Father, and apparently has attempted suicide herself. Both Rebecca and Lucy are popular among the other girls, until a new comer arrives, Ernessa (Lily Cole).

Ernessa, as played by Lily Cole , is one strange character. Right from the beginning we can see something is not right. Lily Cole is a very odd looking actress, her features seem to be accentuated with very heavy eyebrows.


Ernessa seems like a misfit and an outsider, at first. Soon Lucy is befriending her, and other girls trail in her wake. Rebecca is soon no longer the popular girl on campus. She starts believing Ernessa is a vampire, or is she just jealous of the new girl? Or is she going into a mental downward spiral of paranoia and madness?

Ernessa displays none of the classic vampire attributes; there are no fangs, no puncture wounds on the neck. There are crosses; this is a Catholic girl’s school after all. But Ernessa can enter the school chapel with no problem; she is fine in broad daylight. Yet she can command moths, yes moths, to do her bidding. And she can levitate, along with her new best friend Lucy while Rebecca watches in horror.

This is yet another film filed with references but many of them are literary. A young, handsome English teacher, Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman) teaches from the text of Dracula by Bram Stoker. In a wonderful scene he states that Stoker’s novel is really about female empowerment, female sexuality. This causes a room full of drowsy, falling asleep young ladies to (literally) sit up and take notice.

That the best friend of Rebecca is named Lucy is no coincidence. And Mr. Davies also teaches from the text of J Sheridan Le Fanu’s groundbreaking short novel Carmilla, the first vampire story to suggest a lesbian relationship between vampire and victim.


Moth Diaries is not a jump out of your seat scary movie. Instead we get a feeling of dread, real dread as the story progresses. It is not as graphic as other more recent vampire movies such as Let The Right One In and it’s American remake Let Me In. Although there is one scene, well, to quote Mel Brooks in Dracula, Dead and Loving It “there may be a little blood!”
And Moth Diaries does not just reference vampire literature. There are scenes and situations that echo every girl’s school movie from Madchen in Uniform and Picnic at Hanging Rock up to Dario Argento’s masterpiece Suspiria. One entire sequence is a nod to Argento’s film.

And Moth Diaries is ambiguous right up until the end. Is Ernessa really a vampire? Is she a ghost? Is she Rebecca from a past life? The movie more than hints that Ernessa and Rebecca is actually the same person. Lucy has a scene with Rebecca which more than hints that it’s Rebecca who is actually the vampire!

Moth Diaries is a wonderful, intelligent, well thought out movie that hits on several very human fears; being an outcast, a woman’s fear of her own menstrual cycle, (there is one very graphic scene depicting just that) fear of being misunderstood, of having our best intentions backfire on us, fear of sex itself, fear of gay sex, you name it, it’s all there.
I recognized none of the actors here, only the director was familiar to me. The whole cast is all on the same page and deliver wonderful performances with some very difficult and provocative material. Now here is the weird thing, creepy even. I don’t know how other Movie Geeks do their research on a film. Myself, I never, ever read a critic or a puff piece on a movie until I’ve seen it. After watching anything, in a theater, on dvd or blu ray, then I go to the websites and magazines to read what the critics have to say about it.


I hit our website first, We Are Movie Geeks, to see what my cohorts, associates and partners in crime have to say about a title, if it’s been reviewed. I also look at Roger Ebert’s website and Rotten Tomatoes, I read Dvd Verdict regularly. But my favorite place to read reviews are in some of the more esoteric magazines. I regularly buy Rue Morgue, Phantom of the Movies Videoscope, Shock Cinema, Screem, Famous Monsters, Diabolique. And one of my favorite magazines, for years, has been Video Watchdog, edited and published by Tim and Donna Lucas.

One of my bizarre habits, maybe you know someone like this, or maybe you is someone like this. I cannot read my magazines as fast as I buy them Just as an example I love Rue Morgue magazine, they have had several changes in Editorial staff over the last few years, yet they remain consistent in their layout, coverage, viewpoint all of that. I love to read their magazine, but I am still reading their 2014 issues. I have a stand up box with all their issues leading up to the most recent, mint condition of course, because I haven’t gotten around to reading them. And that is not the only one, all of my film magazines I am behind on. And if it’s the more mundane type of publication, computers or politics, what have you, especially fiction magazines, I am even further behind. I have magazines that I bought in the 1990s and I haven’t gotten to them yet.

The same with books, I have a terrible habit of buying books, putting them neatly on shelves, in alphabetical order, and, for the most part, ignoring them. I do read a lot of books, from the library. I have spent my life trying to catch up on my reading, probably will never happen. My last words on my death bed will probably be “I never got around to reading War and Peace! Marcel Proust! Romance of the Three Kingdoms! Wait a minute!”

My point being, that was not so with Video Watchdog. I love that magazine so much, I only have a couple of issues to go to be completely caught up. And this is the sad part, Tim and Donna Lucas have ceased publication of that wonderful magazine.

I had a subscription, I knew something was wrong last year when months went by between issues. Then, they stopped altogether, then I received a notice of a filing for bankruptcy by the Lucas, operating under the name Video Watchdog. I honestly felt like a close friend had died. I depended on Video Watchdog for a great many things, excellent reviews of movies I had never heard of and that always piqued my interest to see them. Or reviews of movies I had heard of years ago and never gotten the chance to see, such as their excellent article on a bizarre little regional film called Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood which someone at the Monster Times liked, way back in the 1970s. I still haven’t seen it but I sure enjoyed reading about it.


Tim Lucas did an excellent series of articles reevaluating and championing the films of Jess Franco, something that was long overdue. Pulling out a back issue at random, on the cover, Green Slime! An insane Japanese movie sci-fi monster movie with an all American and European cast. A review of the Silver Chalice by Ramsey Campbell, a review that led me to actually watch this amazing film. (Don’t worry I’ll be writing my own review shortly.) Campbell was one of the regular contributors to VW as well as Kim Newman, Shane M Dallman, David Kalat, Douglas E Winter and often Tim Lucas himself contributing wonderful articles, interviews and reviews.
I attempted to break into Video Watchdog some years ago when I wrote to several magazines offering my services. Tim Lucas was the only editor who actually sent a response. And now his great magazine is gone.


Now, I tell all this to lead up to the really whacked part of this rambling narrative. The day after I watched Moth Diaries, as I was just starting to look through my back issues for any information about this excellent movie, in the mail came, one last issue of Video Watchdog, an undated, number 184, final issue for current subscribers, with Lily Cole on the cover from Moth Diaries! The….Day….. After. Covered as part of an article detailing movies inspired by Le Fanu’s story Carmilla here was exactly what I was looking for, from a source I thought had disappeared from my life completely.

And, Tim and Donna are selling their back issues of Video Watchdog for the cost of postage and handling only, see their website for details. I put in my order and wrote a thank you letter to the Lucas’ for everything they’ve done for film scholarship. And I’m keeping every back issue I currently possess; don’t even ask if you can buy them, they are truly collector’s items now.
So thank you Tim and Donna Lucas, Video Watchdog is already missed.

THE LITTLE HOURS – Review

From left: Kate Micucci, Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza play nuns with pent-up lust and schemes that are played for bawdy comedy and slapstick absurdity in a movie based on a 14th-century story. Photo: Gunpowder & Sky (c)

Writer/director Jeff Baena draws on Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th THE DECAMERON for THE LITTLE HOURS, a bawdy, absurd comedy where the F-bombs fly through air thick with schemes and suppressed lust. Some audiences may object to foul-mouthed women religious but for those who don’t, Baena’s comedy is very amusing, as well as a clever updated twist on a medieval classic.

Nuns in the 14th century were different from today, as a convent was a place where prosperous families could send unmarried daughters or in which women without wealth could shelter, as much as a place for the religiously devout. Like Chaucer’s later THE CANTERBURY TALES, these women in habits could speak in plain, even rough, language in this tale studded with witty exchanges, practical jokes and earthy humor, as well as observations on life and humanity.

THE LITTLE HOURS stars Aubrey Plaza, who also serves as producer, and features a supporting cast that includes John C. Reilly and Nick Offerman. The costumes and rural setting may say 1347 but the language and behavior says 21st century teen girls. There are no “thees” and “thous” as these young women snark, eye-roll and “whatever” their way through the day. It is absurd, even silly, but mismatch between the surface appearance and the contemporary teen girl behavior is surprisingly funny, and the strong cast finds the human characters underneath as well.

Nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci) live a quiet life in a convent in 1347 rural Italy, under the kindly eyes of Sister Marea (Molly Shannon) and their priest Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly). The life is so quiet that the young sisters entertain themselves with petty sniping and bickering, out of boredom if nothing else. Alessandra draws resentment and scheming from mean girl Fernanda and tattle-tale Ginevra as the rich girl who is too privileged to do her own laundry and living in the largest room. Meanwhile, clueless Alessandra is longing to escape life in the nunnery. When her nobleman father, a major contributor to the church, visits her, she presses him for any news on the marriage he had been arranging for her. It is not good – the dowry the suitor is asking is too steep. Depressed, Alessandra returns to her embroidery, which the convent sells for extra funds.

When the nuns’ latest sharp-tongued berating finally drives the gardener/handyman to quit, Father Tommasso is left in a quandary. But a trip to town to sell to Alessandra’s handiwork brings the priest in contact with a handsome young servant Massetto (Dave Franco) on the run from his last employer, a nobleman (Nick Offerman) who caught the young man in bed with his wife. The meeting solves both their problems: a place for Massetto to hide and a replacement for the convent’s handyman/gardener. To be on the safe side, the priest advises Massetto to pretend to be a deaf-mute.

That situation lays the groundwork for all kinds of mischief and silliness, plus lots of bed-hopping and drunkenness. The cast also includes Fred Armisen as a stern visiting bishop.

Writer/director Jeff Baena’s clever idea to keep the 14th century setting but have everyone speak and act as if it were present day works better comically than one might expect. As Boccaccio’s original collection of novels were written in the vernacular of its time, the idea makes a certain sense. The roles are played deadpan, not camped up, which actually makes it funnier. The film is not anything profound or deep, just a little bit of bad-language spiked fun, which has to count as a disappointment for literary fans. Still, Baena deserves credit for the effort although not everything about the film works and there are moments when the conceit seems forced. Updating the character’s language and behavior makes the situations sillier and adds a layer of fun, but it also often makes the source material’s underlying universal human themes more apparent, by taking away the disconnect created by archaic language.

Although a lot of intrigue and back-stabbing takes place, the film is surprisingly sweet in the end, Since this is a comedy, nothing really bad happens in the end, although audiences certainly will be aware things would not really turn out so sunny in medieval times.

The cast does a lot to make this unlikely concept work. As the three nuns, Plaza, Brie, and Micucci each bring their comic delights, making one think of high school even though what these women are doing involves digging vegetables, attending chapel and chasing the convent’s every-escaping donkey rather than attending classes and tryouts for the school play. As the conniving mean girl, Plaza is the queen of eye-rolling and her snarkiness particularly sets off the group’s outcast, busy-body Ginerva. As Ginerva, Kate Micucci is a bundle of nervous energy, chasing after the other two and never quite getting what is going on. Alessandra’s relative privilege gnaws at Plaza’s Fernanda, who cannot help plotting. Alison Brie’s Alessandra is cluelessly aloof and very much the princess, although clearly depressed at the prospect of spending the rest of her life locked in the convent. Dave Franco (younger brother of James Franco) is appropriately sexy and appealing as luckless Massetto, and O’Reilly plays Father Tommasso with a winning charm. The priest is almost the only character who talks about religion and God. While he seems a good-hearted man, he has a serious drinking problem and a casual view on lies and other sins.

With this winning cast, spending time with them is amusing if one is not too sensitive about the bad language, although the story kind of descends into nonsense when it brings in the spells and witches. THE LITTLE HOURS is a small delight more than a profound must-see but it does offer its share of bawdy fun, wrapped up neatly in the end. THE LITTLE HOURS opens Friday, July 7 at the Tivoli Theater.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Little Hours movie poster

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING – Review

 

Okay fantasy film fans, here’s a quick memory quiz for you (if you’re well past twenty). You recall what you were doing on that first weekend of May fifteen years ago (can’t be that long ago)? There’s a very good chance that you were making movie history by smashing the existing three-day box office total for a new film. Its title? Why the biggest film of 2002, Sony Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire. For fans of superhero cinema, that year has the same importance as 1978 (SUPERMAN THE MOVIE directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve) and 1989 (BATMAN directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton…more about him soon). Sure, Superman and Batman had been the subject of low-budget movie serials, a story shown in weekly installments, usually a staple of “kiddie” matinees until the mid 1950’s. The Dark Knight had a feature film in 1966, but it was basically and extension of the incredibly popular TV show. But in 78 and 89 they finally got the big budget treatment fans thought they had long deserved. This was great for those iconic characters from DC Comics (formally National Periodicals, now a part of the Warner family), but what about that younger upstarts at Marvel Comics? The major movie “door” had been pushed slightly ajar for the company when BLADE came out in 1998. The door swung out a bit more two years later with X-MEN. Its success started a flurry of legal action to see who had the screen rights to Marvel’s most popular solo character, its corporate mascot, it’s “Mickey Mouse”. Sony, the eventual winner, more than made back the legal fees with that 2002 film and its 2004 follow-up SPIDER-MAN 2 (with the great villain Dr. Octopus, I’m not alone in thinking it’s the better movie of the two). The three films since then seemed to lose that “magic spark”. SPIDER-MAN 3 in 2007 with its villain overload (the Sandman, Venom, and a new Green Goblin) and sci-fi subplot hastened the departure of Raimi, Maguire, and co-star Kirsten Dunst. The 2012 “reboot” from director Marc Webb(?!), THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN made good use of the chemistry between stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (as Spidey and Gwen Stacy), but the story was bogged down with corporate intrigue Oscorp’s behind everything). That same problem plagued its sequel, 2014’s, along with, once more, too many bad guys (Electro, the Rhino, and yet another Goblin). It “under-performed” at the box office, Sony decided on a somewhat radical move. By this time Marvel had become a major force in Hollywood, producing hit after hit, starting in 2008 with IRON MAN. Sony wanted to keep the franchise going, so what about a partnership? This agreement bore fruit last May when Spidey was enlisted by Tony Stark to be part of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. This new, younger ‘web-spinner” was a huge hit with audiences and one of the highlights of that smash film. Now he gets to be the main focus of the story, and since Marvel is now steering his film series, it’s like he’s really returning to his roots, his nest (for another arachnid analogy). For that reason, the title seems an near perfect fit, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING. To borrow a lyric from John Sebastian’s classic TV theme song, “Welcome baaack…”.

 

The film’s first moments quickly establish that we are right in the middle of the Marvel “movie-verse”, by taking us back five years to the aftermath of the “battle of New York” AKA the finale of MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS. After such an enormous disaster, an overwhelmed city outsourced much of the clean-up and repair. One lucky contract went to the salvage firm owned by Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton). But as they load up various alien artifacts (the Chitauri left behind a lotta’ tech), a group of “suits” appear. Their supervisor (played by a beloved TV authority figure) announce that the contract is void and the Toomes crew should vacate after turning over all the recovered alien “gadgets and gizmos a’plenty” (oops, sorry). This doesn’t go over well with Toomes, and as he leaves he tells one of his workers to hold on to some of their findings. Jump cut to more recent times, and Toomes is running a secret weapons operation, selling and using devices (to pull heists) using those Chitauri power sources and “doodads”. Seems one of his guys, Phineas Mason AKA The Tinkerer (Michael Chernus) is an alien firearms savant. We then see a short video that gives us a Spidey’s eye view of the big battle overseas from last year, all footage shot by Peter Parker (Tom Holland). He’s dropped off at his Queen home via the limo of none other than Mr. Tony Stark AKA Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), who tells Pete to keep a low profile, help with local problems, and check in with Stark security supervisor ‘Happy’ Hogan (Jon Favreau). But Pete is eager to go on another “retreat” with hopes of becoming a full-fledged Avenger. Tony deflects the questions and Peter totes the large metal case containing his new “tricked-out” spider suit up the steps to his apartment. The next day it’s back to the old routine at Mid-Town High : hangin’ with best pal Ned (Jacob Batalon), oogling gorgeous senior queen Liz (Laura Harrier), avoiding the put-downs from the obnoxious ‘Flash’ (Tony Revolori), and trading barbs with snarky Michelle (Zendaya). But the day can’t zip by fast enough for Pete. He stares down the clock, eager to be back on the streets. protecting the public as Spider-Man. And just what dangers await? Well, he foils a bicycle robbery, helps a woman with directions (she buys him churro), and bungles a car theft. Pretty tame stuff, until he spots four masked men trying to grab cash from an ATM lobby. Unfortunately they’re using some of the souped-up weapons from Toomes, and during the melee Spidey has to rescue a man whose business is destroyed from a laser blast. Pete contacts Stark who is insists that he stop pursuing such a dangerous gang and leave it for the Avengers. However, Spidey somehow keeps crossing paths with these hoods and their boss Toomes, who now dons a winged suit of armor to become the Vulture. Can Pete continue to keep his after-school activities from his protective Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). And what will ‘Happy” and Tony do when Peter ignores their warnings? Is Spidey too old for a “time out”?

 

 

Tom Holland proves that his scene stealing appearance in last year’s Marvel epic was not a fluke as he carries this story on his very capable shoulders and makes the dual roles of Peter Parker and Spider-Man his very own. Gone is the frequent dour attitude of Maguire and the sneer of Garfield, instead we have the hero, who’s really more “Spider-Teen’ than Spider-Man (but don’t tell Pete that). He’s filled with youthful exuberance and curiosity (I knew he was gifted when I reviewed THE IMPOSSIBLE five years ago), completely believable as a smart, often awkward, but always endearing high school kid. Yes, Spidey always worked best in the comics as a kid (or “tween”) who can easily “get in over his head”. Holland has expert comic timing and sharp line delivery (good yank accent, you Brit. you), and is also a terrific mime, which is a must when you’re covered eye to toe in blue and red spandex. Although we can’t see those hazel eyes through the mask, Holland conveys the character’s emotions through expert body language. As much as Gal Gadot was the perfect “find” for Wonder Woman, Holland’s the perfect “fit” for ole “web-head”. Oh, and he’s got terrific rapport with the other young actors, particularly Batalon as the sweet, nerdy goofball Ned, the kind of best pal we’d be lucky to have growing up. Incredibly supportive, Ned is always seconds away from bursting with excitement and enthusiasm. His ultimate dream, to be “the guy in the chair” is one of the film’s best running gags. Zendaya has an infectious laid-back vibe as the rebellious little “hellion” Michelle, a “tough chick” who will call you out on your BS, guys! At the other end of the spectrum is Harrier as the ethereal dream girl Liz, whose outer confidence masks her vulnerability. She’s the school “angel” who’s surprisingly down to Earth and nice (especially to timid Pete). Revolori gives a different take on ‘Flash’ than we’ve seen in other Spidey flicks. Rather than the violent towering brute, he’s a cruel, sarcastic vain rich dweeb, closer to Reggie in the Archie comics. A most pleasant surprise was seeing Abraham Attah (so heartbreaking in BEASTS OF NO NATION), now a lanky teen playing a member of the academics team. What great casting!

 

But what of the adults, the “slightly” past their twenties set? Well, they’re pretty fabulous, dominated by the unbelievably intimidating performance of Michael Keaton as one of the earliest (number 2!) comics foes. They say a hero’s only as good as his villain, and Toomes may be the best “Marvel-verse” baddie since we first met Loki. If you had asked me a few months ago to put together a top ten list of Spider-Man villains (and he’s got the best “rogues gallery” after the caped crusader), the Vulture would’ve been lucky to be in a top 20. But to borrow a phrase from Kevin Smith, who said he never cared about Iron Man till Downey, Keaton makes Toomes Spidey’s best movie adversary since Doc Ock. A confrontation out of costume in the story’s third act is perhaps the movie’s scariest scene (this guy will carry out that threat). This is another splendid role in Keaton’s post BIRDMAN “comeback”. His menace is matched by the charm and father-like warmth (really, no kidding) of Downey who continues to add new, interesting layers to tech-master Tony Stark. Of course he’s truly funny, but we see him here as more than just a mentor. Tony is tough with Peter, perhaps because he sees a lot of himself in the “kid”, but maybe he sees the son who he might have raised if he hadn’t been a rich jerk for so long (before the events of the 2008 film). His past co-star (ONLY YOU and CHAPLIN), Tomei, is a sprightly and, odd to say this about the comics character, sexy delight as May Parker (another great running joke is how all the mature dudes in Queens, even Stark, have a “thing” for her). Here’s hoping she’ll get many more scenes, plus a look into her “back story”, in the next installment since she and Holland are also a great team (gotta’ see what happens after the final fade-out). I was happy  that we get to see a lot of Favreau (as much as the Iron Man trilogy) as the gruff, “gloomy gus” with a heart of gold that is the tough and tender Mr. Hogan. Plus the film is peppered (watch it) with several terrific comic actors. Donald Glover is smooth as silk as a low-energy criminal informant that has some good advice for Spidey (“Ya’ got ta’ get better at this”). Martin Starr (now on “Silicon Valley” but the best part of “Freaks and Geeks”) as the nervous, jittery faculty advisor to the academics team (“Where’s Parker? Again!”), and Hannibal Buress scores some big laughs as the PE teacher, Coach Wilson.

 

With only one feature film to his credit, the indie thriller COP CAR with Kevin Bacon, director Jon Watts smashes through, into the big, big leagues with this non-stop entertainment machine. They epic action sequences are masterful, but he makes the small intimate scenes just as powerful. Although six different writers (including Watts) are credited for the screenplay, the film never feels disjointed. Wisely the film makers opted against rehashing the big origin story. We all should recall it, so there’s no need to witness the demise of a third ‘Uncle’ Ben Parker (though it’s hinted at in a brief bit of dialogue). And it has heart to spare, since the best Spidey stories don’t merely focus on his battles and powers, but integrate the fantastic with honest human relationships. While many “super guys and gals” tower above us (billionaire vigilantes, Greek and Norse gods, strange visitors from another planet), Peter Parker and his alter ego are “reg’lar fellas”. To borrow a lyric from the late, great Howard Ashman,”Who’s that hero next door?”. It’s that nice masked man helping the lady find her way around the city. There are great references to the other Marvel movies (why does the school principal have so many military medals on display, the Sokovia Accords are covered in history class), and tributes to classic comics that will warm the hearts of “four-color” fans (“Amazing Spider-Man”, volume one, issue number 33, “The Final Chapter”..nuff’ said!). And another rollicking, pulse-pounding score from Michael Giacchino (even working in a version of one of our favorite TV themes). But even casual movie-goers will be delighted that the “web-spinner” returns to the forefront of exciting movie franchises. It’s a most welcome, very happy homecoming indeed!

 

5 Out of 5

 

THE BIG SICK – Review

“I’m battling a 1,400-year-old culture!” lead actor Kumail Nanijani yells amid an emotional dispute with his girlfriend in the Sundance-praised film THE BIG SICK. This culture he’s specifically referencing is the Pakistani-born, Muslim belief household that believes in arranged marriage with another woman from his own country. And yet, this culture can also allude to the romantic-comedy genre that American filmgoers are used to viewing on the big screen. It’s not every day where a Middle Eastern actor gets top billing in a motion picture released across the country, and it’s quite another thing to see that someone play opposite a blonde-haired, blue-eyed American woman. The genre tends to skew predominantly white across the board. So, it’s with great fortitude that Kumail is willing to put aside his personal fears and squash cinematic norms to share a story about his and screenwriter Emily V. Gordon’s real-life romantic courtship.

Kumail meets Emily (played by Zoe Kazan) one night after a stand-up set at the comedy club he performs at. A one-night stand reluctantly turns into more after Kumail sets it upon himself to see her more than just that night. It doesn’t take long for their relationship to blossom. All the while, the expectations of his parents begin to wear on Kumail, who continuously try to set him up with young, single Pakistani women. This pressure, unfortunately, creates a rift between the star-crossed lovers. When Emily suddenly falls sick and is hospitalized, Kumail is put into a position where he is forced to confront his fears and her parents, played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter (in what might be two of the best performances of their careers).

Produced by Judd Apatow, THE BIG SICK carries with it story beats that are familiar to Apatow’s brand. Though this time around, the dick and fart jokes are toned down compared to previous outings. However, it is a formula that has proven successful in FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL and the Netflix show LOVE that balances drama and comedy, while letting the characters explore life in a way that feels surprisingly natural. Writers Kumail and Gordon have a knack for pivoting on a dime between sentimental and schtick – sometimes working both into the same scene, as is the case where a hospital lunchroom scene becomes howlingly funny.

A simple story is able to make room for complex issues in a tender and sincere way. Even though it’s a film about two people falling in and out of love with each other, it’s able to build layers of loss and regret through Emily’s parent’s relationship paired with Kumail’s identity. The pressures of being raised in a Pakistani family are brought to the forefront in such a way that each scene between Emily and Kumail feels like a step toward danger. The mounting pressure from his family is constantly casting a black cloud over their growing love for each other, making their love both a tragedy and a symbol for the bitter irony of the American dream for many foreigners. While his family has acclimated to life in America, the cultural clash becomes a central conflict that is refreshingly never entirely resolved. In the end, providing a realistic parallel to a growing problem our country is facing with no resolution in sight.

It goes without saying that Kumail is a shoo-in for a role where he plays himself, but Zoe Kazan, despite her natural charm, struggles slightly more during some of the more emotional highs. It’s a minor complaint though in a film where you can feel the heart and honesty in every scene. THE BIG SICK is an earnest remedy to the summer slog of big-budget, studio retreads. The battle within Kumail between his traditional Muslim parents and his love for Emily is a rivalry that puts more at risk than any Transformers film or spandex-clad superhero battle. In the end, hearts will be broken and the damage and pain are more traumatic than any CGI spectacle can elicit.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 

THE BIG SICK is now playing in limited theaters and opens in St. Louis on July 7th

MAN IN THE CAMO JACKET – Review

Review by Stephen Tronicek

XLrator Media will be releasing the Mike Peters documentary MAN IN THE CAMO JACKET on VOD and iTunes on July 4th.

Mike Peters seems to be a kind, wonderful person, who helps inspire his fellow man. He should have gotten a better documentary than Man in the Camo Jacket. The film isn’t bad, it’s just there, with its incredible subject matter, and only that. The story of the rise of The Alarm is interesting and the story of Mike Peters fight against cancer is interesting, but the filmmaking behind it seems to be so trite and seen that it can’t help but lack a compelling bone in its body. The man at the center is great, the movie around him just isn’t.

The material here though has all of the hallmarks of an incredible story. A group of kids in a band rising to great success, the breakup of said band and the journey of one of the members through having cancer, sounds like a very good premise for any type of film, documentary or not, but as is said too many times, film is a visual medium and you can’t just have a good story, you need to create a cinematic work as well. Man in the Camo Jacket is suitably cinematic, pieced together from concert recordings and other materials, but it gives us just a clip show to watch. The man at the center, while also fascinating, doesn’t seem to be given anything more than a superficial profiling. There must be difficulty in shaping the portrait of a subject in any documentary, you try to explain who a person is to someone else, but beyond the now trite showcase of a man being simply a good man, there’s nothing else on the bones of the film here. Everything seems so gleeful, a move that while with no doubt expresses the man at the center of the film, can’t help but make everything seem manufactured.

This review was written with some difficulty because beyond the man at the center, there really isn’t a movie here. Mike Peters seems like the nicest guy, and his energy is infectious, but that’s just not enough to make Man in the Camo Jacket good.

LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD – Review

Gertude Bell seated on camelback between Winston Churchill (left) and T.E. Lawrence on a visit to Egypt, in the documentary LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD. Photo courtesy of Between The Rivers Productions (c)

Did you ever wonder how the Middle East got to be the way it is? Many experts believe part of the answer to some of the region’s modern tensions lies in how national boundaries were drawn by European colonial powers after World War I. That a British woman played a role in the shaping of the boundaries of the Middle East – Iraq in particular – is a little known fact. That woman, Gertrude Bell, is the focus of the documentary LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD.

In a time when women were rarely independent, the strong-willed and aristocratic Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell was a unique exception, traveling alone to the Middle East, and then immersing herself in the culture and history of the region, and ultimately becoming an expert on Iraq, then called Mesopotamia. Born in the late 19th century at her wealthy family’s lavish mansion in Yorkshire, England, she traveled to the Middle East at a young age and rarely returned home to Britain. With the support of her doting father, Bell spent her lifetime in the Middle East as an explorer, archaeologist, government official and sometimes spy, and authored scholarly papers and more. Bell did much to shape Iraq in particular ,while serving as an expert adviser on the area to the powers-that-be in the British government and as an official in the colonial administration. Her wide influence earned her the nickname “the female Lawrence of Arabia.”

Of course, Bell’s letters to family and friends didn’t just come from Baghdad, but from all over the Middle East. Bell wandered throughout the area occupied by the Ottoman Empire in the years before World War I, investigating antiquities and archaeology, and getting to know the peoples, cultures and language of the area. But Bell’s extensive study of the people, and even family genealogies, of the region played a crucial role in the formation of post-WWI Iraq, whose borders were drawn by the British colonial power under the influence of American oil companies.

All this sounds eerily familiar today in modern Iraq. Gertrude Bell deserves both credit and blame, along with the British government and oil companies, for the current shape of Iraq, both its borders and its fractured religious and ethnic composition. However, Bell, like T.E. Lawrence, originally envisioned a self-ruling and independent Iraq, something neither of them got.

Directors Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbuhl aim to lift this strong female figure out of obscurity and restore her place in history. This ambitious documentary is a worthy effort but not always a successful one.

Bell was a woman who defied gender-role limits and was a bold and outspoken person. Although she played a role similar T.E. Lawrence, to whom she was often compared and who was among her acquaintances along with Winston Churchill, today Gertrude Bell is a forgotten person. Watching this documentary suggests that her obscurity might be partly, even mostly, due to her gender, when you compare her career to the better known Lawrence of Arabia.

The film is a revealing look at an unjustly overlooked woman, presented in a visually intriguing style. The documentary uses black and white archival footage, clips of films set in the region and still photos, some shot by Bell herself. Those images are present along with narration, by actors playing various historical figures in Bell’s life, also in black and white to match the archival footage and stills. Tilda Swinton (who is also an executive producer on the film) reads from Bell’s many letters, but we only see photos of the real Bell, not Swinton dressed as her.

The film is clearly well-researched and presents a wealth of source material and documents. When the film falls short is in organizing this material into a clear narrative that ties it in well with both Bell’s time and the present Iraq. The focus in very much on Bell personally, but historical events or shifts are not always well-integrated into the story line. Some historic moments are murky and details are confusing, meaning the film is more a biography than the bio-history it should be.

The documentary does not shy away from showing Bell’s flaws and quirks.. Despite her curiosity about and love of the Middle East, she was still very much a product of British ruling-class values and views. Bell was not always an admirable person and reflected the class prejudices and colonial attitudes of her time. While being a strong advocate for self-rule for the local peoples, she also seems to embrace a certain romanticism, common in her era, of the “exotic East” and belief in monarchy and the importance of a ruling class, albeit a regional one, in charge.

Bell was a woman of contradictions. While living immersed in the Middle East, Bell still loved clothes and maintained a large wardrobe of fashionable and expensive clothes. Even traveling to places where no European woman had ever gone, by camel or on horseback, Bell dressed in elegant fashion. When Bell’s father wrote to her late in her life, complaining about money and asking her to “come home” to northern England, Bell failed to see the connection to her free-spending life and insisted she needed to stay on to finish her work at the Iraq museum (the one looted during the early weeks of the Iraq War – a fact not mentioned in the film). Bell was an independent woman in an era that didn’t value that and was not considered very attractive, she nonetheless had a couple of romantic attachments, although she never married.

Bell seems to have been well-liked in her upper-crust social circle of her peers, influential Europeans and powerful Middle Eastern families, but her class prejudices and imperious manner did not make her popular among others. Bell’s focus on the local ruling families allowed her to make connections and gather detailed information about the region’s history and even their family histories, but perhaps blinded her to other factors. Bell asserted that Iraqi Jewish families, who were numerous at that time, would play an important role in the future of the country. She wrote a paper noting the presence of the Kurds and detailing the divide between Sunni and Shiite Arabs in what was then called Mesopotamia, but failed to see how those divisions would play out in the country the British created to serve their own purposes.

Many of Bell’s shortcomings are mentioned in passing in the film, but the directors makes little or no effort to put them into historical context or to directly point out their modern-day implications. While all the black and white footage is evocative and the actors playing historic characters make the story immersive and involving, it would be nice to have a more focused narrative structure. Instead the film is mostly chronological. Some stills or footage give a year and place but others do not, leaving one to wonder if they are old movie clips or re-creations.

Bell’s story is ultimately tragic, both on a personal level and in how things went wrong for Iraq. As time moved on, Bell went from a person at the very top of colonial power, rubbing elbows with Churchill and Lawrence and sought out for her knowledge, to a marginalized and often forgotten figure. Clearly, Bell keenly felt the fall from power and influence.

Despite its flaws, this documentary is worth one’s patience simply to learn about this important but forgotten historical figure, and a remarkable woman far ahead of her time. LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD opens Friday, June 30, at the Tivoli Theater.

Letters From Baghdad poster

THE HERO – Review

Sam Elliott as Lee Hayden and Laura Prepon as Charlotte in THE HERO.
Photo by Beth Dubber. Courtesy of The Orchard ©

Sometimes one role can define an actor’s career. Sam Elliott plays such an actor in late life, facing his own mortality and coming to grips with his life and career, in the sometimes funny, sometimes touching drama THE HERO. THE HERO is an intimate personal drama that draws on universal human concerns in a story that is by turns comic, bittersweet or moving. Writer/director Brett Haley’s thoughtful film has the same feel of authenticity as his previous one, I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS, in which Elliott co-starred with Blythe Danner. Like that film, THE HERO is a life-affirming film that portrays older adults as fully rounded individuals living in this present world instead of two-dimensional types, human beings with brains, a sense of humor and romantic lives.

Lee Hayden (Sam Elliott) is an aging Hollywood actor famous for one starring role in a Western named “The Hero.” The role made him a star but turned out to be his high point, something of which Lee is acutely aware. After a long career in lesser films and on television, Lee is now reduced to mostly voice-over work linked to his iconic Western role. Lee mostly spends his days calling his agent about work or hanging out with his friend Jeremy (Nick Offerman).

Lee has a tenuous relationship with his ex-wife but is largely estranged from his daughter (Krysten Ritter). A cancer diagnosis sends Lee reeling but he keeps the information to himself. Checking in with his agent, Lee learns he is getting a “lifetime achievement” award from a Western fan organization which would like him to attend the ceremony. Lee brushes that aside, asking instead if there are acting job offers, but there are none. Discouraged, he does what he frequently does, drops in on Jeremy, a former actor who once played a supporting role in a TV Western starring Lee but now sells pot for a living. The two men spend the day watching old movies, smoking pot, and reliving the old days. But a chance encounter a brash younger woman named Charlotte (Laura Prepon) brings at chance at romance, and along with the medical diagnosis, makes Lee rethink his present life.

Like Haley’s I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS, THE HERO aims to disrupt our assumptions and make us rethink how we view some people. In this film, Haley spotlights the life of an actor whose face and voice are familiar to many but whose roles are often confined to a certain image, a certain type. Haley wrote the film expressly for Sam Elliott, after getting to know him shooting the earlier I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS, but the story line is inspired by a number of famous actors more often seen as supporting players than leading men. The character’s name is a reference to Lee Marvin and Sterling Hayden, two actors who sometimes fit that category.

Like Haley’s previous film, THE HERO has humor and offers a little romance along with its refreshingly realistic look at late life. Haley avoids all the stereotypes of older people, focusing on them as people while being frank about both age and the mortality we all face.

Haley has a brilliant hold on this material giving the viewer nuanced and complex story with strong performances to anchor the director’s thought-provoking aim, to reconsider the humanity of group of people out culture often dismisses but which, if we are lucky, we will all join in time. Like real life, these people and their relationships are complicated.

Brilliant casting is the key to Haley’s success in this film, as in the previous one, aided by Haley’s thoughtful script and firm directorial hand. Sam Elliott is the perfect choice in this role, a likable character actor with an iconic face and voice familiar from Western films or cowboy-type roles but less often seen in lead or non-Western parts, and almost never without that signature mustache. Elliott played one of two of Blythe Danner’s love interests in I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS, and by far the more romantic character tempting Danner’s widowed character to reconsider the possibilities of life. In this leading role, Elliott shines again but now has the chance to show off his wealth of talent. The complex play of emotions across the actor’s face brings out layers of feel and depth of character, whether in scenes alone or with others.

The supporting cast is also excellent, with the always-good Nick Offerman acting as a foil for Elliott’s character in transition. Laura Prepon plays the mischievous Charlotte, a stand-up comedian who suddenly steps into Lee’s life but raises issues around their age difference. Krysten Ritter is very moving as Lee’s estranged daughter, unsure if she wants to let her unreliable, oft-absent father back in her life.

Haley manages to touch on so many universal human subjects, not just the concerns of the aging, in ways that are both personal and global, a rare feat. The story takes unexpected turns – like real life – and refuses to follow Hollywood conventions. Yet time and again, Haley hits real life truths. While the story might appeal more to older viewers, audiences likely will feel some connection to their own lives or experiences, whether young or old.

Beside the well-crafted story and fine acting, the film has visual appeal, in the California seaside setting and skillful photography by Rob C. Givens. The lush beauty of the California settings heightens the drama of some scenes, particular an emotional one between Lee and his daughter, and also in a fraught one between Lee and Charlotte. Periodically, there are dream-like flashbacks to Lee’s famous Western “The Hero,” moving and sometimes disturbing sequences that give insight on Lee’s emotional state and inner character.

THE HERO has much to recommend it, from its unexpected but touching story to the wonderful performance by Sam Elliott. Sam Elliot’s performance, maybe his best, is a big reason to see this film but the thought-provoking story, with its heart and hopefulness, is a winner as well. THE HERO opens Friday, June 30, at Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars