The light French crime dramedy “Cassandre: Season 4” continues with the same cast and another four non-bloody rounds of murders to solve. My review from Season One gives you the who’s who and some background for enjoying this one: https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2025/01/cassandre-season-1-tv-series-review/
Since then, there’s been a bit of will they/won’t they between Cassandre and Pascal, with other romances along the way for each. Cassandre’s son is still a pain in the neck, but less so than her ex, another cop who keeps showing up on cases more frequently than she’d like. The characters on the rest of her team have also continued being developed – especially Emmanuele Bougerol’s Major Kerouac (no known relation to Jack), who anchors the station while the detectives do their thing in the field.
This quartet begins with a murder victim’s father holding a courtroom hostage when the perpetrator isn’t dealt with severely enough by “the system”. In the next, a murder occurs that seemingly relates to one years before, occurring weeks after the guy convicted for the first comes back from prison. Guess who the prime suspect is? That premise is similar to the Belgian “Public Enemy” series (also reviewed on this site).
In the third, corporate crime and personal affairs make a juggling act of motive and perpetrator options. This one has the most action and blood of the season, but still less than our typical prime-time crime fare. The fourth begins with a monastery tour group finding a dead baker at the bottom of a well, where there shoulda oughta hadda been water.
Cassandre’s appeal as a protagonist continues to grow. The actress playing her, Gwendoline Hamon, looks like a cross between Renee Russo and Michelle Pfeiffer, varying between the two with the camera angle. No need to binge, since each 90-minute episode is a stand-alone plot. But watch them in order for the relationship progressions. And it’s worthwhile getting to know these likable characters, since four more seasons have already aired abroad, and they ain’t done yet.
“Cassandre: Season 4”, in French with subtitles, streams on MHz Choice on November 4th.
Jesse Plemons gives a jaw-dropping performance as conspiracy-obsessed young man who convinces his pliant cousin to help him kidnap the high-powered woman CEO, played by Emma Stone, of a Big Pharma/agra-chemical company, driven by the belief that she is an alien from another planet who is set on destroying the world, in BUGONIA, Yorgos Lanthimos’ darkly comic, oft horrifying but ultimately humanly touching social commentary on our crazy modern world. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is known for his award-winning, imaginative films with a dark world view, such as THE LOBSTER, THE FAVOURITE, and POOR THINGS. BUGONIA is actually a loose re-make of a South Korean film, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, and the pair of young men plan to force the CEO alien to contact her emperor and call off the destruction of Earth. Basically, it comes down to a face-off between the obsessed conspiracy-theorist and the heartless corporate CEO, in a battle of the wills filled with twists and enough unexpected turns to spin your head around.
The strange title actually comes from an ancient Greek ritual in which a bull is sacrificed in such a way that it was believed that the carcass would produce bees. This plan to have the alien CEO contact her space alien emperor seems as likely to succeed.
While this premise seems ripe for comedy, audiences should be warned that the film has plenty of violence, and a horror aspect, not just talking in the basement where the two are holding her.
What really makes this film is Jesse Plemons’ startling performance. Plemons gives an Oscar-worthy performance unlike anything you have ever seen from him, as a young beekeeper and environmentalist in a fading small town, who has been driven mad by terrible events in his life and too much time spent on the conspiracy-theory drenched internet. He lives in the crumbling old house outside of town where he grew up with his mother, along with his neurodivergent cousin.
Beyond saving the planet, Jesse Plemon’s character has more personal issues with Emma Stone’s CEO. One of his issues with her company is linked to colony collapse disorder, which the beekeeper links to certain chemicals, and the other has to do with his mother’s experimental treatment for drug addiction, which had devastating results.
While Plemon’s character is a lost soul with a tragic history, Emma Stone’s CEO is a soul less, hard-driven executive in spike heels who works out with martial arts and seems to have little feeling for people. In one of her first scenes, the CEO is recording a diversity message for her employees, when she flubs a line saying “diversity” too many times, with an expression that makes it clear she’d rather not say it at all. She walks down a hall, reminding her employees they now can leave work at 5:30pm. adding “Your call!” but then “unless you have work to finish,” undercutting the whole work-life balance initiative she is launching. “Your call!” she repeats.
Plemon’s character Teddy’s partner in crime is his pliant cousin Don, played well by fuzzy-haired newcomer Aidan Delbis, who lives with Teddy because he has no one else. Don adores his smart, slightly older cousin, who apparently is the only one in town who treats him with kindness and a level of respect. Plemon’s Teddy is clearly smart but absorbed in his elaborate tin-hat theories, which the pliant cousin listens to and accepts – partly because he feels he has no choice.
Teddy wants to kidnap alien CEO Michelle to force to contact her Emperor and call of the attack on Earth. The kidnapping doesn’t go smoothly but the pair do get her back to Teddy’s basement. However, he does not want her to contact her Mothership for rescue, so he cuts off her hair – which is how she sends messages to other aliens.
At first our sympathies are more with the broken, lost Teddy, but that turns rather quickly. And turn back again, and again, with a series of shockers and twists that continue to the end.
None of these characters are simple or black-and-white. The film gives all the characters depth and complexity, which adds an unexpected layer of humanity and heart to the tale, despite the sometimes awful events than unfold.
Whether it is aliens or just alienation, BUGONIA delivers a punch, but primarily through the outstanding performances, especially by Jesse Plemons, one that should win him an Oscar nod at a minimum.
A scene from SAMURAI FURY. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment
The year is 1461 (for the movie, SAMURAI FURY, not us, though many think we’re regressing globally). Japan is in a state of chaos. The country is ravaged by plague, with 82,000 deaths, and counting; the peasants who haven’t succumbed are starving and besieged by different groups of debt collectors, using the most despicable tactics; a slew of ronin (samurai with no master to serve) are roaming the country without purpose; the Shogun ain’t doin’ diddly-squat to help anyone or stem the violence from the monks and warlords. In the midst of this, one ronin, Hasuda Hyoe (Ôizumi Yô) emerges as a good guy, who might just make a difference. That may require butting heads with his longtime friend Honekawa Doken (Shin’ichi Tsutsumi), who is in charge of forces defending the ruling class.
Hyoe picks up a spirited apprentice he calls “Frog” (Yuya Eendo) among the cringing masses and sends him off to an old sensei for a year of training. Then he gradually assembles a rag-tag army of other ronin and willing villagers to storm the capital in Kyoto. Their main goal is to destroy all the loan papers the monks holding them have been wielding to brutalize debtors and their families during this time of extreme hardship. His plans are intricate, building slowly to what will, ideally, become the Big Day.
Standard stuff, so far, as this sort of theme is quite common in East Asian martial arts and action period fare. Since it’s set in an era before guns, swords, spears, staffs and arrows are the non-anatomical weapons of the day, with occasional explosions. That calls for top-notch stunt choreography, and the film delivers superbly on that front, with relatively little wire work, thereby maximizing its grittiness.
Genre fans have seen the de rigeur training sequences in the majority of these films. Frog’s regimen for mastering the pole (the weapon, not the stripper support) is unique, and much more interesting than most, both visually and in content. The climactic battle sequences are huge in scale, bloody in execution and fascinatingly intricate. Kudos to writer/director Yu Irie for elevating the level of writing and action above the norm, and for crafting so many elaborate sets for the long course of events. Frog’s character arc is particularly satisfying, as well as the frenemy situation that unfolds between Hyoe and Doken.
The 135-minute running time is just fine for the material presented. It seemed shorter, which is among the highest compliments I ever give.
SAMURAI FURY, in Japanese with English subtitles, is available from WellGo USA in digital format beginning Oct. 7, and in 4K and Blu-ray formats starting Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
Many St. Louisans who know a bit of Civil Rights history, Percy Green is known as the man who climbed the Arch, when it was partly built, to protest the lack of minority hiring by the company that was building it. As the 60th anniversary of the St. Louis Arch approaches, it is the perfect time for PERCY GREEN: MAN OF ACTION, the documentary the local legend by Joseph Puleo, which airs on PBS Nine on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025 at 7pm.
But there is much more to this Civil Rights activist – icon, actually – than that one spectacular protest, as you will learn in this insightful, engrossing documentary. Now 90 years old, Percy Green is still committed to Civil Rights, and worked with documentary filmmaker Joseph Puleo in the making of this first-rate, inspiring documentary. PERCY GREEN: MAN OF ACTION delves into Green’s life and work, and the Civil Rights movement generally, offering insights and information through archival stills, footage and interviews, as well as some excellent animated sequences.
For one, Percy Green participated in one of the earliest Civil Rights actions in the country, the groundbreaking Jefferson Bank protest in 1963, where protesters didn’t just march but laid in the street to block trucks as part of their non-violent resistance. Green is truly a man of action, which is what he named the Civil Rights organization he founded, ACTION.
Joseph Puleo’s film PERCY GREEN: MAN OF ACTION is skillfully-made, both informative and enjoyable, spotlighting a local hero of the Civil Rights whose name and actions should be known by all. Puleo’s previous documentaries include 2020’s AMERICA’S LAST LITTLE ITALY: THE HILL, about St. Louis’ Hill neighborhood, 2022’s A NEW HOME, about the Bosnian War refugees who settled in St. Louis and transformed the area around Bevo Mill, and the filmmakers has won awards for this work, including a Mid-America Emmy for Best Documentary – Cultural for the latter one. He is currently working on another documentary, BROTHERS IN BLOOD: BALCK IN VIETNAM.
The other big action Percy Green was famous for was the “unveiling” of the Veiled Prophet, an invented pseudo-Middle-Eastern figure, created by an old restricted, whites-only social organization of wealthy and powerful St. Louis “old family” elites, a club that dated back to at least the 19th century. The role of the Veiled Prophet was played by a top-ranking member of this segregated club, whose identity was kept secret, and in that role, presided over a parade and then a debutantes ball. Green didn’t do the un-veiling but he organized that action, which drew attention to this segregated organization.
The documentary personalizes the stories as it tells them, and recounts Civil Rights history, and Percy Green’s history, that should be much better known, not just in St. Louis. The documentary highlights the efforts of the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover to attack Green and ACTION, and leaves us with a feeling of uplift and inspiration to see a good man who could not be kept down, and who gave so much to the Civil Rights movement and this country.
Do not must this stirring documentary about a local Civil Rights hero, but if you do, hopefully it will become available through PBS’s Passport streaming service.
Did you think that the only movie remakes out this year were THE ROSES and THE TOXIC AVENGER (not counting the three live-action remakes of animated features)? Of course not, since the trailer for THE RUNNING MAN seems to be attached to nearly every movie at the multiplex. That one’s nearly three weeks away, so how about a “re-do” of a film that’s not quite as old as the Arnold classic? Now streaming is a new spin, truly earning the often noxious marketing phrase “re-imagining”, on a kinda’ campy thriller from 1992 (naw, it can’t be over 30 years away). So what has changed, and what remains for this take on THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE?
For one thing, the 2025 “model” begins with a flashback, probably about 15 years ago, as a blonde pre-teen watches a two-story suburban home go up in flames (and we hear the screams of those trapped inside). Then we’re back in the present as very pregnant lawyer Caitlyn (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is taking on a new pro bono client at a free legal advice center. Former child care worker Polly (Maika Monroe) is dealing with a shady landlord. Soon after their meeting, Caitlyn goes into labor, and gives birth to a baby girl, Josie. As the weeks progress, it becomes clear that Caitlyn has “too much on her plate” with the new addition, rebellious pre-teen daughter Emma (Mleiah Vega), and returning to her law firm. Hubby Miguel (Raul Castillo) implores her to hire some domestic help. Almost on cue, Caitlyn soon bumps into Polly. The two hit it off and the harried new mom gets the info and a solid reference for the ex-client (who lost her apartment). Polly is a welcome addition, attentive to Josie, and bonding with Emma. And then things go “sideways”. Everyone gets food poisoning (could Polly have spiked the main course). Then Polly breaks a big house role, giving Josie retail formula rather than Caitlyn’s breast milk. Eventually, Polly moves into the guest house next to the pool, but things don’t get back to normal. Are Caitlyn’s prescription meds (for a mental health condition) not working (another concern for Miguel), or did Polly tamper with them? Is it postpartum paranoia, or does the seemingly sweet Polly have a secret agenda?
Much like the original, this take really relies on of the power dynamic “tug-of-war” between the two main characters, and the film’s producers have cast two very interesting actors who have had great experience in the thriller genre (or genre films in general). The biggest emotional arc is given to Caitlyn, and Winstead expertly lets us see her growing mania after establishing the lawyer/mom as a “hands on” parent with a complex past. At just around the half-way point, Winstead takes her energy from stroll to trot to a furious, frantic gallop that pulls us along in her wake. This contrasts well with Monroe, perhaps best known for her lead in the indie horror gems IT FOLLOWS and LONGLEGS, who almost makes Polly a blank slate, her dead-eyed stare during confrontations with Winstead allow us to project all manner of sinister schemes onto her. However, we get to see a bit of her darkness at a dinner party when verbally chided by Caitlyn’s old best pal Stewart, played by the always engaging Martin Starr (forever Bill Haverchuck, class of 82′). He’s a sneering elite, who reveals a kind heart not only with Caitlyn (oops, don’t want to spoil). Castillo does his best with the underwritten role of the often thick hubby, who is either a witness or impediment to the long-awaited “throw-down”.
Taking the directorial reigns from the late, much-missed Curtis Hanson is Michelle Garza Cervera, in her second feature after many shorts and TV episodes. She keeps the pace steady, eschewing any flashy effects, save for the opening flashback. There’s a good use of LA locales, though Cervera is often a bit heavy-handed in contrasting the “haves and have-nots”. The often radical “re-imagining” is engineered by screenwriter Micah Bloomberg, who strips away many of the problematic elements (there’s no Solomon here in any form) of the 92′ story from Amanda Silver. And yes, many of the cheesy camp of the first is excised, but some interesting ideas are explored (Polly seems more into seducing Caitlyn than Miguel). Making first daughter Emma a few years older provides a chance to explore the often tumultuous clashes with mothers (another power struggle). Still, time hasn’t been kind to the subject manner since basic cable TV has been “strip-mining” the original film countless times over the years, with endless variations of the “wife/mother defending her happy home against the twisted interloper” (much as with the many clones of FATAL ATTRACTION). That’s a shame, since the two leads are such an interesting pairing, and are worthy of a more original tale than the still-familiar THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE.
2 Out of 4
THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE is now streaming exclusively on Hulu
Here’s a terrific showbiz documentary that’s been sent to streaming just months after another superb one, MY MOM JAYNE (which is still on HBO Max, if it’s still called that). Aside from both this doc’s subjects also being a big part of 20th century pop culture, they also both deal with siblings (both are directors of their docs), who are stars in their own right, discovering their parent(s) through boxes and cases of old recordings, press clippings, and notebooks. Sure, some of the legacy of Jayne Mansfield is fairly funny (such tacky fashions), this new film really explores humor, because it’s about a comedy team. That phrase usually conjures up Laurel & Hardy, the Stooges, those Marx Brothers, but this is one of the rare male/female teamings. While their early 60s contemporaries Nichols & May never settled down, this duo, like Burns & Allen decades before, married and started a family. Here’s the story of how their son Ben discovered that, with STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST. Really, it’s all there…
The son, of course, is actor/director/writer/producer Ben Stiller. His father Jerry passed away in 2020, five years after his mom, Anne Meara. Since the world was in lockdown due to the pandemic, Ben decided to prepare their longtime Riverside apartment in NYC for an eventual sale (and take one last spin around with his camera). Before the place could be “staged” for presentation to buyers, Ben, and sister Amy, dove into the cases and cartons of material their folks had accumulated over nearly 70 years. Jerry and Anne married in 1953, and as they took on acting gigs in early TV and the theater, they decided to go out as a comedy team. And they were successful, first in nightclubs, and then becoming a favorite of Ed Sullivan (he booked them on his show 36 times). Ben and Amy relive those old days as they pour over correspondence (seeing their love letters), listening to countless audio cassettes, and watching grainy 8mm home movies. . Somehow, their folks almost return to vivid life, guiding Ben through a very difficult time (his recent separation from wife Christine Taylor). Along this nostalgic journey, Ben interviews his own family, along with dear friends of his parents, including actor Christopher Walken and playwright John Guare. In putting together this loving cinematic tribute, Ben realizes how similar his own life, personal and professional, to his recently departed mom and pop, Could this be sage parent advice and consul from the “Great Beyond”?
Talk about your “labor of love”! What a splendid, interesting and entertaining film which should help dispel that old notion that “documentaries are homework”. Certainly, Ben does make use of the doc trope of “talking heads” (mainly with his aunt), but he’s found a way to juggle and intercut the archival photos and footage in a fresh, compelling way. The segments from the Sullivan show are crisp, looking as though they aired new last Sunday night, while we also get the grainy VHS (or maybe half inch) video dupes of the duo co-hosting “The Mike Douglas Show” and bringing in little Benji and Amy for a sweet, though “ear-testing” violin duet. The notebook scribblings and the murky (sounds like a basement) audio of Anne and Jerry working out a routine for a TV appearance, gives us a rare peek at the creative process. We hear that Anne was relaxed and confident performing while Jerry was a perfection who fretted and “over-rehearsed”, which Ben recognizes in his own work discipline (yup, a chip off the “old man’s” block). There’s a big contrast in the duo’s early years. Jerry wasn’t encouraged by his folks, while Anne was the adored “princess”, perhaps because hers was a single parent household due to a horrific suicide. It’s also fascinating that when the team split, the marriage got a bit stronger since Anne could,at last, pursue dramatic roles and Jerry could finally be the solo comic he dreamed of (his lauded work on the TV sitcoms “Seinfeld” and “King of Queens” in his 70s is one heck of a rousing career third act). Plus the film does shine a light on Ben’s rise with his own 8mm films and videos (starring Jerry), while he also “takes the heat” during the one-on-one-interviews with his spouse and two kids (daughter Ella is still ticked that he cut her out of one of his features). Pressure and guilt (being away too long) are shared by both generations in the “biz”. This is a “pull-no-punches” journey, though with a touch of sweet nostalgia, that is a must for comedy fans (the “collection” is now part of the Museum of Comedy in New York state) of the current media icon and the team that spawned him. Hopefully they’ll be “rediscovered” and found via STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST.
3.5 out of 4
STILLER & MEARA : NOTHING IS LOST is now streaming exclusively on Apple TV+ and is playing in select theaters
Director Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN does a startling thing: it goes back to the original Gothic novel written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in 1818, “Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.” While there have been seeming endless numbers of screen versions of the Frankenstein story, generally in some form all are based in James Whale’s classic 1931 film and its sequel, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Whale’s film has thrilled countless film fans and inspired many future filmmakers, including Guillermo del Toro. but the story the 1931 movie tells departs greatly from Mary Shelley’s terrifying but more philosophical novel about the hubris of a man playing God.
Now, to be clear, del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is not a faithful screen adaptation of the novel, but something more based on it. or in parts even, “inspired by” it. In truth, the director of Oscar-winning films PAN’S LABYRINTH and THE SHAPE OF WATER makes this story his own, stamping it with his own unique signature style, using the parts of the original novel that suit his purpose in building his own creation. That creation includes plenty of references to various Frankenstein versions.
Still, this return to Shelley’s Gothic tale makes the film much more strikingly unusual, in a gripping way that other Frankensteins iterations have not. And the director takes full advantage of that fresh approach to what could otherwise be overly familiar.
Like the book, the film starts at the end of the story, with Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) in an Arctic wasteland. He tells his tale, in this case, to the captain of a ship searching for the North Pole. How the doctor got there and why is part of his story. But del Toro then does something else startling in this film: after we see and hear Dr. Frankenstein’s story, the director turns things around and allows the Creature (Jacob Elordi) to tell his version. Yes, the Creature in this one, like the original novel, is intelligent and articulate, although not at first.
FRANKENSTEIN is Guillermo del Toro’s dream project, long planned. The film has the director’s distinct style and many of the same themes that run through other del Toro films, such as man as the real monster, sympathy for the creature, father and son issues, and good versus evil. Visually, the film is very much in the director’s bold style, color-drenched, creepy, and filled with striking cinematic images. The dramatic creation moment, when the creature comes to life, takes place in a huge, strange, foreboding building, one that looks like it was built as some kind of waterworks or water-driven factory, but with echoes of James Whale’s 1931 film. The reference to the link between water and life is inescapable, while the imposing structure itself, visually, is dramatically gothic.
Instead of the frenetic Dr. Frankenstein of James Whale’s classic, Oscar Isaac plays the doctor obsessed with building a man as a brooding, cold, dark, and even heartless fellow, with a huge ego and few ethics constrains. The social commentary on unlimited ambition and power is there.
Mia Goth plays Elizabeth, but in this telling she is not the fiancee of Victor but his younger, sunnier brother William (Felix Kammerer). Elizabeth is both beautiful and intelligent, with a keen interest in science and nature. She is very close to her wealthy uncle (Christoph Waltz), who offers to fund Victor’s experiments in reanimating dead tissue with the aim of creating life. The uncle gives no reason for this decision but hints that he does have an agenda in mind.
Although inspired by the novel, del Toro still references various versions of the the Frankenstein story, in movies and even comics. including the 1931 classic film that so riveted the director as a young child. Those references are sprinkled throughout the film, and it even has a glancing reference to ROCKY HORROR, a kind of Frankenstein tale, in the early appearance of the Creature himself but without the camp.
The cast all turn in fine performances, although the story and its vivid telling is the really strength of the film. Oscar Isaac plays Dr. Frankenstein as a very dark, hard character, an unlikable person who becomes less appealing as we see what he does. The story begins with his childhood to help us understand the character, in a brooding, gothic tale in a world of with funeral black and winter white, splashed with dramatic touches of blood red. The doctor makes himself the hero of his own story but we will hear another version next. The Creature is like a newborn in a grown body at first but grows up quickly, with his innocence turning to resentment and more toward his “father.”
The director caused some uproar by casting handsome Jacob Elordi as the Frankenstein;s creation, but it is worth noting that in the original novel the creation has more the appearance of a man, albeit a large one, than Karloff’s monster. Del Toro doesn’t quite do that, as the creature is a patchwork of sewn-together skin but, like in the book and others versions, of monstrous strength, if not size.
Speaking of monsters, director del Toro makes it clear at the very start of the film who the “monster” is, and it is not the creature. The creation here has more the enormous strength than size, which allows us to see him as a young man, even a big child at the start, the son of the doctor who built him.
Art direction is one of the real stars of this film. The visual side is eye-popping and very effective in creating a sense of awe and terror. The set, costumes and visual effects are all bold, often color-drenched and sometimes massive, a Gothic look on steroids which feels perfect for this film.
One of the most striking sequences is the one where the Creature is brought to life, a process that involves lightning like the 1931 classic film, but taking place in a weird, water-themed building of tile and smooth spouts, ducts, and channels, set on the edge of a cliff plunging into the sea.
Although Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is not a faithful adaptation of the original novel, going back to that groundbreaking book, and some of its themes, does open the door for some other filmmaker to do that full adaptation. Hopefully that will happen, but until then we have this wonderfully creative new retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic novel.
Let’s see what happens when Hollywood “hits the books” for this new flick. We saw the adaptation of a work from the same author last year with IT ENDS WITH US (AKA the movie that spawned countless real-life legal “sequels”). So does this story from Colleen Hoover tread familiar territory? Well, it is a romance that has some pretty heavy dramatic elements, a rarity at the cinemas these days as the “rom-com” is more prevalent than the “rom-dram” (a phrase coined by a cast member promoting it on TV). And while the last Hoover work dealt with domestic abuse, this one has a big role for the “Grim Reaper”. So does he take his scythe to the young and not-that-young lovers coupling in REGRETTING YOU?
The first scene in the story is a seventeen-year flashback. Two high school aged couples (senior year) are on their way to a big beach blow-out. While stopping for snacks, Morgan (Allison Williams) tells Jonah (Dave Franco) that she’s pregnant by her beau Chris (Scott Eastwood). Jonah’s crushed as he’s had a secret crush on her, despite dating Morgan’s kid sister Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald). Flash forward to the present, as the now married Morgan and Chris host a birthday party at their home. Joining them are the also now married Jenny and Jonah, who have a little baby boy, Elijah. Missing from the festivities is now seventeen-year-old daughter Clara (Mckenna Grace), whose lateness is caused when she gives her classmate Miller (Mason Thames) a lift to the house he shares with his cranky but lovable ‘Gramps’ Hank (Clancy Brown). She finally arrives for the party and immediately begins discussing Miller with her adored Aunt Jenny (Miller’s already got a steady, so Jenny warns Clara about being “that girl”). All’s well until Morgan gets a call days later. Hubby Chris has been in a major auto accident. Heading into the hospital, she’s surprised to see Jonah already there. It turns out that Jenny was also in an accident. Then the double stunner: Chris and Jenny were in the same car and both perished. Clara is devastated and begins to rebel by sneaking out to meet the now girlfriend-free Miller. Morgan “shuts down” due to the death and betrayal bombshell. But she’s got to help Jonah with baby Elijah. Then he blurts out that the child has Chris’s smile. Do they tell Clara that her papa and Aunt Jenny were cheating, and, bigger yet, she has a half-brother? And will Morgan and Jonah finally act on their long-suppressed mutual attraction?
Okay, let’s start with the older (a bit) of the two romantic couples. After the two M3GAN flicks, Williams is in full maternal mode as the emotionally pummelled Morgan. We can see her wavering somewhat in her “laying down the law” rants to her Clara, hinting at her deep devotion to her child, which may undercut the big throw-downs. Williams real strength is in the halting exchanges with Jonah as she walks the delicate journey from widowhood. Franco takes on a more dramatic turn after being a comic MVP for the last decade or so. His furrowed brow under the big black framed eyeglasses (to age him a tad more) conveys his near collapse at the loss of his spouse and his need to step up as a single parent. As for those “twitter-pated” teens, Grace very gracefully tackles the role of a blossoming young adult about to dive into swoony passion. The youngest Ghostbuster balances Clara’s despair over her loss with simmering anger toward mom, which may jeopardize her new relationship with Miller, played by the very busy Thames (last week in BLACK PHONE 2 after being the live-action Hiccup this Summer). He’s easy going, affable, and strong-willed, particularly when he realizes that he may be a “pawn” in the Clara/Morgan “war”. Both of them are on the fast track to greater film stardom. Fitzgerald (so fantastic in STRANGE DARLING) and Eastwood put their considerable screen charisma to work as the doomed duo, Jenny and Chris. Happily some needed levity is provided by the always compelling Brown as ‘Gramps’ and the bubbly Sam Morelos as Clara’s BFF Lexi, who is “fixed- up” with the endearing nerdy Efren (Ethan Constanilla).
Trying to keep these convoluted plot threads untangled is director John Boone, best known for THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, though I’d say his THE NEW MUTANTS is a pretty good “B” superhero flick. He keeps the histrionics to a minium while all the story “plates” keep spinning, but there’s just so much he can do with the often turgid, soap-style structure. The old phrase “potboiler” comes to mind, though I often thought I was trapped in a basic cable TV-movie featuring a more polished ensemble (“star-wattage” can only brighten things a touch). Of the themes, the blossoming young love “plot line” works best, while the elders must flay about dealing with death and infidelity. One scene in which Morgan vents her anger at a car is most grating. The locales and fashions are lovely, though they were backdrops for blatant product placement (there’s always a “logo-fronted” soda can while Miller works for a multiplex where Nicole Kidman usually wanders about). At least it’s not as tone-deaf and thuddingly off-kilter as Hoover’s last big screen flick. There may be an audience for movies made from “beach-reads”, but rising stars like Grace and Thames deserve a much-better showcase for their talents than the regrettable REGRETTING YOU.
1.5 Out of 4
REGRETTING YOU is now playing in theaters everywhere
We must be “all in” for the end-of-the-year awards season as we’ve got a new big biographical film of a music superstar from an acclaimed director. Last year, Christmas Day to be exact, filmgoers got to do a deep dive into the 60s musical odyssey of Bob Dylan with James Mangold’s A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Though it didn’t garner as many awards (and box office) as BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY in 2018, it still racked up lots of critical raves (and even a Sag Best Actor for its star Timothee Chalomet). Now, like that earlier biopic, this one showcases another rising young star who is best known for an acclaimed TV show. Oh, but the big difference is that this is set a couple of decades later, at the start of the 1980s. Still, there’s a lot of musical “common ground between “Mr. Zimmerman” and SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE. As “the Boss” might say, “One, two…”.
After a brief black and white prologue with our young hero riding his bike through the means streets of Long Branch, New Jersey, the story jumps ahead to the splashy color of 1981 as fans are left breathless after the final concert number from Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) at a packed arena. As he winds down backstage, his trusted manager Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) tells him that after a few post-concert dealings (including an interview with “Creem” magazine, remember it), his rental home on a lake in Colts Neck, New Jersey is ready. After he settles in there, the Boss contemplates his next album while recalling his turbulent early life with dutiful mother Adele (Gaby Huffman) and his boozing, abusive father Douglas (Stephan Graham). Later, in an effort to “blow off some steam” he joins the local rockers at The Stone Pony bar/music venue in Asbury Park. As he leaves, Bruce runs into an old high school buddy, who introduces him to his sister Faye (Odessa Young), a single mother working at a nearby diner. She gives him her number, in case he wants to “hang” sometime. Chilling back at his lake house, he does a bit of channel “surfing” and stumbles upon the 1973 Terrence Malick classic BADLANDS. Bruce is riveted, heading to the library to gather more info on the film’s inspiration, killer Charles Starkweather, then returning home to jot down lyrics and strum on his guitar. He has an epiphany: the new song collection “Nebraska” will have no polished studio sound. He brings in his audio-tech Mike Batlan (Paul Walter Hauser) to record a demo tape using very low tech (cassettes). When Landau meets Columbia Records’ Al Teller (David Krumholtz), the exec is stunned by Bruce’s subject matter and his rules. There will be no singles, right after Bruce landed a single on the Billboard top ten. But Jon and Bruce persist. Meanwhile, the Boss struggles to get “the sound” just right while the process dredges up brutal memories from childhood. Can a burgeoning romance with the “hometown gal” vanquish the inner demons inside the rising rock and roll superstar?
Wow, in this film you get two (yes two) great Jeremys heading the ensemble. First, of course, is White, who we’ve not seen on the big screen since 2023’s THE IRON CLAW (though he continues to cook up a storm on TV’s “The Bear”). Without the use of prosthetic makeup, but with a little color “tweaking” in his curly mane, he makes us believe that he’s the “Boss”. He’s got that confident strut as he wields that guitar like a gladiator’s broadsword before the adoring throngs. But he’s more Clark Kent as leaves the backstage door, trying to blend in with the “average Joes”. However, White shows us his simmering intensity, whether achieving his artistic goals, struggling to put the right words in his battered notebook, or clamping down on his childhood monsters. Plus, he projects an almost boyish charm during his “downtime” with Faye. The other J is the superb Mr. Strong (so wonderful in last year’s THE APPRENTICE) as the laser-focused Landau. He’s Bruce’s strong right hand, whether he’s dealing with the press or anxious record execs demanding more “hits”. Strong’s stare seems to burrow into White’s brain, forming a connecting line of creative thought. The two actors’ performance anchor the tale. But then they have a great supporting cast. Young exudes a sexy “tough gal” persona as the smitten, but steadfast (not putting up with any “Boss BS”) as Faye. Hauser provides a few needed laughs as the perplexed but hard-working audio geek, Mike (he questions, but never refuses Bruce’s needs). The other big emotional role may be Graham as the stoic papa Stephan who lashes out in order to “toughen up” his boy, while casting a dark shadow that looms over the crumbling house, leaving Hoffman as mama Adele as the sole bright light in the lad’s life. Krumholtz is also funny as recording bigwig Teller, while the great Marc Maron shines with just a few lines as audio mixer Chuck Plotkin.
The acclaimed filmmaker is director/screenwriter (adapting the book “Deliver Me from Nowhere” by Warren Zanes) is Scott Cooper (CRAZY HEART), Wisely, he decided to focus in on an important year or two in Bruce’s life, rather than giving a full “life story” (though we do have those 1957 snippet flashbacks), to not get into the cliché biopic “checklist” (then he did this, then that, then…) which gives the personal drama more room to “breathe”. Also, it allows Cooper to really explore the creative process of an artist, which is usually a “stumbling block” (always a problem with stories about writers). At times, Bruce seems rigid and too unwavering, but Cooper shows us that it’s a quest for purity in the music’s intent. The era of the early 80s is painstakingly recreated with nods to pop culture and a big ode to the power of cinema, not only BADLANDS (young Bruce watches a 1950s cult classic with his pop). The pace is rather languid, with bursts of the remarkable rock and folk anthems. At times that measured pace is sidetracked by the romantic subplot, (it somewhat evaporates by the final act) which doesn’t add much to the story of the creation of an album. And a few fans may wish there were more recreations of the marathon concerts, but Cooper gives us enough of a taste to convey the power of Mr. S. But in those final moments, Cooper provides a positive message about seeking help from mental health professionals (might nudge those struggling to see a “rock god” getting back on track) It’s not a bombastic tune-filled spectacle, but rather a powerful, intimate portrait of a man exploring new artistic territory while exploring his own past. That power of creation fuels SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE.
3.5 Out of 4
SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE is now playing in theaters everywhere
Can there really be two music biopics opening this weekend? Yes, though they share little in common other than popular songs. The “Boss” flick is set in the early 1980s and zeroes in on a couple of years of his career. This film is set nearly forty years before, and it mainly (other than a brief prologue) happens during one fateful night. And it’s pretty much set in one place. Oh, and rather than the world of rock and roll, this comedy/drama is in the world of musical theater on Broadway (technically musical comedy, I suppose). You may not know the name of this film’s main focus, but after eighty years, much of the world is still singing his lyrics, especially the often-recorded and revived BLUE MOON.
Yes, you read that correctly. This film isn’t about a tunesmith, but rather a writer of lyrics. In that aforementioned prologue, we see a diminutive man shuffling and stumbling through a rain-drenched alley. That man is Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke). The story then shifts to a few months in the past, the evening of March 31, 1943, the opening of the classic Broadway musical, “Oklahoma”. Lorenz, along with his mother, watches from an exclusive “box seat” until he can stand no more of the “corn pone”. Telling his mom that he needs a drink, Hart sprints away to Sardi’s restaurant, where the show’s after-party will be held. In the first floor bar area, he begins to kibitz with his old bartender pal Eddie (Bobby Cannavale). He’ll only serve Lorenz club soda, as he has a big booze problem, though a bottle is keep near “for appearances”. Hart is both looking forward to and dreading a reunion with his old writing partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), now teamed with Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney). But Hart is ecstatic about a tryst with young Yale art student Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley). Eddie’s a bit confused, since he though Lorenz leaned toward another gender. Hart insists that he’s fluid and, despite their 27-year age difference, believes that tonight’s the big night for them. As he bemoans the impending demise of wit on the “Great White Way”, Hart notices a man writing at a table. It’s one of his favorite authors, E.B. White (Patrick Kennedy). The two bound over their love of language until Elizabeth arrives. As she regales Hart with stories of college “hook-ups”, the “Oklahoma” entourage dashes in for cocktails and to read the early rave reviews. Hart corners Rodgers to pitch a new pairing while discussing a revival of an older work. As the new Broadway “darlings” begin to depart, Hart ponders whether he’ll ever be back on “top”, in his profession and in his personal life.
This film is truly a tour de force showcase for the acting artistry of Hawke as he tackles a truly complex artist. His work goes beyond the “gimmick” of appearing to be a spin on Jose Ferrer as Toulouse Lautrec in MOULIN ROUGE and his severe “comb-over” to give life to a man riddled with insecurity, struggling to retain his dignity, all the while obsessively trying to regain the “brass ring”, be it Broadway success or the elusive young protégé. In Hart’s meeting with Rodgers, Hawke conveys that pleading sweaty desperation while acting as if nothing as really changed between. This might be the defining performance of Hawke’s impressive career. Luckily, the engaging Cannavale proves to be a superb scene partner as Eddie, who is alternately amused and disgusted by Hart’s antics (his “BS detector” is working overtime) while making sure he steers clear of the booze that will destroy him. Qualley is a wide-eyed, bouncy blonde dream girl as the effusive, but unknowingly encouraging Elizabeth.. She thinks of Hart as a mentor, while dismissing his often clumsy advances. Then there’s Hart’s other object of desire, a re-teaming with the “man that got away”, Rodgers, given a distracted air by the compelling Scott. Yes, he’s happy to be showered with praise, but he’s not entirely indifferent to his former partner. Scott shows us that as he tries to toss Hart a life preserver (a revival of their old show) while defending pointed barbs at his latest work (there’s a place for sentiment in the war-torn world) and trying to make it clear that he’s part of a different duo. Their interplay is both amusing and sad, much like the ending of a theatrical marriage.
Longtime Hawke collaborator Richard Linklater directs from a very literate script from Robert Kaplow that deftly balances comedy and tragedy in the tale of longing and regret. Hart had once had everything until he squandered it all due to his addictions and an ego bigger than his slight frame. Yes, it does often resemble a stage play after the brief alley prologue and the scene that follows during the finale of “Oklahoma”, but the character dynamics and bouncy retorts expand the confines of the bar (though we do explore the “water closet” briefly). The period costumes are quite stunning, especially Qualley’s gown, and the soundtrack filled with period tunes (from Hart and others) is very effective. Plus, this story is pure “catnip” for musical comedy buffs , especially when we get a brief moment with Oscar’s precocious young guest (stage fans will get it). It’s not a sprawling epic, but fans of the era, and the excellent cast, will be enchanted. Why, they might just be over the BLUE MOON about it.
